tihtavy  of  Che  Cheolo0ical  ^tminaxy 

PRINCETON    .   NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 


PRESIDENT    PATTON 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 
1 


FEB  I  8  2006 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


THE 


COMPLETE   WORKS 


REV.    ANDREW   FULLER: 


WITH  A  MEMOIR  OF  HIS  LIFE, 

BY 

ANDREW    GUNTON   FULLER. 


REPRINTED   FROM  THE  THIRD  LONDON  EDITION  ;    REVISED,   WITH  ADDITIONS, 


JOSEPH    BELCHER,   D.  D. 


IN   THREE  VOLUMEp, 

VOL.  IIL 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 


1 


FEB  I  8  2005 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


EXPOSITIONS— MISCELLANEOUS. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
AMERICAN  BAPTIST  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY. 


CONTENTS. 

VOL.  III. 


EXPOSITORY  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  BOOK  OF  GENESIS. 


1- 


4, 


of  the  fall, 


10—3 


Dedication, 

I.  The  book  in  general,  and  the  first  day's  creation,  chap. 
II.     The  last  five  days'  creation,  chap.  i.  6 — 31,     . 

III.  Creation  revived,  chap.  ii.  . 

IV.  The  fall  of  man,  chap.  iii.  1 — 7,      .... 
V.  The  trial  of  the  transgressors,  chap.  iii.  8 — 14, 

VI.  The  curse  of  Satan,  including  a  blessing  to  man — effect: 

chap.  iii.  15 — 24, 

VII.  The  offerings  of  Cain  and  Abel,  chap.  iv.  1 — 8, 

VIII.  Cain's  punishment  and  posterity,  chap.  iv.  9 — 24,   . 

IX.  The  generations  of  Adam,  chap.  iv.  25,  26,  chap.  v.  . 

X.  The  cause  of  the  deluge,  chap.  vi.  1 — 7, 

XI.  Noah  favoured  of  God,  and  directed  to  build  the  ark,  chap.  vi. 

XII.  The  flood,  chap.  vi.  vii.    ...... 

XIII.  The  flood,  (continued,) 

XIV.  God's  covenant  with  Noah,  chap.  ix.  1 — 24,     • 
XV.  Noah's  prophecy,  chap.  ix.  2.5 — 27,      .... 

XVI.  The  generations  of  Noah,  chap  x.  ... 

XVII.  The  confusion  of  tongues,  chap.  si.  1 — 9, 

XVIII.  The  generations  of  Shem,  and  the  call  of  Abram,  chap 
xii.  1 — 4,        ........ 

XIX.  Abram  in  Canaan — removal  to  Egypt,  chap.  xii.  5 — 20, 

XX.  The  separation  of  Abram  and  Lot,  chap.  xiii. 

XXI.  Abram's  slaughter  of  the  kings,  chap.  xiv. 

XXII.  Abram  justified  by  faith,  chap.  xv.  1 — 6, 

XXIII.  Renewal  of  promises  to  Abram,  chap.  xv.  7 — 21, 

XXIV.  Sarai's  crooked  policy,  chap.  xvi.     .... 
XXV.  Covenant  with  Abram  and  his  seed,  chap.  xvii.    . 

XXVI.  Abraham  entertains  Angels — intercedes  for  Sodom,  chap 

XXVII.  The  destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  ohap.  xix. 

XXVIII.  Abraham  and  xVbiinolech,  chap.  xx.  ... 

XXIX.  The  birth  of  Isaac,  &c.,  chap.  xxi. 

XXX.  Abraham  commanded  to  off:  i-  up  Isaac,  chap.  xxii.  . 

XXXI.  Death  and  Burial  of  Sarah,  chap,  xxiii. 

XXXII.  Abraham  sends  his  servant  to  obtain  a  wife  for  Isaac, 

XXXIII.  The  same  subject  continued,         ....... 

XXXIV.  Abraha.m   marries  Keturah — dies — Ishmael's  posterity  and  death — 

birth,  &c.  of  Esau  and  Jacob,  chap,  xxv 

XXXV.  Isaac  and  Abimolech,  chap,  xxvi 

XXXVI.  Jacob  obtains  the  blessing,  chap,  xxvii. 

XXXVII.  Departs  from  Beersheba,  chap,  xxviii 

XXXVIII.  Arrives  at  Haran,  chap,  xxix 

XXXIX.  Residence  in  Haran,  chap.  xxx.  xxxi    ] — 16 

XL.  Departs  from  Haran,  chap.  xxxi.  17 — 55. 

XLI.  Is  afraid  of  Esau — wrestles  with  the  Angel,  chap,  xxxii. 

XLII.  Interview  with  Esau — arrives  in  Canaan,  chap,  xxxiii. 

XLIII.  Dinah  defiled,  and  the  Shechemites  murdered,  chap,  xxxiv 

XLIV.  Jacob  removes  to  Bethel — covenant  reversed — death   of  Deborah — 

Rachel  and  Isaac — Esau's  generations,  chap.  xxxv.  xsxvi. 

XLV.  Joseph  sold  for  a  slave,  chap,  xxxvii.        ..... 

XLVI.  Judah's  conduct — Joseph's  promotion  and  temptation,  chap,  xxxvi 
xxxix.         ........... 

XL  VII.  Joseph  in  prison,  chap.  xl.         . 

XLVIII.  Joseph's  advancement,  chap.  xii.  ...... 

XLIX.  First  interview  between  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  chap.  xlii.    • 

L.  Second  interview  between  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  chap,  xliii.    . 

LI.  The  cup  in  Benjamin's  sack,  chap.  xliv.  1 — 17. 

iii 


Page 
1 


IV 


CONTENTS. 


Discourse  LII. 

LIII. 

LIV. 

LV. 

LVI. 
LVII. 
LVIII. 


Paff-> 

Jadah's  intercession,  chap.  xliv.  IS — 34 173 

Joseph  makes  himself  known  to  his  brethren,  chap.  slv.  .         .     176 

Jacob  goes  down  into  Egypt,  chap  slvi. 179 

Joseph's  conduct  in  the  settlement  of  his  brethren,  and  in  the  affairs 

of  Egypt,  chap,  xlvii 1S2 

Interview  with  his  dying  father — blessing  of  his  sons,  chap,  xlviii.        1S5 
Jacob's  blessing  on  the  tribes,  chap.  slix.      .....         ISS 

Jacob's  burial — Joseph  removes  the  fears  of  his  brethren — death  of 

Joseph,  chap.  1 195 

Conclusion, 19S 


EXPOSITORY  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Dedication, ...201 

Abstract  of  the  Prophecy, 202 

I.     Introductory  and  preparatory  vision,  chap.  i.            ....  207 

II.     Epistles  to  the  Churches,  chap.  ii.  iii. 210 

III.  The  same  subject  continued,              214 

IV.  Vision  of  the  throne  of  God,  chap.  iv. 219 

V.     The  Book  with  Seven  Seals,  chap,  v 220 

VI.     The  Seals  opened,  chap,  vi 222 

VII.     The  Seals  opened,  (continued,)          .......  225 

VIII.     Sealing  of  the  Servants  of  God,  chap,  vii 227 

IX.     Seventh  Seal  subdivided  into  Seven  Trumpets,  chap.  viii.  1 — 12,     .  230 

Appendix — History  of  the  first  Four  Trumpets,     ....  232 
X.     First  Woe  Trumpet ;  or  the  Smoke  and  Locusts,  chap.  viii.  13,  is. 

1—12, 236 

XI.     Second  Woe  Trumpet ;  or  the  Army  of  Horsemen,  chap.  ix.  13 — 21,  238 

XII.     Introduction  to  the  Western  Papal  Apostacy,  chap.  x.          .         .  240 

THE  FIRST  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PAPAL  APOSTACY. 

XIII.  State  of  the  Church  imder  the  Papal  Apostacy,  chap.  xi.  1 — 6          .  243 
Appendix — History  of  the  Witnesses, 245 

XIV.  Slaughter  and  resurrection  of  the  Witnesses,  with  the   falling  of  the 

tenth  part  of  the  city,  chap.  xi.  7 — 13, 249 

XV.     Sounding  of  the  Seventh  Angel,  chap.  xi.  14 — 19,         .        ,        .  254 

THE  SEi^OND  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION. 

XVI.     The  great  Red  Dragon,  and   the  Woman  fleeing  to  the  Wilderness, 

chap.  xii.  1 — 6, 256 

XVII.     War  between  Michael  and  the  Dragon,  chap.  xii.  7 — 17,      .        .  259 

THE  THIRD  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION. 

XVIII.     The  Beast  with  Seven  Heads  and  Ten  Horns,  chap.  xiii.  1 — 10,      .  261 

XIX.     The  Beast  with  Two  Horns,  like  a  Lamb,  chap.  xiii.  11 — 18,       .  265 

XX.     The  Lamb's  Company,  chap.  xiv.  1 — 5, 267 

XXI.     Messages  of  the  Three  Angels,  the  Harvest,  and  the  Vintage,  chap. 

xiv.  6—20, 269 

XXII.     Introduction  to  the  Vials,  chap.  xv. 271 

XXIII.  On  the  Vials,  chap,  xvi 273 

XXIV.  The  Vials,  (continued,) •         ...  276 

XXV.     The  Great  Harlot  and  the  Beast,  chap.  xvii.           ....  279 

XXVI.     Fall  of  Babylon— Marriage  of  the  Lamb,  chap,  xviii.  xix.  1 — 10,     .  2S3 

XXVII.     Beast  and  False  Prophet  taken,  chap.  xix.  11 — 21,        .         .         .  287 

XXVIII.     The  Millennium,  chap.  xx.  1—6 291 

XXIX.     The  Falling  away — End  of  the  World — Resurrection — Last  Judg- 
ment, chap.  XX.  7 — 15, 295 

XXX.     New  Heaven — New  Earth — New  Jerusalem,  chap.  xxi.  xxii.  1 — 5,  297 

XXXI.     Attestation  to  the  Truth  of  the  Prophecy,  chap.  xxii.  6 — 21,        .  299 

Conclusion,        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .301 

Addition  in  1814, 306 


CIRCULAR  LETTERS. 

The  excellence  and  utility  of  Hope,  A.D.  1782, 308 

Causes  of  declension  in  Religion,  and  means  of  Revival,  1785,        ....  318 

Why  Christians  in  the  present  day  possess  less  joy  than  the  Primitive  Disciples,  1795,  325 

The  Discipline  of  the  Primitive  Churches  illustrated  and  enforced,  1799,   .         .         .  331 


CONTENTS.  ▼ 

Page 

The  practical  uses  of  Christian  Baptism,  1802, ,        339 

The  Pastor's  Address  to  his  Christian  hearers,  entreating  their  assistance  in  promoting 

the  interest  of  Christ,  1806, 345 

On  moral  and  positive  obedience,  1807     .         ,         • 352 

The  promise  of  the  Spirit  the  grand  encouragement  in  promoting  the  Gospel,  1810,        359 
The  situation  of  the  Widows  and  Orphans  of  Christian  Ministers,  IS  15,     .        .         .     363 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  REV.  SAMUEL  PEARCE,  M.A. 

Dedication,  « 367 

Introduction, 368 

Chaptee   I.    His  parentage,  conversion,  call  to  the  misistry,  and  settlement  at  Bir- 
mingham, ............     369 

II.    His  laborious  exertions  in  promoting  Missions  to  the  heathen,  and  his 

offering  himself  to  become  a  Missionary, 378 

III.  His  exercises  and  labour,  from  the   lime  of  his  giving   up  the  idea  of 

going  abroad,  to  the  commencement  of  his  last  affliction,  .        .     392 

IV.  An  account  of  his  last  affliction,  and   the  holy  and  happy  exercises  of 

his  mind  under  it,  ......         .  .         .        409 

V.    General  Outlines  of  his  character, 429 


ESSAYS,  LETTERS,  &c.,  ON  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

An  inquiry  into  tlie  right  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion,  ...  447 

Creeds  and  subscriptions,  ...........  449 

Thoughts  on  the  principles  on  which  the  Apostles  proceeded  in  forming  and  organizing 

Christian  churches,  &c. ,         .  ^1 

A  brief  statement  of  the  principles  of  dissent, 459 

Vindication  of  protestant  dissent,  in  reply  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Robinson,  M.A.         .  463 

The  presence  of  Judas  at  the  Lord's  supper, 473 

Dissent,        ................  474 

State  of  dissenting  discipline,  ......,.,,,  477 

Discipline  of  the  English  and  Scottish  Baptist  churches,  •        •        ,         •        .  478 

State  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  Northamptonshire,  .         ,         .         ,        ,         ,  481 

Decline  of  the  dissenting  interest,         ••..•••••.  483 

Agreement  in  sentiment,  the  bond  of  Christian  union,    ••••••  489 

Ordination  : — 

Re-ordination  and  imposition  of  hands,         ••••••>.  492 

Validity  of  lay  ordination,  ......,»         ^         .  495 

Administering  the  Lord's  supper  without  ordination,    ••,••>  495 

Administering  the  Lord's  supper  without  a  minister,  .        .        ,        ,        ,  496 

Counsel  to  a  young  minister  in  prospect  of  ordination,         .....  497 

The  dpostolic  office, 498 

Terms  of  Communion  : 

Remarks  on  infant  baptism  and  infant  communion,       ......  499 

Strictures  on  the  Rev.  John  Carter's  "  Thoughts  on  Baptism  and  Mixed  Commu> 

nion," 501 

Thoughts  on  open  communion,  in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  W.  Ward,  missionary  at 

Serampore, 603 

Strict  communion  in  the  church  at  Serampore,  ......  507 

The  admission  of  unbaptized  persons  to  the  Lord's  supper  inconsistent  with  the 

New  Testament,  ...  508 

Instrumental  music  in  Christian  worship,         ........  6)5 

Thoughts  on  singing, 521 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  LETTERS,  &c. 

Truth, 624 

The  raaDDCt  in  which  Divine  truth  is  communicated, ,        .  637 

The  great  question  answered, •         ,        ,  640 

The  Awakened  Sinner;  or  Letters  between  Archippus  and  Epaphras,        ...  649 

Spirituat  Pbide,  &c.  : — 

Introduction, .....,,  664 

Sect.  1.     Occasions  or  objects  of  spiritual  pride, 665 

2.    Causes  of  spiritual  pride,  .....,,»,  574 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Pac6 

Remarks  on  two  sermons  by  W.  W.  Home  of  Yarmouth,           •        •        «        .        .  678 

The  moral  law  the  rule  of  conduct  to  believers,       ....,,.  685 

Strictures  on  sentiments  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Robinson, 588 

On  spiritual  declension  and  means  of  revival,           .         .         •         .        .        .         .  615 

The  Backslider,  &c.  : — 

Introduction,          •••..........  635 

General  nature  and  different  species  of  backsliding, 635 

Symptoms  of  a  backsliding  spirit, .  642 

Injurious  and  dangerous  effects  of  sin  lying  upon  the  conscience  unlamented,  647 

Means  of  recovery, 652 

Progressiveness  of  sin  and  of  holiness,         .........  660 

Persuasives  to  a  general  union  in  prayer  for  the  revival  of  religion,        .        .        .  666 

Thoughts  on  Civil  Polity  : — 

Attachment  to  government,  . .         .         .  670 

Reflections  on  the  Epistle  of  Jude 674 

Influence  of  the  conduct  of  religious  people  on  the  well-being  of  a  country,       .  675 

Political  self-righteousness,        ..........  675 

The  proper  and  improper  use  of  terms,         .........  677 

The  immaculate  life  of  Christ, 686 

The  Deity  of  Christ  : — 

Tlie  Deity  of  Christ  essential  to  the  atonement, 693 

The  Deity  of  Christ  essential  to  our  calling  on  his  name,  and  trusting  in  him  for 

salvation,        .............  695 

Defence  of  the  Deity  of  Christ, 697 

Remarks  on  the  indwelling  scheme,         ...• 699 

On  the  Sonship  of  Christ, 704 

On  the  Trinity, 707 

Justification  : 

The  doctrine  of  imputed  righteousness,       ..•••...  709 

Imputation  and  original  sin  (from  a  MS.)    ...••...  720 

To  the  afflicted, 722 

The  Heavenly  Glory  r — 

Nature  and  progiessiveness  of  heavenly  glory, 725 

Degrees  in  glory  proportioned  to  works  of  piety  consistent  with  Balvation  by  grace 

alone, 741 

The  final  consummation  of  all  things, 743 


REVIEWS. 

The  abuse  of  Reviews, .•,••••  745 

Scott's  "  Warrant  and  Nature  of  Faith," 749 

Booth's  "  Glad  Tidings,"  &c., 752 

Bootli's  Sermon — the  "  Amen  of  Social  Prayer,"     .......  755 

Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  James  Garie,       .         .         .         .         .         .         .         ,         .         .  756 

Bevan's  defence  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Friends,      .......  757 

Jerram's  "  Letters  on  the  Atonement," .  760 

*'  The  Voice  of  Years  concerning  the  late  W.  Huntington,  S.  S."  .        .        •        •  762 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

The  fall  of  Adam, 765 

The  accountability  of  man, 766 

Moral  inability, 768 

The  love  of  God,  and  its  extension  to  the  non-elect,       ......  769 

The  prayer  of  the  wicked, 772 

Aspect  of  gospel  promises  to  the  wicked, .  773 

Power  and  influence  of  the  gospel,      ..........  774 

The  nature  of  regeneration, 776 

Faith  not  merely  intellectual,       ...........  779 

Faith  required  by  the  moral  law, •  781 

Christian  love, .••....  782 

Christian  charity, .«...•  783 

Character  not  determined  by  individual  acts, 784 


CONTENTS.  Vii 

Page 
Satan's  temptation?,  •.•...•••,..        784 

Jbedience  and  suffering  of  Christ,         ...         ••••»..    785 

Jesus  growing  in  wisdom  and  knowledge,         •*••••••        7S7 

Reading  the  Scriptures,         .......,•,,.     788 

State  of  the  mind  in  social  and  secret  prayer,  ••>••••         789 

Nature  of  indwelling  sin,      ....,,•••,,.    790 

Preservation  against  backsliding,      ..••••»,        ,,791 

Ministerial  call  and  qualifications,        ..•..»,,,,     793 


FUGITIVE  PIECES 

The  necessity  of  seeking  first  the  things  of  greatest  importance,        .        .        *        .  795 

Party  spirit, 797 

Evil  things  under  specious  names,        ..........  797 

Scriptural  treatment  of  rich  and  poor  Christians,      .......  800 

Dangerous  tendency  of  the  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation,         .....  802 

The  mystery  of  Providence,      ...........  805 

Connexions  of  the  doctrine  of  election  in  the' Scriptures,            .        .        •        .        .  807 

The  English  translation  of  the  Scriptures,         ........  810 

Commendation, ....Sll 

Oration  at  the  grave  of  Rev.  R.  Hall,        .........  813 

Lines  to  the  memory  of  Rev.  R,  Hall,           .....•••.  815 

Nature  of  true  virtue, •••••••  817 

Morality  not  founded  in  utility, .        .        ,         .818 

The  Great  Aim  of  Life.             819 

Credulity  and  disingenuousness  of  unbelief,          ........  821 

The  establishment  of  the  Glasgow  Missionary  Society,    ......  823 

Importance  of  faith,  especially  in  Missionary  undertakings,         *         .         •         .         .  825 

Infinite  evil  of  sin, 828 

The  Leper, 828 

The  Christian  Sabbath, 828 

Picture  of  an  Antinomian,            ....••••••.  829 


SERMONS. 

The  progress  of  the  Gospel, .*.*  832 

A  right  Spirit, 836 

Ikdex, 843 


EXPOSITORY    DISCOURSES 


THE    BOOK    OF    GENESIS, 


INTERSPERSED  ■WITH 


PRACTICAL   REFLECTIONS. 


TO  THE 

BAPTIST  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST  AT  KETTERING. 

My  dear  Brethren, 

It  is  now  upwards  of  twenty-two  years  since  I  first  took  the  oversight 
of  you  in  the  Lord.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  it  has,  as  you  know,  been 
my  practice  to  expound  among  you,  on  a  Lord's  day  morning,  some  part  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  commonly  a  chapter.  From  all  that  I  have  felt  in  my 
own  mind,  and  heard  from  you,  I  have  reason  to  hope  these  exercises  have 
not  been  in  vain.  They  have  enabled  us  to  take  a  more  connected  view  of 
the  Scriptures  than  could  be  obtained  merely  by  sermons  on  particular  pass- 
ages ;  and  I  acknowledge  that,  as  I  have  proceeded,  the  work  of  exposition 
has  become  more  and  more  interesting  to  ray  heart. 

I  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of  writing  dedications  to  what  I  have  pub- 
lished, but  in  this  instance  I  feel  inclined  to  deviate  from  my  usual  practice. 
Considering  my  time  of  life,  and  the  numerous  avocations  on  my  hands,  I 
may  not  be  able  to  publish  any  thing  more  of  the  kind ;  and  if  not,  permit 
me  to  request  that  this  family  book  may  be  preserved  as  a  memorial  of  our 
mutual  affection,  and  of  the  pleasures  we  have  enjoyed  together  in  exploring 
the  treasures  of  the  lively  oracles. 

You  will  consider  these  Discourses  as  the  result  of  having  once  gone  over 
that  part  of  the  Scriptures  to  which  they  relate.  Were  we  to  go  over  it  again 
and  again,  such  is  the  fulness  of  God's  word,  that  we  should  still  find  interest- 
ing and  important  matter  which  had  never  occurred  in  reading  it  before  ; 
and  this  should  encourage  us  not  to  rest  in  any  exposition,  but  to  be  con- 
stantly perusing  the  Scriptures  themselves,  and  digging  at  the  precious  ore. 

As  the  Exposition  was  delivered  in  public  worship,  it  was  not  my  wish  to 
dwell  upon  particular  words,  so  much  as  to  convey  the  general  scope  and 
design  of  the  Scriptures.  Whether  I  have  in  any  considerable  degree  caught 
the  s.pirit  which  runs  through  them  is  too  much  for  me  to  decide;  but  this  I 
can  say,  that  such  has  been  my  aim.    I  know  by  experience  that,  with  respect 

Vol.  III.— 1  A  1 


2  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

to  this,  when  I  have  been  the  most  spiritually-minded,  I  have  succeeded  the 
best;  and  therefore  conclude,  that  if  I  had  lived  nearer  to  God  the  work  had 
been  better  executed.  But,  such  as  it  is,  I  commend  it  to  the  blessing  of 
God  and  your  candid  acceptance ;  and  remain 

Your  affectionate  Pastor, 
Kettering,  October  29,  1805.  The  Author. 


DISCOURSE  I. 

THE  BOOK  IN  GENERAL,  AND  THE  FIRST  DAy's  CREATION. 
Genesis  i.  1-4. 

It  is  common  for  the  writers  of  other  histories  to  go  back  in  their 
researches  as  far  as  possible ;  but  Moses  traces  his  from  the  beginning.  The 
whole  book  is  upon  the  origin  of  things,  even  of  all  things  that  had  a  begin- 
ning. The  visible  creation,  the  generations  of  man,  moral  evil  among  men. 
the  spiritual  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  the  new  world,  the  church  in  the 
family  of  Abraham,  the  various  nations  and  tribes  of  man ;  every  thing,  in 
short,  now  going  on  in  the  world,  may  be  traced  hither  as  to  its  spring-head. 
Without  this  history  the  world  would  be  in  total  darkness,  not  knowing 
whence  it  came,  nor  whither  it  goeth.  In  the  first  page  of  this  sacred  book 
a  child  may  learn  more  in  an  hour  than  all  the  philosophers  in  the  world 
learned  without  it  in  thousands  of  years. 

There  is  a  majestic  sublimity  in  the  introduction.  No  apology,  preamble, 
or  account  of  the  writer :  you  are  introduced  at  once  into  the  very  heart  of 
things.  No  vain  conjectures  about  what  was  before  time,  nor  why  things 
were  done  thus  and  thus ;  but  simply  so  it  was. 

In  this  account  of  the  creation  nothing  is  said  on  the  being  of  God;  this 
great  truth  is  taken  for  granted.  May  not  this  apparent  omission  be  designed 
to  teach  us  that  those  who  deny  the  existence  of  a  Deity  are  rather  to  be 
rebuked  than  reasoned  with  ?  All  reasoning  and  instruction  must  proceed 
upon  some  principle  or  principles,  and  what  can  be  more  proper  than  this? 
Those  writers  who  have  gone  about  to  prove  it,  have,  in  my  opinion,  done 
but  little,  if  any,  good;  and  in  many  instances  have  only  set  men  a  doubting 
upon  a  subject  which  is  so  manifest  from  every  thing  around  them  as  to 
render  the  very  heathens  without  excuse,  Rom.  i.  20. 

The  foundation  of  this  vast  fabric  is  laid  in  an  adequate  cause — Elohim, 
The  Almighty.  Nothing  else  would  bear  it.  Man,  if  he  attempt  to  find  an 
adequate  cause  for  what  is,  to  the  overlooking  of  God,  shall  but  weary  him- 
self with  very  vanity. 

The  writer  makes  use  of  the  plural  term  Elohim,  which  yet  is  joined  to 
singular  verbs.  This  has  been  generally  thought  to  intimate  the  doctrine 
of  a  plurality  in  the  unity  of  the  Godhead.  It  is  certain  the  Scriptures  speak 
of  the  Son  and  Holy  Spirit  as  concerned  in  creation,  as  well  as  the  Father, 
John  i.  1 ;  Gen.  i.  2.  Nor  can  I,  on  any  other  supposition,  affix  a  consis- 
tent meaning  to  such  language  as  that  which  afterwards  occurs :  "  Let  us 
make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  likeness," — "Behold,  the  man  is  become 
like  one  of  us." 

The  account  given  by  Moses  relates  not  to  the  ivhole  creation,  but  merely 
to  what  it  immediately  concerns   us  to   know.     God   made   angels;   but 


THE  FIRST  DAY  S  CREATION.  3 

nothing  is  said  of  them.  The  moon  is  called  one  of  the  greater  lights,  not 
as  to  what  it  is  in  itself,  but  what  it  is  to  us.  The  Scriptures  are  written, 
not  to  gratify  curiosity,  but  to  nourish  faith.  They  do  not  stop  to  tell  j'ou 
Jioto,  nor  to  answer  a  number  of  questions  which  might  be  asked ;  but  tell 
you  so  much  as  is  necessary,  and  no  more. 

Ver.  1,  2.  The  first  act  of  creation  seems  to  have  been  general,  and  the 
foundation  of  all  that  followed.  What  the  heavens  were  when  first  produced, 
previously  to  the  creation  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  it  did  not  greatly  con- 
cern us  to  know,  and  therefore  we  are  not  told.  What  the  eart?i  was  we  are 
informed  in  verse  2.  It  was  a  chaos,  without  form,  and  void;  a  confused 
mass  of  earth  and  water,  covered  with  darkness,  and  void  of  all  those  fruits 
which  afterwards  covered  the  face  of  it.  As  regeneration  is  called  a  crea- 
tion, this  may  fitly  represent  the  state  of  the  soul  while  under  the  dominion 
of  sin. — "  The  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  The 
word  signifies  as  much  as  brooded ;  and  so  is  expressive  of  "  an  active, 
effectual  energy,  agitating  the  vast  abyss,  and  infusing  into  it  a  powerful 
vital  principle."     Hence  those  lines  of  Milton  : — 

"  And  chiefly  thou,  O  Spirit- 


-that,  with  mighty  wings  outspread, 
Dove-like,  satt'st  brooding  on  the  vast  abyss, 
And  mad'st  it  pregnant." 

Thus  also  God  hath  wrought  upon  the  moral  world,  which,  under  sin, 
was  without  form,  and  void ;  and  thus  he  operates  upon  every  individual 
mind,  causing  it  to  bring  forth  fruit  unto  himself. 

Ver.  3.  From  a  general  account  of  the  creation,  the  sacred  writer  pro- 
ceeds to  particulars;  and  the  first  thing  mentioned  is  the  production  o(  light. 
The  manner  in  which  this  is  related  has  been  considered  as  an  example  of 
the  sublime.  It  expresses  a  great  event  in  a  kw  simple  words,  and  exhibits 
the  Almighty  God  perfectly  in  character :  "  He  speaks,  and  it  is  done ;  he 
commands,  and  it  stands  fast."  The  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  the  dark 
soul  of  man  is  fitly  set  forth  in  allusion  to  this  great  act  of  creation:  "God, 
who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  into  our 
hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of 
Jesus  Christ."  As  soon  might  chaos  have  emerged  from  its  native  darkness 
as  our  benighted  world,  or  benighted  souls,  have  found  the  light  of  life  of 
their  own  accord.  Nor  was  it  sufficient  to  have  furnished  us  with  a  revela- 
tion from  heaven :  the  same  almighty  power  that  was  necessary  to  give 
material  light  a  being  in  the  world  was  necessary  to  give  spiritual  light  a 
being  in  the  heart. 

The  light  here  mentioned  was  not  that  of  the  sun,  which  was  created 
afterwards.  Hence  a  late  infidel  writer  has  raised  an  objection  against  the 
Scriptures,  that  they  speak  of  light,  and  even  of  night  and  day,  which  are 
well  known  to  arise  from  the  situation  of  the  earth  towards  the  sun,  before 
the  sun  was  made.  But  he  might  as  well  have  objected  that  they  speak  of 
the  earth  in  ver.  1,  2,  and  yet  afterwards  tell  us  of  the  dry  land,  as  separated 
from  the  waters,  constituting  the  earth,  ver.  9,  10.  The  truth  seems  to  be, 
that  what  chaos  was  to  the  earth,  that  the  light  was  to  the  sun :  the  former 
denotes  the  general  principles  of  which  the  latter  was  afterwards  composed. 
A  flood  of  light  was  produced  on  the  first  day  of  creation,  and  on  the  fourth 
it  was  collected  and  formed  into  distinct  bodies.  And  though  these  bodies, 
when  made,  were  to  rule  day  and  night,  yet,  prior  to  this,  day  and  night 
were  ruled  by  the  Creator's  so  disposing  of  the  light  and  darkness  as  to 
divide  them,  ver.  4.  That  which  was  afterwards  done  ordinarily  by  the  sun 
was  now  done  extraordinarily  by  the  division  of  darkness  and  light. 

Ver.  4.   "  God  saw  the  light  that  it  was  good."     Light  is  a  wonderful 


4  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

creature,  full  of  goodness  to  us.  This  is  sensibly  felt  by  those  who  have 
been  deprived  of  it,  either  by  the  loss  of  sight,  or  by  confinement  in 
dungeons  or  mines.  How  pathetically  does  our  blind  poet  lament  the  loss 
of  it:— 

'•■  Seasons  return  ;  but  not  to  me  returns 
Day,  or  the  sweet  approach  of  even  or  morn, 
Or  sight  of  vernal  bloom,  or  summer's  rose. 
Or  flocks,  or  herds,  or  human  face  divine: 
But  cloud  instead,  and  ever-during  dark 
Surrounds  me  !     From  the  cheerful  ways  of  men 
Cut  off;  and,  for  the  book  of  knowledge  fair, 
Presented  with  a  universal  blank 
Of  natures's  works,  to  me  expunged  and  rased 
And  wisdom  at  one  entrance  quite  shut  out!" 

If  such  be  the  value  of  material  light,  how  much  more  of  that  which  is 
mental  and  spiritual !  and  how  much  are  we  indebted  to  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God  for  inditing  the  Scriptures,  and  opening  our  benighted  minds  to  under- 
stand them ! 


DISCOURSE  II. 

THE  LAST  FIVE  DAYS'  CREATION. 

Gen.  i.  6-31. 


Ver.  6-8.  We  here  enter  upon  the  second  day,  which  was  employed  in 
making  a  firmament  or  expanse.  It  includes  the  atmosphere,  and  all  that  is 
visible,  from  the  position  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  down  to  the  surface 
of  the  globe,  ver.  14,  15,  20. 

The  use  of  it  was  to  "  divide  the  waters  from  the  waters ;"  that  is,  the 
waters  on  the  earth  from  the  waters  in  the  clouds,  which  are  well  known  to 
be  supported  by  the  buoyant  atmosphere.  The  division  here  spoken  of  is 
that  of  distribution.  God,  having  made  the  substance  of  all  things,  goes 
on  to  distribute  them.  By  means  of  this  the  earth  is  watered  by  the  rain  of 
heaven,  without  which  it  would  be  unfruitful,  and  all  its  inhabitants  perish. 
God  makes  nothing  in  vain.     There  is  a  grandeur  in  the  firmament  to  the 

to  ^  o  _ 

eye ;  but  this  is  not  all ;  usefulness  is  combmed  with  beauty.  Nor  is  it  use- 
ful only  with  respect  to  animal  subsistence,  it  is  a  mirror,  conspicuous  to  all, 
displaying  the  glory  of  its  Creator,  and  showing  his  handiworks.  The  clouds 
also,  by  emptying  themselves  upon  the  earth,  set  us  an  example  of  generosity, 
and  reprove  those  who,  full  of  this  world's  good,  yet  keep  it  principally  to 
themselves,  Eccles.  xi.  1-3. 

Ver.  9-13.  God  having  divided  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  he  now,  on 
the  third  day,  proceeds  to  subdivide  the  earth,  or  chaos,  into  land  and  v/ater. 
The  globe  became  terraqueous ;  partly  earth,  and  partly  sea. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive  the  goodness  of  God  in  this  distribution.  Important 
as  earth  and  water  both  arc,  yet,  while  mixed  together,  they  afford  no  abode 
for  creatures ;  but,  separated,  each  is  a  beautiful  habitation,  and  each  sub- 
serves the  other.  By  means  of  this  distribution  the  waters  are  ever  in  motion, 
which  preserves  them,  and  almost  every  thing  else,  from  stagnancy  and 
putrefaction.  That  which  the  circulation  of  the  blood  is  to  the  animal 
frame,  the  waters  are  to  the  world :  were  they  to  stop,  all  would  stagnate  and 


LAST  FIVE  days'  CREATION.  5 

die,  Eccles.  i,  7.  See  how  careful  our  heavenly  Father  was  to  build  us  a 
habitation  before  he  gave  us  a  being.  Nor  is  this  the  only  instance  of  the 
kind :  our  Redeemer  has  acted  on  the  same  principle,  in  going  before  to 
prepare  a  place  for  us. 

Having  fitted  the  earth  for  fruitfulness,  God  proceeds  to  clothe  it  with 
grass,  and  herbs,  and  trees  of  every  kind.  There  seems  to  be  an  emphasis 
laid  on  every  herb  and  tree  having  its  seed  in  itself.  ■  We  here  see  the  pru- 
dent foresight,  if  I  may  so  speak,  of  the  great  Creator  in  providing  for  futurity. 
It  is  a  character  that  runs  through  all  his  works,  that,  having  communicated 
the  first  principles  of  things,  they  should  go  on  to  multiply  and  increase,  not 
independently  of  him,  but  as  blessed  by  his  conservative  goodness.  It  is 
thus  that  true  religion  is  begun  and  carried  on  in  the  mind,  and  in  care  and 
the  world. 

Ver.  14-19.  After  dividing  this  lower  v/orld,  and  furnishing  it  with  the 
principles  of  vegetation,  the  Creator  proceeded,  on  the  fourth  day,  to  the 
producing  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  First  they  are  described  in  general,  as 
the  lights  of  heaven  (ver.  14,  15) ,  and  then  more  particularly,  as  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars,  ver.  lG-19. 

The  use  of  these  bodies  is  said  to  be  not  only  for  dividing  the  day  from 
the  night,  but  "  for  signs  and  seasons,  and  days  and  years."  They  ordinarily 
afford  signs  of  weather  to  the  husbandman  (Matt.  xvi.  3) ;  and,  prior  to  the 
discovery  of  the  use  of  the  loadstone,  were  of  great  importance  to  the 
mariner.  Acts  xxvii.  20.  They  appear  also,  on  some  extraordinary  occa- 
sions, to  have  been  premonitory  to  the  world.  Previously  to  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  our  Lord  foretold  that  there  should  be  great  earthquakes  in 
divers  places,  and  famines,  and  pestilences,  and  fearful  sights,  and  great 
signs  from  heaven,  Luke  xxi.  11.  And  it  is  said  by  Josephus  that  a  comet, 
like  a  flaming  sword,  was  seen  for  a  long  time  over  that  devoted  city,  a  little 
before  its  destruction  by  the  Romans.  Heathen  astrologers  made  gods  of 
these  creatures,  and  filled  the  minds  of  men  with  chimerical  fears  concern- 
ing them.  Against  these  God  warns  his  people,  saying,  "  Be  ye  not  dis- 
mayed at  the  signs  of  heaven."  This,  however,  does  not  prove  but  that  he 
may  sometimes  make  use  of  them.  Modern  astronomers,  by  accounting  for 
various  phenomena,  would  deny  their  being  signs  of  any  thing ;  but,  to 
avoid  the  superstitions  of  heathenism,  there  is  no  necessity  for  our  running 
into  atheism. 

The  heavenly  bodies  are  also  said  to  be  for  seasons,  as  winter  and  sum- 
mer, day  and  night.  We  have  no  other  standard  for  the  measuring  of  time. 
The  great  vicissitudes  also  which  attend  them  are  expressive  of  the  good- 
ness of  God.  If  it  were  always  day  or  night,  summer  or  winter,  our  enjoy- 
ments would  be  unspeakably  diminished.  Well  is  it  said  at  every  pause, 
Atid  God  saw  that  it  tvas  good  1 

David  improved  this  subject  to  a  religious  purpose :  "  Day  unto  day  utter- 
eth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge."  Every  night  we 
retire  we  are  reminded  of  death ;  and  every  morning  we  arise,  of  the  resur- 
rection. In  beholding  the  sun  also,  "  which  is  as  a  bridegroom  coming  out 
of  his  chamber,  and  rejoiceth  as  a  strong  man  to  run  his  race,"  we  see  every 
day  a  glorious  example  of  the  steady  and  progressive  "path  of  the  just, 
which  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 

Ver.  20-25.  We  are  next  led  to  review  the  animal  creation ;  a  species 
of  being  less  resplendent,  but  not  less  useful,  than  some  of  greater  note. 
In  one  view,  the  smallest  animal  has  a  property  belonging  to  it  which  ren- 
ders it  superior  to  the  sun.  It  has  life,  and  some  degree  of  knowledge.  It 
IS  worthy  of  notice,  too,  that  the  creation  begins  with  things  without  life, 
and  proceeds  to  things  possessing  vegetative  life,  then  to  those  which  have 

*'  a3 


O  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

animal  life,  and  after  that  to  man,  who  is  the  subject  of  rational  life.  This 
shows  that  life  is  of  great  account  in  the  Creator's  estimation,  who  thus 
causes  the  subject  to  rise  upon  us  as  we  proceed. 

Ver.  20-31.  We  are  now  come  to  the  sixth  and  last  day's  work  of  crea- 
tion, which  is  of  greater  account  to  us  than  any  which  have  gone  before,  as 
the  subject  of  it  is  man. — We  may  observe, 

1.  That  the  creation  of  man  is  introduced  differently  from  that  of  all  other 
beings.  It  is  described  as  though  it  were  the  result  of  a  special  counsel, 
and  as  though  there  were  a  peculiar  importance  attached  to  it ,  "  God  said. 
Let  us  make  man."  Under  the  Great  Supreme,  man  was  to  be  the  lord  of 
the  lower  world.  On  him  would  depend  its  future  well-being.  Man  was 
to  he  a  distinguished  link  in  the  chain  of  being ;  uniting  the  animal  with 
the  spiritual  world,  the  frailty  of  the  dust  of  the  ground  with  the  breath  of 
the  Almighty;  and  possessing  that  consciousness  of  right  and  wrong  which 
should  render  him  a  proper  subject  of  moral  government. 

2.  Man  was  honoured  in  being  made  after  his  Creator's  image.  This  is 
repeated  with  emphasis :  "  God  created  man  in  his  own  image ;  in  the 
image  of  God  created  he  him."  The  image  of  God  is  partly  natural,  and 
parUy  moral ;  and  man  was  made  after  both.  The  former  consisted  in  rea- 
son, by  which  he  was  fitted  for  dominion  over  the  creatures,  James  iii.  7; 
the  latter,  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness,  by  which  he  was  fitted  for  com- 
munion with  his  Creator.  The  figure  of  his  body,  by  which  he  was  distin- 
guished from  all  other  creatures,  was  an  emblem  of  his  mind :  God  made 
man  upright.  I  remember  once,  on  seeing  certain  animals  which  approached 
near  to  the  human  form,  feeling  a  kind  of  jealousy  (shall  I  call  it?)  for  the 
honour  of  my  species.  What  a  condescension  then,  thought  I,  must  it  be 
for  the  eternal  God  to  stamp  his  image  upon  man ! 

"  God  made  man  upright."  He  knew  and  loved  his  Creator,  living  in 
fellowship  with  him  and  the  holy  angels.  Oh  how  fallen!  "How  is  the 
gold  become  dim,  and  the  most  fine  gold  changed !" 


DISCOURSE  III. 

CREATION  REVIEWED. 
Gen.  ii. 


This  chapter  contains  a  review  of  the  creation,  with  the  addition  of  some 
particulars,  such  as  the  institution  of  the  sabbath,  the  place  provided  for 
man,  the  law  given  him,  and  the  manner  of  the  creation  of  woman. 

Ver.  1.  There  is  something  impressive  in  this  review  :  "  Thus  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them" — wisely,  mightily, 
kindly,  gradually,  but  perfectly.  Man's  work,  especially  when  great,  is 
commonly  a  work  of  ages.  One  lays  the  foundation,  and  another  the  top- 
stone;  or,  what  is  worse,  one  pulls  down  what  another  had  reared;  but  God 
finishes  his  work.     "  He  is  a  rock,  and  his  work  is  perfect." 

Ver.  2,  3.  The  conclusion  of  so  Divine  a  work  required  to  be  celebrated, 
as  well  as  the  Creator  adored,  in  all  future  ages;  hence  arose  the  institution 
of  the  sabbath.  We  are  not  to  imagine  that  God  was  weary,  or  that  he  was 
unable  to  have  made  the  whole  in  one  day;  but  this  was  done  for  an 
example  to  us. 

The  keeping  of  a  sabbath  sacred  for  Divine  worship  has  been  a  topic  cf 


CREATION  REVIEWED,  7 

much  dispute.  Some  have  questioned  whether  it  was  kept  by  the  patriarchs, 
or  before  the  departure  of  Israel  from  Egypt ;  supposing  that  Moses,  who 
wrote  the  Book  of  Genesis  about  that  time,  might  be  led  to  introduce  God's 
resting  from  his  works  on  the  seventh  day  as  a  motive  to  enforce  what  was 
then  enjoined  upon  them.  But  if  there  was  social  worship  before  the  flood, 
and  during  the  patriarchal  ages,  one  should  think  there  must  have  been  a 
time  for  it.  We  expressly  read  of  time  being  divided  into  weeks  during 
these  ages,  chap.  xxix.  27,  28 ;  and  as  early  as  the  flood,  when  Noah  sent 
out  the  dove  once  and  again  from  the  ark,  the  term  of  "  seven  days"  is 
noticed  as  the  space  between  the  times  of  sending  her.  Add  to  this,  the 
division  of  time  into  weeks  is  said  to  have  been  very  common  in  heathen 
nations  in  all  ages ;  so  that  though  they  ceased  to  observe  the  sabbath,  yet 
they  retained  what  was  a  witness  against  them — the  time  of  its  celebration. 

The  sabbath  was  not  only  appointed  for  God,  but  to  be  a  clciy  of  rest  for 
man,  particularly  for  the  poor.  It  was  enjoined  on  Israel  for  this  reason, 
"  That  thy  man-servant  and  thy  maid-servant  may  rest  as  well  as  thou :  and 
remember  that  thou  wast  a  servant  in  the  land  of  Egypt."  Those  who 
would  set  it  aside  are  no  less  the  enemies  of  the  poor  than  of  God  and  reli- 
gion :  they  consult  only  their  worldly  interest.  If  such  sordid  characters 
could  so  order  it,  their  servants  would  be  always  in  the  yoke.  Nor  would 
their  being  so  in  the  least  tend  to  increase  their  wages :  every  day's  work 
would  be  worth  a  little  less  than  it  is  now,  and  the  week's  work  would 
amount  to  much  the  same.  To  those  who  fear  God  it  is  also  a  rest  to  the 
7nind;  a  time  of  refreshing  after  the  toils  of  worldly  labour. 

The  reason  for  keeping  the  sabbath  was  drawn  not  only  from  God's  having 
rested,  but  from  the  rest  which  Israel  felt  from  the  yoke  of  Egypt,  Deut.  v. 
14,  15.  And  we  have  since  that  time  another  reason,  namely,  Christ  having 
rested  from  his  works,  as  God  did  from  his,  Heb.  iv.  4-10.  Hence,  accord- 
ing to  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Christians,  the  day  was  altered,  Acts  xx. 
7 :  and  by  how  much  more  interesting  the  work  of  redemption  is  than  that 
of  creation,  by  so  much  is  this  reason  greater  than  the  other. 

Finally,  It  is  a  Jewish  tradition,  and  seems  to  have  generally  prevailed, 
that,  as  there  is  a  harmony  of  times  in  the  works  of  God,  this  seventh  day 
of  rest  is  prefigurative  of  the  seven  thousandth  year  of  the  world  being  a  rest 
to  the  church.  We  know  that  years  were  divided  into  sevens,  and  seven  times 
sevens.  Every  seventh  year  the  land  was  to  have  its  sabbath,  and  every  fiftieth 
year  its  jubilee:  and  thus  it  may  be  with  the  world.  If  so,  we  are  not  at 
a  great  distance  from  it ;  and  this  will  be  the  period  when  a  great  number 
of  prophecies  of  the  universal  spread  of  the  gospel  shall  be  fulfilled. 

Ver.  4-7.  After  reviewing  the  whole  in  general,  and  noticing  the  day 
of  rest,  the  sacred  writer  takes  a  special  review  of  the  vegetable  creation, 
with  an  intent  to  mark  the  difference  of  its  first  production  and  ordinary 
propagation.  Plants  are  now  ordinarily  produced  by  rain  upon  the  earth 
and  human  tillage ;  but  the  first  plants  were  made  before  there  was  any  rain, 
or  any  human  hand  to  till  the  ground.  After  this,  a  mist  or  vapour  arose 
which  engendered  rain,  and  watered  the  earth,  ver.  6.  So  also  after  this 
God  formed  man  to  till  the  ground,  ver.  7.  It  is  God's  immediate  work  to 
communicate  the  first  principles  of  things ;  but  their  growth  is  promoted  by 
the  instrumentality  of  man.  And  now,  having  made  mention  of  man,  he 
tells  us  of  what  he  was  made.  His  body  was  formed  "  of  the  dust  of  the 
ground."  His  soul  proceeded  from  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty.  What 
a  wonderful  compound  is  man  !  There  seems  to  be  something  in  the  ad- 
ditional phrase,  "And  man  became  a  living  soul."  God  is  said  to  breathe 
the  breath  of  life  into  all  animals ;  and  we  sometimes  read  of  the  soul  of 
every  living  thing :  but  they  are  never  said  to  be  living  souls,  as  men  are. 


8  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

God  hath  stamped  rationality  and  immortality  upon  men's  souls,  so  as  to 
render  them  capable  of  a  separate  state  of  being,  even  when  their  bodies  are 
dead.  Hence  the  soul  of  a  beast,  when  it  dies,  is  said  to  go  downwards; 
the  soul  of  man  upwards,  Eccles.  xii.  7. 

Ver.  8.  Next  we  have  an  account  of  the  place  provided  for  man  ;  not  only 
the  world  at  large,  but  a  pleasant  part  of  it.  It  was  situated  in  the  country 
of  Eden,  in  Asia  ;  probably  among  the  mountains  of  the  East.  It  was  near 
the  origin  of  several  rivers,  which  always  proceed  from  mountainous  parts 
of  the  country.  It  is  spoken  of  as  rich  and  fruitful  in  a  high  degree,  so  as 
even  to  become  proverbial,  Gen.  xiii.  10;  Isa.  li.  3. 

Ver.  9.  Things  were  also  adapted  to  accommodate  man  :  trees  and  fruits, 
for  pleasure  and  use,  were  ready  to  his  hand.  Among  the  trees  of  Eden 
there  were  two  in  particular  which  appear  to  have  been  symbolical,  or 
designed  by  the  Creator  to  give  instruction,  in  the  manner  which  is  done 
by  our  positive  institutions.  One  was  "  the  tree  of  life,"  to  which  he  had 
free  access.  This  was  designed  as  a  symbol  to  him  of  that  life  which  stood 
connected  with  his  obedience ;  and,  therefore,  when  he  sinned,  he  was 
debarred  from  eating  it,  by  the  flaming  sword  and  cherubim,  which  turned 
every  way  to  guard  it.  The  other  was  "  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil,"  which  was  the  only  tree  of  the  fruit  of  which  he  was  forbidden  to  eat. 
As  the  name  of  the  former  of  these  trees  is  given  it  from  the  effect  which 
should  follow  obedience,  so  that  of  the  latter  seems  to  have  been  from  the 
effect  which  should  follow  on  disobedience.  Man,  on  the  day  he  should 
eat  thereof,  should  know  good  in  a  way  of  loss,  and  evil  in  a  way  of  suffer- 
ance. 

Ver.  10-14.  Besides  this,  it  was  a  well-watered  garden.  A  river  rose 
among  the  mountains  of  the  country  of  Eden,  which  directed  its  course 
through  it;  and  afterwards  divided  into  four  heads,  or  branches.  Two  of 
them  are  elsewhere  mentioned  in  Scripture ;  viz.  the  Hiddekel,  or  Tigris, 
and  the  Euphrates,  both  rivers  of  Asia.  With  the  others  we  are  less  ac- 
quainted. 

Ver.  15.  Among  the  provisions  for  man's  happiness  was  employment. 
Even  in  innocence  he  was  to  dress  the  garden  and  keep  it.  Man  was  not 
made  to  be  idle.  All  things  are  full  of  labour :  it  is  a  stupid  notion  that 
happiness  consists  in  slothful  ease,  or  in  having  nothing  to  do.  Those  who 
are  so  now,  whether  the  very  rich  or  the  very  poor,  are  commonly  among  the 
most  worthless  and  miserable  of  mankind. 

Ver.  16,  17.  The  trial  of  man,  by  a  special  prohibition,  was  singularly 
adapted  to  the  end.  To  have  conformed  to  his  Creator's  will,  he  must 
always  have  been  contented  with  implicit  obedience,  or  satisfied  in  abstain- 
ing from  a  thing  on  the  mere  ground  of  its  being  forbidden  of  God,  with- 
out perceiving  the  reason  of  his  being  required  to  do  so.  In  truth,  it  was  a 
test  of  his  continuing  in  the  spirit  of  a  little  child,  that  should  have  no  will 
of  its  own ;  and  this  is  still  the  spirit  of  true  religion.  The  consequences 
attached  to  a  breach  of  this  positive  law  teach  us  also  not  to  trifle  with  the 
will  of  God  in  his  ordinances,  but  implicitly  to  obey  it. 

More  particularly.  Observe,  1.  The  fulness  of  the  grant.  Here  was 
enough  for  man's  happiness  without  the  forbidden  fruit;  and  so  there  is  now 
in  the  world,  without  transgressing  the  boundaries  of  Heaven.  2.  The 
posiiivencss  of  the  prohibition — "  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it."  So  long  as  this 
was  kept  in  mind  it  was  well ;  and  it  appears  to  have  been  deeply  impressed, 
from  the  first  answer  of  the  woman  to  the  serpent,  chap.  iii.  3.  It  was  this 
impression  which  he  aimed  to  efface  by  his  devilish  question,  "  Yea,  hath 
God  said  it?"  And  when  once  she  began  to  doubt  of  this,  all  was  over. 
Let  us  learn  to  keep  God's  words  in  our  minds,  and  hide  them  in  our  hearts, 


CREATION  REVIEWED.  .  9 

that  we  may  not  sin  against  him.  It  was  with — Thus  and  thus  it  is  rcnttcn, 
that  our  Lord  repelled  all  his  temptations.  3.  The  penalty  annexed, — 
"  Thou  shalt  die,"  or,  "  Dying  thou  shalt  die."  Some  think  this  means 
corporeal  death,  and  that  only ;  and  that  if  the  threatening  had  been  exe- 
cuted man  must  have  been  immediately  struck  out  of  existence.  But  the 
death  here  threatened,  whatever  it  was,  is  said  to  have  passed  upon  all  7nen, 
which  implies  the  existence  of  all  men,  and  which  would  have  been  pre- 
vented if  Adam  had  at  that  time  been  reduced  to  a  staie  of  non-existence. 
The  original  constitution  of  things  provided  for  the  existence  of  every  indi- 
vidual that  has  since  been  born  into  the  world,  and  that  whether  man  should 
stand  or  Ml.  The  death  here  threatened  doubtless  included  that  of  the 
body,  which  God  might  execute  at  pleasure  ;  the  day  he  should  eat  he  would 
be  dead  in  law.  But  it  also  included  the  loss  of  the  Divine  favour,  and  an 
exposedness  to  his  wrath.  If  it  were  not  so,  the  redemption  of  Christ  would 
not  be  properly  opposed  to  it,  which  it  frequently  is,  Rom.  v.  12-21 ;  Heb. 
ix.  27,  2S.  Nor  is  Adam  to  be  considered  as  merely  a  private  individual : 
he  was  the  public  head  of  all  his  posterity,  so  that  his  transgression  involved 
their  being  transgressors  from  the  womb,  and  alike  exposed  to  death  with 
himself.  Such  has  been  the  character  of  all  mankind ;  and  such  is  the 
account  of  things  given  in  the  Scriptures.  If  men  now  find  fault  with  this 
part  of  the  Divine  government,  it  is  what  they  will  not  be  able  to  stand  to 
at  the  last  day.  The  Judge  of  all  the  earth  will,  in  that  day,  appear  to  have 
done  right,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  him  at  present.  4.  The  promise 
of  life  implied  by  it.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  if  man  had 
obeyed  his  Creator's  will,  he  would,  of  his  own  boundless  goodness,  have 
crowned  him  with  everlasting  bliss.  It  is  his  delight  to  impart  his  own 
infinite  blessedness  as  the  reward  of  righteousness ;  if  Adam,  therefore,  had 
continued  in  the  truth,  he  and  all  his  posterity  would  have  enjoyed  what  was 
symbolically  promised  him  by  the  tree  of  life.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to 
suppose  but  that  it  would  have  been  the  same  fo7'  substance  as  that  which 
believers  now  enjoy  through  a  Mediator ;  for  the  Scriptures  speak  of  that 
which  the  law  could  not  do  (in  that  it  was  weak  through  the  ficsh,  that  is, 
through  the  corruption  of  human  nature)  as  being  accomplished  by  Christ, 
Rom.  viii.  3,  4. 

Ver.  18-2-5.  The  subject  closes  with  a  more  particular  account  of  the 
creation  of  woman.  We  had  a  general  one  before  (chap.  i.  27) ;  but  now 
we  are  led  to  see  the  reasons  of  it.  Observe,  1.  It  was  not  only  for  the 
propagation  of  the  human  race,  but  a  most  distinguished  provision  for  human 
happiness.  The  woman  was  made  for  the  man;  not  merely  for  the  gratifi- 
cation of  his  appetites,  but  of  his  rational  and  social  nature.  It  was  not 
good  that  man  should  be  alone ;  and  therefore  a  helper  that  should  be  meet, 
or  suitable,  was  given  him.  The  place  assigned  to  the  woman  in  heathen 
and  Mahomedan  countries  has  been  highly  degrading;  and  the  place  as- 
signed .  her  by  modern  infidels  is  not  much  better.  Christianity  is  the  only 
religion  that  conforms  to  the  original  design,  that  confines  a  man  to  one 
wife,  and  that  teaches  him  to  treat  her  with  propriety.  Go  among  the  ene- 
mies of  the  gospel,  and  you  shall  see  the  woman  either  reduced  to  abject 
slavery,  or  basely  flattered  for  the  vilest  of  purposes  ;  but  in  Christian  families 
you  may  see  her  treated  with  honour  and  respect;  treated  as  a  friend,  as 
naturally  an  equal,  a  soother  of  man's  cares,  a  softener  of  his  griefs,  and  a 
partner  of  his  joys.  2.  She  was  made  after  the  other  creatures  were  named; 
and,  consequently,  after  Adam,  having  seen  and  observed  all  the  animals, 
had  found  none  of  them  a  fit  companion  for  himself,  and  thus  felt  the  want 
of  one.  The  blessings  both  of  nature  and  of  grace  are  greatly  endeared  to 
to  us  by  our  being  suffered  to  feel  the  want  of  them  before  we  have  them. 

Vol.  III.— 2 


10  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

3.  She  was  made  out  of  man,  which  should  lead  men  to  consider  their  wives 
as  a  part  of  themselves,  and  to  love  them  as  their  own  flesh.  The  woman 
was  not  taken,  it  is  true,  from  the  head,  neither  was  she  taken  from  the 
feet;  but  from  some  where  near  the  heart!  4.  That  which  was  now  done 
would  be  a  standing  law  of  nature.  Man  would  "  leave  father  and  mother, 
and  cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  twain  should  be  one  flesh."  Finally,  It  is 
added,  "They  were  both  naked,  and  were  not  ashamed."  There  was  no 
guilt,  and  therefore  no  shame :  shame  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  sin. 


DISCOURSE  IV. 

THE    FALL   OF    MAN. 
Gen.  iii.  1-7. 


We  have  hitherto  seen  man  as  God  created  him,  upright  and  happy.  But 
here  we  behold  a  sad  reverse ;  the  introduction  of  moral  evil  into  our  world, 
the  source  of  all  our  misery. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  serpent  was  used  as  an  instrument 
of  Satan,  who  hence  is  called  "  that  old  serpent,  the  devil."  The  subtlety 
of  this  creature  might  answer  his  purposes.  The  account  of  the  serpent 
speaking  to  the  woman  might  lead  us  to  a  number  of  curious  questions,  on 
which,  after  all,  we  might  be  unable  to  obtain  satisfaction.  Whether  we  are 
to  understand  this,  or  the  temptations  of  our  Lord  in  the  wilderness,  as 
spoken  in  an  audible  voice,  or  not,  I  shall  not  take  upon  me  to  decide. 
Whatever  may  be  said  of  either  case,  it  is  certain,  from  the  whole  tenor  of 
Scripture,  that  evil  spirits  have,  by  the  Divine  permission,  access  to  human 
minds;  not  indeed  so  as  to  be  able  to  impel  us  to  sin  without  our  consent; 
but  it  may  be  in  some  such  manner  as  men  influence  each  other's  minds  to 
evil.  Such  seems  to  be  the  proper  idea  of  a  tempter.  We  are  conscious  of 
wliat  tve  choose;  but  are  scarcely  at  all  acquainted  with  the  things  that  induce 
choice.  We  are  exposed  to  innumerable  influences;  and  have  therefore 
reason  to  pray,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil  1" 

With  respect  to  the  temptation  itself,  it  begins  by  calling  in  question  the 
truth  of  God. — Is  it  true  that  God  has  prohibited  any  tree? — Can  it  be? 
For  what  was  it  created  ? — Such  are  the  inquiries  of  wicked  men  to  this 
day.  "  For  what  are  the  objects  of  pleasure  made,"  say  they,  "  but  to  be 
enjoyed?  Why  did  God  create  meats  and  drinks,  and  dogs  and  horses? 
What  are  appetites  for,  but  to  be  indulged?"  We  might  answer,  among 
other  things,  to  try  them  who  dwell  on  the  earth. 

It  seems  also  to  contain  an  insinuation  that  if  man  must  not  eat  of  evert/ 
tree,  he  might  as  well  eat  of  none.  And  thus  discontent  continues  to  over- 
look the  good,  and  pores  upon  the  one  thing  wanting.  "  All  this  availeth 
me  nothing,  so  long  as  Mordecai  is  at  the  gate." 

Ver.  2,  3.  The  answer  of  Eve  seems  to  be  very  good  at  the  outset.  She 
very  properly  repels  the  insinuation  against  the  goodness  of  God,  as  though, 
because  he  had  withheld  one  tree,  he  had  withheld,  or  might  as  well  have 
withheld,  all.  "  No,"  says  he,  "we  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the 
garden ;  there  is  only  one  withheld."  She  also,  with  equal  propriety  and 
decision,  repelled  the  doubt  which  the  tempter  had  raised  respecting  the 
prohibition  of  that  one.  The  terms  by  which  she  expresses  it  show  how 
clearly  she  understood  the  mind  of  God,  and  what  an  impression  his  com- 


FALL  OF  MAN.  11 

mand  had  made  upon  her  mind :  "  Of  the  fruit  of  this  tree,  God  hath  said, 
Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it ;  neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lest  ye  die !"  We  do  not 
read  that  they  were  forbidden  to  touch  it ;  but  she  understood  a  prohibition 
of  eating  to  contain  a  prohibition  of  touching.  And  this  exposition  of  the 
woman,  while  upright,  affords  a  good  rule  to  us.  If  we  would  shun  evil,  we 
must  shun  the  appearance  of  it,  and  all  the  avenues  which  lead  to  it.  To 
parley  with  temptation  is  to  play  with  fire.  In  all  this  Eve  sinned  not,  nor 
charged  God  foolishly. 

Ver.  4,  5.  The  wily  serpent  now  proceeds  to  a  second  attack.  Mark 
the  progress  of  the  temptation.  At  the  outset  he  only  suggested  his  doubts  ; 
but  now  he  deals  in  positive  assertion.  In  this  manner  the  most  important 
errors  creep  into  the  mind.  He  who  sets  off  with  apparently  modest  doubts 
will  often  be  seen  to  end  in  downright  infidelity. 

The  positivity  of  the  tempter  might  be  designed  to  oppose  that  of  the 
woman.  She  is  peremptory;  he  also  is  peremptory ;  opposing  assertion  to 
assertion.  This  artifice  of  Satan  is  often  seen  in  his  ministers.  Nothing 
is  more  common  than  for  the  most  false  and  pernicious  doctrines  to  be 
advanced  with  a  boldness  that  stuns  the  minds  of  the  simple,  and  induces  a 
doubt:  "  Surely  I  must  be  in  the  wrong,  and  they  in  the  right,  or  they  could 
not  be  so  confident." 

Yet  the  tempter,  it  is  observable,  does  not  positively  deny  that  God  might 
have  said  so  and  so;  for  this  would  have  been  calling  in  question  the  veracity 
of  Eve,  or  denying  what  she  knew  to  be  true;  which  must  have  defeated  his 
end.  But  he  insinuates  that,  whatever  God  might  have  said,  which  he  would 
not  now  dispute,  it  would  not  in  the  end  prove  so.  Satan  will  not  be  so  un- 
polite  as  to  call  in  question  either  the  honour  or  the  understanding  of  Eve, 
but  scruples  not  to  make  God  a  liar ;  yea,  and  has  the  impudence  to  say  that 
God  knetv  that,  instead  of  proving  an  evil,  it  would  be  a  benefit.  Alas,  how 
often  has  man  been  flattered  by  the  ministers  of  Satan  at  God's  expense! 
Surely  we  need  not  be  at  a  loss  in  judging  whence  those  doctrines  proceed 
which  invalidate  the  Divine  threatenings,  and  teach  sinners  going  on  still  in 
their  trespasses,  "  Ye  shall  not  surcli/  die."  Nor  those  which  lead  men  to 
consider  the  Divine  prohibitions  as  aimed  to  diminish  their  happiness;  or, 
which  is  the  same  thing,  to  think  it  rigid  or  hard  that  we  should  be  obliged 
to  comply  with  them.  And  those  doctrines  which  flatter  our  pride,  or  pro- 
voke a  vain  curiosity  to  pry  into  things  unseen,  proceed  from  the  same 
quarter.  By  aspiring  to  be  a  god,  man  became  too  much  like  a  devil ;  and 
where  human  reason  takes  upon  itself  to  set  aside  revelation,  the  effects  will 
continue  to  be  much  the  same. 

Ver.  6.    This  poison  had  effect the  woman  paused looked 

at  the  fruit it  began  to  appear  desirable she  felt  a  wish  to  be 

wise in  short,  she  took  of  the  fruit and  did  eat!     But  was  she 

not  alarmed  when  she  had  eaten?  It  seems  not;  and  feeling  no  such  con- 
sequences follow  as  she  perhaps  expected,  ventured  even  to  persuade  her 
husband  to  do  as  she  had  done ;  and  with  her  persuasion  he  complied.  The 
connexion  between  sin  and  misery  is  certain,  but  not  always  immediate:  its 
immediate  effects  are  deception  and  stupefaction,  which  commonly  induce 
the  party  to  draw  others  into  the  same  condition. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Adam  was  deceived ;  but  the  woman  only,  1  Tim. 
ii.  14.  He  seems  to  have  sinned  with  his  eyes  open,  and  perhaps  from  love 
to  his  wife.  It  was  the  first  time,  but  not  the  last,  in  which  Satan  has  made 
use  of  the  nearest  and  tenderest  parts  of  ourselves,  to  draw  our  hearts  from 
God.  Lawful  affection  may  become  a  snare.  If  the  nearest  relation  or 
friend  tempt  us  to  depart  from  God,  we  must  not  hearken.  When  the 
woman  had  sinned  against  God,  it  was  the  duty  of  her  husband  to  have  dis- 


12  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

owned  her  for  ever,  and  to  liave  left  it  to  his  Creator  to  provide  for  his  social 
comfort ;  but  a  fond  attachment  to  the  creature  overcame  him.  He  hearJcenca 
to  ha-  voice,  and  plunged  headlong  into  her  sin.      , 

Ver.  7.  And  now,  having  both  sinned,  they  began  to  be  sensible  of  its 
effects.  Conscious  innocence  has  forsaken  them.  Conscious  guilt,  remorse, 
and  shame  possess  them.  Their  eyes  are  now  opened  indeed,  as  the  tempter 
had  said  they  would  be ;  but  it  is  to  sights  of  woe.  Their  naked  bodies,  for 
the  first  time,  excite  shame;  and  are  emblems  of  their  souls;  which,  stripped 
of  their  original  righteousness,  are  also  stripped  of  their  honour,  security, 
and  happiness. 

To  hide  their  outward  nakedness,  they  betake  themselves  to  the  leaves  of 
the  ^ardm.  This,  as  a  great  writer  observes,  was  "  to  cover,  not  to  cure." 
And  to  what  else  is  all  the  labour  of  sinners  directed?  Is  it  not  to  conceal 
the  bad,  and  to  appear  what  they  are  not,  that  they  are  continually  studying 
and  contriving  ?  And  being  enabled  to  impose  upon  one  another,  they  with 
little  difficulty  impose  upon  themselves,  "  trusting  in  themselves  that  they  are 
righteous,  and  despising  others."  But  all  is  mere  show,  and  when  God 
comes  to  summon  them  to  his  bar  will  prove  of  no  account. 


DISCOURSE  V. 

THE  TRIAL  OF  THE  TRANSGRESSORS. 

Gen.  iii.  8-14, 


Ver.  8.  We  have  seen  the  original  transgression  of  our  first  parents ;  and 
now  we  see  them  called  to  account  and  judged.  The  Lord  God  is  repre- 
sented as  "walking  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  day;"  that  is,  in  the 
evening.  This  seems  to  denote  the  ordinary  and  intimate  communion 
which  man  enjoyed  with  his  Maker,  while  he  kept  his  first  estate.  We  may 
be  at  a  loss  in  forming  an  idea  how  God  could  icalk  in  the  garden,  and  how 
he  spoke :  but  he  was  not  at  a  loss  how  to  hold  communion  with  them  that 
loved  him.  To  accommodate  it  to  our  weak  capacities,  it  is  represented 
under  the  form  of  the  owner  of  a  garden  taking  his  evening  walk  in  it,  to 
see,  as  we  should  say,  "whether  the  vine  flourished,  and  the  pomegranates 
budded ;"  to  see  and  converse  with  those  whom  he  had  placed  over  it. 

The  cool  of  the  (laj/,  which  to  God  was  the  season  for  visiting  his  creatures, 
may,  as  it  respects  man,  denote  a  season  of  reflection.  We  may  sin  in  the 
daytime;  but  God  will  call  us  to  account  at  night.  Many  a  one  has  done 
that  in  the  heat  and  bustle  of  the  day  which  has  afforded  bitter  reflection  in 
the  cool  of  the  evening;  and  such,  in  many  instances,  has  proved  the  evening 
of  life. 

The  voice  of  God  was  heard,  it  seems,  before  any  thing  was  seen :  and  as 
he  appears  to  have  acted  towards  man  in  his  usual  way,  and  as  though  he 
knew  of  nothing  that  had  taken  place  till  he  had  it  from  his  own  mouth,  we 
may  consider  this  as  the  voice  of  kindness;  such,  whatever  it  was,  as  Adam 
had  used  to  hear  beforetime,  and  on  the  first  sound  of  which  he  and  his 
companion  had  been  used  to  draw  near,  as  sheep  at  the  voice  of  the  shep- 
herd, or  as  children  to  the  voice  of  a  father.  The  voice  of  one  whom  we 
love  conveys  life  to  our  hearts:  but,  alas,  it  is  not  so  now!  Not  only  does 
conscious  guilt  make  them  afraid,  but  contrariety  of  heart  to  a  holy  God 
renders  them  unwilling  to  draw  near  to  him.    The  kindest  language,  to  one 


TRIAL  OF  THE  TRANSGRESSORS.  13 

who  is  become  an  enemy,  will  work  in  a  wrong  way.  "  Let  favour  be 
showed  to  the  wicked,  yet  will  he  not  learn  righteousness :  in  the  land  of 
uprightness  will  he  deal  unjustly,  and  will  not  behold  the  majesty  of  the 
Lord."  Instead  of  coming  at  his  call,  as  usual,  they  "  hide  themselves  from 
his  presence  among  the  trees  of  the  garden."  Great  is  the  coumrdice  which 
attaches  to  guilt.  It  flies  from  God,  and  from  all  approaches  to  him  in 
prayer  or  praise ;  yea,  from  the  very  thoughts  of  him,  and  of  death  and  judg- 
ment, when  they  must  appear  before  him.  But  wherefore  flee  to  the  trees 
of  the  garden  ?  Can  they  screen  them  from  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom 
they  have  to  do?  Alas,  they  could  not  hide  themselves  and  their  nakedness 
from  their  own  eyes;  how  then  should  they  elude  discovery  before  an  omni- 
scient God?  But  we  see  here  to  what  a  stupid  and  besotted  state  of  mind 
sin  had  already  reduced  them. 

Ver.  9.  God's  general  voice  of  kindness  receiving  no  answer,  he  is  more 
particular;  calling  Adam  6j/ «awe,  and  inciuiring,  "Where  art  thou?"  In 
vain  does  the  sinner  hide  himself:  the  Almighty  will  find  him  out.  If  he 
answer  not  to  the  voice  of  God  in  his  word,  he  shall  have  a  special  summons 
served  upon  him  before  long?  Observe  what  the  summons  was,  "Where 
art  thou?"  It  seems  to  be  the  language  of  injured  friendship.  As  if  he 
should  say.  How  is  it  that  I  do  not  meet  thee  as  heretofore  ?  What  have  I 
done  unto  thee,  and  wherein  have  I  wearied  thee?  Have  I  been  a  barren 
wilderness,  or  a  land  of  drought?  How  is  it  that  thou  hailest  not  my 
approach  as  on  former  occasions. — It  was  also  language  adapted  to  lead  him 
to  reflection:  "Where  art  thou?"  Ah,  where  indeed!  God  is  thus  interro- 
gating sinful  men.  Sinner,  where  art  thou?  What  is  thy  condition?  In 
what  way  art  thou  walking,  and  whither  will  it  lead  thee? 

Ver.  10.  To  this  trying  question  man  is  compelled  to  answer.  See  with 
what  ease  God  can  bring  the  offender  to  his  bar.  He  has  only  to  speak,  and 
it  is  done.  "  He  shall  call  to  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  that  he  may  judge 
his  people."  But  what  answer  can  be  made  to  him?  "I  heard  thy  voice 
in  the  garden." — Did  you?  Then  you  cannot  plead  ignorance.  No,  but 
something  worse : — "  I  was  afraid,  because  I  was  naked,  and  I  hid  myself" 
Take  notice,  he  says  nothing  about  his  sin,  but  merely  speaks  of  its  effects; 
such  as  fear,  and  conscious  nakedness,  or  guilt.  The  language  of  a  contrite 
spirit  would  have  been,  "I  have  sinned!"  But  this  is  the  language  of  im- 
penitent misery.  It  is  of  the  same  nature  as  that  of  Cain,  "  My  punishment 
is  heavier  than  I  can  bear !"  This  spirit  is  often  apparent  in  persons  under 
first  convictions,  or  when  brought  low  by  adversity,  or  drawing  near  to  death; 
all  intent  on  bewailing  their  misery,  but  insensible  to  the  evil  of  their  sin.  To 
what  a  condition  has  sin  reduced  us !  Stripped  naked  to  our  shame,  we  are 
afraid  to  meet  the  kindest  and  best  of  Beings!  O  reader!  we  must  now  be 
clothed  with  a  better  righteousness  than  our  own,  or  how  shall  we  stand 
before  him? 

Ver.  11.  Adam  began,  as  I  have  said,  with  the  effects  of  his  sin  ;  but  God 
directed  him  to  the  cause  of  those  effects. — Naked !  how  came  such  a 
thought  into  thy  mind?  The  nakedness  of  thy  body,  with  which  I  created 
thee,  was  no  nakedness;  neither  fear  nor  shame  attached  to  that.  What 
meanest  thou  by  being  naked? — Still  there  is  no  confession.  The  truth 
will  not  come  out  without  a  direct  inquiry  on  the  subject.  Here  then  it 
follows:  "  Hast  thou  eaten  of  the  tree  whereof  I  commanded  thee  that  thou 
shouldest  not  eat?"  Thus  the  sinner  stands  convicted.  Now  we  might 
suppose  he  would  have  fallen  at  the  feet  of  his  Maker,  and  have  pleaded 
guilty      But  oh  the  hardening  nature  of  sin ! 

Ver.  12.  Here  is,  it  is  true,  a  confession  of  his  sin.  It  comes  out  at  last; 
"I  did  eat;"  but  with  what  a  circuitous,  extenuating  preamble,  a  preamble 

B 


14 


EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


which  makes  bad  worse.  The  first  word  is,  The  looman;  aye,  the  woman. 
It  was  not  my  fault,  but  hers.  "  The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with 
me." — It  was  not  I,  it  was  thou  thysdf!  If  thou  hadst  not  given  this  woman 
to  be  with  me,  I  should  have  continued  obedient. — Nay,  and  as  if  he  sus- 
pected that  the  Almighty  did  not  notice  his  plea  sufficiently,  he  repeats  it 
emphatically;  "She  gave  me,  and  I  did  eat!"  Such  a  confession  was  infi- 
nitely worse  than  none.  Yet  such  is  the  spirit  of  fallen  man  to  this  day :  It 
was  not  I  ...  it  was  my  wife,  or  ray  husband,  or  my  acquaintance,  that  per- 
suaded me;  or  it  was  my  situation  in  life,  in  which  thou  didst  place  me! — 
Thus  "the  foolishness  of  man  perverteth  his  way,  and  his  heart  fretteth 
against  the  Lord." 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  God  makes  no  answer  to  these  perverse  excuses. 
They  were  unworthy  of  an  answer.  The  Lord  proceeds,  like  an  aggrieved 
friend  who  would  not  multiply  words: — I  see  how  it  is  :  stand  aside! 

Ver.  13.  Next  the  woman  is  called,  and  examined :  "  What  is  this  that 
thou  hast  done?"  The  question  implies  that  it  was  no  trifling  thing;  and 
the  effects  which  have  followed,  and  will  follow,  confirm  it.  But  let  us  hear 
the  woman's  answer.  ■  Did  she  plead  guilty?  The  circumstance  of  her 
being  first  in  the  transgression,  and  the  tempter  of  her  husband,  one  should 
have  thought,  would  have  shut  her  mouth  at  least ;  and  being  also  ,of  the 
weaker  sex,  it  might  have  been  expected  that  she  would  not  have  gone  on 
to  provoke  the  vengeance  of  her  Creator.  But,  lo!  she  also  shifts  the 
blame  :  "  The  serpent  beguiled  me,  and  I  did  eat." — I  was  deceived.  I  did 
not  mean  evil ;  but  was  drawn  into  it  through  the  wiles  of  an  evil  being. — 
Such  is  the  excuse  which  multitudes  make  to  this  day,  when  they  can  find 
no  better: — The  devil  tempted  me  to  it! — Still  God  continues  his  forbear- 
ance; makes  no  answer;  but  orders  her,  as  it  were,  to  stand  aside. 

Ver.  14.  And  now  the  serpent  is  addressed:  but  mark  the  diflference. 
Here  is  no  question  put  to  him,  but  merely  a  doom  pronounced.  Where- 
fore? Because  no  mercy  was  designed  to  be  shown  him.  He  is  treated  as 
an  avowed  and  sworn  enemy.  There  was  no  doubt  wherefore  he  had  done 
it,  and  therefore  no  reason  is  asked  of  his  conduct. 

The  workings  of  conviction  in  the  minds  of  men  are  called  the  strivings 
of  the  Spirit,  and  afford  a  hope  of  mercy.  Though  they  are  no  certain  sign 
of  grace  received,  (as  there  was  nothing  good  at  present  in  our  first  parents,) 
yet  they  are  the  workings  of  a  merciful  God,  and  prove  that  he  has  not 
given  over  the  sinner  to  hopeless  ruin.  But  the  serpent  has  nothing  to  ex- 
pect but  a  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment. 

The  form  under  which  Satan  is  cursed  is  that  of  the  serpent.  To  a  super- 
ficial reader  it  might  appear  that  the  vengeance  of  Heaven  was  directed 
against  the  animal,  distinguishing  him  from  all  cattle,  subjecting  him  to  a 
most  abject  life,  condemning  him  to  creep  upon  his  belly,  and  of  course  to 
have  his  food  besmeared  with  dust.  But  was  God  angry  with  the  serpent? 
No :  but  as  under  that  form  Satan  had  tempted  the  woman,  so  that  shall  be 
the  form  under  which  he  shall  receive  his  doom.  The  spirit  of  the  sentence 
appears  to  be  this — Cursed  art  thou  above  all  creatures,  and  above  every 
thing  that  God  hath  made.  Miserable  shalt  thou  be  to  an  endless  duration ! 
— Some  have  thought,  and  the  passage  gives  some  countenance  to  the  idea, 
that  the  state  of  fallen  angels  was  not  hopeless  till  now.  If  it  had,  the  curse 
could  only  have  added  a  greater  degree  of  misery. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  FALL.  A 

DISCOURSE  VI. 

THE  CLRSE  OF  SATAN,  INCLUDING  A  BLESSING  TO  MAN — EFFECTS  OF  THE  FALL. 

Gen.  iii.  15-24. 

Ver.  15.  By  all  that  had  hitherto  been  .said  and  done,  God  appears  to  have 
concealed  from  man  who  was  his  tempter ;  and  for  this  reason,  among 
others,  to  have  pronounced  the  doom  on  Satan  under  the  form  of  a  curse 
upon  the  serpent.  By  this  we  may  learn  that  it  is  of  no  account,  as  to  the 
criminality  of  sin,  whence  it  comes,  or  by  whom  or  what  we  are  tempted  to 
it.     If  we  choose  it,  it  is  ours,  and  we  must  be  accountable  for  it. 

But  mark  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God :  as  under  the  form  of  curs- 
ing the  serpent  he  had  pronounced  a  most  tremendous  doom  on  the  tempter, 
so  under  the  form  of  this  doom  is  coverdy  intimated  a  design  of  mercy  the 
most  transcendent  to  the  tempted !  If  man  had  been  in  a  suitable  state  of 
mind,  the  promise  might  have  been  dii-ect,  and  addressed  to  him :  but  he 
was  not ;  for  his  heart,  whatever  it  might  be  afterwards,  was  as  yet  hardened 
against  God.  It  was  fit,  therefore,  that  whatever  designs  of  mercy  were  en- 
tertained concerning  him,  or  his  posterity,  they  should  not  be  given  in  the 
form  of  a  promise  to  hbn,  but  of  threatening  to  Satan.  The  situation  of 
Adam  and  Eve  at  this  time  was  like  that  of  sinners  under  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel.  The  intimation  concerning  the  woman's  Seed  would  indeed 
imply  that  she  and  her  husband  should  live  in  the  world,  that  she  should 
bring  forth  children,  and  that  God  would  carry  on  an  opposition  to  the  cause 
of  evil :  but  it  does  not  ascertain  their  solvation ;  and  if  there  appear  nothing 
more -in  their  favour  in  the  following  part  of  the  history  than  what  has  hith- 
erto appeared,  we  shall  have  no  good  ground  to  conclude  that  either  of  them 
is  gone  to  heaven.  The  Messiah  might  come  as  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and 
might  descend  from  them  after  the  flesh,  and  yet  they  might  have  no  portion 
in  him. 

But  let  us  view  this  famous  passage  more  particularly,  and  that  in  the 
light  in  which  it  is  here  represented,  as  a  threatening  to  the  serpent.  This 
threatening  does  not  so  much  respect  the  person  of  the  grand  adversary  of 
God  and  man  as  his  cause  and  kingdom  in  the  world.  He  will  be  punished 
in  his  person  at  the  time  appointed ;  but  this  respects  the  manifestation  of 
the  Son  of  God  to  destroy  his  works.  There  are  four  things  here  intimated, 
each  of  which  is  worthy  of  notice.  1.  The  ruin  of  Satan's  cause  was  to  be 
accomplished  by  one  in  hitman  nature.  This  must  have  been  not  a  little 
mortifying  to  his  pride.  If  he  must  fall,  and  could  have  had  his  choice  as 
to  the  mode,  he  might  rather  have  wished  to  have  been  crushed  by  the  im- 
mediate hand  of  God ;  for  however  terrible  that  hand  might  be,  it  would  be 
less  humiliating  than  to  be  subdued  by  one  of  a  nature  inferior  to  his  own. 
The  human  nature  especially  appears  to  have  become  odious  in  his  eyes.  It 
is  possible  that  the  rejoicings  of  eternal  wisdom  over  man  were  known  in 
heaven,  and  first  excited  his  envy ;  and  that  his  attempt  to  ruin  the  human 
race  was  an  act  of  revenge.  If  so,  there  was  a  peculiar  fitness  that  from 
7nan  should  proceed  his  overthrow.  2.  It  was  to  be  accomplished  by  the 
Seed  of  the  wo?nan.  This  Avould  be  more  humiliating  still.  Satan  had 
made  use  of  her  to  accomplish  his  purposes,  and  God  would  defeat  his 
schemes  through  the  same  medium ;  and  by  how  much  he  had  despised  and 
abused  her,  in  making  her  the  instrument  of  drawing  her  husband  aside,  by 


16  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

SO  much  would  he  be  mortified  in  being  overcome  by  one  of  her  descend- 
ants. 3.  The  victory  should  be  obtained,  not  only  by  the  Messiah  himself, 
but  by  all  his  adherents.  The  Seed  of  the  woman,  though  it  primarily 
referred  to  him,  yet,  being  opposed  to  "  the  seed  of  the  serpent,"  includes 
all  that  believe  in  him.  And  there  is  little  or  no  doubt  that  the  account  in 
Rev.  xii.  17,  has  allusion  to  this  passage  :  "And  the  dragon  was  wroth  with 
the  woman,  and  went  to  make  war  with  the  remnant  of  her  seed,  who  keep 
the  commandments  of  God,  and  the  faith  of  Jesus."  Now  if  it  were  mor- 
tifying for  Satan  to  be  overcome  by  the  Messiah  himself,  considered  as  the 
Seed  of  the  woman,  how  much  more  when,  in  addition  to  this,  every  indi- 
vidual believer  shall  be  made  to  come  near,  and  as  it  were  set  his  feet  upon 
the  neck  of  his  enemy !  Finally,  Though  it  should  be  a  long  war,  and  the 
cause  of  the  serpent  would  often  be  successful,  yet  in  the  end  it  should  be 
utterly  ruined.  The  head  is  the  seat  of  life,  which  the  heel  is  not:  by  this 
language,  therefore,  it  is  intimated  that  the  life  of  Christ's  cause  should  not 
be  affected  by  any  part  of  Satan's  opposition  ;  but  that  the  life  of  Satan's 
cause  should  by  that  of  Christ.  For  this  purpose  is  he  manifested  in  human 
nature,  that  he  may  elcstj-oi/  the  works  of  the  devil;  and  he  will  never  desist 
till  he  have  utterly  crushed  his  power. 

Now  as  the  threatenings  against  Babylon  conveyed  good  news  to  the 
church,  so  this  threatening  against  the  old  serpent  is  full  of  mercy  to  men. 
But  for  this  enmity  which  God  would  put  into  the  woman's  seed  against  him, 
he  would  have  had  every  thing  his  own  way,  and  every  child  of  man  would 
have  had  his  portion  with  him  and  his  angels. 

From  the  whole,  we  see  that  Christ  is  the  foundation  and  substance  of 
all  true  religion  since  the  fall  of  man,  and,  therefore,  that  the  only  way  of 
salvation  is  by  faith  in  him.  We  see  also  the  importance  of  a  decided  at- 
tachment to  him  and  his  interest.  There  are  two  great  armies  in  the  world, 
Michael  and  his  angels  warring  against  the  dragon  and  his  angels ;  and, 
according  to  the  side  we  take,  such  will  be  our  end. 

Ver.  16-19.  The  sentence  of  the  woman,  and  of  the  man,  which  follows, 
like  the  rest,  is  under  a  veil.  Nothing  but  temporal  evils  are  mentioned  ; 
but  these  are  not  the  whole.  Paul  teaches  us  that,  by  the  offence  of  one, 
judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  conclemnation  ;  and  such  a  condemnation 
as  stands  opposed  io  justification  of  life,  Rom.  v.  18.  See  on  chap.  iv.  11, 
12,  p.  21.  The  woman's  load  in  this  life  was  sorrow  in  hearing  children, 
and  subjection  to  her  husband.  The  command  to  be  fruitful  and  multiply 
might  originally,  for  aught  I  know,  include  some  degree  of  pain ;  but  now 
it  should  be  "  greatly  multiplied  :"  and  there  was  doubdess  a  natural  subor- 
dination in  innocency ;  but  through  sin  woman  becomes  comparatively  a 
slave.  This  is  especially  the  case  where  sin  reigns  uncontrolled,  as  in  hea- 
then and  Mahomedan  countries.  Christianity,  however,  so  far  as  it  operates, 
counteracts  it ;  restoring  woman  to  her  original  state,  that  of  a  friend  and 
companion.  See  on  chap.  ii.  18-25.  The  sentence  on  rnan  points  out  to 
him  wherein  consisted  his  sin;  namely,  in  hearkening  to  the  voice  of  his 
wife,  rather  than  to  God.  What  a  solemn  lesson  does  this  teach  us  against 
loving  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator,  and  hearkening  to  any  counsel  to 
the  rejection  of  his!  And,  with  respect  to  his  punishment,  it  is  worthy  of 
notice,  that  as  that  of  Eve  was  common  to  her  daughters,  so  that  of  Adam 
extends  to  the  whole  human  race.  The  grmmd  is  cursed  for  his  sake — 
cursed  with  barrenness.  God  would,  as  it  were,  take  no  delight  in  blessing 
it;  as  well  he  might  not,  for  all  would  be  perverted  to  and  become  the  food 
of  rebellion.  The  more  he  should  bless  the  earth,  the  more  wicked  would 
be  its  inhabitants.  Man  also  himself  is  doomed  to  wretchedness  upon  it; 
he  should  drag  on  the  icw  years  that  he  might  live  in  sorrow  and  misery,  of 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  FALL.  17 

which  the  tliorns  and  thistles  which  it  should  spontaneously  produce  were 
but  emblems.  God  had  given  him  before  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of 
the  garden ;  but  now  he  must  be  expelled  thence,  and  take  his  portion  with 
the  brutes,  and  live  upon  the  herb  of  the  fcld.  He  was  allowed  bread,  but 
it  should  be  by  the  sioeat  of  his  face;  and  this  is  the  lot  of  the  great  body 
of  mankind.  The  end  of  this  miserable  state  of  existence  was  that  he 
should  return  to  his  native  dust.  Here  the  sentence  leaves  him.  A  veil  is, 
at  present,  drawn  over  a  future  world ;  but  we  elsewhere  learn  that  at  what 
time  "  the  flesh  returns  to  dust,  the  spirit  returns  to  God  who  gave  it;"  and 
that  the  same  sentence  which  appointed  man  "  once  to  die"  added,  "  but 
after  this  the  judgment." 

It  is  painful  to  trace  the  different  parts  of  this  melancholy  sentence,  and 
their  fulHlment  in  the  world  to  this  day ;  yet  there  is  a  bright  side  even  to 
this  dark  cloud.  Through  the  promised  Messiah  a  great  many  things  per- 
taining to  the  curse  are  not  oidy  counteracted,  but  become  blessings.  Under 
his  glorious  reign  "the  earth  shall  yield  its  increase,  and  God,  our  own  God, 
delight  in  blessuig  us."  And  while  its  fruitfulness  is  withheld,  this  has  a 
merciful  tendency  to  stop  the  progress  of  sin  ;  for  if  the  whole  earth  were 
like  the  plains  of  Sodom  in  fruitfulness.  which  are  compared  to  the  garden 
of  God,  its  inhabitants  would  be  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  wickedness. 
The  necessity  of  hard  labour,  too,  in  obtaming  a  subsistence,  which  is  the 
lot  of  the  far  greater  part  of  mankind,  tends  more  than  a  little,  by  separating 
men  from  each  other,  and  depressing  their  spirits,  to  restrain  them  from  the 
excesses  of  evil.  All  the  afflictions  of  the  present  life  contain  in  them  a 
motive  to  look  upward  for  a  better  portion ;  and  death  itself  is  a  monitor  to 
warn  them  to  prepare  to  meet  their  God.  These  are  things  suited  to  a  sinful 
world;  and  where  they  are  sanctified,  as  they  are  to  believers  in  Christ, 
they  become  real  blessings.  To  them  they  are  "light  afflictions,"  and  last 
"  but  for  a  moment ;"  and  while  they  do  last,  "  work  for  them  a  far  more 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory."  To  them,  in  short,  death  itself  is 
introductory  to  everlasting  life. 

Ver.  20.  Adam's  wife  seems  hitherto  to  have  been  known  only  by  the 
name  of  tvoman ;  but  now  he  calls  her  Eve,  that  is,  life,  living,  or  the  mother 
of  all  living.  He  might  possibly  have  understood  from  the  beginning  that 
the  sentence  of  death  would  not  prevent  the  existence  of  the  human  race, 
or  if  not,  what  had  been  said  of  the  woman's  seed  would  at  least  satisfy  him 
on  the  subject. 

But  it  is  generally  supposed,  and  there  seems  to  be  ground  for  the  suppo- 
sition, that  in  calling  his  wife  life,  or  living,  he  intended  more  than  that  she 
would  be  the  mother  of  all  mankind ;  that  it  is  expressive  of  his  faith  in 
the  promise  of  her  victorious  Seed  destroying,  what  Satan  had  succeeded  in 
introducing — death,  and  that  thus  she  should  be  the  means  of  immortal  life 
to  all  who  should  live  in  him.  If  such  was  his  meaning,  we  may  consider 
this  as  the  first  evidence  in  favour  of  his  being  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his 
mind. 

Ver.  21.  By  the  coats  of  skins  wherewith  the  Lord  God  clothed  them,  it 
seems  to  be  implied  that  animals  were  slain,  and  as  they  were  not  at  that 
time  slain  for  food,  it  is  highly  probable  they  were  slain  for  sacrifice,  espe- 
cially as  this  practice  is  mentioned  in  the  life  of  Abel.  Sacrifices  therefore 
appear  to  have  been  ordained  of  God  to  teach  man  his  desert,  and  the  way 
in  which  he  must  be  saved.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  clothing  of  Adam  and 
Eve  is  ascribed  to  the  Lord  God,  and  that  it  appears  to  have  succeeded  the 
slender  covering  wherewith  they  had  attempted  to  cover  themselves.  Is  it 
not  natural  to  conclude  that  God  only  can  hide  our  moral  nakedness,  and 

Vol.  111.-3  b  2 


18  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

that  the  way  in  which  he  does  it  is  by  covering  us  with  the  righteousness 
of  our  atoning  sacrifice  ? 

Ver.  23.  This  ironical  reflection  is  expressive  of  both  indignation  and 
pity. — Man  is  becoming  wonderfully  wise!  Unhappy  creature!  He  has  for 
ever  forfeited  my  favour,  which  is  life,  and  having  lost  the  thing  signified, 
let  him  have  no  access  to  the  sign.  He  has  broken  my  covenant :  let  neither 
him  nor  his  posterity  henceforward  expect  to  regain  it  by  any  obedience  of 
theirs.* 

Ver.  23,  24.  God  is  determined  that  man  shall  not  so  much  as  dwell  in 
the  garden  where  the  tree  of  life  grows,  but  be  turned  out  as  into  the  wide 
world.  He  shall  no  longer  live  upon  the  delicious  fruits  of  Eden,  but  be 
driven  to  seek  his  food  among  the  beasts  of  the  field ;  and,  to  show  the  im- 
possibility of  his  ever  regaining  that  life  which  he  had  lost,  "cherubim  and 
a  flaming  sword"  are  placed  to  guard  it.  Let  this  suffice  to  impress  us  with 
that  important  truth,  "  By  the  deeds  of  the  law  shall  no  flesh  living  be  justi- 
fied;" and  to  direct  us  to  a  tree  of  life  which  has  no  flaming  sword  to  pre- 
vent our  access!  Yet  even  in  this,  as  in  other  threatenings,  we  may 
perceive  a  mixture  of  mercy.  Man  had  rendered  his  days  evil,  and  God 
determines  they  shall  be  but  few.  It  is  well  for  us  that  a  life  of  sin  and 
sorrow  is  not  immortal. 


DISCOURSE  VII. 

THE    OFFERINGS    OF    CAIN    AND    ABEL. 
Gen.  iv.  1-8. 


Having  seen  the  origin  of  sin  in  our  world,  we  have  now  the  origin  and 
progress  of  things  as  they  at  present  are  among  mankind,  or  of  the  world  as 
it  now  is. 

Ver.  1.  Adam  has  by  his  wife  a  son,  who  is  called  Cain  ;  viz.  a  possession 
or  acquisition  ;  for,  said  Eve,  "  I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord  !"  Many 
learned  men  have  rendered  it  a  man,  the  Lord;  and  it  is  not  very  improba- 
ble that  she  should  understand  "  the  seed  of  the  woman"  of  her  immediate 
offspring;  but  if  so,  she  was  sadly  mistaken!  However,  it  expresses  what 
we  have  not  seen  before,  i.  e.  Eve's  faith  in  the  promise.  Even  though  she 
should  have  had  no  reference  to  the  Messiah,  yet  it  shows  that  she  eyed  God's 
hand  in  what  was  given  her,  and  viewed  it  as  a  great  blessing,  especially 
considering  what  a  part  she  had  acted.  In  this  she  sets  an  example  to 
parents  to  reckon  their  children  "  a  heritage  from  the  Lord."  But  she  also 
affords  an  example  of  the  uncertainty  of  human  hopes.  Cain,  so  far  from 
being  a  comfort  to  his  parents,  proved  a  wicked  man;  yea,  a  pattern  of 
wickedness ;  held  up  like  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  as  a  warning  to  others : 
"  Not  as  Cain,  who  was  of  that  wicked  one,  and  slew  his  brother !"  The 
joys  attending  the  birth  of  a  child  require  to  be  mixed  with  trembling;  "for 
who  knoweth  whether  he  shall  be  a  wise  man  or  a  fool  ?" 

Ver.  2.  Eve  bears  Adam  another  son,  who  was  called  Abel,  or  Hehel. 
In  these  names  we  probably  see  the  partiality  of  parents  for  their  first-born 
children.  Abel  signifies  vanity,  or  a  vanishing  vapour.  Probably  he  was 
not  so  goodly  a  child  in  appearance  as  Cain,  and  did  not  seem  likely  to  live 

*  See  on  chap.  ii.  9. 


CAIN   AND    ABEL.  19 

long.  The  hearts  and  hopes  of  the  parents  did  not  seem  to  centre  in  him, 
but  in  his  brother.  But  God  seeth  not  as  man  seeth.  In  bestowing  his 
blessing,  he  has  often  crossed  hands,  as  Jacob  did  in  blessing  Ephraim  and 
Manasseh.  "  He  chooseth  the  base  things  of  the  world,  that  no  flesh  should 
glory  in  his  presence."  These  two  brothers  were  of  different  occupations ; 
one  a  husbandman,  and  the  other  a  shepherd;  both  primitive  employments, 
and  both  very  proper. 

Ver.  3-5.  In  process  of  time  the  two  brothers  both  present  their  offerings 
to  God :  this  speaks  something  in  favour  of  their  parents,  who  had  brought 
them  up  "  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  Ainsworth  renders 
it,  "  At  the  end  of  the  days,"  and  understands  it  of  the  end  of  the  year,  which 
was  then  in  autumn,  the  time  of  the  gathering  in  of  the  harvest  and  the  vin- 
tage. The  institution  of  a  solemn  feast  among  the  Israelites  on  this  occasion 
(Exod  xxiii.  16)  seems  therefore  to  have  borne  a  near  resemblance  to  that 
which  was  practised  from  the  beginning. 

In  the  offerings  of  these  two  first-born  sons  of  man,  we  see  the  essential 
difference  between  spiritual  worship  and  that  which  is  merely  formal.  As  to 
the  matter  of  which  their  offerings  were  composed,  it  may  be  thought  there 
was  nothing  particularly  defective :  each  brought  what  he  had.  There  is 
indeed  no  mention  made  of  Cain's  being  of  the  best  of  the  kind,  which  is 
noticed  of  Abel's.  And  if  he  neglected  this,  it  was  a  sign  that  his  heart  was 
not  much  in  it.  He  might  also,  no  doubt,  have  obtained  a  lamb  out  of  his 
brother's  flock  for  an  expiatory  sacrifice.  But  the  chief  difference  is  that 
which  is  noticed  by  the  apostle :  "  By  faith  Abel  oflered  a  more  excellent 
sacrifice  than  Cain."  Cain's  offering  was  just  what  a  self-righteous  heart 
would  offer  :  it  proceeded  on  the  principle  that  there  was  no  breach  between 
him  and  his  Creator,  so  as  to  require  any  confession  of  sin,  or  respect  to  an 
atonement.  Such  offerings  abound  among  us;  but  they  are  "  without  faith," 
and  therefore  it  is  impossible  they  should  please  God.  The  offering  of  Abel 
I  need  not  describe ;  suffice  it  to  say,  it  was  the  reverse  of  that  presented  by 
Cain.     It  was  the  best  of  the  kind,  and  included  an  expiatory  sacrifice. 

The  result  was,  "  the  Lord  had  respect  to  Abel  and  to  his  offering;  but 
unto  Cain  and  his  offering  he  had  not  respect."  The  one  was  probably  con- 
sumed by  fire  from  heaven,  the  other  not  so.  This  we  know  was  afterwards 
a  common  token  of  the  Divine  acceptance.  Lev.  ix.  24 ;  Psal.  xx.  3,  margin. 
The  order  of  things  is  worthy  of  notice.  God  first  accepted  Abel,  and  then 
his  offering.  If  he  had  been  justified  on  the  ground  of  his  good  deeds,  the 
order  should  have  been  reversed;  but,  believing  in  the  Messiah,  he  was  ac- 
cepted for  his  sake ;  and  being  so,  his  works  were  well-pleasing  in  the  sight 
of  God.  And  as  Abel  was  accepted  as  a  believer,  so  Cain  was  rejected  as 
an  unbeliever.  Being  such,  the  Lord  had  no  respect  to  him ;  he  was  under 
the  curse,  and  all  he  did  was  abhorred  in  his  eyes. 

The  rejection  of  Cain  and  his  offering  operated  upon  him  very  powerfully. 
If  the  love  of  God  had  been  in  him,  he  would  have  fallen  before  him,  as 
Joshua  and  his  brethren  did  when  Israel  was  driven  back ;  and  have  pleaded, 
"  Show  me  wherefore  thou  contendest  with  me?"  But  "  he  was  wroth,  and 
his  countenance  fell."  This  is  just  what  might  be  expected  from  a  self- 
righteous,  proud  spirit,  who  thought  so  highly  of  his  offering  as  to  imagine 
that  God  must  needs  be  pleased  with  it,  and  with  him  on  account  of  it.  He 
was  very  wroth;  and  that  no  doubt  against  God  himself,  as  well  as  against 
his  brother.  He  went  in  high  spirits,  like  the  Pharisee  to  the  temple,  but 
came  away  dejected  and  full  of  foul  passions,  of  which  his  fallen  countenance 
was  but  the  index. 

Ver.  6,  7.  Cain  having  returned  home,  the  Lord,  perhaps  in  a  droam  or 
vision  of  the  night,  expostulated  with  him.    "  Why  art  thou  wroth  ?" — What 


20  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

cause  is  there  for  this  enmity  against  thy  Maker,  and  envy  against  thy  brother? 
■ — Doubtless,  he  thought  that  he  had  a  cause;  but  when  interrogated  of  God 
lie  found  none.  "  If  tiiou  doest  well,  shalt  thou  not  be  accepted?  And  unto 
thee  shall  be  his  desire,  and  thou  shalt  rule  over  him."  By  doing  tcell  he 
means  doing  as  Abel  did,  offering  in  faith,  which  is  the  only  well-doing 
among  sinful  creatures.  If  Cain  had  believed  in  the  Messiah,  there  was 
forgiveness  for  him,  no  less  than  for  his  brother;  and  he  should  also  have 
had  the  excellence  attached  to  the  first-born,  which  he  reckoned  he  liad  a 
right  to,  and  the  loss  of  which  galled  him.  "  If  thou  doest  not  well,  sin  lieth 
at  the  door;"*  unforgiven,  to  go  down  with  thee  to  the  grave,  and  to  rise 
with  thee,  and  appear  against  thee  in  judgment.   " 

Observe  how  things  are  ordered  in  the  dealings  of  God  with  men.  Abel 
was  not  accepted  oiGoA  for  his  well-doing;  neither  faith  nor  obedience  was 
that  on  account  of  which  he  was  justified,  but  the  righteousness  of  him  in 
whom  he  believed.  Yet  it  was  in  well-doing  that  he  obtained  eternal  life, 
Rom.  ii.  7.  Though  faith  was  not  the  cause  of  the  Lord's  having  respect  to 
him,  nor  his  having  offered  in  faith  the  cause  of  his  having  respect  to  his 
works ;  yet  each  was  a  necessary  concomitant.  And  this,  while  it  secures 
the  interests  of  righteousness  in  the  righteous,  serves  to  silence  the  wicked, 
and  make  them  feel  the  justice  of  their  condemnation.  Thus,  at  the  last 
judgment,  though  every  one  who  is  saved  will  be  saved  by  grace  only,  yet 
all  will  be  judged  according  to  their  works.  Things  will  be  so  ordered  that 
the  righteous  will  have  nothing  to  boast  of,  and  the  wicked  nothing  to  com- 
plain of,  inasmuch  as  the  decision  in  both  cases  will  proceed  according  to 
character. 

But  though  Cain  was  silenced  by  the  Almighty,  yet  his  malice  was  not 
subdued,  but  rather  inflamed.  If  the  life  of  God  had  been  within  his  reach, 
he  would  have  killed  him;  but  this  he  could  not  do.  From  that  time,  there- 
fore, his  dark  soul  meditated  revenge  upon  Abel,  as  being  God's  favourite, 
his  own  rival,  and  the  only  object  within  his  power.  This  is  the  first  instance 
of  the  enmity  of  the  seed  of  the  serpent  breaking  out  against  the  seed  of  the 
woman;  but  not  the  last!  Observe  the  subtlety  and  treachery  with  which  it 
was  accomplished:  "Cain  talked  with  Abel  his  brother."  He  talked  with 
him,  probably,  in  a  very  familiar  manner,  as  though  he  had  quite  forgotten  the 
affair  which  had  lately  hurt  his  mind ;  and  when  they  were  engaged  in  con- 
versation, persuaded  him  to  take  a  walk  with  him  into  his  field ;  and,  having 
got  him  away  from  the  family,  he  murdered  him!  O  Adam!  thou  didst 
murder  an  unborn  world,  and  now  thou  shalt  see  some  of  the  fruits  of  it  in 
thine  own  family!  Thou  hast  never  before  witnessed  a  human  death:  go, 
see  the  first  victim  of  the  king  of  terrors  in  the  mangled  corpse  of  Abel  thy 
son! — Poor  Abel !  Shall  we  pity  him?  In  one  view  we  must,  but  in  others 
he  is  an  object  of  envy.  He  was  the  first  of  the  noble  army  of  martyrs,  the 
first  of  human  kind  who  entered  the  abodes  of  the  blessed,  and  the  first  in- 
stance of  death  being  subservient  to  Christ.  When  the  serpent  had  drawn 
man  into  sin,  and  exposed  him  to  its  threatened  penalty,  he  seemed  to  have 
obtained  the  prnver  of  death;  and,  had  man  been  left  under  the  ruins  of  the 
fall,  he  would  have  been  continually  walking  through  the  earth,  arm  in  arm, 
as  it  were,  with  the  monster,  the  one  taking  the  bodies  and  the  other  the 
souls  of  men.  But  the  woman's  Seed  is  destined  to  overcome  him.  By 
death  he  destroyed  "  him  who  had  the  power  of  death,  and  delivered  them 
who"  must  otherwise,  "  through  fear  of  death,"  have  been  "  all  their  lifetime 
subject  to  bondage,"  Heb.  ii.  14,  15. 

*  This  clause,  which  is  in  the  middle  of  verse  7, 1  suppose  should  be  in  a  parenthesis.  I 
have  therefore  placed  the  first  and  last  in  connexion,  and  introduced  this  after  them,  by 
which  the  sense  is  clear. 


gain's  punishment  and  posterity.  21 


DISCOURSE  VIII. 
gain's  punishment  and  posterity. 

Gen.  iv.  9-24. 

Ver.  9.  We  have  seen  the  tragical  end  of  righteous  Abel ;  but  what  be- 
comes of  the  murderer?  Probably  he  had  hid  the  dead  body  of  his  brother 
to  elude  detection;  but  God  will  find  him  out.  Jehovah  said  to  Cain, 
"  Where  is  Abel,  thy  brother?"  What  a  cutting  question!  The  words  thy 
hrotlur  would  remind  him  of  the  tender  ties  of  flesh  and  blood  which  he 
had  broken  ;  and  if  he  had  any  feeling  of  conscience  left  in  him,  must  pierce 
him  to  the  quick.  But  oh  how  black,  how  hardened  is  the  state  of  his 
mind!  Mark  his  answer.  First,  The  falsehood  of  it — "  I  know  not."  We 
feel  astonished  that  a  man  can  dare  to  lie  in  the  presence  of  his  Maker;  yet 
how  many  lies  are  uttered  before  him  by  formalists  and  hypocrites !  Secondly, 
The  insolence  of  it — "  Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  This  man  had  no  fear 
of  God  before  his  eyes;  and  where  this  is  wanting,  regard  to  man  will  be 
wanting  also.  Even  natural  affection  will  be  swallowed  up  in  selfishness. 
Supposing  he  had  not  known  where  his  brother  was,  it  did  not  follow  that 
he  had  no  interest  in  his  preservation  ;  but  he  did  know,  and  instead  of  being 
his  keeper,  had  been  his  murderer. 

Ver.  10.  "  And  he  said,  What  hast  thou  done?"  Ah,  what  indeed!  This 
was  the  question  put  to  Eve ;  and  sooner  or  later  it  will  be  put  to  every  sin- 
ner, and  conscience  must  answer  to  it  too!  But  Cain  refuses  to  speak  :  be 
it  so  ;  there  needs  no  confession  to  substantiate  his  guilt.  His  hrotlur' s  blood 
had  already  done  this!  Blood  has  a  voice  that  will  speak;  yea,  that  will 
"  cry  to  Heaven  from  the  ground"  for  vengeance  on  him  who  sheds  it; 
and  a  brother's  blood  especially. — What  a  scene  will  open  to  view  at  the 
last  judgment,  when  the  earth  shall  disclose  her  blood,  and  shall  no  more 
cover  her  slain  !  And  if  such  was  the  cry  of  Abel's  blood,  what  must  have 
been  that  of  the  blood  which  was  shed  on  Calvary?  We  should  have  thought 
that  blood  must  have  called  for  vengeance  sevenfold ;  and  in  one  view  it  did 
so,  but  in  another  it  speaks  "  better  things  than  that  of  Abel." 

Ver.  11,  12.  But  let  us  notice  the  doom  of  Cain.  He  was  cursed  from 
the  earth ;  it  should  in  future  refuse  to  yield  him  its  wonted  fruits,  and  he 
should  be  a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond  in  it.  Three  things  are  here  observable: 
1.  By  the  sovereign  will  of  the  Lord  of  all,  his  life  was  spared.  Afterwards 
a  positive  law  was  made  by  the  same  authority,  that  "  whosoever  should  shed 
man's  blood,  by  man  should  his  blood  be  shed."  But  at  present,  for  reasons 
of  state  in  the  breast  of  the  King  of  kings,  the  murderer  shall  be  reprieved. 
If  he  had  died  by  the  hand  of  man,  it  must  have  been  either  by  an  act  of 
private  revenge,  which  would  have  increased  bloodshed ;  or  Adam  himself 
must  have  been  the  executioner  of  his  son,  from  which  trial  of  "  quenching 
the  coal  that  was  left"  God  might  graciously  exempt  him.  2.  The  curse 
which  attached  to  his  life,  like  that  of  oUr  first  parents,  is  confined  to  the 
present  state.  There  is  no  reason  in  the  world  to  suppose  that  the  punish- 
ment of  such  a  crime  would  actually  be  so,  any  more  than  others,  nor  others 
any  more  than  this ;  but  a  future  life  was  at  this  time  sparingly  revealed,  and 
almost  every  thing  concealed  under  the  veil  of  temporal  good  and  evil.  3.  It 
contains  a  special  addition  to  that  which  was  denounced  on  Adam.  The 
earth  was  cursed  to  him ;   but  Cain  was  "  cursed  from  the  earth."     It  had 


22  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

been  his  brother's  friend,  by  affording  a  kind  of  sanctuary  for  his  blood, 
whicli  he  had  pursued ;  but  to  him  it  sliould  be  an  enemy,  not  only  refusing 
its  wonted  fruits,  but  even  a  place  whereon  to  rest  his  foot,  or  in  which  to 
hide  his  guilty  head ! 

Ver.  13,  14.  This  tremendous  sentence  draws  forth  an  answer  from  the 
murderer.  There  is  a  great  change  since  he  spoke  last,  but  not  for  the 
better.  All  the  difference  is,  instead  of  his  high  tone  of  insolence,  we  per- 
ceive him  sinking  into  the  last  stage  of  depravity,  sullen  desperation.  Behold 
here  a  finished  picture  of  impenitent  misery !  What  a  contrast  to  the  fifty- 
first  Psalm!  There  the  evil  dwelt  upon  and  pathetically  lamented  is  sin; 
but  here  it  is  only  punishment.  See  how  he  expatiates  upon  it  .'.  .  .  Driven 
from  the  face  of  the  earth  ....  deprived  of  God's  favour  and  blessing,  and, 
in  a  sort,  of  the  means  of  hope  (ver.  16)  ....  a  wanderer  and  an  outcast 
from  men  ....  to  all  which  his  fears  add, — Wherever  I  am,  by  night  or  by 
day,  my  life  will  be  in  perpetual  danger ! — Truly  it  was  a  terrible  doom,  a 
kind  of  hell  upon  earth.  "  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
living  God!" 

Ver.  15.  From  the  last  part  of  what  his  fears  foreboded,  however,  God 
was  pleased  to  exempt  him ;  yet  not  in  mercy,  but  in  judgment.  He  shall 
not  die,  but  live,  a  monument  of  Divine  justice.  If  he  had  died,  his  ex- 
ample might  soon  have  been  forgotten ;  but  mankind  shall  see  and  fear. 
"  Slay  them  not,  lest  my  people  forget :  scatter  them  by  thy  power,  and  bring 
them  down,  O  Lord !"  God  is  not  obliged  to  send  a  sinner  to  the  place  of 
the  damned,  in  order  to  punish  him :  he  can  call  his  name  Magormissabib, 
and  render  him  a  terror  to  himself  and  all  about  him,  Jer.  xx  3,  4.  What 
the  7narJc  was  which  was  set  upon  Cain  we  know  not,  nor  does  it  behove 
us  to  inquire :  whatever  it  was,  it  amounted  to  a  safe  passage  through  the 
world,  so  far  as  respected  a  punishment  from  man  for  his  present  crime. 

Ver.  10.  And  now,  having  obtained  a  reprieve,  he  retires  in  the  true 
spirit  of  a  reprobate,  and  tries  to  forget  his  misery.  It  shocked  him  at  first 
to  be  driven  out  from  God's  face,  by  which  perhaps  he  meant  from  all  con- 
nexion with  the  people  and  worship  of  God,  from  the  means  of  grace,  and 
so  from  the  hope  of  mercy ;  but  in  a  little  time  the  sensation  subsides,  and 
he  resolves  to  enjoy  the  present  world  as  well  as  he  can.  He  goes  out  "  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,"  takes  a  final  leave  of  God,  and  his  worship,  and 
his  people,  and  cares  no  more  about  them.  If  this  be  the  meaning  of  the 
words,  (and  I  know  of  no  other  so  probable,)  it  wears  a  very  favourable  ap- 
pearance with  respect  to  the  state  of  things  in  Adam's  family.  It  shows  that 
the  worship  of  God  was  there  carried  on,  and  that  God  was  with  them. 
Indeed,  if  it  were  not  carried  on  there,  it  appears  to  have  had  no  existence 
in  the  world,  which  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  was  ever  the  case  when 
once  it  had  begun.  With  respect  to  Cain,  the  country  whither  he  went  is 
called  Nod,  or  Naid,  which  signifies  a  vagabond.  It  was  not  so  called  be- 
fore, but  on  his  account;  as  who  should  say,  The  land  of  the  vagabond. 

Ver.  17.  He  was  married  before  this,  though  we  are  not  told  to  whom. 
Doubtless  it  was  to  one  of  Adam's  daughters,  mentioned  in  chap.  v.  4,  which 
near  affinity,  though  since  forbidden,  was  then  absolutely  necessary.  Of  her, 
in  the  land  of  the  vagabond,  he  had  a  son,  whom  he  called  Enoch ;  not  him 
who  icnlkcd  uiith  God,  but  one  of  the  same  name.  It  signifies  taught  or 
dedicated:  it  is  rather  difficult  to  account  for  his  calling  the  child  by  this 
name  after  what  had  taken  place.  Possibly  it  might  be  one  of  those  effects 
of  education  which  are  often  seen  in  the  ungodly  children  of  religious 
parents.  When  he  himself  was  born,  he  was,  as  we  have  seen,  accounted 
an  acquisition,  and  was  doubtless  dedicated,  and  as  he  grew  up  taught  by 
his  parents.     Of  this  it  is  likely  he  had  made  great  account,  priding  himself 


GENERATIONS  OP  ADAM.  23 

in  it,  as  many  graceless  characters  do  in  being  the  children  of  the  righteous ; 
and  now,  having  a  child  of  his  own,  he  might  wish  to  stamp  upon  him  this 
mark  of  honour,  though  it  was  merely  nominal.  After  this,  Cain  built,  or 
was  building,  a  city;  a  very  small  one  no  doubt,  as  need  required.  He  began 
what  his  family,  as  they  increased,  perfected;  and  called  it  after  the  name 
of  his  son.  Thus  he  amused  himself  as  well  as  he  could.  The  Divine  for- 
bearance probably  hardened  him  in  his  security,  as  it  commonly  does  the 
ungodly.  "  Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily, 
therefore  the  hearts  of  the  sons  of  men  are  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil." 

Ver.  18-24.  Next  follow  the  generations  of  Cain,  which  present  a  few 
general  observations. — 1.  Nothing  good  is  said  of  any  of  them;  but,  heathen 
like,  they  appear  to  have  lost  all  fear  of  God  and  regard  to  man.  2.  Two 
or  three  of  them  become  famous  for  arts ;  one  was  a  shepherd,  another  a 
musician,  and  another  a  smith;  all  very  well  in  themselves,  but  things  in 
which  the  worst  of  men"  may  excel.  Some  have  supposed  that  we  are  in- 
debted to  revelation  for  all  this  kind  of  knowledge.  Had  it  been  said  we 
are  indebted  to  our  Creator  for  it,  it  had  been  true ;  for  to  his  instruction 
the  discretion  of  the  husbandman  is  ascribed,  Isa.  xxviii.  24-29.  But  reve- 
lation was  given  for  greater  and  better  objects ;  namely,  to  furnish  not  the 
man,  but  "  the  man  of  God."  3.  One  of  them  was  infamous  for  his  wicked- 
ness ;  namely,  Lamech.  He  was  the  first  who  violated  the  law  of  marriage ; 
a  man  who  gave  loose  to  his  appetites,  and  lived  a  kind  of  lawless  life. 
Among  other  evils,  he  followed  the  example  of  his  ancestor  Cain.  It  is  not 
said  whom  he  slew;  but  he  himself  says  it  was  a  young  man.  This  is  the 
first  instance,  but  not  the  last,  in  which  sensuality  and  murder  are  connected. 
Nor  did  he  barely  follow  Cain's  example ;  but  seems  to  have  taken  encourage- 
ment from  the  Divine  forbearance  towards  him,  and  to  have  presumed  that 
God  would  be  still  more  forbearing  towards  him.  Thus  one  sinner  takes 
liberty  to  sin  from  the  suspension  of  judgment  towards  another. 

Here  ends  the  account  of  cursed  Cain.  We  hear  no  more  of  his  posterity, 
unless  it  be  as  tempters  to  "  the  sons  of  God,"  till  they  were  all  swept  away 
by  the  deluge! 


DISCOURSE  IX. 

THE  GENERATIONS  OF  ADAM. 

Gen.  iv.  25,  26;  v. 


We  have  of  late  met  with  little  else  than  the  operation  of  sin  and  misery; 
here  I  hope  we  shall  find  something  that  will  afford  us  pleasure.  Adam  had 
lived  to  see  grievous  things  in  his  family.  At  length,  about  a  hundred  and 
thirty  years  after  the  creation.  Eve  bare  him  another  son.  Him  his  mother 
called  Seth;  that  is,  set,  or  appointed  ;  "for  God,"  said  she,  "hath  appointed 
me  another  seed  instead  of  Abel,  whom  Cain  slew."  The  manner  in  which 
the  mother  of  mankind  speaks  on  this  occasion  is  much  in  favour  of  her 
personal  religion.  The  language  implies  that  though  at  first  she  had  doted 
upon  Cain,  yet  as  they  grew  up,  and  discovered  their  dispositions,  Abel  was 
preferred.  He  was  the  child  in  whom  all  the  hopes  of  the  family  seem  to 
have  cohcentrated;  and,  therefore,  when  he  fell  a  sacrifice  to  his  brother's 
cruelty,  it  was  considered  as  a  very  heavy  loss.  She  was  not  without  a  son 
before  Seth  was  born,  for  Cain  was  yet  alive :  but  he  was  considered  as 


24  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

none,  or  as  worse  than  none;  and  therefore,  when  Seth  was  born,  she  hoped 
to  find  in  him  a  successor  to  Abel:  and  so  it  proved;  for  this  appears  to  have 
been  the  family  in  which  the  true  religion  was  preserved  in  those  times.  At 
the  birth  of  Enos,  which  was  a  hundred  and  five  years  after  that  of  his  father 
Seth,  it  is  remarked  with  emphasis  by  the  sacred  historian — "  Then  began 
men  to  call  itpon  the  name  of  the  Lord."  This  cheering  information  doubt- 
less refers  to  the  families  in  connexion  with  which  it  is  spoken,  and  denotes, 
not  that  there  had  been  no  calling  upon  the  Lord  till  that  time,  but  that 
thence  true  religion  assumed  a  more  visible  form  ;  the  seed  of  the  woman, 
afterwards  called  "  the  sons  of  God,"  assembling  together  to  worship  him, 
while  the  seed  of  the  serpent  might  very  probably  be  employed  in  deriding 
them. 

From  the  genealogy  in  chap.  v.  I  shall  barely  offer  the  following  remarks : 

1.  It  is  a  very  honourable  one.  Not  only  did  patriarchs  and  prophets,  and 
the  church  of  God  for  many  ages,  descend  from  it,  but  the  Son  of  God  him- 
self according  to  the  flesh;  and,  to  show  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises  and 
prophecies  concerning  him,  is  the  principal  reason  of  the  genealogy  having 
been  recorded. 

2.  Neither  Cain  nor  Abel  has  any  place  in  it.  Abel  was  slain  before  he 
had  any  children,  and  therefore  could  not;  and  Cain  by  his  sin  had  covered 
his  name  with  infamy,  and  therefore  should  not.  Adam's  posterity  therefore, 
after  a  lapse  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  must  begin  anew. 

3.  The  honour  done  to  Seth  and  his  posterity  was  of  grace;  for  he  is  said 
to  have  been  born  in  Adam's  likeness,  and  after  his  image;  a  phrase  which, 
I  believe,  is  always  used  to  express  the  qualities  of  the  mind,  rather  than  the 
shape  of  the  body.  Man  was  made  "  after  the  image  of  God ;"  but  this 
being  lost,  they  are  born  corrupt,  the  children  of  a  corrupt  father.  What  is 
true  of  all  mankind  is  here  noted  of  Seth,  because  he  was  reckoned  as 
Adam's  first-born.  He  therefore,  like  all  others,  was  by  nature  a  child  of 
wrath ;  and  what  he  or  any  of  his  posterity  were  different  from  this,  they  were 
by  grace. 

4.  The  extraordinary  length  of  human  life  at  that  period  was  wisely 
ordered  ;  not  only  for  the  peopling  of  the  world,  but  for  the  supplying  of  the 
defect  of  a  written  revelation.  From  the  death  of  Adam  to  the  call  of 
Abram,  a  period  of  about  eleven  hundred  years,  there  were  living  either 
Enoch,  Lamech,  Noah,  or  Shem ;  besides  other  godly  persons,  who  were 
their  contemporaries,  and  who  would  feelingly  relate  to  those  about  them 
the  great  events  of  the  creation,  the  fidl  and  recovery  of  man. 

5.  Notwithstanding  the  longevity  of  the  antediluvians,  it  is  recorded  of 
them  all,  in  their  turn,  that  they  died.  Though  the  stroke  of  death  was  slow 
in  its  approach,  yet  it  was  sure.  If  man  could  live  to  a  thousand  years,  yet 
be  must  die;  and  if  he  die  in  sin,  he  will  be  accursed. 

6.  Though  many  of  the  names  in  this  genealogy  are  passed  over  without 
any  thing  being  said  of  their  piety,  yet  we  are  not  hence  to  infer  that  they 
were  impious.  Many  might  be  included  among  them  who  "  called  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord,"  and  who  are  denominated  "  the  sons  of  God,"  though 
nothing  is  personally  related  of  them. 

7.  Two  of  them  are  distinguished  for  eminent  godliness;  or,  as  it  is  here 
called,  walking  with  God;  namely,  Enoch  and  Noah.  Both  these  holy  men 
are  enrolled  in  the  list  of  worthies  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews. 

Let  us  look  a  little  intensely  at  the  life  of  the  former  of  these  worthies, 
the  shortest  of  all  the  lives,  but  surely  the  sweetest :  "  Enoch  walked  with 
God,  after  he  begat  Methuselah,  three  hundred  years." — "  He  walked  with 
God,  and  was  not ;  for  God  took  him."     This  is  one  of  those  brief,  impres- 


GENERATIONS  OP  ADAM.  S5 

sive  descriptions  of  true  religion  with  which  the  Scriptures  abound.  Its 
holy  and  progressive  nature  is  here  most  admirably  marked.  "  Enoch  walked 
with  God."  He  must  then  have  been  in  a  state  of  reconciliation  with  God; 
for  two  cannot  walk  together  except  they  be  agreed.  lie  was  what  Paul 
infers  from  another  consideration,  a  believer.  Where  this  is  not  the  case, 
whatever  may  be  his  outward  conduct,  the  sinner  walks  contrary  to  God,  and 
God. to  him.  What  an  idea  does  it  convey,  also,  of  his  setting  God  always 
before  him,  seeking  to  glorify  him  in  every  duty,  and  studying  to  show  him- 
self approved  of  him,  whatever  might  be  thought  of  his  conduct  by  sinful 
men!  Finally,  What  an  idea  does  it  convey  of  the  communion  which  he 
habitually  enjoyed  with  God !  His  conversation  was  in  heaven  while  dwell- 
ing on  the  earth,     God  dwelt  in  him,  and  he  in  God ! 

"  Enoch  walked  with  God,  after  he  begat  Methuselah,  three  hundred 
years,"  and  perhaps  some  time  before  that  event.  Religion  with  him,  then, 
was  not  a  transient  feeling,  but  an  habitual  and  abiding  principle.  In 
reviewing  such  a  character,  what  Christian  can  forbear  exclaiming,  in  the 
words  of  our  Christian  poet, 

"Oh  for  a  closer  walk  with  God, 

A  calm  and  heavenly  frame; 

A  light,  to  shine  upon  the  road 

That  leads  me  to  the  Lamb  !" — Cowfer. 

Just  so  much  as  we  have  of  this,  so  much  we  possess  of  true  religion,  and 
no  more. 

"Enoch  walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not;  for  God  took  him ;"  that  is, 
as  Paul  explains  it,  "  he  was  translated,  that  he  should  not  see  death."  This 
singular  favour  conferred  on  Enoch,  like  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  might 
be  designed  to  afford  a  sensible  proof  of  a  blessed  immortality,  which,  for 
the  want  of  a  written  revelation,  might  then  be  peculiarly  necessary.  He 
had  warned  the  wicked  of  his  day  that  "  the  Lord  would  come,  with  ten 
thousand  of  his  holy  ones,  to  execute  judgment ;"  and  now,  however  offensive 
his  doctrine  might  have  been  to  them,  God,  by  exempting  him  from  the 
common  lot  of  men,  will  bear  testimony  that  he  hath  pleased  hi?n,  not  only 
to  the  mind  of  Enoch,  but  to  the  world.  It  is  possible,  also,  that  the  trans- 
lation of  this  holy  man  might  be  conferred  in  order  to  show  what  would 
have  been  common  to  all  had  man  persisted  in  his  obedience — a  translation 
from  the  earthly  to  the  heavenly  paradise. 

With  respect  to  Noah,  we  shall  have  an  account  of  his  righteous  life  in 
the  following  chapters;  at  present  we  are  only  told  of  the  circumstances  of 
his  birth,  ver.  28-32.  His  father  Lamech  speaks,  on  this  occasion,  like  a 
good  man  and  a  prophet.  He  called  his  son  Noah,  which  signifies  rest ; 
"  for  this  same,"  saith  he,  "  shall  comfort  us  concerning  our  work,  and  the 
toil  of  our  hands,  because  of  the  ground  which  the  Lord  hath  cursed." 
Noah,  by  building  the  ark,  saved  a  remnant  from  the  flood ;  and,  by  offer- 
ing an  acceptable  sacrifice,  obtained  the  promise  that  the  ground  should 
no  more  be  cursed  for  man's  sake,  chap.  viii.  2L  As  Lamech  could  have 
known  this  only  by  revelation,  we  may  infer  thence  the  sweet  rest  which 
Divine  truth  affords  to  the  believing  mind  from  the  toils  and  troubles  of  the 
present  life;  and  if  the  birth  of  this  child  afforded  comfort,  in  that  he  would 
save  the  world  and  remove  the  curse,  how  much  more  His  who  would  be  a 
greater  Saviour,  and  remove  a  greater  curse,  by  being  himself  an  ark  of 
salvation,  and  by  offering  "  himself  a  sacrifice  to  God  for  a  sweet-smelling 
savour !" 

Vol.  HI.— 4 


26  EXPOSITION  OP-  GENESIS. 


DISCOURSE  X. 

THE  CAUSE  OP  THE  DELUGE. 
Gen.  vi.  1-7. 

Ver.  1-3.  When  we  read  of  men  beginning  to  "  call  upon  the  name  of 
the  Lord,"  we  entertained  a  hope  of  good  times,  and  of  comfort,  as  Lamech 
said,  after  toil  and  sorrow ;  but,  alas,  what  a  sad  reverse !  A  general  corrup- 
tion overspreads  the  earth,  and  brings  on  a  tremendous  deluge,  that  sweeps 
them  all,  one  family  excepted,  into  oblivion. 

First,  We  may  remark  the  occasion  of  this  general  corruption,  which  was 
the  increase  of  population.  "  When  men  began  to  multiply"  they  became 
more  and  more  depraved :  yet  an  increase  of  population  is  considered  as  a 
blessing  to  a  country,  and  such  it  is  in  itself;  but  through  man's  depravity 
it  often  proves  a  curse.  When  men  are  collected  in  great  numbers  they 
whet  one  another  to  evil,  which  is  the  reason  why  sin  commonly  grows 
rankest  in  populous  places.  We  were  made  to  be  helpers ;  but  by  sin  we 
are  become  tempters  of  one  another,  drawing  and  being  drawn  into  innume- 
rable evils. 

Secondly,  Observe  the  first  step  towards  degeneracy ,  which  was  the  uniting 
of  the  world  and  the  church  by  mixed  marriages : — The  sons  of  God  and 
the  daughters  of  men — the  descendants  of  Seth  and  those  of  Cain — the  seed 
of  the  woman  and  the  seed  of  the  serpent.  The  great  end  of  marriage,  in 
a  good  man,  should  not  be  to  gratify  his  fancy,  nor  to  indulge  his  natural 
inclinations,  but  to  obtain  a  helper;  and  the  same  in  a  woman.  We  need 
to  be  helped  on  in  our  way  to  heaven,  instead  of  being  hindered  and  cor- 
rupted. Hence  it  was  that,  in  the  law,  marriages  with  idolaters  were  for- 
bidden (Deut.  vii.  3,  4) ;  and  hence  Christian  marriages  were  limited  to 
those  "  in  the  Lord,"  1  Cor.  vii.  39.  The  examples  which  we  have  seen  of 
the  contrary  have,  by  their  effects,  justified  these  injunctions.  I  would 
earnestly  entreat  serious  young  people,  of  both  sexes,  as  they  regard  God's 
honour,  their  own  spiritual  welfare,  and  the  welfare  of  the  church  of  God,  to 
avoid  being  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers. 

Thirdly,  Observe  the  great  ojfence  that  God  took  at  this  conduct,  and  the 
consequences  which  grew  out  of  it :  "  The  Lord  said.  My  Spirit  shall  not 
always  strive  with  man,"  &c.  Had  the  sons  of  God  kept  themselves  to  them- 
selves, and  preserved  their  purity,  God  would  have  spared  the  world  for  their 
sakes;  but  they  mingled  together,  and  became  in  effect  one  people.  The 
old  folks  were  in  their  account  too  bigoted,  and  it  seemed  much  better  for 
them  to  indulge  a  more  liberal  way  of  thinking  and  acting.  But  this,  in 
the  sight  of  God,  was  worse  than  almost  any  thing  that  had  gone  before  it. 
He  was  more  offended  with  the  religious  than  with  the  irreligious  part  of 
them.  Seeing  they  had  become  one  people,  he  calls  them  all  by  one  name, 
and  that  is  man,  without  any  distinction ;  and  in  giving  the  reason  why  his 
Spirit  should  not  always  strive  with  man,  special  reference  is  had  to  their 
having  become  degenerate — It  was  for  that  he  also,  or  these  also,  ivere  fiesh; 
that  is,  those  who  had  been  considered  as  the  sons  of  God  were  become 
corrupt.  God's  Holy  Spirit  in  his  prophets  had  long  strove  or  contended 
with  the  world  (see  Neh.  ix.  30;  1  Pet.  iii.  19,  20) ;  and  while  the  sons  of 
God  made  a  stand  against  their  wickedness,  God  was  with  them,  and  the 
contest  was  kept  up :  but  they  having,  like  false  allies,  made  a  kind  of 
separate  peace,  or  rather  gone  over  to  the  enemy,  God  will  give  up  the  war, 


CAUSE  OP  THE  DELUGE.  27 

let  sin  have  a  free  course,  and  let  them  take  the  consequences !  "Bread- 
corn  is  bruised,  because  he  ivill  not  ever  be  threshing  it." 

Fourthly,  Observe  the  long-suffering  of  God  amidst  his  displeasure:  "His 
days  shall  be  a  hundred  and  twenty  years."  This  refers  to  the  period  of 
time  which  should  elapse  before  the  drowning  of  the  world,  "  when,"  as  an 
apostle  expresses  it,  "  the  long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah, 
while  the  ark  was  preparing."  All  this  time  God  did  strive  or  contend  with 
them ;  but  it  seems  without  effect. 

Ver.  4.  Among  various  other  evils  which  at  that  time  prevailed,  a  spirit 
of  ambition  was  predominant ;  a  thirst  of  conquest  and  dominion ;  and  of 
course  a  flood  of  injuries,  outrages,  and  oppressions.  The  case  seems  to 
have  been  this :  Previously  to  the  unhappy  junction  between  the  families 
of  Cain  and  Seth,  there  were,  among  the  former,  giants,  or  men  of  great 
stature,  who,  tempted  by  their  superior  strength,  set  up  for  champions  and 
heroes,  and  bore  down  all  before  them.*  Nor  was  the  mischief  confined  to 
them  ;  for  also  after  that,  when  the  two  families  had  become  one,  as  the 
children  that  were  born  unto  them  grew  up,  they  emulated,  as  might  be 
expected,  not  the  virtues  of  their  fathers,  but  the  vices  of  their  mothers,  and 
particularly  those  of  the  gigantic  and  fierce  heroes  among  their  relations. 
Hence  there  sprang  up  a  number  of  characters  famous,  or  rather  infamous, 
for  their  plunders  and  depredations.  Such,  in  after-times,  was  Nimrod,  that 
"  mighty  hunter  before  the  Lord." 

Ver.  5.  The  church  being  thus  corrupted,  and  in  a  manner  lost  in  the 
world,  there  is  nothing  left  to  resist  the  torrent  of  depravity.  Man  appears 
now  in  his  true  character.  The  picture  which  is  here  drawn  of  him,  though 
very  affecting,  is  no  more  than  just.  If  it  had  been  drawn  by  the  pen  of  a 
prejudiced  erring  mortal,  it  might  be  supposed  to  exceed  the  truth;  but  that 
which  was  written  was  taken  from  the  perfect  and  impartial  survey  of  God. 
Hear,  ye  who  pretend  that  man  is  naturally  virtuous  1  That  the  wickedness 
of  man  has  in  all  ages,  though  at  some  periods  more  than  others,  been  great 
upon  the  earth,  can  scarcely  be  called  in  question  ;  but  that  "  every  imagina- 
tion of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  should  be  only  evil,  and  that  continually," 
is  more  than  men  in  general  will  allow.  Yet  such  is  the  account  here 
given.  Mark  the  affecting  gradation.  Evil:  evil  without  mixture;  "only 
evil."  YavW  loithout  cessation ;  "continually."  Yts'iX  ixomi\\e\Qxy  fountain- 
head  of  action  ;  "  the  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  the  heart."  Nor  is  it 
a  description  of  certain  vicious  characters  only,  but  of  "  man,"  as  left  to 
himself  And  all  this  "  God  saw,"  who  sees  things  as  they  are.  This  doc- 
trine is  fundamental  to  the  gospel :  the  whole  of  redemption  rests  upon  it ; 
and  I  suspect  that  every  fiilse  scheme  of  religion  which  has  been  at  any  time 
advanced  in  the  world  might  be  proved  to  have  originated  in  the  denial 
of  it. 

Ver.  6.  The  effect  of  this  Divine  survey  is  described  in  language  taken 
it  is  true  from  the  feelings  of  men,  but  unusually  impressive.  "  It  repented 
the  Lord  that  he  had  made  man  on  the  earth,  and  it  grieved  him  at  his 
heart!"  We  are  not  to  attribute  to  an  immutable  mind  the  fickleness  of 
man,  nor  to  suppose  that  the  omniscient  Jehovah  was  really  disappointed  ; 
but  thus  much  we  learn,  that  the  wickedness  of  man  is  such  as  to  mar  all 
the  works  of  God  over  which  he  is  placed,  and  to  render  them  worse  than 
if  there  were  none ;  so  that  if  he  had  not  counteracted  it  by  the  death  of 
Christ,  there  had  better  have  been  no  world.  In  short,  that  any  one  but 
himself,  on  seeing  his  work  thus  marred  and  perverted,  would  have  really 

*  They  are  denominated  aSoj  and  SflJ  to  fall,  which  in  this  connexion  has  been  thought 
to  mean  that  they  were  a  kind  of  fellers,  causing  men  to  fall  before  them  like  trees  by  the 
axe. 


28  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

repented,  and  wished  from  his  heart  that  he  had  never  made  them!  The 
words  express,  with  an  energy  and  impressiveness  which  it  is  probable 
notliing  purely  literal  could  have  conveyed,  the  exceeding  sinfulness  and 
provoking  nature  of  sin. 

Ver.  7.  From  tliis  cause  proceeded  the  Divine  resolution  to  "  destroy 
man  from  the  face  of  the  earth ;"  and,  to  show  the  greatness  of  his  sin,  it  is 
represented  as  extinguishing  the  paternal  kindness  of  God  as  his  Creator: 
"The  Lord  said,  I  will  destroy  man,  wliom  I  have  created,  from  the  face  of 
the  earth." — "  He  that  made  them  would  not  have  mercy  on  them,  and  he 
that  formed  them  would  show  them  no  favour!"  And  further,  to  show  his 
displeasure  against  man,  the  creatures  which  were  subject  to  him  should  be 
destroyed  with  him.  Thus,  when  Achan  had  transgressed,  to  render  his 
punishment  more  impressive  upon  Israel,  "  his  sons,  and  daughters,  and 
oxen,  and  asses,  and  sheep,  and  tent,  and  all  that  he  had,  were  brought  forth, 
and  with  himself  stoned  with  stones,  and  burnt  with  fire."  However  light 
man  may  make  of  sin  during  the  time  of  God's  forbearance,  it  will  prove  in 
the  end  to  be  an  evil  and  bitter  thing. 


DISCOURSE  XL 


NOAH  FINDS  FAVOUR  WITH  GOD,  AND  IS  DIRECTED  TO  BUILD  THE  ARK. 
Gen.  vi.  8-22. 

By  the  foregoing  account,  it  would  seem  as  if  the  whole  earth  had  be- 
come corrupt.  In  the  worst  of  times,  however,  God  has  had  a  remnant  that 
has  walked  with  him ;  and  over  them  he  has  in  the  most  sore  calamities 
directed  a  watchful  eye.  When  God  said,  "  I  will  destroy  man,  whom  I  have 
created,  from  the  face  of  the  earth,"  it  seemed  as  if  he  would  make  an  end 
of  the  human  race.  "  But  Noah  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord." 
Observe,  L  It  is  painful  to  find  but  one  family,  nay,  it  would  seem  but  one 
person,  out  of  all  the  professed  sons  of  God,  who  stood  firmly  in  this  evil 
day.  Some  were  dead,  and  others  by  mingling  with  the  wicked  had  apos- 
tatized. 2.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  one  upright  man  in  a  generation  of  the 
ungodly ;  a  lily  among  thorns,  whose  lovely  conduct  would  shine  the  brighter 
when  contrasted  with  that  of  the  world  about  him.  It  is  a  great  matter  to 
be  faithful  among  the  faithless.  With  all  our  helps  from  the  society  of  good 
men,  we  find  it  difficult  enough  to  keep  on  our  way ;  but  for  an  individual 
to  set  his  fice  against  the  whole  current  of  public  opinion  and  custom 
requires  and  implies  great  grace.  Yet  that  is  the  only  true  religion  which 
walks  as  in  the  sight  of  God,  irrespective  of  what  is  thought  or  done  by 
others.  Such  was  the  resolution  of  Joshua,  when  the  whole  nation  seemed 
to  be  turning  aside  from  God:  "  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the 
Lord."  3.  It  is  encouraging  to  find  that  one  upright  man  was  singled  out 
from  the  rest  when  the  world  was  to  be  destroyed,  li  he  had  been  destroyed 
with  the  world,  God  could  have  taken  him  to  himself,  and  all  would  have 
been  well  with  him  ;  but  then  there  had  been  no  public  expression  of  what 
he  loved,  as  well  as  of  what  he  hated. 

Ver.  9.  As  Noah  was  to  be  the  father  of  the  new  world,  we  have  here  a 
particular  account  of  him.  His  "  generations"  mean  an  account  of  him  and 
his  family;  of  what  he  was,  and  of  the  things  which  befell  him. — See  chap, 
^xvii.  2.     The  first  thing  said  of  him,  as  being  the  greatest,  is,  "  He  was  a 


CHARACTER  OF  NOAH.  29 

just,  or  righteous,  man,  and  perfect  in  his  generations,  walking  with  God.'' 
Character  is  of  greater  importance  than  pedigree.     But  notice  particularly, 

1.  He  was  just.  He  was  the  first  man  who  was  so  called,  though  not  the 
first  who  was  so.  In  a  legal  sense,  a  just  man  is  one  that  doeth  good,  and 
sinneth  not;  but  since  the  fall,  no  such  man  has  existed  upon  earth,  save  the 
man  Christ  Jesus.  If  any  of  us  be  denominated  just,  it  must  be  in  some 
other  sense;  and  what  this  is,  the  Scriptures  inform  us  when  they  represent 
the  just  as  living  by  faith.  Such  was  the  life  of  Noah,  and  therefore  he  is 
reckoned  among  the  believing  worthies,  Heb.  xi.  7.  And  the  faith  by  which 
he  is  justified  before  God  operated  in  a  way  of  righteousness,  which  rendered 
him  just  before  men.  He  is  called  "  a  preacher  of  righteousness,"  and  he 
lived  according  to  his  doctrine,  2  Pet.  ii.  5. 

2.  He  was  perfect  in  his  generations.  The  term  in  this  connexion  is  not 
to  be  taken  absolutely,  but  as  expressive,  not  only  of  sincerity  of  heart,  but 
of  a  decidedncss  for  God,  like  that  of  Caleb,  who  followed  the  hord  ftil/i/. 
It  does  not  merely  distinguish  good  men  from  bad  men,  but  good  men  from 
one  another.  It  is  said  of  Solomon,  that  his  "  heart  was  not  perfect  with 
the  Lord  his  God,  as  was  the  heart  of  David  his  father."  Alas,  how  much 
of  this  half-hearted  religion  there  is  among  us!  Instead  of  serving  the  Lord 
with  a  perfect  heart  and  a  willing  mind,  we  halt  as  it  were  between  two, 
the  love  of  God  and  the  love  of  the  world. 

3.  He  walked  with  God.  This  is  the  same  as  was  said  of  Enoch.  It 
not  only  implies  his  being  reconciled  to  God,  and  denotes  his  acknowledging 
him  in  all  his  ways,  and  enjoying  communion  with  him  in  the  discharge  of 
duties,  but  is  also  expressive  of  the  continuifi/  and  progressive  tendency  of 
true  religion.  Whatever  he  did,  or  wherever  he  went,  God  was  before  his 
eyes ;  nor  did  he  ever  think  of  leaving  off  till  he  should  have  finished  his 
course. 

Ver.  10.  From  Noah's  character  the  sacred  writer  proceeds  to  his  de- 
scendants. He  had  three  sons — Shem,  Ham,  and  Japheth.  These  after- 
wards became  the  patriarchs  of  the  world,  between  whose  posterity  the  three 
great  divisions  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe  have  been  principally  divided. 
Thus  much  at  present  for  the  favoured  family. 

Ver.  11.  Here  we  have  the  charge  against  the  old  world  repeated  as  the 
ground  of  what  should  follow.  If  succeeding  generations  inquire,  Where- 
fore hath  the  Lord  done  thus  unto  the  work  of  his  hands?  What  meaneth 
the  heat  of  this  great  anger?  Be  it  known  that  it  was  not  for  a  small  mat- 
ter :  "  The  earth  was  corrupt  before  God,  and  the  earth  was  filled  with  vio- 
lence." Here  are  two  words  used  to  express  the  wickedness  of  the  world, 
corruption  and  violence,  both  of  which  are  repeated  and  dwelt  upon  in  verses 
12,  13.  The  former  refers,  I  conceive,  to  their  having  debased  and  depraved 
the  true  religion.  This  was  the  natural  consequence  of  the  junction  between 
the  sons  of  God  and  the  daughters  of  men.  Whenever  the  church  is  become 
one  with  the  world,  the  corruption  of  true  religion  has  invariably  followed ; 
for  if  wicked  men  have  a  religion,  it  must  needs  be  such  as  to  accord  with 
their  inclinations.  Hence  arose  all  the  heresies  of  the  early  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  hence  the  grand  Romish  apostacy ;  and  in  short  every  corruption 
of  the  true  religion,  in  past  or  present  times.  The  latter  of  these  terms  is 
expressive  of  their  conduct  towards  one  another.  The  fear  of  God  and  the 
regard  of  man  are  closely  connected ;  and  where  the  one  is  given  up,  the 
other  will  soon  follow.  Indeed,  it  appears  to  be  the  decree  of  the  eternal 
God,  that  when  men  have  cast  off  his  fear,  they  shall  not  continue  long  in 
amity  with  one  another.  And  he  has  only  to  let  the  laws  of  nature  take 
their  course  in  order  to  effect  it;  for  when  men  depart  from  God,  the  prin- 
ciple of  union  is  lost,  and  self-love  governs  every  thing ;  and  being  "  lovers 

-2 


ox)  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

of  their  own  selves"  they  will  be  "  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  blasphemers, 
disobedient  to  parents,  unthankful,  unholy,  without  natural  affection,  truce- 
breakers,  false  accusers,  incontinent,  fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good, 
traitors,  heady,  high-minded,  lovers  of  pleasures  more  than  lovers  of  God." 
Such  a  flood  of  wickedness  is  at  any  time  sufficient  to  deluge  a  world  with 
misery.  If  these  things  did  not  then  break  forth  in  national  wars  as  they 
do  with  us,  it  was  merely  because  the  world  was  not  as  yet  divided  into 
nations :  the  springs  of  domestic  and  social  life  were  poisoned,  the  tender 
ties  of  blood  and  affinity  violated,  and  quarrels,  intrigues,  oppression,  rob- 
beries, and  murders  pervaded  the  abodes  of  man. 

From  the  influence  of  corruption  in  producing  violence,  and  bringing  on 
the  deluge,  we  may  see  the  importance  of  pure  religion,  and  those  who 
adhere  to  it,  to  the  well-being  of  society.  They  are  the  preserving  principle, 
the  salt  of  the  earth ;  and  when  they  are  banished,  or  in  any  way  become 
extinct,  the  consequences  will  be  soon  felt.  While  the  sons  of  God  were 
kept  together  and  continued  faithful,  for  their  sakes  God  would  not  destroy 
the  world ;  but  when  reduced  to  a  single  family,  he  would,  as  in  the  case 
of  Lot,  take  that  away  and  destroy  the  rest.  The  late  convulsions  in  a 
neighbouring  nation  may,  I  apprehend,  be  easily  traced  to  this  cause :  all 
their  violence  originated  in  the  corruption  of  the  true  religion.  About  a 
hundred  and  thirty  years  ago,  the  law  which  protected  the  Reformation  in 
that  country  was  repealed,  and  almost  all  the  religious  people  were  either 
murdered  or  banished.  The  consequence  was,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
the  great  body  of  the  nation,  princes,  priests,  and  people,  sunk  into  infidelity. 
The  protestant  religion,  while  it  continued,  was  the  salt  of  the  state;  but 
when  banished,  and  superstition  had  nothing  left  to  counteract  it,  things 
soon  hastened  to  their  crisis.  Popery,  aided  by  a  despotic  civil  government, 
brought  forth  infidelity ;  and  the  child  as  soon  as  it  grew  up  to  maturity 
murdered  its  parents.  If  the  principal  part  of  religious  people,  in  this  or 
any  other  country,  were  driven  away,  the  rest  would  soon  become  infidels 
and  practical  atheists ;  and  what  every  order  and  degree  of  men  would  have 
to  expect  from  the  prevalence  of  these  principles  there  is  no  want  of  examples 
to  inform  them. 

Ver.  12,  13.  The  corruption  and  violence  which  overspread  the  earth 
attracted  the  notice  of  Heaven.  God  knows  at  all  times  what  is  doing  in 
our  world ;  but  his  looking  upon  the  earth  denotes  a  special  observance  of 
it,  as  though  he  had  instituted  an  inquiry  into  its  affairs.  Thus  he  is 
represented  as  "  going  down  to  Sodom,  to  see  whether  they  had  done  alto- 
gether according  to  the  cry  of  it,  which  was  come  up  unto  him."  Such 
seasons  of  inquiry  are  the  days  of  "  inquisition  for  blood,"  and  are  so  many 
days  of  judgment  in  miniature. 

The  inquiry  being  instituted,  sentence  is  passed,  and  Noah  is  informed 

of  it,     "  God  said  unto  Noah,  The  end  of  all  flesh  is  come  before  me 

behold,  I  will  destroy  them  with  the  earth."  In  cases  where  individuals 
only,  or  even  a  majority,  are  wicked,  and  there  is  yet  a  great  number  of 
righteous  characters,  God  often  inflicts  only  a  partial  punishment ;  but  where 
a  whole  people  are  become  corrupt,  he  has  more  than  once  made  a  full  end 
of  them.  Witness  the  cities  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  the  seven  nations 
of  Canaan ;  and  thus  it  will  be  with  the  world  when  the  righteous  shall  be 
gathered  out  of  it. 

Ver.  14-16.  As  it  was  the  design  of  God  to  make  an  exception  in 
favour  of  his  faithful  servant  Noah,  he  is  directed  to  the  use  of  an  extraor- 
dinary means,  namely,  the  building  of  the  ark  ;  a  kind  of  ship  which,  though 
not  in  the  shape  of  ours,  as  not  being  intended  for  a  voyage,  should  float  on 
the  surface  of  the  waters,  and  preserve  him  and  his  family  alive  in  the  midst 


CHARACTER  OF  NOAH.  31 

of  death.  It  is  possible  that  this  was  the  first  floating  fabric  that  was  ever 
built.  Its  dimensions  were  amazing.  Reckoning  the  cubit  at  only  a  foot 
and  a  half,  which  is  supposed  to  be  somewhat  less  than  the  truth,  it  was  a 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  long,  twenty-five  yards  wide,  and  fifteen  yards  deep ; 
containing  three  stories,  or,  as  we  should  call  them,  decks,  each  five  yards 
in  depth.  It  had  a  window  also,  it  should  seem,  from  end  to  end,  a  foot 
and  a  half  deep,  for  light,  and  perhaps  for  air.* 

Ver.  17.  When  Joseph  was  called  to  interpret  the  dream  of  Pharaoh,  he 
observed  concerning  its  being  doubled  that  it  was  "  because  the  thing  was 
established  by  God,  and  God  would  shortly  bring  it  to  pass ;"  and  thus  we 
may  consider  the  repetition  which  is  here  given  of  the  sentence :  "  Behold 
I,  even  I,  do  bring  a  flood  of  waters  upon  the  earth,  to  destroy  all  flesh 
wherein  is  the  breath  of  life  from  under  heaven." 

Ver.  18-2"3.  But  though  it  was  the  purpose  of  God  to  make  an  end  of 
the  world  that  then  was,  yet  he  did  not  mean  that  the  generations  of  men 
should  here  be  terminated.  A  new  world  shall  succeed,  of  which  his  ser- 
vant Noah  should  be  the  father.  Thus  when  Israel  had  offended  at  Horeb, 
the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  "  Let  me  alone,  that  I  may  destroy  them,  and  I 
will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation."  Hence  pairs  of  every  living  creature 
were  to  go  with  Noah  into  the  ark,  to  provide  for  futurity. 

The  terms  in  which  this  gracious  design  is  intimated  are  worthy  of  special 
notice  :  "  With  thee  will  I  establish  my  covenant."  Observe  three  things 
in  particular.  1.  The  leading  ideas  suggested  by  a  covenant  are  those  of 
peace  and  good-will  between  the  parties,  and  if  differences  have  subsisted, 
forgiveness  of  the  past,  and  security  for  the  future.  Such  were  the  friendly 
alliances  between  Abram  and  Abimelech,  Isaac  and  another  Abimelech, 
and  between  Jacob  and  Laban.  God  was  highly  displeased  with  the  world, 
and  would  therefore  destroy  that  generation  by  a  flood ;  but  when  he  should 
have  done  this,  he  would  return  in  loving-kindness  and  tender  mercies,  and 
would  look  upon  the  earth  with  a  propitious  eye.  Nor  should  they  be  kept 
in  fearful  expectation  of  being  so  destroyed  again ;  for  he  would  pledge  his 
word  no  more  to  be  wroth  with  them  in  such  a  way,  nor  to  rebuke  them 
for  ever.  2.  In  covenants  wherein  one  or  both  of  the  parties  had  been 
offended  it  was  usual  to  offer  sacrifices,  in  which  a  kind  of  atonement  was 
made  for  past  offences,  and  a  perfect  reconciliation  followed.  Such  were 
the  covenants  before  referred  to ;  and  such,  as  we  shall  see  at  the  close  of 
the  eighth  chapter,  was  the  covenant  in  question.  "  Noah  offered  sacrifices, 
and  the  Lord  smelled  a  sweet  savour,  and  promised  to  curse  the  ground  no 
more  for  man's  sake."  3.  In  covenants  which  include  a  blessing  on  many, 
and  them  umcorthy,  it  is  God's  ordinary  method  to  bestow  it  in  reward,  or 
for  the  sake,  of  one  who  was  dear  to  him.  God  loves  men,  but  he  also 
loves  righteousness ;  hence  he  delights  to  bestow  his  blessings  in  such  a 
way  as  manifests  his  true  character.  If  there  had  been  any  dependence  on 
Noah's  posterity,  that  they  would  all  have  walked  in  his  steps,  the  covenant 
might  have  been  established  with  them,  as  well  as  with  him ;  but  they  would 
soon  degenerate  into  idolatry  and  all  manner  of  wickedness.  If  therefore 
he  will  bestow  favour  on  them  in  such  a  way  as  to  express  his  love  of 
righteousness,  it  must  be  for  their  father  Noah's  sake,  and  in  reward  of  his 
righteousness.  To  say,  "  With  thee  will  I  establish  my  covenant,"  was  say- 
ing, in  effect,  I  will  not  treat  with  thine  ungodly  posterity ;  whatever  favour 
I  show  them,  it  shall  be  for  thy  sake. 

*  Noah's  ark  is  said  to  have  been  equal  to  forty  of  our  largest  men  of  war.t 

t  This  note  is  singularly  incorrect.  Dr.  Hales  has  calculated,  apparently  on  correct  data, 
that  the  ark  would  be  of  about  42,413  tons  burthen ;  a  first  rate  man  of  war  is  about  2,300 
tons  ;  so  that  the  ark  would  hold  about  as  much  as  eighteen  of  the  largest  men  of  war. — B 


32  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

It  was  on  this  principle  that  God  made  a  covenant  with  Abram,  in  which 
he  promised  great  blessings  to  his  posterity.  "As  for  me,"  saith  he,  "  be- 
hold, my  covenant  is  with  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  a  flither  of  many  nations." 
Hence,  in  a  great  number  of  instances  wherein  mercy  was  shown  to  the 
rebellious  Israelites,  they  were  reminded  that  it  was  not  for  their  sakes,  but 
on  account  of  the  covenant  made  tmth  their  father  Abraham,  and  reneioed 
with  Isaac  and  Jacob.  It  was  upon  this  principle  also  that  God  made  a 
covenant  with  David,  promising  that  his  seed  should  sit  upon  his  throne  for 
ever.  And  this  is  expressed  in  much  the  same  language  as  that  of  Noah 
and  Abraham  :  "  My  covenant  shall  stand  fast  with  him." — "  Once  have  I 
sworn  by  my  holiness  that  I  will  not  lie  unto  David.  His  seed  shall  endure 
for  ever,  and  his  throne  as  the  sun  before  him."  Solomon  pleaded  this  at 
the  dedication  of  the  temple.  Hezekiah  also  derived  advantage  from  it; 
and  when  the  seed  of  David  corrupted  their  way,  the  Lord  reminded  them 
that  the  favours  whicli  they  enjoined  were  not  for  their  own  sakes,  but  for 
his  name's  sake,  and  for  the  covenant  which  he  had  made  with  David  his 
servant. 

After  these  remarks,  I  scarcely  need  say  that,  by  these  proceedings,  God, 
even  at  this  early  period,  was  preparing  the  way  for  the  redemption  of  his 
Son,  by  rendering  the  great  principle  on  which  it  should  proceed  familiar  to 
mankind.  A  very  small  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures  will  enable  us  to 
perceive  the  charming  analogy  between  the  language  used  in  the  covenants 
with  Noah,  Abram,  David,  &c.,  and  that  which  respects  the  Messiah,  "  I 
will  give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people,  to  establish  the  earth,  to  cause 
to  inherit  the  desolate  heritages." — "  It  is  a  light  thing  that  thou  shouldest 
be  my  servant,  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the  preserved 
of  Israel ;  I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  mayest 
be  my  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." — "Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee 
the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for 
thy  possession."  "  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  shall  be  satis- 
fied." In  these,  as  in  the  former  instances,  God's  covenant  stands  fast  with 
one,  and  many  are  blessed  for  his  sake ;  their  salvation  is  his  reward. 


DISCOURSE  XII. 

THE    FLOOD. 

Gen.  vii. 


We  have  seen  the  preparation  of  the  ark,  the  warnings  of  God  by  it,  and 
his  long-suffering  for  a  hundred  and  twenty  years.  Now  we  see  it  finished; 
now  the  end  of  all  flesh  is  come  before  him. 

Ver.  1.  Observe,  1.  God  gave  special  notice  to  Noah,  saying,  "  Come 
thou  and  all  thy  house  into  the  ark ;  for  thee  have  I  seen  righteous."  He 
who  in  well-doing  commits  himself  into  the  hands  of  a  faithful  Creator, 
needs  not  fear  being  overtaken  by  surprise.  What  have  we  to  fear  when  he 
whom  we  serve  hath  the  keys  of  hell  and  of  death  ?  This  is  not  the  only 
instance  in  which,  when  impending  ills  have  been  ready  to  burst  upon  the 
world,  God  has,  in  effect,  said  to  his  servants,  "  Come,  my  people,  enter  thou 
into  thy  chambers,  and  shut  thy  doors  about  thee;  hide  thyself,  as  it  were 


THE  FLOOD.  33 

for  a  little  moment,  until  the  indignation  be  overpast."  2.  God  gave  hira 
all  his  household  with  him.  We  are  not  informed  whether  any  of  Noah's 
family  at  present  followed  his  example;  it  is  certain  that  all  did  not;  yet  all 
entered  with  him  into  the  ark  for  his  sake.  This  indeed  was  but  a  specimen 
of  the  mercy  which  was  to  be  exercised  towards  his  distant  posterity  on  be- 
half of  him,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  former  chapter.  But  it  is  of  importance 
to  observe,  that  though  temporal  blessings  maybe  given  to  the  ungodly  chil- 
dren of  a  godly  parent,  yet  without  walking  in  his  steps  they  will  not  be 
partakers  with  him  in  those  which  are  spiritual  and  eternal.  3.  It  is  an 
affecting  thought  that  there  should  be  no  more  than  Noah  and  his  family  to 
enter  into  the  ark.  Peter  speaks  of  them  as  fav;  and  few  they  were,  con- 
sidering the  vast  numbers  that  were  left  behind.  Noah  had  long  been  a 
preacher  of  righteousness ;  and  what !  is  there  not  one  sinner  brought  to 
repentance  by  his  preaching?  It  should  seem  not  one;  or,  if  there  were 
any,  they  were  taken  away  from  the  evil  to  come.  Not  one  that  we  know 
of  was  found  at  the  time  who  had  received  his  warnings,  and  was  desirous 
of  casting  in  his  lot  with  him.  We  are  ready  to  think  our  ministry  has  but 
little  success;  but  his,  so  far  as  appears,  was  without  any;  yet,  like  Enoch, 
he  pleased  God.  4.  The  righteousness  of  Noah  is  reported  as  the  reason 
of  the  difference  put  between  him  and  the  world.  This  does  not  imply  that 
the  favour  shown  to  him  is  to  be  ascribed  to  his  own  merit;  for  whatever  he 
was,  he  was  by  grace ;  and  all  his  righteousness  was  rewardable  only  out  of 
respect  to  Him  in  whom  he  believed;  but  being  accepted  for  his  sake,  his 
works  also  were  accepted  and  honoured.  And  while  the  mercy  of  God  was 
manifested  towards  him,  the  distinction  between  him  and  the  world  being 
made  according  to  character,  would  render  his  justice  apparent.  Thus  at 
the  last  day,  though  the  righteous  will  have  nothing  to  boast  of,  yet,  every 
man  being  judged  according  to  his  works,  the  world  will  be  constrained  to 
acknowledge  the  equity  of  the  Divine  proceedings. 

Ver.  2,  3.  Of  the  animals  which  were  to  enter  into  the  ark  with  Noah, 
those  that  were  clean,  that  is,  those  which  were  fit  for  human  food  and  for 
sacrifice  to  God,  were  to  go  in  by  sevens,  and  those  which  were  unclean, 
only  by  two  of  a  kind.  It  would  seem  as  if  this  direction  differed  from  that 
in  chap.  vi.  19,  20,  which  mentions  only  two  of  every  sort ;  but  the  meaning 
there  may  be,  that  whatever  number  entered  in  they  should  be  in  pairs,  that 
is,  male  and  female,  to  preserve  them  alive;  whereas  here  the  direction  is 
more  particular,  appointing  the  number  of  pairs  that  should  be  admitted, 
according  as  they  were  clean  or  unclean.  This  order  is  expressive  of  the 
goodness  of  God  in  providing  food  for  man,  and  of  his  regard  for  his  own 
worship. 

Ver.  4-9.  Just  one  week  was  allowed  for  Noah  to  embark.  What  a  week 
was  this !  What  feelings  must  it  excite !  His  neighbours  had  seen  him 
busily  employed  for  the  last  hundred  and  twenty  years  in  rearing  the  massy 
fabric ;  and  doubtless  had  had  many  a  laugh  at  the  old  man's  folly  and  cre- 
dulity ;  and  now,  behold,  he  is  going  to  remove  all  his  family  into  it,  with 
birds,  and  beasts,  and  creeping  things,  and  provisions  for  their  accommoda- 
tion !  "  Well,  let  him  go !  a  week  longer,  and  we  shall  see  what  will  become 
of  his  dreams!"  Meanwhile  they  eat  and  drink,  and  buy  and  sell,  and 
marry  and  are  given  in  marriage.  As  for  Noah,  he  must  have  felt  much  in 
contemplating  the  destruction  of  the  whole  of  his  species,  to  whom  he  had 
preached  righteousness  in  vain.  But  it  is  not  for  him  to  linger;  but  to  "  do 
according  to  all  that  the  Lord  commanded  him."  He  had  borne  his  testi- 
mony; he  could  do  no  more.  He,  his  sons,  his  wife,  and  his  son's  wives, 
therefore,  with  all  the  inferior  creatures,  which  probably  were  caused  to  as- 
semble before  him  by  the  same  power  which  brought  them  to  Adam  to  b© 

Vol.  hi.— 5 


9%.  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

named,  enter  into  the  ark.  The  same  thing  which  is  said  of  him  in  ver.  7 
is  repeated  in  ver.  13.  He  doubtless  would  have  to  enter  and  re-enter  many 
times  in  the  course  of  the  week ;  but  the  last  describes  his  final  entrance, 
when  he  should  return  no  more. 

Ver.  10-lG.  From  the  account  taken  together,  it  appears  that  though  God 
suffered  long  with  the  world  during  the  ministry  of  Noah,  yet  the  flood  came 
upon  them  at  last  very  suddenly.  Tlie  words,  after  seven  days,  in  ver.  10, 
seem  to  mean  on  the  seventh  day  ;*  for  that  was  the  day  when  Noah  made 
his  filial  entrance  into  the  ark ;  namely,  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  second 
month,  answering  to  our  October  or  November,  in  the  six  hundredth  year 
of  his  life;  and  "on  that  same  day  were  all  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep 
broken  up,  and  the  windows  of  heaven  opened."  What  a  scene  of  conster- 
nation and  dismay  must  that  day  have  exhibited,  on  the  part  of  those  who 
were  left  behind !  The  manner  in  which  the  rains  set  in  would  leave  little 
or  no  hope  of  their  being  soon  over.  It  was  not  a  common  rain  :  it  came 
in  torrents,  or,  as  we  should  say,  in  a  manner  as  though  heaven  and  earth 
were  come  together.  The  waters  of  the  subterraneous  cavities  from  be- 
neath, and  of  the  clouds  from  above,  all  met  together  at  God's  command,  to 
execute  his  wrath  on  guilty  men.t  There  is  one  sentence  concerning  Noah 
which  is  worthy  of  special  notice:  when  he  and  all  pertaining  to  him  had 
entered  into  the  ark,  it  is  said,  "And  the  Lord  shut  him  in."  The  door  of 
such  a  stupendous  building  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  too  large  for 
human  hands  to  fasten,  especially  so  few  as  they  were,  and  all  withinside  it. 
It  is  possible,  too,  there  might  be,  by  this  time,  numbers  crowdmg  round  it 
for  admittance;  for  those  who  trifle  with  death  at  a  distance  are  often  the 
most  terrified  when  it  approaches.  But  lo,  all  is  over!  That  act  which  shut 
Noah  and  iiis  family  in  shut  them  for  ever  out!  And  let  it  be  considered 
that  something  very  nearly  resembling  this  will  ere  long  be  acted  over  again. 
"As  it  was  in  tlie  days  of  Noah,  so  shall  it  be  at  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
man."  Not  only  shall  the  world,  as  then,  be  full  of  dissipation,  but  the  con- 
cluding scene  is  described  in  nearly  the  same  words — "And  they  that  were 
ready  went  in,  and  the  door  was  shut !" 

Ver.  17-24.  We  hear  no  more  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  world,  except  that 
"  all  flesh  died  that  moved  upon  the  earth,  both  of  fowl,  and  of  cattle,  and 
of  beast,  and  of  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth,  and  every 
man:  all  in  whose  nostrils  was  the  breath  of  life,  of  all  that  was  in  the  dry 
land,  died."  We  are  informed,  however,  of  the  progress  of  the  flood.  For 
six  weeks,  within  two  days,  it  continued  to  rain  incessantly ;  during  which 
period  it  was  of  suflicient  depth  to  bear  up  the  ark  from  the  earth,  which 
after  this  floated  upon  the  surface  of  the  waters,  like  a  ship  on  the  sea.  For 
some  time,  however,  there  were  mountains  and  high  hills  which  were  out 
of  water.  Hither  therefore,  we  may  naturally  suppose,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth  would  repair,  as  to  their  last  refuge :  but,  by  the  end  of  the  forty 
days,  these  also  were  covered ;  the  waters  rising  above  seven  yards  higher 
than  the  highest  of  them.  Thus  every  creature  was  swept  away  and  buried 
in  one  watery  grave,  Noah  and  his  family  only  excepted. 

*  Such  a  mode  of  speaking  is  usual  in  the  Scriptures.  Compare  ver.  6  with  ver.  11,  and 
chap.  xl.  IS,  20. 

t  The  great  deep  seems  to  mean  that  vast  confluence  of  waters  said  to  have  been  gathered 
together  on  the  third  day  of  the  creation  into  one  place,  and  called  seas,  chap.  i.  9,  10. 
These  waters  not  only  extend  over  a  great  part  of  the  surface  of  the  earth,  but  probably 
flow,  as  through  a  number  of  arteries  and  veins,  to  its  most  interior  recesses,  and  occupy 
Its  centre.  This  body  of  waters,  which  was  ordained,  as  I  may  say,  unto  life,  was  turned, 
in  just  displeasure  against  man's  sin,  into  an  engine  of  destruction.  Bursting  forth  in  tre- 
mendous floods,  multitudes  were  hereby  swept  away;  while,  from  above,  the  clouds  poured 
forth  their  torrents,  as  though  heaven  itself  were  a  reservoir  of  waters,  and  God  had  opened 
.ts  windows. 


THE  FLOOD.  ^ 

i-j  The  waters  prevailed  upon  the  earth  a  hundred  and  fifty  days  (that  is, 
"about  five  months)  before  they  began  to  abate.  This  might  seem  to  us  un- 
necessary, seeing  every  living  creature  would  be  drowned  within  the  first  six 
weeks ;  but  it  would  serve  to  exercise  the  faith  and  patience  of  Noah,  and 
to  impress  his  posterity  with  the  greatness  of  the  Divine  displeasure  against 
man's  sin.  As  the  land  of  Israel  should  have  its  sabbaths  during  the  cap- 
tivity, so  the  whole  earth,  for  a  time,  shall  be  relieved  from  its  load,  and  fully 
purified,  as  it  were,  from  its  uncleanness. 


DISCOURSE  XIII. 

THE    FLOOD  (cONTINUEd). 
Gen.  viii. 


The  close  of  the  last  chapter  brought  us  to  the  crisis  of  the  flood,  or  to 
the  period  in  which  it  had  arrived  at  its  greatest  height :  hence  it  began  to 
abate.  Observe  the  form  in  which  it  is  expressed :  "  God  remembered  Noah, 
and  those  that  were  with  him  in  the  ark."  A  common  historian  would  only 
have  narrated  the  event ;  but  the  sacred  writers  ascribe  every  thing  to  God, 
sometimes  to  the  omission  of  second  causes.  The  term  is  figurative;  for, 
strictly  speaking,  God  never  forgot  them :  but  it  is  one  of  those  modes  of 
speaking  which  convey  a  great  fulness  of  meaning.  It  is  expressive  of  ten- 
der mercy,  of  covenant  mercy,  and  of  mercy  after  a  strong  expression  of 
displeasure.  These  are  things  which  frequently  occur  in  the  Divine  pro- 
ceedings. Hence  a  wind  passes  over  the  earth,  and  the  waters  begin  to 
assuage. 

Ver.  2-4.  The  causes  of  the  deluge  being  removed,  the  effects  gradually 
subside ;  and  the  waters,  having  performed  their  work,  return  into  their 
wonted  channels.  The  ark,  which  had  hitherto  floated  on  the  waters,  now 
finds  land,  and  rests  upon  the  top  of  one  of  the  Armenian  mountains;  and 
this  just  five  months  after  the  entrance  into  it.  For  a  ship  in  the  sea  to 
have  struck  upon  a  rock  or  land  would  have  been  extremely  dangerous;  but 
at  this  stage  of  the  flood  we  may  suppose  the  heavens  were  clear  and  calm, 
and  the  waters  still.  Noah  did  not  steer  the  ark;  it  was  therefore  God's 
doing,  and  was  in  mercy  to  him  and  his  companions.  Their  voyage  was 
now  at  an  end.  They  put  in  as  at  the  first  possible  port.  The  rest  which 
they  enjoy  is  a  prelude  to  a  more  perfect  one  approaching.  Thus  God  places 
believers  upon  high  ground,  on  which  they  are  already  safe,  and  may  antici- 
pate a  better  country,  even  a  heavenly  one. 

Ver.  5-13.  The  first  objects  that  greet  them,  after  having  been  nearly 
eight  months  aboard,  are  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  They  had  felt  one  of 
them  before ;  but  now  the  waters  are  sufficiently  abated  to  see  several  of 
them.  If  we  had  been  on  a  long  and  dangerous  voyage  at  sea,  we  should 
be  better  able  to  conceive  of  the  joy  which  this  sight  must  have  occasioned 
than  we  possibly  can  be  without  it.  Often  has  a  ship's  company  been  called 
on  deck  to  see  a  distant  object  which  promised  to  be  land.  Often  too  have 
Christians  in  their  voyage  been  cheered  by  the  signs  of  approaching  blessed- 
ness, and  the  happy  foretastes  bestowed  upon  them.  After  the  lapse  of  forty 
days  more,  the  window  of  the  ark  was  opened,  and  a  raven  sent  forth  for  the 
purpose  of  experiment,  that  they  might  see  whether  it  could  subsist  of  itself 
or  not  J  and  the  event  proved  that  it  could  subsist,  for  it  returned  no  more 


36  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

This  was  encouraging.  Seven  days  after  this,  Noah  tries  a  more  delicate 
bird,  the  dove,  which  could  not  live  unless  the  ground  was  at  least  in  some 
places  dry  ;  but  she  from  necessity  returned.  A  proof  this  that  the  waters 
as  yet  were  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  Tarrying  yet  other  seven  days, 
Noah  sends  out  a  second  time  his  faithful  messenger,  the  dove,  which  again 
returned  to  him  in  the  evening;  but  lo,  a  sign  is  in  her  mouth  which  glad- 
dens all  their  hearts!  It  is  "an  olive  leaf  plucked  off!"  An  olive  leaf 
might  have  floated  upon  the  surface  of  the  waters;  but  it  was  observable  of 
this  that  the  dove  had  plucked  it  off  the  tree;  a  proof  that  the  tops  of  the 
trees,  in  some  places,  were  out  of  water.  Perhaps  it  is  from  this  event  that 
the  olive  branch  has  ever  since  been  considered  as  the  emblem  of  peace. 
After  seven  days  more,  Noah  sends  forth  the  dove  again ;  which  returning 
no  m'ore,  he  knew  the  earth  must  in  some  places  be  dry.  The  repeated 
mention  of  seven  days  seems  to  imply  that  from  the  beginning  time  had 
been  divided  into  weeks ;  which  can  no  otherwise  be  accounted  for,  that  I 
know  of,  than  by  admitting  that,  from  the  beginning,  those  who  feared  God 
remembered  the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy.  About  a  month  after  this  the 
waters  are  dried  up  fcom  off  the  earth,  and  the  covering  of  the  ark  is  re- 
moved. Now  they  have  the  pleasure  to  look  around  them,  and  to  see  the 
dry  land  in  every  direction  ;  but  still  it  is  not  habitable.  And  as  Noah  came 
into  the  ark  by  God's  command,  so  he  must  wait  his  time  ere  he  attempts  to 
go  out,  which  will  be  nearly  two  months  longer. 

Ver.  14-19.  At  length  the  set  time  to  favour  this  little  company  is  come. 
On  the  27th  day  of  the  second  month,  that  is,  just  a  year  and  ten  days  after 
their  entrance  into  the  ark,  they  are  commanded  to  go  forth  of  it,  with  all 
that  pertained  to  them,  and  to  begin,  not  the  world,  as  we  should  say,  again, 
but  a  new  world.  Obedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  they  take  leave  of  the 
friendly  vessel  which  through  many  a  storm  had  preserved  them,  and  landed 
them  in  safety. 

Ver.  20-22.  The  first  object  of  attention  with  a  worldly  man  might  have 
been  a  day  of  rejoicing,  or  the  beginning  to  build  a  house ;  but  Noah  begins 
by  building  an  altar  to  Jehovah,  on  which  he  offered  "  burnt-offerings  of 
every  clean  beast,  and  of  every  clean  fowl."  I  think  this  is  the  first  time 
we  read  of  a  hurnt-offering.  It  was  so  called,  as  Moses  says,  "  because  of 
the  burning  upon  the  altar  all  night  unto  the  morning."  It  was  a  substitu- 
tional sacrifice,  for  the  purpose  of  atonement.  The  process  is  described  in 
Lev.  i.  2-9.  The  sinner  confessed  his  sin  upon  its  head ;  the  animal  was 
killed,  or  treated  as  if  it  were  the  transgressor,  and  as  if  the  sin  had  been 
actually  transferred  to  it ;  the  blood  of  the  creature  being  shed,  was  sprinkled 
round  about  upon  the  altar;  and  to  show  the  Divine  acceptance  of  it  on 
behalf  of  the  offerer  to  make  atonement  for  him,  it  was  consumed  by  fire, 
either  descending  immediately  from  heaven,  as  was  the  case  on  some  occa- 
sions, or  kindled  by  the  priest  from  the  sacred  fire  kept  for  the  purpose  (Lev. 
ix.  24 ;  Psal.  xx.  3,  mar.) ;  finally,  the  sacrifice  being  sprinkled  with  salt, 
and  perhaps  with  odours,  ascended  up  in  a  sweet  savour,  and  God  was  pro- 
pitious to  the  offerer. 

The  burnt-offerings  of  Noah,  according  to  this,  must  have  been  designed 
for  an  atonement  in  behalf  of  the  remnant  that  was  left;  and,  as  Hezekiah 
said  after  the  carrying  away  of  the  ten  tribes,  "  for  the  making  of  a  covenant 
with  the  Lord."  This  his  offering  was  graciously  accepted :  "  The  Lord 
smelled  a  sweet  savour,"  and  bestowed  upon  him,  and  those  who  were  with 
him,  a  covenant  promise,  not  to  curse  the  ground  any  more  for  man's  sake. 
The  reason  given  for  this  is  singular:  "for  the  imagination  of  man's  heart 
is  evil  from  his  youth."  If  God  had  dealt  with  man  according  to  law  and 
justice,  this  should  have  been  a  reason  for  destroying  rather  than  sparing 


THE  FLOOD.  85' 

him;  and  was  the  reason  why  the  flood  was  brought  upon  the  earth.  But 
here  he  is  represented  as  dealing  with  him  through  a  substitute  (for  the  pro- 
mise follows  the  acceptance  of  the  bunit-offering) ;  and  in  this  view  the 
wickedness  of  man,  however  offensive,  should  not  determine  his  conduct. 
He  would,  as  it  were,  look  off"  from  him,  and  rest  his  future  conduct  towards 
him  on  another  ground.  He  would,  in  short,  knowing  what  he  was,  deal 
with  him  on  a  footing  of  mercy  and  forbearance. 

Surely  I  need  not  say  that  this  sacrifice  of  Noah  was  one  of  those  which 
bore  a  peculiar  aspect  to  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  once  for  all.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  the  apostle  has  a  direct  allusion  to  it  when  he  says, 
"  Christ  hath  loved  us,  and  given  himself  for  us,  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice 
to  God  for  a  sweet-smelling  savour." 

In  reviewing  the  destruction  of  the  world  by  a  flood,  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  Noah  and  his  family,  we  are  furnished  with  three  important  reflec- 
tions : — 

1.  It  is  a  solid  proof  of  the  truth  of  Divine  revelation,  "  We  are  ac- 
quainted," says  a  late  perspicuous  and  forcible  writer,  "  with  no  ancient 
people  who  were  without  traditions  of  this  great  event.  From  Josephus  we 
learn  that  Berosus,  a  Chaldean  historian  whose  works  are  now  lost,  related 
the  same  things  as  Moses  of  the  deluge,  and  the  preservation  of  Noah  in  an 
ark.  Eusebius  informs  us  that  the  history  of  the  flood  was  contained  in  the 
works  of  Abydenus,  and  Assyrian  writer.  Lucian,  the  Greek  writer,  says 
that  the  present  is  not  the  original  race  of  men ;  but  is  descended  from 
Deucalion,  who  was  preserved  in  an  ark  from  the  universal  deluge  which 
destroyed  men  for  their  wickedness.  Varro,  the  Roman  writer,  divided 
time  into  three  periods,  the  first  from  the  origin  of  men  to  the  deluge.  The 
Hindoo  puranas  contain  the  history  of  the  deluge,  and  of  Noah  under  the 
name  of  Satyavrata.  They  relate  that  Satyavrata  was  miraculously  preserved 
in  an  ark  from  a  deluge  which  destroyed  all  mankind."*  The  same  writer 
adds,  "That  the  whole  of  our  globe  has  been  submerged  by  the  ocean  is 
proved,  not  by  tradition  only,  but  by  its  mineralogical  and  fossil  history.  On 
the  summits  of  high  mountains,  and  in  the  centres  of  continents,  vast  beds 
of  shells  and  other  marine  productions  are  to  be  found.  Petrified  fishes  and 
sea  weed  exist  in  the  heart  of  quarries.  The  vegetable  and  animal  produc- 
tions of  the  torrid  zone  have  been  dug  up  in  the  coldest  regions,  as  Siberia; 
and,  vice  versa,  the  productions  of  the  polar  regions  have  been  found  in 
warm  climates.     These  facts  are  unanswerable  proofs  of  a  deluge." 

2.  It  is  intimated  by  the  apostle  Peter  that  the  salvation  of  Noah  and  his 
family  in  the  ark  was  a  figure  of  our  salvation  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  was  for  a  time  buried,  as  it  were,  in  the  floods  of  Divine  wrath 
from  above  and  beneath.  It  rose  however,  and  weathered  the  storm,  safely 
landing  those  on  dry  ground  who  had  been  committed  to  its  care.  I  need 
not  make  the  application.  A  "like  figure"  of  the  same  thing  is  Christian 
baptism,  in  which  believers  are  said  to  be  baptized  into  the  death  of  Christ: 
"  Buried  with  him  into  death,  that  like  as  he  was  raised  up  from  the  dead 
by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  so  they  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life." 

3.  We  are  directed  to  consider  the  destruction  of  the  world  by  water  as  a 
presage  and  premonition  of  its  being  destroyed  in  the  end  by  fire.  "  The 
heavens  and  the  earth,  which  now  are,  are  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire 
against  the  day  of  judgment,  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men." 

*  Letters  on  the  Evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion,  by  an  Inquirer.  First  printed  in  the 
Oriental  Star,  at  Calcutta  ;  reprinted  at  Serampore  in  1S02  ;  and  since  reprinted  in  England, 
with  additions  and  corrections  by  the  author. 

D 


^ 


EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


DISCOURSE  XIV. 

odd's  covenant  with  NOAH, 
Gen.  ix. 


Ver.  1,  2.  We  have  now  the  beginning  of  a  new  world,  and  various  di- 
rections given  to  those  who  are  to  people  it.  In  several  respects  it  resembles 
its  first  beginning ;  particularly  in  the  command  to  be  fruitful  and  multiply, 
and  in  the  subjection  of  the  creatures  to  man.  But  there  is  one  great  differ- 
ence :  all  must  now  rest  upon  a  gracious  covenant.  Man  by  sin  had  forfeited, 
not  his  existence  indeed,  (for  that  was  given  him  to  hold  on  no  conditional 
tenure,)  but  the  blessing  of  God,  and  his  dominion  over  his  creatures. 
Nevertheless,  he  shall  be  reinstated  in  it.  God  will,  as  it  were,  make  a 
covenant  for  him  with  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  they  shall  be  at  peace  with 
him,  or  at  least  shall  be  awed  by  his  authority.  All  this  is  out  of  respect  to 
the  mediation  of  Christ,  and  for  the  accomplishing  of  the  designs  of  mercy 
through  him. 

Ver.  3,  4.  Here  is  also  a  special  grant,  which  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  given  before :  not  only  the  herbs  of  the  field,  but  the  animals,  are  given 
to  man  for  food.  It  is  however  accompanied  with  a  special  exception  with 
regard  to  blood,  which  is  the  life.  This,  being  foi bidden  to  Noah,  appears 
also  to  have  been  forbidden  to  all  mankind  ;  nor  ought  this  prohibition  to 
be  treated  as  belonging  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  Jewish  dispensation.  It 
was  not  only  enjoined  before  that  dispensation  existed,  but  was  enforced 
upon  the  Gentile  Christians  by  the  decrees  of  the  apostles.  Acts  xv.  20.  To 
allege,  as  some  do,  our  Lord's  words,  "  not  that  which  goeth  into  the  mouth 
defileth  a  man,"  would  equally  justify  the  practice  of  cannibals  in  eating 
human  flesh.  The  reason  of  this  prohibition  might  be  in  part  the  prevention 
of  cruelty ;  for  the  eating  of  blood  implies  and  cherishes  a  ferocious  dispo- 
sition. None  but  the  most  ferocious  of  animals  will  eat  it  in  one  another ; 
and  one  would  think  none  but  the  most  ferocious  of  mankind  could  endure 
it.  But  there  may  be  a  higher  reason.  Blood  is  the  life,  and  God  seems  to 
claim  it  as  sacred  to  himself  Hence,  in  all  the  sacrifices,  the  blood  was 
poured  out  before  the  Lord ;  and,  in  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  he  shed  his 
blood,  or  poured  out  his  soul  unto  death. 

Ver.  5,  6.  As  God  was  tender  of  animal  blood,  in  not  suffering  man  to 
eat  it,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  he  would  be  especially  tender  of  human  blood. 
If  any  animal  slew  a  man,  let  him  be  slain  on  that  account;  or  if  any  man 
slew  himself,  God  would  require  it ;  or  if  any  man  slew  another  man,  he 
should  be  put  to  death  by  man.  This  also  appears  to  be  a  new  law,  as  we 
read  of  no  executions  for  murder  among  the  antediluvians.  The  reason  for 
this  law  is  not  taken  from  the  well-being  of  man,  but  man's  being  made  in 
the  image  of  God.  The  image  of  God  is  of  two  kinds,  natural  and  moral. 
The  latter  was  lost  by  sin ;  but  the  former  continues  with  man  in  every 
state,  and  renders  it  peculiarly  criminal  to  abuse  him.  To  deface  the  king's 
image  is  a  sort  of  treason  among  men,  implying  a  hatred  against  him,  and 
that  if  he  himself  were  within  reach,  he  would  be  served  in  the  same  man- 
ner ;  how  much  more  treasonable  must  it  be  to  destroy,  curse,  oppress,  or  in 
any  way  abuse  {he  image  of  the  King  of  kings ! — James  iii.  9.* 

*  In  defending  the  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  against  persecution  for  con- 
■cience'  sake,  it  has  ofleu  been  alleged  that  civil  government  has  no  right  to  restrain  or 


god's  covenant  with  NOAH.  39 

Ver.  7.  The  command  to  multiply  is  repeated,  and  contains  permission, 
not  of  promiscuous  intercourse,  like  the  brutes,  but  of  honourable  marriage. 
The  same  law  which  forbade  the  eating  of  blood,  under  the  gospel,  forbade 
fornication,  which  was  common  among  the  heathen  ;  and,  alas,  too  common 
among  those  who  call  themselves  Christians! 

Ver.  8-17.  Having  given  the  foregoing  precepts,  God  graciously  proceeds 
to  enter  into  a  solemn  covenant  with  Noah  and  his  posterity,  and  every  living 
creature  that  was  with  them,  no  more  to  destroy  them  by  water,  of  which 
"the  bow  in  the  cloud"  was  to  be  the  token.  This  covenant  is  an  amplifi- 
cation of  what  was  said  at  the  altar,  where  the  Lord  smelled  a  sweet  savour ; 
and  indeed  the  first  seventeen  verses  of  this  chapter  are  a  continuation  of 
that  subject. 

We  see  here,  1.  The  mercy  and  goodness  of  God  in  proceeding  with  us 
in  a  way  of  covenant.  He  might  have  exempted  the  world  from  this  calam- 
ity, and  yet  not  have  told  them  he  would  do  so.  The  remembrance  of  the 
flood  might  have  been  a  sword  hanging  over  their  heads  in  tcrrorem.  But 
he  will  set  their  minds  at  rest  on  this  score,  and  therefore  promises,  and  that 
with  an  oath,  that  the  waters  of  Noah  should  no  more  go  over  the  earth, 
Isa.  liv.  9.  Thus  also  he  deals  with  us  in  his  Son.  Being  willing  that  the 
heirs  of  promise  should  have  strong  consolation,  he  confirms  his  word  by  an 
oath,  Heb.  vi.  17,  18.  2.  The  importance  of  living  under  the  light  of  reve- 
lation. Noah's  posterity  by  degrees  sunk  into  idolatry,  and  became  "  stran- 
gers to  the  covenants  of  promise."  Such  were  our  fathers  for  many  ages, 
and  such  are  great  numbers  to  this  day.  So  far  as  respects  them,  God  might 
as  well  have  made  no  promise;  to  them  all  is  lost.  3.  The  importance  of 
being  believers.  Without  this  it  will  be  worse  for  us  than  if  we  had  never 
been  favoured  with  a  revelation.  Finally,  We  see  here  the  kind  of  life 
which  it  was  God's  design  to  encourage — a  life  of  faith.  "  The  just  shall 
live  by  faith."  If  he  had  made  no  revelation  of  himself,  no  covenants,  and 
no  promises,  there  would  be  no  ground  for  faith ;  and  we  must  have  gone 
through  life  feeling  after  him,  without  being  able  to  find  him;  but  having 
made  known  his  mind,  there  is  light  in  all  our  dwellings,  and  a  sure  ground 
for  believing,  not  only  in  our  exemption  from  another  flood,  but  in  things 
of  far  greater  importance. 

With  respect  to  the  sign,  or  token,  of  this  covenant,  the  how  in  the  cloud, 
as  it  seems  to  be  the  effect  of  causes  which  existed  from  the  beginning,  it  is 
probable  that  that  also  existed ;  but  it  was  not  till  now  a  token  of  God's 
covenant  with  the  world.  Such  a  token  was  extremely  suitable,  on  account 
of  its  conspicuousness,  and  its  appearance  in  the  cloud,  or  at  a  time  when 
the  fears  of  man  would  be  apt  to  rise,  lest  they  should  be  overwhelmed  with 
another  flood.  This  being  a  sign  of  peace,  the  King  of  Zion  is  described 
as  having  "  a  rainbow  about  his  throne." 

Ver.  18,  19.  God  having  thus  saved,  counselled,  and  covenanted  with  this 
little  company,  Moses  proceeds  to  narrate  their  history.  In  general,  we  are 
informed  that  the  fathers  of  the  new  world  were  Noah's  three  sons,  Shem, 

punish  men,  but  on  account  of  their  injuring  their  fellow  men.  That  whatever  is  punish- 
able by  man  is  injurious  to  man  is  true,  because  all  sin  in  some  way  or  other  ia  so  ;  but  to 
make  this  the  sole  ground,  or  reason,  of  punishment,  is  selfish  and  atheistical.  It  is  making 
ourselves  the  chief  end ;  whereas  this  is  what  God  claims  to  himself  at  the  hand  of  every 
man  and  body  of  men.  The  cognizance  of  the  civil  magistrate  ought  indeed  to  be  confined 
to  what  is  civil  and  moral;  but,  in  punishing  men  for  immorality,  he  ought  not  merely  to 
regard  his  own  safety,  nor  even  that  of  the  community,  but  the  honour  of  God  ;  and  if  he 
be  a  good  man,  he  wdl  do  so.  If  he  regard  merely  his  own  safety,  punishing  crimes  only 
in  so  far  as  they  endanger  it,  the  people  will  soon  perceive  that  he  is  a  selfish  tyrant,  and 
cares  not  for  the  general  good  ;  and  if  he  regard  only  the  public  safety,  punishing  crimes 
merely  on  account  of  their  being  injurious  to  men,  it  is  still  a  spirit  of  selfishness,  only  a 
little  more  extended  j  and  God  will  disapprove  of  this,  as  tlie  people  do  of  the  other. 


40  EXPOSITION  or  GENESIS. 

and  Ham,  and  Japheth ;  from  whom  the  earth  was  peopled.  And  having 
mentioned  Ham,  he  says,  "  He  was  the  father  of  Canaan."  This  remark 
of  Moses  was  doubtless  made  with  a  special  design ;  for  living,  as  he  did, 
when  the  Israelites,  who  descended  from  Shem,  were  about  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  land  of  Canaan,  it  was  of  peculiar  importance  that  they  should 
be  informed  that  the  people  whose  country  the  Lord  their  God  had  given 
them  to  possess  were  under  a  curse  from  the  days  of  their  first  father.  The 
particulars  of  this  affair  will  appear  in  the  sequel. 

Ver.  20-23.  Noah,  as  soon  as  he  could  get  settled,  betook  himself  to  the 
employment  of  husbandry ;  and  the  first  thing  he  did  in  this  way  was  to 
plant  a  vineyard.  So  far  all  was  right ;  man,  as  we  have  seen,  was  formed 
originally  for  an  active,  and  not  an  idle  life.  Adam  was  ordered  to  keep 
the  garden,  and  to  dress  it ;  and,  when  fallen,  to  till  the  ground  whence  he 
was  taken,  which  now  required  much  labour.  Perhaps  there  is  no  employ- 
ment more  free  from  snares.  But  in  the  most  lawful  occupations  and  enjoy- 
ments we  must  not  reckon  ourselves  out  of  danger.  It  was  very  lawful  for 
Noah  to  partake  of  the  fruits  of  his  labour ;  but  Noah  sinned  in  drinking  to 
excess.  He  might  not  be  aware  of  the  strength  of  the  wine,  or  his  age 
might  render  him  sooner  influenced  by  it :  at  any  rate  we  have  reason  to 
conclude,  from  his  general  character,  that  it  was  a  fault  in  which  he  was 
"  overtaken."  But  let  us  not  think  lightly  of  the  sin  of  drunkenness,  "Who 
hath  woe?  who  hath  redness  of  eyes?  They  that  tarry  long  at  the  wine." 
Times  of  festivity  require  a  double  guard.  Neither  age  nor  character  is  any 
security  in  the  hour  of  temptation.  Who  would  have  thought  that  a  man 
who  had  walked  with  God  perhaps  more  than  five  hundred  years,  and  who 
had  withstood  the  temptations  of  a  world,  should  fall  alone?  This  was  like 
a  ship  which  had  gone  round  the  world  being  overset  in  sailing  into  port. 
What  need  for  watchfulness  and  prayer !  One  heedless  hour  may  stain  the 
fairest  life,  and  undo  much  of  the  good  which  we  have  been  doing  for  a 
course  of  years !  Drunkenness  is  a  sin  which  involves  in  it  the  breach  of 
the  whole  law,  which  requires  love  to  God,  our  neighbour,  and  ourselves. 
The  first  as  abusing  his  mercies;  the  second  as  depriving  those  who  are  in 
want  of  them  of  necessary  support,  as  well  as  setting  an  ill  example ;  and 
the  last  as  depriving  ourselves  of  reason,  self-government,  and  common 
decency.  It  also  commonly  leads  on  to  other  evils.  It  has  been  said,  and 
justly,  that  the  name  of  this  sin  is  "  Gad — a  troop  comcth  !" 

But  sinful  as  it  was  for  Noah  thus  to  expose  himself,  it  was  still  more  so 
for  Ham,  on  perceiving  his  situation,  to  go  out  and  report  it  with  malignant 
pleasure  to  his  brethren.  None  but  a  fool  will  make  a  mock  at  sin  in  any 
one ;  but  for  children  to  expose  and  sneer  at  the  sin  of  their  parents  is 
wickedness  of  the  most  aggravated  kind.  It  indicates  a  heart  thoroughly 
depraved.  The  conduct  of  Shem  and  Japheth  on  this  unhappy  occasion 
was  as  commendable  as  the  other  was  censurable,  and  as  worthy  of  our 
imitation  as  that  is  of  our  abhorrence. 

Ver.  24.  When  Noah  came  to  himself,  he  knew  what  had  been  done  by 
his  younger  son.  Nothing  is  said  of  his  grief  for  his  own  sin.  I  hope  his 
anger  did  not  turn  merely  against  that  of  his  son.  Nor  are  we  to  consider 
what  follows  as  an  ebullition  of  personal  resentment,  but  as  a  prophecy, 
which  was  meant  to  apply,  and  has  been  ever  since  applying,  to  his  posterity, 
and  that  which  it  was  not  possible  for  human  resentment  to  dictate.  But  as 
this  prophecy  is  very  comprehensive,  and  will  lead  us  to  take  notice  of  some 
of  the  great  principles  of  revelation,  I  shall  reserve  it  for  a  future  discourse. 


noah's  prophecy.  41 


DISCOURSE  XV. 

noah's  prophecy. 
Gen.  ix.  25-27. 

It  was  common  among  the  patriachs,  when  about  to  die,  to  pronounce  a 
prophetic  sentence  on  their  children,  which  frequently  bore  a  relation  to 
what  had  been  their  conduct,  and  extended  to  their  remote  posterity.  This 
prophecy,  however,  though  not  immediately  after  the  flood,  was  probably 
many  years  before  the  death  of  Noah.  I  shall  first  attempt  to  ascertain  its 
meaning,  and  its  agreement  with  the  great  outlines  of  historic  fact;  and 
then  endeavour  to  justify  the  ways  of  Providence  in  such  dispensations. 

The  prophecy  is  introduced  with  a  curse  upon  the  posterity  of  one  of 
Noah's  sons,  and  concludes  with  a  blessing  upon  the  other  two;  each  cor- 
responding with  his  conduct  on  the  late  unhappy  occasion. 

"  Cursed  be  Canaan:  a  servant  of  servants"  (that  is,  the  meanest  of  ser- 
vants) "  shall  he  be  unto  his  brethren."  But  why  is  the  name  of  Ham 
omitted,  and  the  curse  confined  to  his  son  Canaan?  Some  suppose  that 
Canaan  must  have  been  in  some  way  partaker  in  the  crime;  but  this  is  un- 
certain. It  is  thought  by  several  able  critics  that  instead  of  Canaan  we 
should  read,  as  it  is  in  ver.  22,  "  Ham  the  father  of  Canaan  ;*  and  this  seems 
very  plausible,  as  otherwise  there  is  nothing  said  of  Ham,  except  in  the  per- 
son of  his  son  ;  and,  what  is  still  more,  the  curse  of  servitude  actually  came, 
though  at  a  remote  period,  upon  other  branches  of  the  posterity  of  Ham  as 
well  as  Canaan.  It  is  manifest,  however,  that  it  was  directed  against  him 
principally  in  the  line  of  Canaan;  and  that  it  was  related  by  Moses  for  the 
encouragement  of  Israel  in  going  up  against  his  descendants,  the  Canaanites. 
Canaan  is  under  a  curse  of  servitude  to  both  Shem  and  Japheth :  the  former 
was  fulfilled  in  the  conquest  of  the  seven  nations  by  Israel,  and  the  latter  in 
the  subjugation  of  the  Tyrians  and  Carthaginians  (who  were  the  remainder 
of  the  old  Canaanites)  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 

So  far  as  the  curse  had  reference  to  the  other  descendants  of  Ham,  it 
was  a  long  time,  as  I  have  said,  ere  it  came  upon  them.  In  the  early  ages 
of  the  world  they  flourished.  They  were  the  first  who  set  up  for  empire ; 
and  so  far  from  being  subject  to  the  descendants  of  Shem  or  Japheth,  the 
latter  were  often  invaded  and  driven  into  corners  by  them.  It  was  Nimrod, 
a  descendant  of  Ham,  who  founded  the  imperial  city  of  Babylon-  and  Miz- 
raim,  another  of  his  descendants,  who  first  established  the  kingdom  of  Egypt. 
These,  it  is  well  known,  were  for  many  ages  two  of  the  greatest  empires  in 
the  world.  About  the  time  of  the  captivity,  however,  God  began  to  cut 
short  their  power.  Both  Egypt  and  Babylon  within  a  century  sunk  into  a 
state  of  subjection,  first  to  the  Persians,  who  descended  from  Shem,  and 
afterwards  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  who  were  the  children  of  Japheth. 
Nor  have  they  ever  been  able  to  recover  themselves;  for  to  the  dominion  of 
the  Romans  succeeded  that  of  the  Saracens,  and  to  theirs  that  of  the  Turks, 
under  which  they,  with  a  great  part  of  Africa,  which  is  peopled  by  the 
children  of  Ham,  have  lived,  and  still  live,  in  the  most  degraded  state  of 

*  Ainsworth  sayg,  "By  Canaan  may  be  understood  or  implied  Canaan's  father,  as  the 
Greek  translation  hath  Ham,  and  as  elsewhere  in  Scripture  Goliath  is  named  for  Goliath's 
father,  2  Sam.  xxi.  19,  compared  with  1  Chron.  xx.  5."  See  also  Bishop  Newton  on  tha 
Prophecies,  Dissert.  I. 

Vol.  hi.— G  d  2 


43  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

subjection.  To  all  this  may  be  added  that  the  inhabitants  of  Africa  seem  to 
be  marked  out  as  objects  of  slavery  by  the  European  nations.  Though  these 
things  are  far  from  excusing  the  conduct  of  their  oppressors,  yet  they  estab- 
lish the  fact,  and  prove  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy. 

"  Blessed  be  Jehovah,  God  of  Shem !"  The  form  of  this  blessing  is 
worthy  of  notice.  It  may  not  seem  to  be  pronounced  on  him,  but  on  his 
God.  But  such  a  mode  of  speaking  implies  his  blessedness  no  less  than  if 
it  had  been  expressly  spoken  of  him;  for  it  is  a  principle  well  known  in 
religion,  that  "  blessed  is  that  people  whose  God  is  Jehovah."  They  are 
blessed  in  his  blessedness.  It  is  in  this  form  that  Moses  describes  the 
blessedness  of  Israel:  "There  is  none  like  unto  the  God  of  Jeshurun,  who 
rideth  upon  the  heaven  in  thy  help,  and  in  his  excellency  on  the  sky." 
Shem  was  the  ancestor  of  Abram,  and  so  of  Israel,  who,  while  the  descend- 
ants both  of  Ham  and  Japheth  were  lost  in  idolatry,  knew  and  worshipped 
Jehovah  the  only  true  God;  and  "of  whom,  as  concerning  the  flesh,  Christ 
came,  who  is  over  all,  God,  blessed  for  ever."  It  has  been  remarked,  too, 
that  Shem  is  the  first  person  who  had  the  honour  of  having  the  Lord  styled 
his  God ;  and  that  this  expression  denotes  his  being  i?i  covenant  with  him, 
as  when  he  is  called  the  God  of  Abram,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob.  Noah, 
foreseeing,  by  a  spirit  of  prophecy,  that  God  would  enter  into  a  special  cove- 
nant with  the  posterity  of  Shem,  taking  them  to  be  his  peculiar  people,  and 
binding  himself  to  be  their  God,  was  affected  at  the  consideration  of  so 
great  a  privilege,  and  breaks  out  into  an  ascription  of  praise  to  God  on  this 
account. 

"  God  shall  enlarge  Japheth,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem." 
If  this  part  of  the  prophecy  have  respect  to  temporal  dominion,  it  seems  to 
refer  to  the  posterity  of  Japheth  being  formerly  straitened,  but  in  the  later 
ages  of  the  world  enabled  to  extend  their  conquests ;  and  this  exactly  corre- 
sponds with  history.  For  more  than  two  thousand  years  the  empire  of  the 
civilized  world  has  in  a  manner  been  in  the  hands  of  the  posterity  of 
Japheth.  First  the  Greeks,  after  them  the  Romans,  and,  since  the  declen- 
sion of  their  empire,  the  different  powers  of  Europe,  have  entered  into  the 
richest  possessions  of  Asia,  inhabited  by  the  children  of  Shem.  Add  to 
this,  their  borders  have  lately  been  enlarged  beyond  the  Atlantic,  and  bid 
fair  to  extend  over  the  continent  of  America. 

But  as  Japheth  united  with  Shem  in  the  act  of  filial  respect  to  his  fither, 
it  would  seem  as  if  the  dwelling  of  the  one  in  the  tents  of  the  other  must 
be  friendly,  and  not  hostile;  but  as  the  blessing  of  Shem  had  a  peculiar 
reference  to  the  church  of  God  among  his  descendants,  it  may  be  considered 
as  prophetic  of  the  accession  of  the  Gentiles  to  it  under  the  gospel.  It  is  a 
fact  that  Christianity  has  principally  prevailed  among  the  posterity  of 
Japheth.  The  Lord  God  of  Shem  is  there  known  and  honoured.  The 
lively  oracles  given  to  the  fathers  of  the  one  are  possessed  and  prized  by  the 
other :  they  laboured,  and  we  have  entered  into  their  labours.  This  inter- 
pretation is  favoured  by  the  marginal  reading,  which  the  very  learned  Ains- 
worth  says  the  original  word  properly  signifies :  "  God  shall  persuade  Japheth, 
and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  tents  of  Shem." 

Let  us  proceed  in  the  next  place  to  offer  a  remark  or  two  on  the  justice 
of  the  Divine  proceeding  in  denouncing  a  curse  upon  children,  even  to  re- 
mote periods,  for  the  iniquity  of  their  parents.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that 
the  God  of  Israel  thought  it  no  dishonour  to  his  character  to  declare  that 
he  would  "visit  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  in  those  that 
hated  him,"  any  more  than  that  he  would  "show  mercy  to  those  that  loved 
him,"  which  he  did  in  an  eminent  degree  to  the  posterity  of  Abram.  And 
should  any  object  to  this,  and  to  the  Bible  on  this  account,  we  might  appeal 


GENERATIONS  OF  NOAH.  43 

to  universal  fact.  None  can  deny  that  children  are  the  better  or  the  worse 
for  the  conduct  of  their  parents.  If  any  man  insist  that  neither  good  nor 
evil  shall  betall  him,  but  what  is  the  immediate  consequence  of  his  own  con- 
duct, he  must  go  out  of  the  world;  for  no  such  state  of  existence  is  known 
in  it. 

There  is,  however,  an  important  difference  between  the  sin  of  a  parent 
being  the  occasion  of  the  prediction  of  a  curse  t/pon  his  posterity,  (who  were 
considered  hy  Him  who  knciv  the  end  from  the  beginning  as  walking  in  his 
steps,)  and  its  being  the  formal  cause  of  their  punishment.  The  sin  of  Ham 
was  the  occasion  of  the  prediction  against  the  Canaanites,  and  the  antecedent 
to  the  evil  predicted;  but  it  was  not  the  cause  of  it.  Its  formal  procuring 
cause  may  be  seen  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Leviticus.  To  Ham,  and 
perhaps  to  Canaan,  the  prediction  of  the  servitude  of  their  descendants  was  a 
punishment;  but  the  fulfilment  of  that  prediction  on  the  parties  themselves 
was  no  farther  such  than  as  it  was  connected  with  their  own  sin. 

There  is  also  an  important  difference  between  the  providential  dispensa- 
tions of  God  towards  families  and  nations  in  the  present  world,  and  the 
administration  of  distributive  justice  toivards  individuals  with  respect  to  the 
world  to  come.  In  the  last  judgment  "every  one  shall  give  an  account  of 
himself  to  God,  and  be  judged  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body;" 
but  while  we  are  in  this  world  we  stand  in  various  relations,  in  which  it  is 
impossible  that  we  should  be  dealt  with  merely  as  individuals.  God  deals 
with  families  and  nations  as  such;  and  in  the  course  of  his  providence  visits 
them  with  good  and  evil,  not  according  to  the  conduct  of  individuals,  but, 
as  far  as  conduct  is  concerned,  that  of  the  general  body.  To  insist  that  we 
should  in  all  cases  be  treated  as  individuals  is  to  renounce  the  social 
character. 

We  are  informed,  at  the  close  of  the  chapter,  that  Noah  lived  after  the 
flood  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  died  at  the  age  of  nine  hundred  and 
fifty.  How  long  this  was  after  the  foregoing  prophecy  we  are  not  informed ; 
but  he  lived  to  see,  in  the  descendants  of  Shem,  Eber  and  Nahor  and  Terah 
the  father  of  Abram. 


DISCOURSE  XVI. 

THE    GENERATIONS    OF    NOAH. 
Gen.  X. 


Without  this  genealogy  we  should  not  have  been  able  to  ascertain  the 
fulfilment  of  Noah's  prophecy;  but,  after  what  has  been  said  on  that  subject, 
I  need  not  be  particular  here.  The  chapter  contains  the  origin  of  the 
various  nations  of  antiquity;  and  the  more  it  is  examined  and  compared 
with  universal  history,  the  more  credible  it  will  appear.  All  the  researches 
of  the  Asiatic  Society  into  the  ancient  Hindoo  records  go  to  confirm  it. 
But  it  does  not  comport  with  the  object  of  these  discourses  to  enter  minutely 
into  such  subjects ;  I  shall  therefore  pass  over  it  with  only  a  few  remarks. 

1.  Concerning  the  posterity  of  Japhcth,  ver.  2-5.  His  family  was  the 
largest,  and  almost  every  one  of  his  sons  became  the  father  of  a  nation.  In 
them  we  trace,  among  others,  the  names  oi  Madia,  the  father  of  the  Medes — 
oi  Javan,  and  his  two  sons,  Kittim  and  Dodanim,  the  fathers  of  the  lonians, 


44  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

or  Greeks,  and  of  the  Romans.  It  was  from  Japheth  that  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  appear  to  have  been  peopled ;  who  seem,  at  this  early  period,  to  have 
obtained  the  name  of  Gentiles ;  namely,  peoples,  or  nations,  ver.  5.  This 
name  was  given  in  apostolic  times  to  all  who  were  not  Jews;  but  in  earlier 
ages  it  seems  to  have  been  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  applied  to  the  Europeans. 
Such  at  least  is  the  meaning  of  "the  isles  of  the  Gentiles,"  in  which,  by  a 
synecdoche,  those  places  which  were  the  nearest  to  the  situation  of  the 
sacred  writer  are  put  for  all  the  countries  beyond  them.  And  the  Scriptures 
foreseeing  that  Europe  would,  from  the  first,  embrace  the  gospel,  and  for 
many  ages  be  the  principal  seat  of  its  operation,  the  Messiah  himself  is 
introduced  by  Isaiah  as  addressing  himself  to  its  inhabitants: — "Listen,  O 
isles,  unto  me ;  and  hearken,  ye  people,  from  afar  1  Jehovah  hath  called  me 
from  the  womb,  and  hath  said  unto  me,  It  is  a  light  thing  that  thou  shouldest 
be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob — I  will  also  give  thee  for  a 
light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  shouldest  be  my  salvation  to  the  end  of  the 
earth."  Here  we  see  not  only  the  first  peopling  of  our  native  country,  but 
the  kind  remembrance  of  us  in  a  way  of  mercy,  and  this  though  far  removed 
from  the  means  of  salvation.  What  a  call  is  this  to  us  who  occupy  what  is 
denominated  "the  end  of  the  earth"  to  be  thankful  for  the  gospel,  and  to 
listen  to  the  sweet  accents  of  the  Saviour's  voice ! 

2.  Concerning  the  posterity  of  Ham,  ver.  7-20.  In  them  we  trace,  among 
others,  the  names  of  Cush,  the  father  of  the  Ethiopians — of  Mizraim,  the 
father  of  the  Egyptians — and  of  Canaan,  the  father  of  the  Canaanites. 

Particular  notice  is  taken  of  Nimrod,  the  son  of  Cush,  as  the  first  who  set 
up  for  empire.  He  might,  for  any  thing  I  know,  be  fond  of  hunting  beasts; 
but  the  connexion  of  his  character  with  a  kingdom  induces  me  to  think  that 
men  were  the  principal  objects  of  his  pursuit,  and  that  it  is  in  reference  to 
this  that  he  is  called  "  a  mighty  hunter,"  a  very  proper  name  for  what  modern 
historians  would  have  called  a  hero.  Thus  we  see,  from  the  beginning,  that 
things  which  are  highly  esteemed  among  men  are  held  in  abomination  with 
God.  This  perfectly  accords  with  the  language  of  the  prophets,  in  which 
the  great  conquerors  of  the  earth  are  described  as  so  many  wild  beasts  push- 
ing at  one  another,  whose  object  is  to  seize  and  tear  the  prey. — Nimrod  was 
a  mighty  hunter  "  before  the  Lord."  This  may  denote  his  daring  spirit, 
doing  what  he  did  in  the  face  of  Heaven,  or  in  defiance  of  the  Divine  autho- 
rity. Thus  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  are  said  to  be  wicked,  and  sinners 
"  before  the  Lord."  Nimrod's  fame  was  so  great  that  his  name  became  pro- 
verbial. In  after-times,  any  one  who  was  a  daring  plunderer  in  defiance  of 
Heaven  was  likened  to  him,  just  as  the  wicked  kings  of  Israel  were  likened 
to  "Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Nebat,  who  made  Israel  to  sin."  In  short,  he 
became  the  type,  pattern,  or  father  of  usurpers  and  martial  plunderers.  Till 
his  time  government  had  been  patriarchal;  but  his  ambition  led  him  to 
found  a  royal  city,  even  that  which  was  afterwards  called  Babel,  or  Babylon; 
and  to  add  to  it  (for  the  ambhion  of  conquerors  has  no  bounds)  "Erech,  and 
Accad,  and  Calneh,  in  the  land  of  Shinar."  Nor  was  this  all.  Either  he 
drove  Ashur,  the  son  of  Shem,  from  the  land  of  Shinar,  (who,  taking  up 
his  residence  in  Assyria,  built  Nineveh,  and  other  places,)  or  else,  as  Ains- 
worth  and  the  margin  of  our  own  Bibles  render  it,  "He  (Nimrod)  went  forth 
out  of  that  land  to  Ashur,  or  Assyria,  and  builded  Nineveh."  The  latter  is 
very  probably  the  true  meaning,  as  the  sacred  writer  is  not  here  describing 
what  was  done  by  the  posterity  of  Shem,  which  he  introduces  afterwards, 
but  by  that  of  Ham ;  and  it  perfectly  accords  with  Nimrod's  character,  to  go 
hunting  from  land  to  land,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  his  dominion. 

From  Mizraim,  the  father  of  the  Egyptians,  descended  also  the  Philistines. 
Their  situation  was  near  to  that  of  the  Canaanites;  but,  not  being  of  themji 


GENERATIONS  OP  NOAH.  45 

their  country  was  not  given  to  Israel.  This  accounts  for  their  not  attempting 
to  take  it,  though  in  after-times  there  were  frequent  wars  between  them. 

Finally,  Moses  was  very  particular  with  regard  to  the  Canaanites,  describ- 
ing not  only  what  nations  they  were,  but  what  were  their  boundaries,  that 
Israel  might  know  and  be  content  with  what  the  Lord  their  God  had  given 
them.  Under  this  head,  we  see  much  of  what  pertains  to  this  world,  but 
that  is  not  all.  We  may  learn  from  it  that  men  may  be  under  the  Divine 
curse,  and  yet  be  very  successful  for  a  time  in  schemes  of  aggrandizement. 
But  if  this  be  their  all,  woe  unto  them !  There  are  instances,  however,  of 
individuals,  even  from  among  Ham's  posterity,  who  obtained  mercy.  Of 
them  were  Rahab  the  harlot,  Uriah  the  Hittite,  Obed-edom,  and  Ittai,  and 
his  brethren  the  Gittites,  and  the  Syrophenician  woman  who  applied  to 
Christ.  The  door  of  mercy  is  open  to  faith,  without  distinction  of  nations; 
nor  was  there  ever  a  time  in  which  the  God  of  Israel  refused  even  a 
Canaanite  who  repented  and  embraced  his  word. 

3.  Concerning  the  posterity  of  Shan,  ver.  21-33.  The  account  of  this 
patriarch  is  introduced  in  rather  a  singular  manner ;  it  is  mentioned  as  an 
appendage  to  his  name,  a  kind  of  title  of  honour  that  was  to  go  along  with 
it,  that  he  was  "father  of  all  the  children  of  Eber,  and  brother  of  Japheth 
the  elder."  Shem  had  other  sons  as  well  as  these,  and  another  brother  as 
well  as  Japheth ;  but  no  such  special  mention  is  made  of  them.  When 
Moses  would  describe  the  line  of  the  curse,  he  calls  Ham  "  the  father  of 
Canaan;"  and  when  the  line  of  promise,  he  calls  Shezn  "the  father  of  all  the 
children  of  Eber."  And  as  Japheth  had  been  the  brother  of  Shem  in  an 
act  of  filial  duty,  his  posterity  shall  be  grafted  in  among  them,  and  become 
fellow  heirs  of  the  same  promise ;  yet,  as  in  divers  other  instances,  the 
younger  goes  before  the  elder. 

Among  Shem's  other  descendants  we  find  the  names  of  Elam  and  Ashur, 
fathers  of  the  Persians  and  Assyrians,  two  great  Asiatic  nations.  But  these, 
not  being  of  the  church  of  God,  are  but  little  noticed  in  the  sacred  history, 
except  as  they  come  in  contact  with  it. 

Eber  is  said  to  have  had  two  sons,  one  of  whom  is  called  Peleg,  division; 
because  in  his  days  the  earth  was  divided.  This  event  took  place  subse- 
quently to  the  confusion  of  tongues,  which  is  yet  to  be  related.  It  seems  to 
refer  to  an  allotment  of  different  countries  to  different  families,  as  Canaan 
was  divided  among  the  Israelites  by  Joshua.  This  division  of  the  earth  is 
elsewhere  ascribed  to  the  Most  High,  Dent,  xxxii.  8.  Probably  it  was  by 
lot,  which  was  of  his  disposing;  or  if  by  the  fathers  of  the  different  families, 
all  was  subject  to  the  direction  of  His  providence  who  fixes  and  bounds  our 
habitation.  It  is  intimated  in  the  same  passage  that,  at  the  time  of  this 
division,  God  marked  out  the  Holy  Land  as  Israel's  lot,  so  that  the  Canaan- 
ites were  to  possess  it  only  during  his  minority,  and  that  by  sufferance.  It 
was  rather  lent  than  given  to  them  from  the  first. 


46  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

DISCOURSE  XVII. 

THE  CONFUSION  OF  TONGUES 
Gen.  xi.  1-9. 

It  has  been  before  noticed  that  this  story  is  thrown  further  on,  on  account 
of  finishing  the  former.  The  event  took  place  before  the  division  of  the 
earth  in  the  time  of  Peleg ;  for  every  family  is  there  repeatedly  said  to  be 
divided  after  their  tongues ;  which  in)plies  that  at  that  time  they  spake 
various  languages,  and  that  this  was  one  of  the  rules  by  which  they  were 
distinguished  as  nations. 

Prior  to  the  flood,  and  down  to  this  period,  "  the  whole  earth  was  of  one 
language."  We  are  not  told  what  this  was.  Whether  it  was  the  same 
which  continued  in  the  fiunily  of  Eber,  or  whether  from  this  time  it  was 
lost,  is  a  matter  of  small  account  to  us.  But  it  seemed  good  in  the  sight  of 
God  hence  to  divide  mankind  into  different  nations,  and  to  this  end  to  give 
them  each  a  different  tongue.  The  occasion  of  this  great  event  will  appear 
from  the  following  story. 

The  posterity  of  Noah,  beginning  to  increase,  found  it  necessary  to  extend 
their  habitations.  A  company  of  them,  journeying  from  the  east,  pitched 
upon  a  certain  plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar,  by  the  river  Euphrates.  Judging 
it  to  be  an  eligible  spot,  they  consulted  and  determined  here  to  build  a  city. 
There  was  no  stone,  it  seems,  near  at  hand;  but  there  was  a  kind  of  earth 
very  suitable  for  bricks,  and  a  bituminous  substance  which  is  said  to  ooze 
from  certain  springs  in  that  plain,  like  tar  or  pitch,  and  this  they  used  for 
cement.  Of  these  materials  were  afterwards  built  the  famous  walls  of  Babylon. 

Having  found  a  good  material,  they  proposed  to  build  "  a  city  and  a 
tower"  of  great  eminence,  by  which  they  should  obtain  a  name,  and  avoid 
the  evil  of  which  they  thought  themselves  in  danger,  of  being  scattered  upon 
the  face  of  the  whole  earth  But  here  they  were  interrupted  by  a  Divine 
interposition :  the  Lord  came  down  and  confounded  their  language,  so  that 
they  could  not  understand  one  another's  speech. 

To  perceive  the  reason  of  this  extraordinary  proceeding,  it  is  necessary  to 
inquire  into  the  object,  or  design,  of  the  builders.  If  this  can  be  ascertained, 
the  whole  passage  may  be  easily  understood.  It  could  not  be,  as  some  have 
supposed,  to  provide  against  a  future  flood;  for  this  Avould  have  needed  no 
Divine  interposition  to  prevent  its  having  effect  God  knew  his  own  inten- 
tion never  to  drown  the  world  any  more;  and  if  it  had  been  otherwise,  or 
if  they,  from  a  disbelief  of  his  promise,  had  been  disposed  to  provide  against 
it,  they  would  not  have  been  so  foolish  as  to  build  for  this  purpose  a  tower 
upon  a  plain,  which,  when  raised  to  the  greatest  possible  height,  would  be 
far  below  the  tops  of  the  mountains.  It  could  not  have  been  said  of  such  a 
scheme,  "This  they  have  begun  to  do;  and  now  nothing  will  be  restrained 
from  them  which  they  have  imagined  to  do ;"  for  it  would  have  defeated  itself. 

Neither  does  it  appear  to  have  been  designed,  as  others  have  supposed, 
for  an  idol's  temple.  At  least  there  is  nothing  in  the  story  which  leads  to 
such  a  conclusion.  It  was  not  for  the  name  of  a  god,  but  for  their  own 
name,  that  they  proposed  to  build ;  and  that  not  the  toiaer  ordy,  but  a  city 
and  a  toivcr.  Nor  was  the  confounding  of  their  language  any  way  adapted, 
that  I  can  perceive,  to  defeat  such  a  design  as  this.  Idolatry  prevailed  in 
the  world,  for  aught  that  appears,  as  much  under  a  variety  of  languages  as  it 
would  under  one. 


CONFUSION'  OF  TONGUES.  ^ 

Some  have  imagined  that  it  was  intended  merely  as  a  monument  of  archi- 
tectural ambition,  like  the  pyramids  of  Egypt.  This  supposition  might  in  a 
measure  agree  with  the  idea  of  doing  it  for  a  name ;  but  it  is  far  from  har- 
monizing with  other  parts  of  the  history.  It  contains  no  such  deep-laid 
scheme  as  is  intimated  in  the  6th  verse,  and  given  as  the  reason  of  the 
Divine  interference ;  nor  is  it  supposable  that  God  should  interpose  in  so 
extraordinary  a  manner,  by  working  a  miracle  which  should  remain  through- 
out every  age  of  the  world,  or  which  at  least  has  remained  to  this  day,  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  counteracting  a  momentary  freak  of  human  vanity. 

There  are  four  characters  by  which  this  design,  whatever  it  was,  is  de- 
scribed.— 1.  It  was  founded  in  ambition ;  for  they  said,  "  Let  us  make  us  a 
name." — 2.  It  required  union ;  for  which  purpose  they  proposed  to  build 
"a  citij,"  that  they  might  live  together,  and  concentrate  their  strength  and 
counsels.  This  is  noticed  by  the  Lord  himself:  "  Behold,  the  people,"  saith 
he,  "are  one,  and  have  all  one  language;"  and  his  confounding  their  lan- 
guage was  for  the  express  purpose  of  destroying  this  oneness,  by  "  scatter- 
ing them  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  earth." — 3.  It  required  that  they 
should  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  defence;  for  which  they  proposed  to 
add  a  "  tower"  to  the  city,  to  which  the  citizens  might  repair  in  times  of 
danger ;  and  of  such  a  height  as  to  bid  defiance  to  any  who  should  attempt 
to  annoy  them  with  arrows,  or  other  missive  weapons. — 4.  The  scheme  was 
wisely  laid;  so  much  so  that,  if  God  had  not  interposed  to  frustrate  it,  it 
would  have  succeeded :  "And  this  they  have  begun  to  do ;  and  now  nothing 
will  be  restrained  from  them,  which  they  have  imagined  to  do." 

The  only  object  which  appears  to  accord  with  all  these  general  charac- 
ters, and  with  the  whole  account  taken  together,  is  that  of  a  universal 
MONARCHY,  bij  which  all  the  families  of  the  earth,  in  all  future  ages,  might 
he  held  to  subjection.  A  very  little  reflection  will  convince  us  that  such  a 
scheme  must  of  necessity  be  founded  in  ambition ;  that  it  required  union, 
and  of  course  a  cift/,  to  carry  it  into  execution:  that  a  tower,  or  citadel,  was 
also  necessary  to  repel  those  who  might  be  disposed  to  dispute  their  claims; 
and  that  if  these  measures  were  once  carried  into  effect,  there  was  nothing 
in  the  nature  of  things  to  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  their  design. 

If  there  were  no  other  reasons  in  favour  of  the  supposition  in  question,  its 
agreement  with  all  these  circumstances  of  the  history  might  be  sufficient  to 
establish  it;  but  to  this  other  things  may  be  added,  by  way  of  corroboration. 

The  time  when  the  confusion  of  tongues  took  place  renders  it  highly  pro- 
bable that  the  scheme  which  it  was  intended  to  subvert  was  of  Nimrod's 
forming,  or  that  he  had  a  principal  concern  in  it.  It  must  have  been  a  little 
before  the  division  of  the  earth  among  the  sons  of  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japlieth, 
"after  their  tongues,  in  their  countries,  and  in  their  nations;"  being  that 
which  rendered  such  division  necessary.  Now  this  was  about  the  time  of 
the  birth  of  Peleg,  who  was  named  from  that  event;  and  this,  by  reckoning 
the  genealogies  mentioned  in  chap.  xi.  10-16,  will  appear  to  have  been 
about  a  hundred  years  after  the  flood.  At  this  time,  Nimrod,  who  was  the 
grandson  of  Ham,  must  have  been  alive  and  in  his  prime.  And  as  he  was 
the  first  person  who  aspired  to  dominion  over  his  brethren,  and  as  it 
is  expressly  said  of  him  that  "  the  beginning  of  his  kingdom  was  Babel," 
nothing  is  more  natural  than  to  suppose  that  he  was  the  leader  in  this 
famous  enterprise,  and  tliat  the  whole  was  a  scheme  of  his,  by  which  to 
make  himself  master  of  the  world. 

It  was  also  natural  for  an  ambitious  people,  headed  by  an  ambitious  leader, 
to  set  up  for  universal  monarchy.  Such  has  been  the  object  of  almost  all 
the  great  nations  and  conquerors  of  the  earth  in  later  periods.  Babylon, 
though  checked  for  the  present,  by  this  Divine  interference,  yet  afterwards 


48 


EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


resumed  the  pursuit  of  her  favourite  object;  and,  in  the  time  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, seemed  almost  to  have  gained  it.  The  style  used  by  that  monarch 
in  his  proclamations  comported  with  the  spirit  of  this  idea :  "  To  you  it  is 
commanded,  O  people,  nations,  and  tongues!"  Now  if  such  has  been  the 
ambition  of  all  Nimrod's  successors,  in  every  age,  it  is  nothing  surprising 
that  it  should  have  struck  the  mind  of  Nimrod  himself,  and  his  adherents. 
They  would  also  have  a  sort  of  claim  to  which  their  successors  could  not 
pretend  ;  namely,  that  of  being  the  first,  or  parent  kingdom  ;  and  the  weight 
which  men  are  apt  to  attach  to  this  claim  may  be  seen  by  the  later  preten- 
sions of  papal  Rome,  (another  Babylon,)  which,  under  the  character  of  a 
mother  church,  headed  by  a  pope,  or  pretended  holy  father,  has  subjected  all 
Christendom  to  her  dominion. 

To  this  may  be  added,  that  the  means  used  to  counteract  these  builders 
were  exactly  suited  to  defeat  the  above  design  ;  namely,  that  oi  dividing  and 
scattering  them,  by  confounding  their  language.  And  it  is  worthy  of  notice, 
that  though  several  empires  have  extended  their  territories  over  people  of 
different  languages,  yet  language  has  been  a  very  common  boundary  of  na- 
tions ever  since.  There  is  scarcely  a  great  nation  in  the  world  but  what  has 
its  own  language.  The  dividing  of  languages  was  therefore,  in  effect,  the 
dividing  of  nations;  and  so  a  bar  to  the  whole  world  being  ruled  by  one 
government.  Thus  a  perpetual  miracle  was  wrought,  to  be  an  antidote  to  a 
perpetual  disease. 

But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  should  it  be  the  will  of  God  to  prevent  a  uni- 
versal monarchy,  and  to  divide  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  into  a  number 
of  independent  nations?  This  question  opens  a  wide  field  for  investigation. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  at  present,  such  a  state  of  things  contains  much  mercy,  both 
to  the  world  and  to  the  church. 

With  respect  to  the  world,  if  the  whole  earth  had  continued  under  one 
government,  that  government  would  of  course,  considering  what  human 
nature  is,  have  been  exceedingly  despotic  and  oppressive.  We  know  that 
in  every  state  of  society  where  power,  or  wealth,  or  commerce  is  monopolized 
by  an  individual,  or  confined  to  a  few  whose  interests  may  unite  them  to  one 
another,  there  is  the  greatest  possible  scope  for  injustice  and  oppression; 
and  where  there  is  the  greatest  scope  for  these  evils,  human  nature  being 
what  it  is,  theue  they  will  most  abound.  Different  nations  and  interests  iu 
the  world  serve  as  a  balance  one  to  the  other.  They  are  that  to  the  world 
which  a  number  of  rival  merchants,  or  smaller  tradesmen,  are  to  society ; 
serving  as  a  check  upon  each  other's  rapacity.  Union,  when  cemented  by 
good-will  to  men,  is  exceedingly  desirable;  but  when  self-interest  and  ambi- 
tion are  at  the  bottom,  it  is  exceedingly  dangerous.  Union,  in  such  cases, 
is  nothing  better  than  a  combination  against  the  general  good. 

It  might  be  thought  that  if  the  whole  world  were  under  one  government, 
a  great  number  of  wars  might  be  prevented,  which,  as  things  now  are,  would 
be  certain  to  take  place.  And  it  is  true  that  one  stable  government,  to  a 
certain  extent,  is  on  this  account  preferable  to  a  great  number  of  smaller 
ones,  which  are  always  at  variance.  But  this  principle,  if  carried  beyond 
certain  limits,  becomes  inimical  to  human  happiness.  So  far  as  different 
nations  can  really  become  one,  and  drop  all  local  distinctions  and  interests, 
it  is  well ;  but  if  the  good  of  the  country  governed  be  lost  sight  of,  and  every 
thing  be  done  to  aggrandize  the  city  or  country  governing,  it  is  otherwise. 
And  where  power  is  thus  exercised,  which  it  certainly  would  be  in  case  of 
universal  monarchy,  it  would  produce  as  many  wars  as  now  exist,  with  only 
this  difference,  that  instead  of  their  being  carried  on  between  independent 
nations,  they  would  consist  of  the  risings  of  different  parts  of  the  empire 
against  the  government,  in  a  way  of  rebellion ;  and  by  how  much  wars  of 


CONFUSION  OF  TONGUES.  49 

this  kind  are  accompanied  with  less  mutual  respect,  less  quarter  given  and 
taken,  and  consequently  more  cruelt}-,  than  the  other,  by  so  much  would 
the  state  of  the  world  have  been  more  miserable  than  it  is  at  present. 

The  division  of  the  world  into  independent  nations  has  also  been  a  great 
check  on  persecution,  and  so  has  operated  in  a  way  of  mercy  towards  the 
church.  If  the  whole  world  had  been  one  despotic  government,  Israel,  the 
people  of  God,  must  in  all  ages  have  been  in  the  condition  to  which  they 
were  reduced  from  the  times  of  the  captivity  as  a  punishment  for  their  sins, 
a  mere  province  of  another  power,  which  might  have  crushed  them  and 
hindered  them,  as  was  the  case  from  the  times  of  Cyrus  to  those  of  Darius. 
And  since  the  coming  of  Christ,  the  only  way  in  which  he  permits  his  fol- 
lowers to  avoid  the  malice  of  the  world,  which  rages  against  them  for  his 
sake,  is  this  :  "  If  they  persecute  you  in  one  city,  flee  to  another."  Of  this 
liberty  millions  have  availed  themselves,  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  periods 
of  the  Christian  church  ;  but  if  the  whole  world  had  been  under  one  govern- 
ment, and  that  government  inimical  to  the  gospel,  there  had  been  no  place 
of  refuge  left  upon  earth  for  the  faithful. 

The  necessary  watch  also  that  governments  which  have  been  the  most 
disposed  to  persecute  have  been  obliged  to  keep  on  each  other  has  filled 
their  hands,  so  as  to  leave  them  but  little  time  to  think  of  religious  people. 
Saul,  when  pursuing  David,  was  withdrawn  from  his  purpose  by  intelligence 
being  brought  him  that  the  Philistines  had  invaded  the  land;  and  thus,  in 
innumerable  instances,  the  quarrels  of  bad  men  have  been  advantageous  to 
the  righteous. 

The  division  of  power  serves  likewise  to  check  the  spirit  of  persecution, 
not  only  as  finding  employment  for  persecutors  to  watch  their  rivals,  but  as 
causing  them  to  be  watched,  and  their  conduct  exposed.  While  the  power 
of  papal  Rome  extended  over  Christendom,  persecution  raged  abundantly 
more  than  it  has  done  since  the  Reformation,  even  in  popish  countries. 
Since  that  period,  the  popish  powers,  both  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  have  felt 
themselves  narrowly  watched  by  protestants,  and  have  been  almost  shamed 
out  of  their  former  cruelties.  What  has  been  done  of  late  years  has  been 
principally  confined  to  the  secret  recesses  of  the  Inquisition.  It  is  by  com- 
munities as  it  is  by  individuals;  they  are  restrained  from  innumerable 
excesses  by  the  consideration  of  being  under  the  eye  of  each  other.  Thus 
it  is  that  liberty  of  conscience,  being  granted  in  one  or  two  nations,  and 
becoming  honourable,  has  insensibly  made  its  way  into  the  councils  of  many 
others. 

From  the  whole  we  may  infer  two  things : — 1.  The  harmony  of  Divine 
revelation  with  all  that  we  know  of  fact.  If  any  object  to  the  probability  of 
the  foregoing  account,  and  imagine  that  the  various  languages  spoken  in  the 
world  must  have  been  of  human  contrivance,  let  them  point  us  to  a  page  in 
any  history,  ancient  or  modern,  which  gives  an  account  of  the  first  making 
of  a  language,  dead  or  living.  If  all  that  man  can  be  proved  to  have  done 
towards  the  formation  of  any  language  be  confined  to  changing,  combining, 
improving,  and  reducing  it  to  grammatical  form,  there  is  the  greatest  pro- 
bability, independently  of  the  authority  of  revelation,  that  languages  them- 
selves were  originally  the  work  of  God,  as  was  that  of  the  first  man  and 
woman. — 2.  The  desirableness  of  the  universal  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom. 
We  may  see,  in  the  reasons  which  render  a  universal  government  among 
men  incompatible  with  the  liberty  and  safety  of  the  world,  abundant  cause 
to  pray  for  this,  and  for  the  tmion  of  all  his  subjects  under  him.  Here  there 
is  no  danger  of  tyranny  or  oppression,  nor  any  need  of  those  low  motives  of 
rivalship  to  induce  him  to  seek  the  well-being  of  his  subjects.  A  union 
with  Christ  and  one  another  embraces  the  best  interests  of  mankind. 

Vol.  III.— 7  E 


50  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


DISCOURSE  XVIII. 

THE  GENERATIONS  OF  SHEM,  AND  THE  CALL  OF  ABRAM. 

Gen.  xi.  10-32;  xii.  1-4. 

The  sacred  historian,  having  given  an  account  of  the  re-peopling  of  the 
earth,  here  takes  leave  of  the  "  children  of  men,"  and  confines  himself  to  the 
history  of  the  "  sons  of  God."  We  shall  find  him  all  along  adhering  to  this 
principle.  When  any  of  the  posterity  of  the  righteous  turn  their  backs  on 
God,  he  presently  takes  leave  of  them,  and  follows  the  true  church  and  true 
religion  wherever  they  go. 

Ver.  10-26.  The  principal  use  of  the  genealogy  of  Shem  to  Terah,  the 
father  of  Abram,  may  be  to  prove  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  promises  in  the 
Messiah.     To  this  purpose  it  is  applied  in  the  New  Testament. 

Ver.  27-29  Terah,  after  he  was  seventy  years  of  age,  had  three  sons, 
Abram,  Nahor,  and  Haran.  But  the  order  in  which  they  here  stand  does 
not  appear  to  be  that  of  seniority,  any  more  than  that  of  Shem,  and  Ham, 
and  Japheth;  for  if  Abram  had  been  born  when  Terah  was  seventy  years 
old,  he  must  have  been  a  hundred  and  thirtij-jive  at  the  time  of  his  father's 
death ;  whereas  he  is  said  to  have  been  but  seventy-five  when,  after  that  event, 
he  set  out  for  Canaan.  Haran  therefore  appears  to  have  been  the  eldest  of 
the  three  sons.  He  died  in  Ur  of  the  Chaldees;  but  left  behind  him  a  son 
and  two  daughters.  Lot,  and  Milcah,  and  Iscah.  The  two  surviving  sons, 
Abram  and  Nahor,  took  them  wives:  the  name  of  Abram's  wife  was  Sarai, 
of  whose  descent  we  are  not  here  told ;  but  by  what  he  said  of  her  in  chap. 
XX.  12,  it  would  seem  that  she  was  his  half-sister,  or  his  father's  daughter  by 
another  wife.  In  those  early  ages  nearer  degrees  of  consanguinity  were 
admitted  than  were  afterwards  allowed  by  the  Divine  law.  Nahor  married 
his  brother  Haran's  eldest  daughter  Milcah. 

Ver.  31.  It  is  said  of  Terah  that  he  took  Abram  his  son,  and  Lot  the  son 
of  Haran,  his  grandson,  and  Sarai  his  daughter-in-law,  his  son  Abram's 
wife;  and  that  they  went  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  to  go  into  the  land  of 
Canaan.  But  here  is  something  supposed  which  the  historian  reserves  till 
he  comes  to  the  story  of  Abram,  who,  next  to  God,  was  the  first  mover  in 
the  undertaking,  and  the  principal  character  in  the  story.  In  chap.  xii.  1, 
we  are  told  that  "  the  Lord  had  said  unto  Abram,  Get  thee  out  of  thy  coun- 
try, and  from  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house,  unto  a  land  that  I 
will  show  thee."  Taking  the  whole  together,  it  appears  that  God  revealed 
himself  to  Abram,  and  called  him  to  depart  from  that  idolatrous  and  wicked 
country,  whether  any  of  his  relations  would  go  with  him  or  not;  that  Abram 
told  it  to  his  father  Terah,  and  to  all  the  family,  and  invited  them  to  accom- 
pany him ;  that  Terah  consented,  as  did  also  his  grandson  Lot ;  that  Nahor 
and  his  wife  Milcah  were  unwilling  to  go,  and  did  not  go  at  present;  that, 
seeing  they  refused,  the  venerable  Terah  left  them ;  and  though  not  the  first 
mover  in  the  affliir,  yet,  being  the  head  of  the  family,  he  is  said  to  have 
taken  Abram,  and  Sarai,  and  Lot,  and  journeyed  towards  Canaan;  that, 
stopping  within  the  country  of  Mesopotamia,  he  called  the  place  where  he 
pitched  his  tent  Haran,  in  memory  of  his  son  who  died  in  Ur  of  the  Chaldees; 
finally,  that  during  his  residence  in  this  place  he  died,  being  two  hundred 
and  five  years  old. 

But  though  Nahor  and  Milcah,  as  it  should  seem,  refused  to  accompany 
the  family  at  the  time,  yet  as  we  find  them  in  the  course  of  the  history  settled 


CALL  OF  ABRAM.  51 

at  Haran,  and  Abraham  and  Isaac  sending  to  them  for  wives,  to  the  rejection 
of  the  idolaters  among  whom  they  lived,  we  may  conclude  that  they  after- 
wards repented.  And  thus  the  whole  of  Terah's  family,  though  they  do  not 
go  to  Canaan,  yet  are  rescued  from  Chaldean  idolatry;  and,  settling  in 
llaran,  maintain  for  a  considerable  time  the  worship  of  the  true  God. 

Chap.  xii.  1-3.  But  Abram  must  not  stop  at  Haran.  Jehovah,  by  whom 
he  was  called  to  depart  from  Ur,  has  another  country  in  reserve  for  him ; 
and  he  being  the  great  patriarch  of  Israel,  and  of  the  church  of  God,  we 
have  here  a  more  particular  account  of  his  call.  It  was  fit  that  this  should 
be  clearly  and  fully  stated,  as  it  went  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  new  order 
of  things  in  the  world.  It  was  therefore  like  the  spring  of  a  great  river;  or 
rather  like  the  hole  of  a  quarry  whence  the  first  stone  was  taken  of  which  a 
city  was  built.  It  is  this  which  is  referred  to  for  the  encouragement  of  the 
church  when  in  a  low  condition,  and  likely  to  become  extinct.  God  called 
Abram  alone,  and  blessed  him,  and  increased  him.  Hence  the  faithful  are 
directed  to  "  look  to  the  rock  whence  they  were  hewn,  and  to  the  hole  of 
the  pit  whence  they  were  digged ;"  and  to  depend  upon  his  promise  who 
assured  them  he  would  comfort  the  waste  places  of  Zion. 

How  long  Abram  continued  at  Haran  we  are  not  told,  but,  about  nine 
years  after  his  departure  from  it,  we  read  of  his  having  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  trained  servants,  who  were  "  born  in  his  house:"  he  must  therefore 
have  kept  house  between  twenty  and  thirty  years  at  least  before  that  time, 
either  in  Haran,  or  in  both  Ur  and  Haran. 

In  the  call  of  Abram  we  may  observe,  1.  The  grace  of  it.  There  appears 
no  reason  to  conclude  that  he  was  better  than  his  neighbours.  He  did  not 
choose  the  Lord,  but  the  Lord  him,  and  brought  him  out  from  amongst  the 
idolaters,  Neh.  ix.  7.  2.  Its  peremptory  tone:  "Get  thee  out."  The  lan- 
guage very  much  resembles  that  of  Lot  to  his  sons-in-law,  and  indicates  the 
great  danger  of  his  present  situation,  and  the  immediate  necessity  of  escaping 
as  it  were  for  his  life.  Such  is  the  condition  of  every  unconverted  sinner, 
and  such  the  necessity  of  fleeing  from  the  wrath  to  come  to  the  hope  set 
before  us  in  the  gospel.  3.  The  self-denial  required  by  it.  He  was  called 
to  leave  his  country,  his  kindred,  and  even  his  father's  house,  if  they  refused 
to  go  with  him ;  and  no  doubt  his  mind  was  made  up  to  do  so  Such  things 
are  easier  to  read  concerning  others  than  to  practise  ourselves  ;  yet  he  that 
hateth  not  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  children,  and  brethren,  and 
sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  in  comparison  of  Christ,  cannot  be  his 
disciple.  We  may  not  be  called  upon  to  part  with  them;  but  our  minds 
must  be  made  up  to  do  so,  if  they  stand  between  us  and  Christ.  4.  The 
implicit  faith  which  a  compliance  with  it  would  call  for.  Abram  was  to 
leave  all  and  to  go  ...  .  he  knew  not  whither  ....  unto  a  land  that  God 
would  show  him.  If  he  had  been  told  that  it  was  a  land  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey,  and  that  be  should  be  put  in  possession  of  it,  there  had  been 
some  food  for  sense  to  feed  upon ;  but  to  go  out,  "  not  knowing  whither  he 
went,"  must  have  been  not  a  little  trying  to  flesh  and  blood.  Nor  was  this 
all ;  that  which  was  promised  was  not  only  in  general  terms,  but  very  distant. 
God  did  not  tell  him  he  would  give  him  the  land,  but  merely  show  him  it. 
Nor  did  he  in  his  lifetime  obtain  the  possession  of  it ;  he  was  only  a  sojourner 
in  it,  without  so  much  as  a  place  to  set  his  foot  upon.  He  obtained  a  spot 
it  is  true  to  lay  his  bones  in,  but  that  was  all.  In  this  manner  were  things 
ordered  on  purpose  to  try  his  faith ;  and  his  obedience  to  God  under  such 
circumstances  was  among  the  things  which  rendered  him  an  example  to 
future  generations,  even  "  the  father  of  all  them  that  believe." 

Ver.  2.  The  promise  had  reference  to  things  which  could  be  but  of  small 


m 


EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


account  to  an  eye  of  sense ;  but  faith  would  find  enough  in  it  to  satisfy  the 
most  enlarged  desires.  The  objects,  though  distant,  were  worth  waiting  for. 
He  should  be  the  father  of  "a  great  nation;"  and,  what  was  of  greater 
account,  and  which  was  doubtless  understood,  that  nation  should  be  the 
Lord's.  God  himself  would  bless  him;  and  this  would  be  more  than  the 
whole  world  without  it.  God  would  also  make  his  name  great;  not  in  the 
records  of  worldly  fame,  but  in  the  history  of  the  church;  and  being  himself 
full  of  the  blessing  of  the  Lord,  it  should  be  his  to  impart  blessedness  to  the 
world  :  "  I  will  bless  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  a  blessing."  The  great  names 
among  the  heathen  would  very  commonly  arise  from  their  being  curses  and 
plagues  to  mankind;  but  he  should  have  the  honour  and  happiness  of  being 
great  in  goodness,  great  in  communicating  light  and  life  to  his  species. 

This  promise  has  been  fulfilling  ever  since.  All  the  true  blessedness 
which  the  world  is  now,  or  shall  hereafter  be,  possessed  of,  is  owing  to 
Abram  and  his  posterity.  Through  them  we  have  a  Bible,  a  Saviour,  and 
a  gospel.  They  are  the  stock  on  which  the  Christian  church  is  grafted. 
Their  very  dispersions  and  punishments  have  proved  the  riches  of  the  world. 
What  then  shall  be  their  recovery,  but  life  from  the  dead  ?  It  would  seem 
as  if  the  conversion  of  the  Jews,  whenever  it  shall  take  place,  will  be  a  kind 
of  resurrection  to  mankind.  Such  was  the  hope  of  this  calling.  And  what 
could  the  friends  of  God  and  man  desire  more?  Yet,  as  if  all  this  were  not 
enough,  it  is  added — 

Ver.  3.  "I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee,  and  curse  him  that  curseth 
thee."  This  is  language  never  used  but  of  an  object  of  special  favour.  It 
is  declaring  that  he  should  not  only  be  blessed  himself,  but  that  all  others 
should  be  blessed  or  cursed  as  they  respected  or  injured  him.  Of  this  the 
histories  of  Abimelech,  Laban,  Potiphar,  both  the  Pharaohs,  Balak,  and 
Balaam  furnish  examples. 

Finally,  Lest  what  had  been  said  of  his  being  made  a  blessing  should  not 
be  sufficiently  explicit,  it  is  added,  "And  in  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  be  blessed."  This  was  saying  that  a  blessing  was  in  reserve  for  all 
nations,  and  that  it  should  be  bestowed  through  him  and  his  posterity,  as 
the  medium.  Paul  applies  this  to  Christ,  and  the  believing  Gentiles  being 
blessed  in  him;  he  calls  it,  "The  gospel  which  was  preached  before  unto 
Abraham."  Peter  also  makes  use  of  it  in  his  address  to  those  who  had 
killed  the  Prince  of  life,  to  induce  them  to  repent  and  believe  in  him.  "Ye 
are  the  children  of  the  prophets,"  says  he,  "  and  of  the  covenant  which  God 
made  with  our  fathers,  saying  unto  Abraham,  And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed.  Unto  you  Jirst,  God,  having  raised  up  his 
Son  Jesus,  sent  him  to  bless  you,  in  turning  away  every  one  of  you  from  his 
iniquities."  As  if  he  had  said,  You  are  descended  from  one  whose  posterity 
were  to  be  blessed  above  all  nations,  and  made  a  blessing.  And  the  time 
to  favour  the  nations  being  now  at  hand,  God  sent  his  Son  Jirst  to  you,  to 
bless  you,  and  to  prepare  you  for  blessing  them;  as  though  it  were  yours  to 
be  a  nation  of  ministers,  or  missionaries  to  the  world.  But  how  if,  instead 
of  blessing  others,  you  should  continue  accursed  yourselves?  You  must 
first  be  blessed,  ere  you  can,  as  the  true  seed  of  Abraham,  bless  the  kindreds 
of  the  earth,  and  that  by  every  one  of  you  being  turned  from  his  iniquities. 

Ver.  4.  The  faith  of  Abram  operated  in  a  way  of  prompt  and  implicit 
obedience.  First  it  induced  him  to  leave  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  and  now  he 
must  leave  Haran.  Haran  was  become  the  place  of  his  father's  sepulchre, 
yet  he  must  not  stop  there,  but  press  forwards  to  the  land  which  the  Lord 
would  show  him.  On  this  occasion,  young  Lot,  his  nephew,  seems  to  have 
felt  a  cleaving  to  him,  like  that  of  Ruth  to  Naomi,  and  must  needs  go  with 


ABRAM  DWELLING  IN  CANAAN,  ETC.  53 

him ;  encouraged  no  doubt  by  his  uncle  in  some  such  manner  as  Moses 
afterwards  encouraged  Hobab :  "Go  with  me,  and  I  will  do  thee  good;  for 
the  Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning"  Abram. 

Ver.  5.  We  now  see  Abram,  being  seventy-five  years  old,  and  Sarai,  and 
Lot,  with  all  they  are  and  have,  taking  a  long  farewell  of  Haran,  as  they  had 
done  before  of  tFr.  "The  souls  that  they  had  gotten  in  Haran"  could  not 
refer  to  children,  but  perhaps  to  some  godly  servants  who  cast  in  their  lot 
vvitii  them.  Abram  had  a  religious  household,  who  were  under  his  govern- 
ment, as  we  afterwards  read,  one  of  whom  went  to  seek  a  wife  for  Isaac. 
We  also  read  of  one  "Eliezer  of  Damascus,"  who  seems  to  have  been  not 
only  his  household  steward,  but  the  only  man  he  could  think  of,  if  he  died 
childless,  to  be  his  heir.  With  these  he  set  off  for  the  land  of  Canaan, 
which  by  this  time  he  knew  to  be  the  country  that  the  Lord  would  show 
him ;  and  to  the  land  of  Canaan  he  came. 


DISCOURSE  XIX. 


ABRAM  DWELLING  IN  CANAAN,  AND  REMOVING  TO  EGYPT  ON  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

FAMINE. 

Gen.  sii.  6-20. 

Ver.  6.  Abram  and  his  company,  having  entered  the  country  at  its  north- 
eastern quarter,  penetrate  as  far  southward  as  SicJiem;  where  meeting  with 
a  spacious  plain,  the  plain  of  Moreh,  they  pitched  their  tents.  This  place 
was  afterwards  much  accounted  of.  Jacob  came  thither  on  his  return  from 
Haran,  and  bought  of  the  Shechemites  a  parcel  of  a  field.  It  might  be  the 
same  spot  where  Abram  dwelt,  and  was  perhaps  selected  by  Jacob  on  that 
account.  After  this  it  seems  to  have  been  taken  from  him  by  the  Amorites, 
the  descendants  of  Hamor,  of  whom  he  had  bought  it;  and  he  was  obliged 
to  recover  it  by  the  sword  and  by  the  bow.  This  was  the  portion  w^hich  he 
gave  to  his  son  Joseph.  There  seems  to  be  something  in  the  history  of  this 
place  very  much  resembling  that  of  the  country  in  general.  In  the  grand 
division  of  the  earth,  this  whole  land  was  assigned  to  the  posterity  of  Shem; 
but  the  Canaanites  had  seized  on  it,  and,  as  is  here  noticed,  "  dwelt  in  the 
land."  As  soon  therefore  as  the  rightful  owners  are  in  a  capacity  to  make 
use  of  the  sword  and  the  bow,  they  must  be  dispossessed  of  it. — See  on  ch. 
X.  25. 

Ver.  7.  Abram  having  pitched  his  tent  at  Sichem,  the  Lord  renews  to 
him  the  promise  of  the  whole  land,  or  rather  to  his  seed  after  him ;  for,  with 
respect  to  himself,  he  was  never  given  to  expect  any  higher  character  than 
that  of  a  sojourner.  But  considering  the  great  ends  to  be  answered  by  his 
seed  possessing  it,  he  is  well  satisfied,  and  rears  an  altar  to  Jehovah.  One 
sees  here  the  difference  between  the  conduct  of  the  men  of  this  world  and 
that  of  the  Lord's  servants.  The  former  no  sooner  find  a  fruitful  plain  than 
they  full  to  building  a  city  and  a  tower,  to  perpetuate  their  fame.  The  first 
concern  of  the  latter  is  to  raise  an  altar  to  God.  It  was  thus  that  the  new 
world  was  consecrated  by  Noah,  and  now  the  Land  of  Promise  by  Abram. 
The  rearing  of  an  altar  in  the  land  was  like  taking  possession  of  it,  in  right, 
for  Jehovah. 

Ver.  8,  9  The  patriarchs  seldom  continued  long  at  a  place,  for  they  were 
sojourners.    Abram  removes  from  the  plain  of  Moreh,  to  a  mountain  on  tha 


64  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS, 

east  of  what  was  afterwards  called  Beth-el ;  and  here  he  built  an  altar,  and 
called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.  This  place  was  also  much  accounted  of 
in  after-limes.  It  was  not  far  hence  that  Jacob  slept  and  dreamed,  and 
anointed  the  pillar.  We  may  on  various  occasions  change  places,  provided 
we  carry  the  true  religion  with  us :  in  this  we  must  never  change. 

Ver.  10-20.  Abram  was  under  the  necessity  of  removing  again,  and  that 
on  account  of  a  grievous  famine  in  the  land.  He  must  now  leave  Canaan 
for  a  while,  and  journey  into  Egypt,  where  corn,  it  seems,  was  generally 
plentiful,  even  when  it  was  scarce  in  other  countries,  because  that  country 
was  watered  not  so  much  by  rain  as  by  the  waters  of  the  Nile.  Hither 
therefore  the  patriarch  repaired  with  his  little  company.  And  here  we  see 
new  trials  for  his  faith.     Observe, 

1.  The  famine  itself  being  in  the  Land  of  P^-omise  must  be  a  trial  to  him. 
Had  he  been  of  the  spirit  of  the  unbelieving  spies,  in  the  times  of  Moses,  he 
would  have  said.  Would  God  we  had  stayed  at  Haran,  if  not  at  Ur!  Surely 
this  is  a  land  that  eateth  up  the  inhabitants. — But  thus  far  Abram  sinned  not. 

2.  The  beauty  of  Sarai  was  another  trial  to  him;  and  here  he  fell  into  the 
sin  of  dissimulation,  or  at  least  of  equivocation.  She  was  half-sister  to  him, 
it  seems  (see  on  chap.  xi.  27-29) ;  but  not  in  such  a  sense  as  he  meant  to 
convey.  This  was  one  of  the  first  faults  we  read  of  in  Abram's  life;  and  the 
worst  of  it  is  that  it  was  repeated,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter.  It  is  remarkable 
that  there  is  only  one  faultless  character  on  record;  and  more  so  that,  in 
several  instances  of  persons  who  have  been  distinguished  for  some  one  excel- 
lence, their  principal  failure  has  been  in  that  particular.  Thus  Peter,  the 
bold,  sins  through  fear;  Solomon,  the  wise,  by  folly;  Moses,  the  meek,  by 
speaking  unadvisedly  with  his  lips;  and  Abram,  the  faithful,  by  a  kind  of 
dissimulation  arising  from  timid  distrust.  Such  things  would  almost  seem 
designed  of  God  to  stain  the  pride  of  all  flesh,  and  to  check  all  dependence 
upon  the  most  eminent  or  confirmed  habits  of  godliness. 

3.  Yet  from  these  trials,  and  from  the  difficulties  into  which  he  had 
brought  himself  by  his  own  misconduct,  the  Lord  mercifully  delivered  him. 
He  feared  they  would  kill  him  for  his  wife's  sake ;  but  God,  by  introducing 
plagues  among  them,  inspired  them  with  fear,  and  induced  them  to  send 
him  and  his  wife  away  in  safety.  It  was  thus  that  he  rebuked  kings  for  their 
sakes,  and  suffered  no  man  to  hurt  them.  In  how  many  instances  has  God, 
by  his  kind  providence,  extricated  us  from  situations  into  which  our  own  sin 
and  folly  had  plunged  us! 


DISCOURSE  XX. 

THE    SEPARATION    OF    ABRAM    AND    LOT. 

Gen.  xiii. 


Ver.  1-4.  Till  now  we  have  heard  nothing  of  Lot,  since  he  left  Haran ; 
but  he  appears  to  have  been  one  of  Abram's  family,  and  to  have  gone  with 
him  whithersoever  he  went.  Here  we  find  him  returning  with  him  from 
Egypt,  first  to  the  south  of  Canaan,  and  afterwards  to  Beth-el,  the  place  of 
his  second  residence,  where  he  had  before  built  an  altar.  The  manner  in 
which  "  the  place  of  the  altar"  is  mentioned  seems  to  intimate  that  he  chose 
to  go  thither,  in  preference  to  another  place,  on  this  account.  It  is  very 
natural  that  he  should  do  so ;  for  the  places  where  we  have  called  upon  the 


ABRA.M  AND  LOT.  55 

name  of  the  Lord,  and  enjoyed  communion  with  him,  are,  by  association, 
endeared  to  us  above  all  others.  There  Abram  again  called  on  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  the  present  exercises  of  grace,  we  may  suppose,  were  aided 
by  the  remembrance  of  the  past.  It  is  an  important  rule,  in  choosing  our 
habitations,  to  have  an  eye  to  the  place  of  the  altar.  If  Lot  had  acted  upon 
this  principle,  he  would  not  have  done  as  is  here  related  of  him. 

Ver.  5,  6.  We  find  by  the  second  verse  that  Abram  was  very  rich ;  and 
here  we  see  that  Lot  also  had  "  flocks,  and  herds,  and  tents ;"  so  that  "  the 
land  was  not  able  to  bear  them,  that  they  should  dwell  together."  It  is 
pleasing  to  see  how  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  attends  these  two  sojourners  ; 
but  it  is  painful  to  find  that  prosperity  should  become  the  occasion  of  their 
separation.  It  is  pity  that  those  whom  grace  unites,  and  who  are  fellow  heirs 
of  eternal  life,  should  be  parted  by  the  lumber  of  this  world.  Yet  so  it  is. 
A  clash  of  worldly  interest  has  often  separated  chief  friends,  and  been  the 
occasion  of  a  much  greater  loss  than  the  greatest  earthly  fulness  has  been 
able  to  compensate.  It  is  not  thus  with  the  riches  of  grace,  or  of  glory  ; 
the  more  we  have  of  them,  the  closer  we  are  united. 

Ver.  7.  The  first  inconvenience  which  arose  from  the  wealth  of  these  two 
good  men  appeared  in  strifes  between  their  herd  men. — It  was  better  to  be 
so,  than  if  the  masters  had  fillen  out;  but  even  this  is  far  from  pleasant. 
Those  of  each  would  tell  their  tale  to  their  masters,  and  try  to  persuade 
them  that  the  others  had  used  them  ill ;  and  the  best  of  men,  hearing  such 
tales  frequently  repeated,  would  begin  to  suspect  that  all  was  not  h\r.  What 
can  be  done?  "  The  Canaanite  and  the  Perizzite  also  dwelt  in  the  land." 
Now  Abram  and  Lot,  having  never  joined  in  the  idolatries  and  other  wicked- 
nesses of  the  country,  must  needs  have  been  marked  as  a  singular  kind 
of  men,  and  passed  as  worshippers  of  the  invisible  God.  If  therefore  they 
fall  out  about  worldly  matters,  what  will  be  thought  and  said  of  their  reli- 
gion?    "  See  how  these  religious  people  love  one  another!" 

Ver.  8,  9.  Abram's  conduct  in  this  unpleasant  business  was  greatly  to  his 
honour.  To  form  a  just  judgment  of  any  character,  we  must  follow  him 
through  a  number  of  different  situations  and  circumstances,  and  observe 
how  he  acts  in  times  of  trial.  We  have  seen  Abram  in  his  first  conversion 
from  idolatry;  we  have  noticed  the  strength  of  his  faith,  and  the  promptness 
of  his  obedience  to  the  heavenly  call ;  we  have  admired  his  godly  and  con- 
sistent conduct  in  every  place  where  he  has  sojourned,  one  instance  only 
excepted ;  but  we  have  not  yet  seen  how  he  would  act  in  a  case  of  approach- 
ing difference  with  a  friend,  a  brother.     Here  then  we  have  it.     Observe, 

1.  He  foresees  the  danger  there  is  of  a  falling-out  between  himself  and 
Lot.  It  is  likely  he  perceived  that  his  countenance  was  not  towards  him  as 
heretofore,  and  that  he  discovered  an  uneasiness  of  mind.  This  would  ex- 
cite a  becoming  apprehension,  lest  that  which  begun  with  the  servants  should 
end  with  the  masters,  and  be  productive  of  great  evil  to  them  both. 

2.  He  deprecates  it  in  the  frankest,  most  pacific,  and  most  affectionate 
manner.  "  Let  there  be  no  strife  between  me  and  thee,  and  between  my 
herdmen  and  thy  herdmen,  for  we  are  brethren."  Yes,  brethren,  not  only 
in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  Lord, 

3.  He  makes  a  most  wise  and  generous  proposal.  "  The  whole  land  is 
before  us :  separate  thyself,  I  pray  thee,  from  me.  If  thou  wilt  go  to  the 
left  hand,  I  will  go  to  the  right ;  or  if  thou  wilt  go  to  the  right  hand,  then  I 
will  go  to  the  left."  As  the  elder  man,  Abram  might  have  insisted  upon 
the  right  of  choosing  his  part  of  the  country  first;  and  especially  as  he  was 
the  principal,  and  Lot  only  accompanied  him ;  he  might  have  told  him 
that  if  he  was  not  contented  to  live  with  him,  he  might  go  whither  he  would; 
but  thus  did  not  Abram.     No,  he  would  rather  forego  his  civil  rights  than 


56  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

invade  religious  peace.  What  a  number  of  bitter  animosities  in  families,  in 
churches,  and  I  may  say  in  nations,  miglit  be  prevented,  if  the  parties  could 
be  brought  to  act  towards  one  another  in  this  open,  pacific,  disinterested, 
and  generous  manner.  There  are  cases  in  which  it  becomes  necessary  for 
very  worthy  and  dear  friends  to  separate :  it  were  better  to  part  than  live 
together  at  variance.  Many  may  be  good  neighbours  who  could  not  live 
happily  in  the  same  family.  Abram  and  Lot  could  love  and  pray  for  one 
another  when  there  was  nothing  to  ruffle  their  feelings;  and  Saul  and  Bar- 
nabas could  both  serve  the  cause  of  Christ,  though  unhappily,  through  a 
third  person,  they  cannot  act  in  close  concert.  In  all  such  cases,  if  there 
be  only  an  upright,  pacific,  and  disinterested  disposition,  things  will  be  so 
adjusted  as  to  do  no  material  injury  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  In  many  in- 
stances it  may  serve  to  promote  it.  In  a  world  where  there  is  plenty  of  room 
to  serve  the  Lord,  and  plenty  of  work  to  be  done,  if  those  who  cannot  con- 
tinue together  be  disposed  to  improve  their  advantages,  the  issue  may  be 
such  as  shall  cause  the  parties  to  unite  in  a  song  of  praise. 

Ver.  10,  11.  But  how  does  young  Lot  conduct  himself  on  this  occasion? 
He  did  not,  nor  could  he,  object  to  the  pacific  and  generous  proposal  that 
was  made  to  him;  nor  did  he  choose  Abram's  situation,  which,  though 
lovely  in  the  one  to  offer,  it  would  have  been  very  unlovely  in  the  other  to 
have  accepted ;  and  I  hope,  though  nothing  is  said  of  his  making  any  reply, 
it  was  not  from  a  spirit  of  sullen  reserve.  But,  in  the  choice  he  made,  he 
appears  to  have  regarded  temporal  advantages  only,  and  entirely  to  liave 
overlooked  the  danger  of  his  situation  with  regard  to  religion.  "  He  lifted 
up  his  eyes,  and  beheld  a  well-watered  plain ;"  and  on  this  he  fixed  his 
choice,  though  it  led  him  to  take  up  his  abode  in  Sodom.  He  viewed  it, 
as  we  should  say,  merely  with  a  grazier's  eye.  He  had  better  have  been  in 
a  wilderness  than  there.  Yet  many  professors  of  religion,  in  choosing  situ- 
ations for  themselves  and  for  their  children,  continue  to  follow  his  example. 
We  shall  perceive,  in  the  sequel  of  the  story,  what  kind  of  a  harvest  his 
well-watered  plain  produced  him  ! 

Ver.  12,  13.  It  is  possible,  after  all,  that  his  principal  fault  lay  in  pitching 
his  tent  in  the  place  he  did.  If  he  could  have  lived  on  the  plain,  and  pre- 
served a  sufficient  distance  from  that  infamous  place,  there  might  have  been 
nothing  the  matter ;  but  perhaps  he  did  not  like  to  live  alone,  and  therefore 
dwelt  in  the  cities  of  the  plain,  and  pitched  his  tent  towards  Sodom.  The 
love  of  society,  like  all  other  natural  principles,  may  prove  a  blessing  or  a 
curse;  and  we  may  see,  by  this  example,  the  danger  of  leaving  religious 
connexions ;  for  as  man  feels  it  not  good  to  be  alone,  if  he  forego  these  he 
will  be  in  a  manner  impelled  by  his  inclinations  to  take  up  with  others  of  a 
contrary  description.  It  is  an  awful  character  which  is  here  given  of  Lot's 
new  neighbours.  All  men  are  sinners ;  but  they  were  "  wicked  and  sinners 
before  the  Lord  exceedingly."  When  Abram  went  to  a  new  place,  it  was 
usual  for  him  to  rear  an  altar  to  the  Lord ;  but  there  is  no  mention  of  any 
thing  like  this  when  Lot  settled  in  or  near  to  Sodom.  But  to  return  to 
Abram — 

Ver.  14-17.  From  the  call  of  this  great  man  to  the  command  to  offer  up 
his  son,  a  period  of  about  fifty  years,  he  was  often  tried,  and  the  promise 
was  often  renewed.  It  was  the  will  of  God  that  he  should  live  by  faith.  Its 
being  renewed  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been  on  occasion  of  Lot's  depar- 
ture from  him,  and  the  disinterested  spirit  which  he  had  manifested  on  that 
occasion.  Lot  had  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  beheld  the  plain  of  Jordan ;  and 
being  gone  to  take  possession  of  it,  God  saith  unto  Abram,  Lift  up  now  thitie 
eyes,  and  look  northward,  and  southward,  and  eastward,  and  westward ;  for 
all  the  land  which  thou  seest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it,  and  to.  thy  send  for  ever. 


SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  KINGS.  57 

Thus  he  who  sought  this  world  lost  it ;  and  he  who  was  willing  to  give  up 
any  thing  for  the  honour  of  God  and  religion  found  it. 

Ver.  18.  After  this,  Abrani  removed  to  "  the  plain  of  Mamre,  which  is 
Hebron,"  where  he  continued  many  years.  It  was  here,  a  long  time  after, 
that  Sarah  died.  It  lay  about  two  and  twenty  miles  south  of  Jerusalem. 
This  removal  might  possibly  arise  from  regard  to  Lot,  that  he  might  be 
nearer  to  him  than  he  would  have  been  at  Beth-el,  though  not  so  near  as  to 
interfere  with  his  temporal  concerns.  Of  this  we  are  certain,  he  was  able, 
from  a  place  near  where  he  lived,  to  descry  the  plains  of  Sodom;  and  when 
the  city  was  destroyed,  saw  the  smoke  ascend  like  that  of  a  furnace.  Here, 
as  usual,  Abram  built  an  altar  unto  Jehovah. 


DISCOURSE  XXI. 
abram's  slaughter  of  the  kings. 

Gen.  xiv. 

It  had  been  already  observed,  that,  to  form  a  just  judgment  of  character, 
we  must  view  men  in  divers  situations:  we  should  not  have  expected,  how- 
ever, to  find  Abram  in  the  character  of  a  warrior.  Yet  so  it  is :  for  once  in 
his  life,  though  a  man  of  peace,  he  is  constrained  to  take  the  sword.  We 
have  seen  in  him  the  friend  of  God,  and  the  friend  of  a  good  man ;  now  we 
shall  see  in  him  the  friend  of  his  country,  though  at  present  only  a  sojourner 
in  it.     The  case  appears  to  have  been  as  follows : — 

Ver.  1-7.  Elam  and  Shinar,  or  Persia  and  Babylon,  and  the  country  about 
them,  being  that  part  of  the  world  where  the  sons  of  Noah  began  to  settle 
after  they  went  out  of  the  ark,  it  was  there  that  population  and  the  art 
of  war  would  first  arrive  at  sufficient  maturity  to  induce  them  to  attempt  the 
subjugation  of  their  neighbours.  Nimrod  began  this  business  in  about  a 
century  after  the  flood,  and  his  successors  were  no  less  ambitious  to  continue 
it.  The  rest  of  the  world,  emigrating  from  those  countries,  would  be  con- 
sidered as  colonies  which  ought  to  be  subject  to  the  parent  states.  Such,  it 
seems,  were  the  ideas  of  Ckcdnrlaomer,  who  was  at  this  time  king  of  Elam, 
or  Persia.  About  three  or  four  years  before  Abram  left  Chaldea  he  had 
invaded  Palestine;  which  being  divided  into  litde  kingdoms,  almost  every 
city  having  its  king,  and  having  made  but  little  progress  in  the  art  of  war 
in  comparison  of  the  parent  nations,  fell  an  easy  prey  to  his  rapacity.  In 
this  humiliating  condition  they  continued  twelve  years ;  but  being  by  that 
time  weary  of  the  yoke,  five  of  these  petty  kings,  understanding  one  another, 
thought  they  might  venture  to  throw  it  off.  Accordingly,  the  next  year  they 
refused  to  pay  him  tribute,  or  to  be  subject  to  the  authority  under  which  he 
had  placed  them. 

Chedorlaomer  hearing  of  this,  calls  together  his  friends  and  allies  among 
the  first  and  greatest  nations ;  who  consent  to  join  their  forces,  and  go  with 
him  to  reduce  these  petty  states  to  obedience.  Four  kings  and  their  armies 
engage  in  this  expedition.  If  each  one  only  brought  five  hundred  men 
with  him,  they  would  form  a  great  host  for  that  early  age  of  the  world,  and 
capable  of  doing  a  great  deal  of  mischief.  This  they  did :  for,  not  content 
with  marching  peaceably  through  the  country  till  they  arrived  at  the  cities 
which  had  rebelled,  they  laid  all  places  waste  which  they  came  at;  smiting 

Vol.  III.— 8 


58  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

in  their  way,  first  the  Rephaims,  the  Zurims,  and  the  Emims ;  then  the 
Horitcs  of  Mount  Seir;  and  after  them  the  AmaUkites  and  the  Amorites. 

Ver.  8-10.  By  this  time  Abram's  neighbours,  the  kings  of  Sodom,  Ad- 
mah,  Zchoim,  and  Bcla,  must  have  been  not  a  little  alarmed.  They  and 
their  people,  however,  determine  to  fight — and  fight  they  did.  The  field  of 
action  was  "  the  vale  of  Siddim."  Unhappily,  the  ground  was  full  of  slime 
pits,  or  pits  of  bitumen,  much  like  those  on  the  plains  of  Shinar;  and  their 
soldiers  being  but  little  skilled  in  the  art  of  war  could  not  keep  their  ranks, 
and  so  were  foiled,  routed,  and  beaten,  by  the  superior  discipline  of  the  in- 
vaders. Many  were  slain  in  the  pits,  and  those  that  escaped  fled  to  a  neigh- 
bouring mountain,  which,  being  probably  covered  with  wood,  afforded  them 
a  shelter  in  which  to  hide  themselves. 

Ver.  11,  12.  The  conquerors,  without  delay,  betake  themselves  to  the 
spoil.  They  take  all  the  goods  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  all  the  victuals  ; 
and  what  few  people  are  left  they  take  for  slaves.  Among  these  was  Lot, 
Abram's  brother's  son,  his  friend,  and  the  companion  of  his  travels,  with  all 
his  family  and  all  his  goods ;  and  this,  notwithstanding  he  was  only  a  so- 
journer, but  lately  come  among  them,  and  seems  to  have  taken  no  part  in 
the  war.  O  Lot,  these  are  the  fruits  of  taking  up  thy  residence  in  Sodom  ; 
or  rather  the  first-fruits  of  it:  the  harvest  is  yet  to  come! 

Ver.  13.  Among  those  who  fled  from  the  drawn  sword,  and  the  fearful- 
ness  of  war,  there  was  one  who  reached  the  plain  of  Ma  rare,  and  told  the 
sad  tale  to  Abram.  Abram  feels  much ;  but  what  can  he  do  ?  Can  he 
raise  an  army  wherewith  to  spoil  the  spoilers  and  deliver  the  captives?  He 
will  try.  Yes,  from  his  regard  to  Lot,  whose  late  faults  would  be  now  for- 
gotten, and  his  former  love  recur  to  mind;  and  if  he  succeed,  he  will  not 
only  deliver  him,  but  many  others.  The  cause  is  a  just  one;  and  God  has 
promised  to  bless  Abram,  and  make  him  a  blessing.  Who  can  tell  but  he 
may  prove  in  this  instance  a  blessing  to  the  whole  country,  by  delivering  it 
from  the  power  of  a  cruel  foreign  oppressor  ? 

Now  we  shall  see  how  the  Lord  hath  blessed  Abram.  Who  would  have 
thought  it?  He  is  able  to  raise  three  hundred  and  eighteen  men  in  his  own 
family ;  men  well  instructed  too,  possessing  skill,  principle,  and  courage. 
Moreover,  Abram  was  so  well  respected  by  his  neighbours,  Blamre,  Eshcol, 
and  Ancr,  that  they  had  already  formed  a  league  of  confederacy  with  him, 
to  defend  themselves,  perhaps,  against  this  blustering  invader,  whose  coming 
had  been  talked  of  more  than  a  year  ago ;  and  they,  with  all  the  forces  they 
can  muster,  consent  to  join  with  Abram  in  the  pursuit. 

Ver.  15,  16.  By  prompt  movements,  Abram  and  his  troop  soon  come  up 
with  the  enemy.  It  was  in  the  dead  of  night.  The  conquerors,  it  is  likely, 
were  off  their  guard,  thinking,  no  doubt,  that  the  country  was  subdued,  and 
that  scarcely  a  dog  was  left  in  it  that  dare  move  his  tongue  against  them. 
But  when  haughty  men  say.  Peace,  peace, — lo,  sudden  destruction  cometh ! 
Attacked  after  so  many  victories,  they  are  surprised  and  confounded ;  and  it 
being  in  the  night,  they  could  not  tell  but  their  assailants  might  be  ten  times 
more  numerous  than  they  were.  So  they  flee  in  confusion,  and  are  pursued 
from  Dan  even  to  Hobah  in  Syria,  a  distance,  it  is  said,  of  fourscore  miles. 
In  this  battle,  Chedorlaomer,  and  the  kings  who  were  with  him,  were  all 
slain.  Abram's  object,  however,  was  the  recovery  of  Lot  and  his  family ; 
and  having  accomplished  this,  he  is  satisfied.  It  is  surprising  that  amidst  all 
this  confusion  and  slaughter  their  lives  should  be  preserved ;  yet  so  it  was : 
and  he  with  his  property  and  family,  and  all  the  other  captives  taken  with 
him,  are  brought  safe  back  again.  It  was  ill  for  Lot  to  be  found  among  the 
men  of  Sodom ;'  but  it  was  well  for  them  that  he  was  so,  else  they  had  been 
ruined  before  they  were. 


SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  KINGS.  59 

Ver.  17-24.  This  expedition  of  Abram  and  his  friends  excited  great  at- 
tention among  the  Canaanites.  At  the  very  time  when  all  must  have  been 
given  up  for  lost,  lo,  they  are,  without  any  effort  of  their  own,  recovered,  and 
the  spoilers  spoiled !  The  little  victorious  band,  now  returning  in  peace,  are 
hailed  by  every  one  that  meets  them;  nay,  the  kings  of  the  different  cities 
go  forth  to  congratulate  them,  and  to  thank  them  as  the  deliverers  of  the 
country.  If  Abram  had  been  of  the  disposition  of  those  marauders  whom 
he  had  defeated,  he  would  have  followed  up  his  victory,  and  made  himself 
master  of  the  whole  country ;  which  he  might  probably  have  done  with  ease 
in  their  present  enfeebled  and  scattered  condition.  But  thus  did  not  Abram, 
because  of  the  fear  of  God. 

In  the  valley  of  Shaveh,  not  far  from  Jerusalem,  he  was  met  and  congrat- 
ulated by  the  king  of  Sodom,  who  by  some  means  had  escaped  in  the  day 
of  battle,  when  so  many  of  his  people  were  slain.  He  was  also  met  in  the 
same  place,  and  at  the  same  time,  by  another  king,  of  high  character  in  the 
Scriptures,  though  but  rarely  mentioned,  namely,  "  Melchisedek,  king  of 
Salem."  He  came,  not  only  to  congratulate  the  conquerors,  but  brought 
forth  "  bread  and  wine  "  to  refresh  them  after  their  long  fatigues. 

The  sacred  historian,  having  here  met  with  what  I  may  call  a  lily  among 
thorns,  stops,  as  it  were,  to  describe  it.  Let  us  stop  with  him,  and  observe 
the  description.  Mention  is  made  of  this  singular  man  only  in  three  places; 
viz.  here,  in  the  110th  Psalm,  and  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.  He  is  held  up  in  the  two  latter  places  as  a  type  of  the  Mes- 
siah. Three  things  may  be  remarked  concerning  him: — 1.  He  was  doubt- 
less a  very  holy  man ;  and  if  a  Canaanite  by  descent,  it  furnishes  a  proof, 
among  many  others,  that  the  curse  on  Canaan  did  not  shut  the  door  of  faith 
upon  his  individual  descendants.  There  never  was  an  age  or  country  in 
which  he  that  feared  God  and  worked  righteousness  was  not  accepted.  2. 
He  was  a  personage  in  whom  were  united  the  kingly  and  priestly  offices ; 
and,  as  such,  he  was  a  type  of  the  Messiah,  and  greater  than  Abram  himself. 
Under  the  former  of  these  characters,  he  was  by  interpretation  "  king  of 
righteousness,  and  king  of  peace;"  and,  under  the  latter,  was  distinguished 
as  the  "  priest  of  the  most  high  God."  This  singular  dignity  conferred  upon 
a  descendant  of  Canaan  shows  that  God  delights,  on  various  occasions,  to 
put  more  abundant  honour  upon  the  part  that  lacketh.  3.  He  was  what  he 
was,  considered  as  a  priest,  not  hy  inheritance,  but  hj  an  immediate  Divine 
constitution.  Though  as  a  man  he  was  born  like  other  men,  yet  as  a  priest 
he  was  "  without  father,  without  mother,  without  descent,  having  neither 
beginning  of  days  nor  end  of  life;  but  made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God, 
abiding  a  priest  continually."  That  is,  neither  his  father  nor  his  mother  was 
of  a  sacerdotal  family ;  he  derived  his  office  from  no  predecessor,  and  de- 
livered it  up  to  no  successor,  but  was  himself  an  order  of  priesthood.  It  is 
in  this  respect  that  he  was  "  made  like  unto  the  Son  of  God ;"  who  also 
was  a  priest,  not  after  the  manner  of  the  sons  of  Aaron,  by  descent  from 
their  predecessors  (for  he  descended  from  Judah,  of  which  tribe  Moses  said 
nothing  concerning  priesthood) ;  but  after  the  similitude  of  Melchisedek, 
that  is,  by  an  immediate  Divine  constitution ;  or,  as  the  New  Testament 
writer  expresses  it,  "  by  the  word  of  the  oath ;"  and,  "  continuing  ever,  hath 
an  unchangeable  priesthood." 

Ver.  19,  20.  Melchisedek  being  "  priest  of  the  most  high  God,"  he  in  that 
character  blessed  Abram.  It  belonged  to  the  priest,  by  Divine  appointment, 
to  bless  the  people.  In  this  view  the  blessing  of  Melchisedek  would  con- 
tain more  than  a  personal  well-wishing ;  it  would  be  prophetic.  In  pro- 
nouncing it,  he  would  set  his  official  seal  to  what  God  had  done  before  him. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  he  might  know  Abram  previously  to  this,  and  be  well 


60  EXPOSITION  or  GENESIS. 

acquainted  with  his  being  a  favourite  of  Heaven,  in  whom  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  were  to  be  blessed,  and  to  whose  posterity  God  had  promised  the 
land  of  the  Canaanites;  and  if  so,  his  blessing  him  in  so  solemn  a  manner 
implies  his  acquiescence  in  the  Divine  will,  even  though  it  would  be  at  the 
expense  of  his  ungodly  countrymen.  His  speaking  of  the  most  high  God 
as  "  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth"  would  seem  to  intimate  as  much  as  this  ; 
as  it  recognizes  the  principle  on  which  the  right  of  Abram's  posterity  to 
possess  themselves  of  Canaan  depended.  There  is  much  heart  in  the  bless- 
ing. We  see  the  good  man,  as  well  as  the  priest  of  the  most  high  God,  in 
it ;  from  blessing  Abram  it  rises  to  the  blessing  of  Abram's  God,  for  all  the 
goodness  conferred  upon  him. 

In  return  for  this  solemn  blessing,  Abram  "gave  him  tithes  of  all."  This 
was  treating  him  in  character,  and,  in  fact,  presenting  the  tenth  of  his  spoils 
as  an  offering  to  God. 

Ver.  21.  All  this  time  the  king  of  Sodom  stood  by,  and  heard  what 
passed;  but  it  seems  without  feeling  any  interest  in  it.  What  passed  be- 
tween these  two  great  characters  appears  to  have  made  no  impression  upon 
him.  He  thought  of  nothing,  and  cared  for  nothing,  but  what  respected 
himself  He  could  not  possibly  claim  any  right  to  what  was  recovered, 
either  of  persons  or  things  ;  yet  he  asks  for  the  former,  and  speaks  in  a  man- 
ner as  if  he  would  be  thought  not  a  little  generous  in  relinquishing  the 
latter. 

Ver.  23,  23.  Abram  knew  the  man  and  his  communications ;  and,  per- 
ceiving his  affected  generosity,  gave  him  to  understand  that  he  had  already 
decided,  and  even  sworn,  in  the  presence  of  the  most  high  God,  what  he 
would  do  in  respect  of  that  part  of  the  spoils  which  had  previously  belonged 
to  him.  Abram  knew  full  well  that  the  man  who  affected  generosity  in 
relinquishing  what  was  not  his  own  would  go  on  to  boast  of  it,  and  to  reflect 
on  him  as  though  he  shone  in  borrowed  plumes.  No,  says  the  patriarch, 
"  I  will  not  take  from  a  thread  even  to  a  shoe-latchet  that  which  was  thine, 
save  that  which  the  young  men  have  eaten,  and  the  portion  of  the  men  that 
went  with  me,  Aner,  Eshcol,  and  Mamre." 

In  this  answer  of  Abram  we  may  observe,  besides  the  above,  several  par- 
ticulars : — 

1.  The  character  under  which  he  had  sworn  to  God:  "Jehovah,  the  most 
high  God,  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth."  The  former  of  these  names 
was  that  by  which  God  was  made  known  to  Abram,  and  still  more  to  his 
posterity.*  The  latter  was  that  which  had  been  just  given  to  him  by  Mel- 
chisedek,  and  which  appears  to  have  made  a  strong  impression  on  Abram's 
mind.  By  uniting  them  together,  he,  in  a  manner,  acknowledged  Melchi- 
sedek's  God  to  be  his  God ;  and,  while  reproving  the  king  of  Sodom,  ex- 
pressed his  love  to  him  as  to  a  brother. 

2.  His  having  decided  the  matter  before  the  king  of  Sodom  met  him,  as 
it  seems  he  had,  implies  something  highly  dishonourable  in  the  character  of 
that  prince.  He  must  have  been  well  known  to  Abram,  as  a  vain,  boasting, 
unprincipled  man,  or  he  would  not  have  resolved  in  so  solemn  a  manner  to 
preserve  himself  clear  from  the  very  shadow  of  an  obligation  to  him.  And, 
considering  the  polite  and  respectful  manner  in  which  it  was  common  for 

*  What  Moses  says,  in  Exod.  vi.  3,  that  God  appeared  to  "Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
by  the  name  of  God  Almighty,^'  but  that  by  his  name  "JEHOVAH"  he  was  not  known  to 
them,  cannot  be  understood  absolutely.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  to  have  been  used 
among  the  patriarchs  in  so  peculiar  a  sense  as  it  was  after  the  times  of  Moses  among  the 
Israelites.  Thence  it  seems  very  generally  to  denote  the  specific  name  of  the  God  and  King 
of  Israel.  In  this  view  we  perceive  the  force  and  propriety  of  such  language  as  the  follow, 
ing: — "Jehovah  is  our  Judge,  Jehovah  is  our  Lawgiver,  JeAouaft  is  our  King." — "0  Jehovah, 
our  Lord,  how  excellent  is  thy  name  in  all  the  earth !" 


abrAm  justified  by  faith.  61 

this  patriarch  to  conduct  himself  towards  his  neighbours,  there  must  have 
been  something  higlily  offensive  in  this  case  to  draw  from  him  so  cutting 
and  dismaying  an  intimation.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  he  had  thrown  out 
some  malignant  insinuations  against  Lot  and  his  old  wealthy  uncle,  on  the 
score  of  their  religion.  If  so,  Abram  would  feel  happy  in  an  opportunity 
of  doing  good  against  evil,  and  thus  of  heaping  coals  of  fire  upon  his  head. 

The  reason  why  he  would  not  be  under  the  shadow  of  an  obligation,  or 
any  thing  which  might  be  construed  an  obligation,  to  him,  was  not  so  much 
a  regard  to  his  own  honour  as  the  honour  of  him  in  ichosc  name  he  had 
siDorn.  Abram's  God  had  blessed  him,  and  promised  to  bless  him  more, 
and  make  him  a  blessing.  Let  it  not  be  said  by  his  enemies,  that,  with  all 
his  blessedness,  it  is  of  our  substance  that  he  is  what  he  is.  No,  Abram 
can  trust  in  "  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth"  to  provide  for  him,  without 
being  beholden  to  the  king  of  Sodom. 

3.  His  excepting  the  portion  of  the  young  men  who  were  in  league  with 
him  shows  a  just  sense  of  propriety.  In  giving  up  our  own  right,  we  are 
not  at  liberty  to  give  away  that  which  pertains  to  others  connected  with  us. 

Upon  the  whole,  this  singular  undertaking  would  raise  Abram  much  in 
the  estimation  of  the  Canaanites,  and  might  possibly  procure  a  little  more 
respect  to  Lot.  It  had  been  better  in  the  latter,  however,  if  he  had  taken 
this  opportunity  to  have  changed  his  dwelling-place. 


DISCOURSE  XXIL 

ABRAM   JUSTIFIED    BY    FAITH. 
Gen.  sv.  1-6. 


Abram  was  the  father  of  the  faithful,  the  example  or  pattern  of  all  future 
believers ;  and  perhaps  no  man,  upon  the  whole,  had  greater  faith.  It  seems 
to  have  been  the  design  of  God,  in  almost  all  his  dealings  with  him,  to  put 
his  faith  to  the  trial.  In  most  instances  it  appeared  unto  praise,  though  in 
some  it  appeared  to  fail  him. 

Ver.  \.  Several  years  had  elapsed,  perhaps  eight  or  nine,  since  God  had 
first  made  promise  to  him  concerning  his  seed;  and  now  he  is  about  eighty 
years  old,  and  Sarai  is  seventy,  and  he  has  no  child.  He  must  yet  live  upon 
assurances  and  promises,  without  any  earthly  prospects.  He  is  indulged 
with  a  vision,  in  which  God  appears  to  him,  saying,  "  Fear  not,  Abram :  I 
am  thy  shield,  and  thy  exceeding  great  reward."  This  is  certainly  very  full 
and  very  encouraging.  If,  after  having  engaged  the  kings,  he  had  any 
fears  of  the  war  being  renewed,  this  would  allay  them.  Who  shall  harm 
those  to  whom  Jehovah  is  a  shield  ?  Or  if,  on  having  no  child,  he  had 
fears  at  times  lest  all  should  prove  a  blank,  this  would  meet  them.  What 
can  be  wanting  to  those  who  have  God  for  their  "  exceeding  great  reward  V 
Abram  had  not  availed  himself  of  his  late  victory  to  procure  in  Canaan  so 
much  as  a  place  to  set  his  foot  on ;  but  he  shall  lose  nothing  by  it.  God 
has  something  greater  in  reserve  for  him :  God  himself  will  be  his  reward ; 
not  only  as  he  is  of  all  believers,  but  in  a  sense  peculiar  to  himself:  he  shall 
be  the  father  of  the  church,  and  the  heir  of  the  world. 

Ver.  2,  3.  Who  would  have  thought,  amidst  these  exceeding  great  and 
precious  promises,  that  Abram's  faith  should  seem  to  fail  him?  Yet  so  it 
is.     The  promise,  to  be  sure,  is  great  and  full ;  but  he  has  heard  much  the 

F 


63  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

same  things  before,  and  there  are  no  signs  of  its  accomplishment.  This 
works  within  him  in  a  way  of  secret  anguish,  which  he  presumes  to  express 
before  the  Lord,  almost  in  the  language  of  objection  :  "  Lord  God,  what  wilt 

thou  give  me?"     "  Thou  speakest  oi giving  thy  servant  this  and  that 

but  I  shall  soon  be  past  receiving  it I  go  childless.     This  Eliezer  of 

Damascus  is  a  good  and  faithful  servant ;  but  that  is  all  ...  .  Must  I  make 
him  my  heir ;  and  are  the  promises  to  be  fulfilled  at  last  in  an  adopted  son  ?" 

Ver.  4-G.  God,  in  mercy  to  the  patriarch,  condescends  to  remove  his 
doubts  on  this  subject,  assuring  him  that  his  heir  should  descend  from  his 
own  body ;  yet  he  must  continue  to  live  upon  promises.  These  promises, 
however,  are  confirmed  by  a  sign.  He  is  led  abroad  from  his  tent  in  the 
night  time,  and  shown  the  stars  of  heaven ;  which  when  he  had  seen,  the 
Lord  assured  him,  "  So  shall  thy  seed  be."  And  now  his  doubts  are  re- 
moved. He  is  no  longer  weak,  but  strong  in  faith ;  he  staggers  not  through 
unbelief,  but  is  fully  persuaded  that  what  God  has  promised  he  is  able  to 
perform.     And  therefore  "  it  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness." 

Much  is  made  of  this  passage  by  the  apostle  Paul,  in  establishing  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith ;  and  much  has  been  said  by  others,  as  to 
the  meaning  of  both  him  and  Moses.  One  set  of  expositors,  considering  it 
as  extremely  evident  that  by  faith  is  here  meant  the  act  of  believing,  contend 
for  this  as  our  justifying  righteousness.  Faith,  in  their  account,  seems  to  be 
imputed  to  us  for  righteousness  by  a  kind  of  gracious  compromise,  in  which 
God  accepts  of  an  imperfect  instead  of  a  perfect  obedience.  Another  set  of 
expositors,  jealous  for  the  honour  of  free  grace,  and  of  the  righteousness  of 
Christ,  contend  that  the  faith  of  Abram  is  here  to  be  taken  objectively,  for 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  believed  in.  To  me  it  appears  that  both  these 
expositions  are  forced.  To  establish  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,  it  is  not  necessary  to  maintain  that  the  faith  of 
Abram  means  Christ  in  whom  he  believed.  Nor  can  this  be  maintained ; 
for  it  is  manifestly  the  same  thing,  in  the  account  of  the  apostle  Paul,  as 
believing,  (Rom.  iv.  5,)  which  is  very  distinct  from  the  object  believed  in. 
The  truth  appears  to  be  this :  It  is  faith,  or  believing,  that  is  counted  for 
righteousness ;  not  however  as  a  righteous  act,  or  on  account  of  any  inherent 
virtue  contained  in  it,  but  in  respect  of  Christ,  on  ichose  righteousness  it 
terminates* 

That  we  may  form  a  clear  idea,  both  of  the  text  and  the  doctrine,  let  the 
following  particulars  be  considered. 

L  Though  Abram  believed  God  when  he  left  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  yet  his 
faith  in  that  instance  is  not  mentioned  in  connexion  with  his  justification  ^ 
nor  does  the  apostle,  either  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  or  in  that  to  the 
Galatians,  argue  that  doctrine  from  it,  or  hold  it  up  as  an  example  of  justify- 
ing faith.  I  do  not  mean  to  suggest  that  Abram  was  then  in  an  unjustified 
state ;  but  that  the  instance  of  his  faith,  which  was  thought  proper  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  be  selected  as  the  model  for  believing  for  justification  was 
not  this,  nor  ariy  other  of  the  kind;  but  those  only  in  which  there  was  an 
immediate  respect  had  to  the  person  of  the  Messiah.  The  examples  of  faith 
referred  to  in  both  these  Epistles  are  taken  from  his  believing  the  promises 
relative  to  his  seed;  in  which  seed,  as  the  apostle  observes,  Christ  was  in- 
cluded, Rom.  iv.  11;  Gal.  iii.  16.  Though  Christians  may  believe  in  God 
with  respect  to  the  common  concerns  of  this  life,  and  such  faith  may  ascer- 
tain their  being  in  a  justified  state;  yet  this  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  the 
faith  by  which  they  are  justified,  which  invariably  has  respect  to  the  person 
and  work  of  Christ.     Abram  believed  in  God  as  promising  Christ ;  they 

*  Calvin's  Institutes,  Book  III.  Chap.  XL  §  7. 


ABRAM  JUSTIFIED  BY  FAITH.  63 

believe  in  him  as  having  "  raised  him  from  the  dead."  "  By  him,  all  that 
believe  (that  is,  in  him)  are  justified  from  all  things,  from  which  they  could 
not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses."  It  is  through  faith  in  his  blood  that 
they  obtain  remission  of  sins.  He  "  is  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that 
belicveth  in  Jesus." 

2.  This  distinction,  so  clearly  perceivable  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Tes« 
lament,  sufficiently  decides  in  what  sense  faith  is  considered  as  justifying. 
Whatever  other  properties  the  magnet  may  possess,  it  is  as  pointing  inva- 
riably to  the  north  that  it  guides  the  mariner ;  so,  whatever  other  properties 
faith  may  possess,  it  is  as  pointing  to  Christ,  and  bringing  us  into  union 
with  him,  that  it  justifies,  Rom.  viii.  1 ;  1  Cor.  i.  30;  Phil,  iii,  9.  It  is  not 
that  for  the  sake  of  tehich  we  are  accepted  of  God  ;  for  if  it  were,  justifica- 
tion by  faith  could  not  be  opposed  to  justification  by  works ;  nor  would 
boasting  be  excluded  ;  neither  would  there  be  any  meaning  in  its  being  said 
to  be  by  faith,  that  it  might  be  of  grace :  but,  believing  in  Christ,  we  are  con- 
sidered by  the  Lawgiver  of  the  world  as  one  with  him,  and  so  are  forgiven 
and  accepted  for  his  sake.  Hence  it  is  that  to  be  justified  by  faith  is  the 
same  thing  as  to  be  justified  bi/  the  blood  of  Christ,  or  made  righteous  6y 
his  obedience,  Rom.  v.  9,  19.  Faith  is  not  the  grace  wherein  we  stand,  but 
that  by  which  we  have  access  to  it,  Rom.  v.  2.  Thus  it  is  that  the  healing 
of  various  maladies  is  ascribed  in  the  New  Testament  to  faith :  not  that  the 
virtue  which  caused  the  cures  proceeded  from  this  as  its  proper  cause ;  but 
this  was  a  necessary  concomitant  to  give  the  parties  access  to  the  power  and 
grace  of  the  Saviour,  by  which  only  they  were  healed. 

3.  The  phrase  "counted  it  for  righteousness"  does  not  mean  that  God 
thought  it  to  be  what  it  was,  which  would  have  been  merely  an  act  of  jus- 
tice; but  his  graciously  reckoning  it  what  in  itself  it  was  not,  viz.  a  ground 
for  the  bestowment  of  covenant  blessings.  Even  in  the  case  of  Phinehas, 
of  whom  the  same  phrase  is  used  in  reference  to  his  zeal  for  God,  it  has 
this  meaning;  for  one  single  act  of  zeal,  whatever  may  be  said  of  it,  could 
not  entitle  him  and  his  posterity  after  him  to  the  honour  conferred  upon 
them,  Psal.  cvi.  30,  31,  comp.  Numb.  xxv.  11-13.  And,  with  respect  to 
the  present  case,  "  The  phrase,  as  the  apostle  uses  it,"  says  a  great  writer, 
"  manifestly  imports  that  God,  of  his  sovereign  grace,  is  pleased,  in  his  deal- 
ings with  the  sinner,  to  take  and  regard  that  which  indeed  is  not  righteous- 
ness, and  in  one  who  has  no  righteousness,  so  that  the  consequence  shall 
be  the  same  as  if  he  had  righteousness,  and  which  may  be  from  the  respect 
tehich  it  bears  to  something  which  is  indeed  righteousness."*  The  faith  of 
Abram,  though  of  a  holy  nature,  yet  contained  nothing  in  itself  fit  for  a  jus- 
tifying righteousness :  all  the  adaptedness  which  it  possessed  to  that  end 
was  the  respect  which  it  had  to  the  Messiah,  on  whom  it  terminated.! 

4.  Though  faith  is  not  our  justifying  righteousness,  yet  it  is  a  necessary 
concomitant  and  means  of  justification ;  and  being  the  grace  which  above 
all  others  honours  Christ,  it  is  that  which  above  all  others  God  delights  to 
honour.     Hence  it  is  that  justification  is  ascribed  to  it,  rather  than  to  the 

*  President  Edwards's  Sermons  on  Justification,  Disc.  I. 

t  From  the  above  remarks,  we  may  be  able  to  solve  an  apparent  difficulty  in  the  case  of 
Cornelius.  He  "  feared  God,"  and  "  his  alms  and  prayers  came  up  for  a  memorial  before 
God."  He  must  therefore  have  been  at  that  time  in  a  state  of  salvation.  Yet  after  this 
he  was  directed  to  send  for  Peter,  who  should  tell  him  words  by  which  he  and  all  his  houss 
SHOULD  BE  SAVED,  Acts  X.  2,  4 ;  xi.  14.  What  Abram  was  in  respect  of  justification,  before 
he  heard  and  believed  what  was  promised  him  concerning  the  Messiah,  Cornelius  was  in 
respect  of  salvation  before  he  heard  and  believed  the  words  by  which  he  was  to  be  saved. 
Both  were  the  subjects  of  faith  according  to  their  light.  Abram  believed  from  the  time  that 
he  left  Ur  of  the  Chaldees;  and  Cornelius  could  not  have  feared  God  without  believing  in 
him  :  but  the  object  by  which  they  were  justified  and  saved  was  not  from  the  first  so  clearly 
revealed  to  them  as  it  was  afterwards. 


64  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

righteousness  of  Christ  without  it.  Our  Saviour  might  have  said  to  Bar- 
timeus,  Go  thy  way,  /  have  made  thee  whole.  This  would  have  been  truth, 
but  not  the  whole  of  the  truth  which  it  was  his  design  to  convey.  The 
necessity  of  faith  in  order  to  healing  would  not  have  appeared  from  this 
mode  of  speaking,  nor  had  any  honour  been  done  or  encouragement  given 
to  it ;  but  by  his  saying,  "  Go  thy  way,  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole," 
each  of  tliese  ideas  is  conveyed.  Christ  would  omit  mentioning  his  own 
honour,  as  knowing  that  faith,  having  an  immediate  respect  to  him,  amply 
provided  for  it. 


DISCOURSE  XXIII. 

RENEWAL    OF    PROMISES    TO   ABRAM. 
Gen.  XV.  7-21. 


Ver.  7.  The  Lord,  having  promised  Abram  a  numerous  offspring,  goes 
on  to  renew  the  promise  of  the  land  of  Canaan  for  an  inheritance;  and  this 
by  a  reference  to  what  had  been  said  to  him  when  he  first  left  the  land  of 
the  Chaldees.  It  is  God's  usual  way,  in  giving  a  promise,  to  refer  to  former 
promises  of  the  same  thin^,  which  would  show  him  to  be  of  one  mind,  and 
intimate  that  he  had  not  forgotten  him,  but  was  carrying  on  his  designs  of 
mercy  towards  him. 

Ver.  8.  Abram,  however,  ventures  to  ask  for  a  sign  by  which  he  may 
know  that  by  his  posterity  he  shall  inherit  the  land.  This  request  does  not 
appear  to  have  arisen  from  unbelief;  but  having  lately  experienced  the  happy 
effects  of  a  sign,  he  hopes  thereby  to  be  better  armed  against  it. 

Ver.  9.  The  purport  of  the  answer  seems  to  be.  Bring  me  an  offering, 
which  1  will  accept  at  thy  hand,  and  this  shall  be  the  sign.  It  is  in  con- 
descension to  our  weakness  that,  in  addition  to  his  promises,  the  Lord  has 
given  us  sensible  signs,  as  in  the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  supper.  If 
it  were  desirable  to  Abram  to  know  that  he  should  inherit  the  earthly 
Canaan,  it  must  be  much  more  so  to  us  to  know  that  we  shall  inherit  the 
heavenly  Canaan ;  and  God  is  willing  that  the  heirs  of  promise  should  on 
this  subject  have  strong  consolation,  and  therefore  has  confirmed  his  word 
with  an  oath. 

10.  Abram,  obedient  to  the  Divine  command,  takes  of  the  first  and  best 
of  his  animals  for  a  sacrifice.  Their  being  divided  in  the  midst  was  the 
usual  form  of  sacrificing  when  a  covenant  was  to  be  made.  Each  of  the 
parties  passed  between  the  parts  of  the  animals :  q.  d.  Thus  may  I  be  cut 
asunder  if  I  break  this  covenant !  This  was  called  making  a  covenant  by 
sacrifice,  Jer.  xxxiv.  18,  19;  Psal.  1.  5.  This  process  therefore,  it  appears, 
was  accompanied  with  a  solemn  covenant  between  the  Lord  and  his  servant 
Abram. 

Ver.  11.  Having  made  ready  the  sacrifices,  he  waited  perhaps  for  the  fire 
of  God  to  consume  them,  which  was  the  usual  token  of  acceptance;  but 
meanwhile  the  birds  of  prey  came  down  upon  them,  which  he  was  obliged 
to  drive  away.  Interruptions,  we  see,  attend  the  father  of  the  fiithful  in  his 
most  solemn  approaches  to  God;  and  interruptions  of  a  different  kind  attend 
believers  in  theirs.  How  often  do  intruding  cares,  like  unclean  birds,  seize 
upon  that  time  and  those  affections  which  are  devoted  to  God !  Happy  is  it 
for  us,  if  by  prayer  and  watchfulness  we  can  drive  them  away,  so  as  to  worship 
him  without  distraction. 


PROMISES  TO  ABRAM.  65 

Ver.  12-16,  By  the  account  taken  together,  it  appears  as  if  this  was  a  day 
which  Abram  dedicated  wholly  to  God.  His  first  vision  was  before  day- 
light, while  the  stars  were  yet  to  be  seen  ;  in  the  morning  he  prepares  the 
sacrifices ;  and  while  he  is  waiting  the  sun  goes  down,  and  no  immediate 
answer  is  given  him.  At  this  time  he  falls  into  a  deep  sleep,  and  now  we 
may  expect  that  God  will  answer  him,  as  he  had  done  before,  by  vision. 
But  what  kind  of  vision  is  it7  Not  like  that  which  he  had  before  ;  but  "lo, 
a  horror  of  great  darkness  falls  upon  him."  This  might  be  designed  in  part 
to  impress  his  mind  with  an  awful  reverence  of  God;  for  those  who  rejoice 
in  him  must  rejoice  with  trembling :  and  pardy  to  give  him  what  he  asked 
for,  a  sign;  not  merely  that  he  should  inherit  the  land,  but  of  the  way  in 
which  this  promise  should  be  accomplished,  namely,  by  their  first  going 
down  and  enduring  great  affliction  in  Egypt.  The  light  must  be  preceded 
by  darkness.  Such  appears  to  be  the  interpretation  given  of  it  in  the  words 
which  follow:  "Know  of  a  surety  that  thy  seed  shall  be  strangers  in  a  land 
that  is  not  theirs,  and  shall  serve  them,  and  they  shall  afflict  them  four  hun- 
dred years."*  Egypt  is  not  named ;  for  prophecy  requires  to  be  delivered 
with  some  degree  of  obscurity,  or  it  might  tend  to  defeat  its  own  design ; 
but  the  thing  is  certain,  and  God  will  in  the  end  avenge  their  cause.  It  is 
remarkable  how  the  prophecies  gradually  open  and  expand,  beginning  with 
what  is  general,  and  proceeding  to  particulars.  Abram  had  never  had  so 
much  revealed  to  him  before,  as  to  times  and  circumstances.  He  is  given 
to  understand  that  these  things  shall  not  take  place  in  his  day;  but  that  he 
should  first  "  go  to  his  fathers,"  and  that  *'  in  peace,  and  be  buried  in  a  good 
old  age;"  but  that  "  in  the  fourth  generation"  after  their  going  down  they 
should  return.  It  is  enough  to  die  such  a  death  as  this,  though  we  see  not 
all  the  promises  fulfilled.  The  reason  given  for  their  being  so  long  ere  they 
were  accomplished  is,  that  "  the  iniquity  of  the  Amorites  was  not  yet  full." 
There  is  a  fitness  in  all  God's  proceedings,  and  a  wonderful  fulness  of  design, 
answering  many  ends  by  one  and  the  same  event.  The  possession  of  Canaan 
was  to  Israel  a  promised  good,  but  to  the  Canaanites  a  threatened  evil.  It 
is  deferred  towards  both  till  each  be  prepared  for  it.  As  there  is  a  time 
when  God's  promises  to  his  people  are  ripe  for  accomplishment,  so  there  is 
a  time  when  his  forbearance  towards  the  wicked  shall  cease ;  and  they  often 
prove  to  be  the  same.  The  fall  of  Babylon  was  the  deliverance  of  Judah : 
and  the  fall  of  another  Babylon  will  be  the  signal  for  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  becoming  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ. 

"Ver.  17.  After  this,  when  the  sun  was  set,  and  it  was  dark,  Abram,  per- 
haps still  in  vision,  has  the  sign  repeated  in  another  form.  He  sees  "  a 
smoking  furnace,"  and  "a  burning  lamp."  The  design  of  these,  as  well  as 
the  other,  seems  to  be  to  show  him  what  should  take  place  hereafter.  The 
former  was  an  emblem  of  the  affliction  which  his  posterity  should  endure  in 
Egypt,  that  "  iron  furnace"  (Dent.  iv.  20) ;  and  the  latter  might  denote  the 
light  that  should  arise  to  them  in  their  darkness.  If,  like  the  pillar  of  fire  in 
the  wilderness,  it  was  an  emblem  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  its  passing  through 
the  parts  of  the  Divine  sacrifices  would  denote  God's  entering  into  covenant 
with  his  servant  Abram,  and  that  all  the  mercy  which  should  come  upon  his 
posterity  would  be  in  virtue  of  it. 

Ver.  18.  That  which  had  been  hinted  under  a  figure  is  now  declared  in 
express  language.  "  The  same  day  Jehovah  made  a  covenant  with  Abram ;" 
making  over  to  his  posterity,  as  by  a  solemn  deed  or  gift,  the  whole  land  in 

*  These  four  hundred  years  are  reckoned  by  Ainsworth  to  have  commenced  from  the 
time  of  Isaac's  being  weaned,  when  the  son  of  Hagar  the  Egyptian  mocked.  So  that  aa 
eoon  as  Abram's  seed,  according  to  the  promise,  was  born,  he  began  to  be  afflicted,  and 
that  by  one  of  Egyptian  extraction. 

Vol.  III.— y 


66  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

which  he  then  was,  defining  with  great  accuracy  its  exact  boundaries ;  and 
this  notwithstanding  the  afflictions  which  they  should  undergo  in  Egypt 
Thus  the  burning  lamp  would  succeed  and  dispel  the  darkness  of  the 
smoking  furnace. 


DISCOURSE  XXIV. 


t'^ 


SARAI  S  CROOKED  POLICY  FOR  THE  ACCOMPLISHMENT  OF  THE  PROMISE 

Gen.  xvi. 

Ver.  1-3.  We  have  had  several  renewals  of  promises  to  Abram;  but  as 
yet  no  performance  of  them.  Ten  years  had  elapsed  in  Canaan,  and  things 
remained  as  they  were.  Now  though  Abram's  faith  had  been  strengthened, 
yet  that  of  Sarai  fails.  At  her  time  of  life,  she  thinks,  there  is  no  hope  of 
seed  in  the  ordinary  way;  if  therefore  the  promise  be  fulfilled,  it  must  be  in 
the  person  of  another.  And  having  a  handmaid  whose  name  was  Hagar, 
she  thinks  of  giving  her  to  Abram  to  wife.  Unbelief  is  very  prolific  of 
schemes;  and  surely  this  of  Sarai  is  as  carnal,  as  foolish,  and  as  fruitful  of 
domestic  misery  as  almost  any  that  could  have  been  devised.  Yet  such  was 
the  influence  of  evil  counsel,  especially  from  such  a  quarter,  that  "  Abram 
hearkened  to  her  voice."  The  father  of  mankind  sinned  by  hearkening  to 
his  wife,  and  now  the  father  of  the  fiiithful  follows  his  example.  How 
necessary  for  those  who  stand  in  the  nearest  relations  to  take  heed  of  being 
snares,  instead  of  helps,  one  to  another !  It  was  a  double  sin  :  first,  of  dis- 
trust; and,  secondly,  of  deviation  from  the  original  law  of  marriage;  and 
seems  to  have  opened  a  door  of  polygamy.  We  never  read  of  two  wives 
before,  except  those  of  Lamech,  who  was  of  the  descendants  of  Cain ;  but 
here  the  practice  is  coming  into  the  church  of  God.  Two  out  of  three  of 
the  patriarchs  go  into  it;  yet  neither  of  them  of  his  own  accord.  There  is 
no  calculating  in  how  many  instances  this  ill  example  has  been  followed,  or 
how  great  a  matter  this  little  fire  kindled.  The  plea  used  by  Sarai  in  this 
affair  shows  how  easy  it  is  to  err  by  a  misconstruction  of  providence,  and 
following  that  as  a  rule  of  conduct,  instead  of  God's  revealed  will.  "  The 
Lord,"  says  she,  "hath  restrained  me  from  bearing;"  and  therefore  I  must 
contrive  other  means  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise!  But  why  not  inquire 
of  the  Lord?  As  in  the  crowning  of  Adonijah,  the  proper  authority  was  not 
consulted. 

Ver.  4,5.  The  consequence  was  what  might  have  been  expected:  the 
young  woman  is  elated  with  the  honour  done  her,  and  her  mistress  is 
despised  in  her  eyes.  And  now,  when  it  is  too  late,  Sarai  repents,  and 
complains  to  her  husband;  breaking  out  into  intemperate  language,  accusing 
him  as  the  cause,  as  though  he  must  needs  have  secretly  encouraged  her: 
"My  wrong  be  upon  thee!"  Nor  did  she  stop  here;  but,  taking  it  for 
granted  that  her  husband  would  not  hear  her,  goes  on  to  appeal  to  God 
himself;  "  The  Lord  judge  between  me  and  thee!"  Those  who  are  first  in 
doing  wrong  are  often  first  in  complaining  of  the  effects,  and  in  throwing 
the  blame  upon  others.  Loud  and  passionate  appeals  to  God,  instead  of 
indicating  a  good  cause,  are  commonly  the  marks  of  a  bad  one. 

Ver.  G.  Abram  on  this  vexing  occasion  is  meek  and  gentle.  He  had 
learned  that  a  soft  answer  turneth  away  wrath;  and  therefore  he  refrained 
from  upbraiding  his  wife,  as  he  might  easily  have  done;  preferring  domestic 


SARAI  S  CROOKED  POLICY.  67 

peace  to  the  vindication  of  himself,  and  the  placing  of  the  blame  where  it 
ought  to  have  lain.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  he  did  not  yield  too 
much  in  this  case;  for  though,  according  to  the  custom  of  those  times, 
Ilagar  was  his  wife  only  with  respect  to  cohabitation,  and  without  dividing 
the  power  with  Sarai,  yet  she  was  entitled  to  protection,  and  should  not  have 
been  given  up  to  the  will  of  one  who  on  this  occasion  manifested  nothing 
but  jealousy,  passion,  and  caprice.  But  he  seems  to  have  been  brought  into 
a  situation  wherein  he  was  at  a  loss  what  to  do ;  and  thus,  as  Sarai  is  punished 
for  tempting  him,  he  also  is  punished  with  a  disordered  house  for  having 
yielded  to  the  temptation.  And  now  Sarai,  incited  by  revenge,  deals  hardly 
with  Hagar;  much  more  so,  it  is  likely,  than  she  ought;  for  though  the 
young  woman  might  have  acted  vainly  and  sinfully,  yet  her  mistress  is  far 
from  being  a  proper  judge  of  the  punishment  which  she  deserved.  The 
consequence  is,  as  might  be  expected,  she  leaves  the  family,  and  goes  into 
a  wilderness.  Indeed  it  were  "  better  to  dwell  in  a  wilderness  than  with  a 
contentious  and  angry  woman."  But  as  Sarai  and  Abram  had  each  reaped 
the  fruits  of  their  sin,  Hagar,  in  her  turn,  reaps  the  fruit  of  hers.  If  creatures 
act  disorderly,  God  will  act  orderly  and  justly  in  dealing  with  them. 

Ver.  7,  S.  Hagar,  however,  though  an  Egyptian,  shall  reap  advantage  from 
her  connexion  with  Abram's  famil}'.  Other  heathens  might  have  brought 
themselves  into  trouble,  and  been  left  to  grapple  with  it  alone:  but  to  her  an 
angel  from  heaven  is  sent  to  afford  direction  and  relief  Bending  her 
course  towards  Egypt,  her  native  country,  and  finding  a  spring  of  water  in 
the  wilderness,  she  sat  down  by  it  to  refresh  herself  While  in  this  situation 
she  hears  a  voice,  saying,  "  Hagar,  Sarai's  maid,  whence  comest  thou;  and 
whither  wilt  thou  go?"  She  would  perceive,  by  this  language,  that  she  was 
known,  and  conclude  that  it  was  no  common  voice  that  spoke  to  her.  He 
that  spoke  to  her  is  called  "  the  angel  of  the  Lord ;"  yet  he  afterwards  says, 
/  will  multiply  thy  seed  exceedingly.  It  seems  therefore  not  to  have  been  a 
created  angel,  but  the  same  Divine  personage  who  frequently  appeared  to 
the  fathers.  In  calling  Hagar  Sarai's  maid,  he  seems  tacitly  to  disallow  of 
the  marriage,  and  to  lead  her  mind  back  to  that  humble  character  which  she 
had  formerly  sustained.  The  questions  put  to  her  were  close,  but  tender, 
and  such  as  were  fitly  addressed  to  a  person  fleeing  from  trouble.  The 
former  might  be  answered,  and  was  answered :  "  I  flee  from  the  face  of  my 
mistress  Sarai."  But  with  respect  to  the  latter  she  is  silent.  We  know  our 
present  grievances,  and  so  can  tell  lehcnce  ice  came,  much  better  than  our 
future  lot,  or  whither  ice  are  going.  In  many  cases,  if  the  truth  were  spoken, 
the  answer  would  be  from  bad  to  worse.  At  present,  this  poor  young  woman 
&eems  to  have  been  actuated  by  merely  natural  principles.  In  all  her  trouble 
there  appears  nothing  like  true  religion,  or  committing  her  way  to  the  Lord  ; 
yet  she  is  sought  out  of  him  whom  she  sought  not. 

Ver.  9,  10.  The  counsel  of  God  here  was  to  return  and  submit.  Where- 
fore? She  had  done  wrong  in  despising  her  mistress,  and  must  now  be 
humbled  for  it.  Hard  as  this  might  appear,  it  was  the  counsel  of  wisdom 
and  mercy:  a  connexion  with  the  people  of  God,  with  all  their  faults,  is  far 
preferable  to  the  best  of  this  world,  where  God  is  unknown.  If  we  have 
done  wrong,  whatever  temptations  or  provocations  we  may  have  met  with, 
the  only  way  to  peace  and  happiness  is  to  retrace  our  footsteps  in  repentance 
and  submission.  For  her  encouragement,  she  is  given  to  expect  a  portion 
of  Abram's  blessing,  of  which  she  must  have  often  heard;  namely,  a  numerous 
offspring.  And  by  the  manner  in  which  this  was  promised, — "/will  multiply 
thy  seed," — she  would  perceive  that  the  voice  which  spake  to  her  was  no 
other  than  that  of  Abram's  God. 

Ver.  IL  With  respect  to  the  child  of  which  she  was  then  pregnant,  it  is 


wo  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

foretold  that  it  should  be  a  son,  and  that  his  name  should  be  called  IsTimacI, 
or,  God  shall  hear,  from  the  circumstance  of  God  having  "  heard  her  afflic- 
tion," God  is  not  said  to  have  heard  her  prayer ;  for  it  does  not  appear  that 
she  had  as  yet  ever  called  upon  his  name;  she  merely  sat  bewailing  herself, 
as  not  knowing  what  would  become  of  her.  Yet,  lo,  the  ear  of  mercy  is 
open  to  aflliction  itself!  •.  The  groans  of  the  prisoner  are  heard  of  God:  not 
only  theirs  who  cry  unto  him,  but,  in  many  cases,  theirs  who  do  not. 

Ver.  12.  The  child  is  also  characterized  as  a  ivild  man,  a  bold  and  daring 
character,  living  by  his  bow  in  the  wilderness,  and  much  engaged  in  war: 
his  hand  being,  as  it  were,  "against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against 
him ;"  yet  that  he  should  maintain  his  ground  notwithstanding,  "  dwelling 
in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren,"  and  dying  at  last  in  peace.  See  chap. 
XXV.  17,  18.  Nor  was  this  prophecy  merely  intended  to  describe  Ishmael, 
but  his  posterity.  Bishop  Newton,  in  his  Dissertations  on  the  Prophecies, 
has  shown  that  such  has  been  the  character  of  the  Arabians,  who  descended 
from  him,  in  all  ages;  a  wild  and  warlike  people,  who,  under  all  the  con- 
quests of  other  nations  by  the  great  powers  of  the  earth,  remained  unsubdued. 

Ver.  13,  14.  The  effect  of  this  Divine  appearance  on  Ilagar  was  to  bring 
her  to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God ;  at  least  the  account  wears  such  an 
aspect.  She  who,  for  any  thing  that  appears,  had  never  prayed  before,  now 
addresses  herself  to  the  angel  who  spoke  to  her,  and  whom  she  considers  as 
Jehovah,  calling  him  by  an  endearing  name,  the  meaning  of  which  is,  Thou 
God  seest  me.  She  did  not  mean  by  this  to  acknowledge  his  omniscience, 
so  much  as  his  mercy,  in  having  beheld  and  pitied  her  affliction.  On  his 
withdrawing,  she  seems  to  have  looked  after  him,  with  faith,  and  hope,  and 
affectionate  desire ;  and,  reflecting  upon  what  had  passed,  is  overcome  with 
the  goodness  of  God  towards  her,  exclaiming,  "  Have  I  also  here  looked  after 
him  that  seeth  me?"  It  was  great  mercy  for  God  to  have  looked  on  her,  and 
heard  her  afflictive  moans ;  but  it  was  greater  to  draw  her  heart  to  look  after 
him;  and  greater  still  that  he  should  do  it  here,  in  the  wilderness,  when  she 
had  lived  so  many  years  where  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made  in  vain.  Under 
the  influence  of  these  impressions,  she  calls  the  well  by  which  she  sat  down 
Beer-lahai-roi,  a  name  which  would  serve  as  a  memorial  of  the  mercy.  Let 
this  well,  as  if  she  had  said,  be  called  Jehovah's  well,  the  tvell  of  him  that 
liveth  and  seeth  me!  Thus  God,  in  mercy,  sets  that  right  which,  through 
human  folly,  had  been  thrown  into  disorder.  Hagar  returns  and  submits; 
bears  Abram  a  son  when  he  is  fourscore  and  six  years  old ;  and  Abram,  on 
being  informed  of  the  prophecy  which  went  before,  called  his  name  Ishmael. 


DISCOURSE  XXV. 
god's  covenant  with  abram  and  his  seed. 

Gen.  xvii. 

Thirteen  years  elapse,  of  which  nothing  is  recorded.  Hagar  is  submissive 
to  Sarai,  and  Ishmael  is  growing  up;  but  as  to  Abram,  things  after  all  wear 
a  doubtful  aspect.  It  is  true,  God  hath  given  him  a  son ;  but  no  intimations 
of  his  being  the  son  of  promise.  No  Divine  congratulations  attend  his 
birth ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  Jehovah,  who  had  been  used  to  manifest  himself 
with  frequency  and  freedom,  now  seems  to  carry  it  reservedly  to  his  servant. 
It  is  something  like  the  thing  which  he  had  believed  in ;  but  not  the  thing 


COVENANT  WITH  ABRAM.  69 

itself.     He  has  seen,  as  it  were,  a  wind,  a  fire,  and  an  earthquake ;  but  the 
Lord  is  not  in  them. 

Ver.  1.  After  this,  when  he  was  ninety-nine  years  old,  the  Lord  again 
appeared  to  him,  and  reminded  him  of  a  truth  which  he  needed  to  have 
reirapressed ;  namely,  his  almighty  -power.  It  was  for  want  of  considering 
this  that  he  had  had  recourse  to  crooked  devices  in  order  to  accomplish 
the  promise.  This  truth  is  followed  by  an  admonition — "  Walk  before  me, 
and  be  thou  perfect;"  which  admonition  implies  a  serious  reproof  It  was 
like  saying,  "  Have  recourse  no  more  to  unbelieving  expedients;  keep  thou 
the  path  of  uprightness,  and  leave  me  to  fulfil  my  promise  in  the  time  and 
manner  that  seem  good  to  me!"  What  a  lesson  is  here  afforded  us,  never 
to  use  unlawful  means  under  the  pretence  of  being  more  useful,  or  promot- 
ing the  cause  of  God!  Our  concern  is  to  walk  before  him,  and  be  upright, 
leaving  him  to  bring  to  pass  his  own  designs  in  his  own  way. 

Ver.  2,  3.  Abram  having  been  admonished,  the  promise  is  renewed  to 
him  ;  and,  the  time  drawing  near  in  which  the  seed  should  be  born,  the  Lord 
declares  his  mind  to  make  a  solemn  covenant  with  him,  and  to  multiply  him 
exceedingly.  Such  language  denotes  great  kindness  and  condescension, 
with  large  designs  of  mercy.  Abram  was  so  much  affected  with  it  as  to  fall 
on  his  face,  and  in  that  posture  "  the  Lord  talked  with  him." 

Ver.  4-6.  It  is  observable  that  the  last  time  in  which  mention  is  made  of 
a  covenant  with  Abram  (chap,  xv.  18)  God  made  over  to  his  posterity  the 
land  of  Canaan  for  a  possession ;  but  the  design  of  this  is  more  extensive, 
dwelling  more  particularly  on  their  being  multiplied  and  blessed.  The  very 
idea  of  a  covenant  is  expressive  of  peace  and  good  will ;  and,  in  this  and 
some  other  instances,  it  is  not  confined  to  the  party,  but  extends  to  others 
for  his  sake.  Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  God  made  a  covenant  of  peace,  which 
included  the  preservation  of  the  world  ;  but  it  was  with  one  man,  even  Noah, 
and  the  world  was  preserved  for  his  sake.  And  the  covenant  in  question  is 
one  that  shall  involve  great  blessings  to  the  world  in  all  future  ages ;  yet  it 
is  not  made  with  the  world,  but  with  Abram.  God  will  give  them  blessings, 
but  it  shall  be  through  him.  Surely  these  things  were  designed  to  familiarize 
the  great  .principle  on  which  our  salvation  should  rest.  It  was  the  purpose 
of  God  to  save  perishing  sinners ;  yet  his  covenant  is  not  originally  with 
them,  but  with  Christ.  With  him  it  stands  fast ;  and  for  his  sake  they  are 
accepted  and  blessed.  Even  the  blessedness  of  Abram  himself,  and  all  the 
rewards  conferred  on  him,  were  for  his  sake.  He  was  justified,  as  we  have 
seen,  not  by  his  own  rigliteousness,  but  by  faith  in  the  promised  Messiah. 

Moreover,  a  covenant  being  a  solemn  agreement,  and  indicating  a  design 
to  walk  together  in  amity,  it  was  proper  there  should  be  an  understanding, 
as  we  should  say,  between  the  parties.  When  Israel  came  to  have  a  king, 
"  Samuel  told  them  the  manner  of  the  kingdom,  and  wrote  it  in  a  book,  and 
laid  it  up  before  the  Lord."  Thus,  as  Abram  is  about  to  commence  the 
father  of  a  family,  who  were  to  be  God's  chosen  people,  it  was  fit  at  the 
outset  that  he  should  not  only  be  encouraged  by  promises,  but  directed  how 
he  and  his  descendants  should  conduct  themselves. 

The  first  promise  in  this  covenant  is,  that  he  shall  be  "  the  father  of  many 
nations ;"  and,  as  a  token  of  it,  his  name  in  future  is  to  be  called  Abraham. 
He  had  the  name  of  a  high,  or  eminent,  father,  from  the  beginning;  but 
now  it  shall  be  more  comprehensive,  indicating  a  very  large  progeny.  By 
the  exposition  given  of  this  promise  in  the  New  Testament  (Rom.  iv.  16, 
17)  we  are  directed  to  understand  it,  not  only  of  those  who  sprang  from 
Abram's  body,  though  these  were  many  nations ;  but  also  of  all  that  should 
be  of  the  faith  nf  Abraham.  It  went  to  make  him  the  father  of  the  church 
of  God  in  all  future  ages ;  or,  as  the  apostle  calls  him,  "  the  heir  of  the 


70  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

woild."  In  this  view  he  is  the  father  of  many,  even  of  a  multitude  of 
nations.  For  all  that  the  Christian  world  eiijojs,  or  ever  will  enjoy,  it  is 
indebted  to  Abraham  and  his  seed.  A  high  honour  this,  to  be  the  father 
of  the  faithful,  the  stock  from  which  the  Messiah  should  spring,  and  on 
which  the  church  of  God  should  grow.  It  was  this  honour  that  Esau 
despised,  when  he  sold  his  birth-right;  and  here  lay  the  profanmess  of  that 
act,  which  involved  a  contempt  of  the  most  sacred  of  all  objects — the  Mes- 
siah, and  his  everlasting  kingdom  ! 

Ver.  7-14.  The  covenant  with  Abraham,  as  has  been  observed  already, 
was  not  confined  to  his  own  person,  but  extended  to  his  posterity  after  him 
in  their  generations.  To  ascertain  the  meaning  of  this  promise,  we  can 
proceed  on  no  ground  more  certain  than  fact.  It  is  fact  that  God  in  suc- 
ceeding ages  took  the  seed  of  Abraham  to  be  a  peculiar  people  unto  himself, 
above  all  other  nations ;  not  only  giving  them  "  the  land  of  Canaan  for  a 
possession,"  but  himself  to  be  their  God,  King,  or  temporal  Governor.  Nor 
was  this  all :  it  was  among  them  that  he  set  up  his  spiritual  kingdom ;  giv- 
ing them  his  lively  oracles,  sending  to  them  his  prophets,  and  establishing 
among  them  his  holy  worship;  which  great  advantages  were,  for  many  ages, 
in  a  manner  confined  to  them ;  and,  what  was  still  more,  the  great  body  of 
those  who  were  eternally  saved,  previously  to  the  coming  of  Christ,  were 
saved  from  among  them.  These  things,  taken  together,  were  an  immensely 
greater  favour  than  if  they  had  all  been  literally  made  kings  and  priests. 
Such  then  being  the  facts,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  such  was  the  mean- 
ing of  the  promise.* 

*  As  an  Antipfcdobaptist,  I  see  no  necessity  for  denying  that  spiritual  blessings  were 
promised,  in  this  general  way,  to  the  natural  seed  of  Abraham  ;  nor  can  it  I  think  be  fairly 
denied.  The  Lord  engaged  to  do  that  which  he  actually  did  ;  namely,  to  take  out  of  them, 
rather  than  other  nations,  a  people  for  himself.  This,  I  suppose,  is  the  seed  promised  to 
Abraham,  to  which  the  apostle  refers  when  he  says,  "  They  which  are  the  children  of  the 
flesh,  these  are  not  the  children  of  God  ;  but  the  children  of  the  promise  are  counted  for 
the  SEED,"  Rom.  ix.  8.  By  "  the  children  of  the  promise"  he  did  not  mean  the  elect  in 
general,  composed  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  but  the  elect  from  among  the  Jews.  Hence  he 
reckons  himself"  an  Israelite,  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,"  as  a 
living  proof  that  "God  had  not  cast  away  his  people  whom  he  foreknew,"  Rom.  xi.  1,  2. 

But  I  perceive  not  how  it  follows  hence  that  God  has  promised  to  take  a  people  from 
among  the  natural  descendants  of  believers,  in  distinction  from  others.  What  was  promised 
to  Abraham  was  neither  promised  nor  fulfilled  to  every  good  man.  Of  the  posterity  of  his 
kinsman.  Lot,  nothing  good  is  recorded.  It  is  true  the  labours  of  those  parents  who  bring 
up  their  children  "in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord"  are  ordinarily  blessed  to 
the  conversion  of  some  of  them ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  labours  of  faithful  min- 
isters,  wherever  Providence  stations  them. — But,  as  it  does  not  follow  in  the  one  case  that 
the  graceless  inhabitants  are  more  in  covenant  with  God  than  those  of  other  places,  neither 
does  it  follow  in  the  other  that  the  graceless  offspring  of  believers  are  more  in  covenant 
with  God  tlian  those  of  unbelievers.  "  New  Testament  saints  have  nothing  more  to  do 
with  the  Abrahamic  covenant  than  the  Old  Testament  believers  who  lived  prior  to  Abra. 
ham." 

I  am  aware  that  the  words  of  the  apostle,  in  Gal.  iii.  14,  "  The  blessing  of  Abraham  is 
come  on  the  Gentiles,  through  Jesus  Christ,"  are  alleged  in  proof  of  the  contrary.  But 
the  meaning  of  that  passage.  I  conceive,  is  not  that  through  Jesus  Christ  every  believer 
becomes  an  Abraham,  a  father  of  the  faithful ;  but  that  he  is  reckoned  among  his  children  : 
not  a  stock,  on  which  the  future  church  should  grow;  but  a  branch,  partaking  of  the  root 
and  fiitness  of  the  olive  tree.  So,  at  least,  the  context  appears  to  explain  it:  "  They  which 
are  of  faith  are  the  children  of  faithful  Abraham,"  ver.  7. 

But  if  it  were  granted  that  the  blessing  of  Abraham  is  so  come  on  the  believing  Gentiles 
as  not  only  to  render  them  blessed  as  his  spiritual  children,  but  to  insure  a  people  for  God 
from  among  their  natural  posterity  rather  than  from  those  of  others,  yet  it  is  not  as  their 
natural  posterity  that  they  are  individually  entitled  to  any  one  spiritual  blessing ;  for  this  is 
more  than  was  true  of  the  natural  seed  of  Abraham.  Nor  do  I  see  how  it  follows  hence 
that  we  are  warranted  to  baptize  them  in  their  infancy.  Abraham,  it  is  true,  was  com- 
manded to  circumcise  his  male  children  ;  and  if  we  had  been  commanded  to  baptize  our 
males,  or  females,  or  both,  or  any  example  of  the  kind  had  been  left  in  the  New  Testament, 
we  should  be  as  much  obliged  to  comply  in  the  one  case  as  he  was  in  the  other.  But  we 
do  not  think  ourselves  warranted  to  reason  from  circumcision  to  baptism  ;  from  the  circum- 
cision of  males  to  the  baptism  of  males  and  females ;  and  from  the  circumcision  of  the 


COVEXANT  WITH  ABRAM.  71 

As  a  sign  or  token  of  tl)is  solemn  covenant  with  Abraham  and  his  pos- 
terity, "every  man  child  among  them"  was  required  to  be  "circumcised  in 
the  tiesh  of  his  foreskin ;"  and  not  only  their  own  children,  but  those  of 
their  "  servants  born  in  their  house,  or  bought  with  their  money."  This 
ordinance  was  the  mark  by  which  they  were  distinguished  as  a  people  in 
covenant  with  Jeliovah,  and  which  bound  them  by  a  special  obligation  to 
obey  him.  Like  almost  all  other  positive  institutions,  it  was  also  prefigura- 
tive  of  mental  purity,  or  "  putting  off  the  body  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh."  A 
neglect  of  it  subjected  the  party  to  a  being  cut  off  from  his  people,  as  hav- 
ing broken  God's  covenant. 

Ver.  15,  16.  As  Abram's  name  had  been  changed  to  Abraham,  a  similar 
honour  is  conferred  on  Sarai,  who  in  future  is  to  be  called  Sarah.  The 
difference  of  these  names  is  nmch  the  same  as  those  of  her  husband,  and 
corresponds  with  what  had  been  promised  them  both  on  this  occasion.  The 
former  meant,  3Ii/  princess,  and  was  expressive  of  high  honour  in  her  own 
family ;  but  the  latter,  A  princess,  and  denoted  more  extensive  honour,  as  it 
is  here  expressed,  "A  mother  of  nations."  This  honour  conferred  on  Sarai 
would  correct  an  important  error  into  which  both  she  and  her  husband  had 
fallen  ;  imagining  that  all  hope  was  at  an  end  of  a  child  being  born  of  her, 
and  therefore  that  if  the  promise  were  fulfilled,  it  must  be  in  Ishmael.  But 
not  only  must  Abram  become  Abraham,  "  the  Aither  of  many  nations;"  but 
Sarai  Sarah,  "  the  mother  of  many  nations;"  and  this  not  by  her  handmaid, 
as  she  had  vainly  imagined;  but  God  would  give  him  a  son  also  "of  her," 
and  kings  of  people  should  be  "  of  her." 

Ver.  17,  18.  The  effect  of  this  unexpected  promise  on  Abraham  was  that 
he  "  fell  on  his  face  and  laughed."  The  term  does  not  here  indicate  light- 
ness, as  we  commonly  use  it;  but  joy,  mingled  with  wonder  and  astonish- 
ment. "  Shall  a  child  be  born,"  saith  he,  "  unto  him  that  is  a  hundred  years 
old?  and  Sarah,  that  is  ninety  years  old,  bear?"  In  another  case,  (chap, 
xviii.  12,  13,)  laughter  implied  a  mixture  of  doubting;  but  not  in  this. 
Abraham  believed  God,  and  was  overcome  with  joyful  surprise.  But  a 
doubt  immediately  occurs  which  strikes  a  damp  upon  his  pleasure :  The 
promise  of  another  son  destroys  all  my  expectations  with  respect  to  him  who 
is  already  given !  Perhaps  he  must  die  to  make  room  for  the  other,  or  if 
not,  he  may  be  another  Cain,  who  went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord. 
To  what  drawbacks  are  our  best  enjoyments  subject  in  this  world;  and,  in 
many  cases,  owing  to  our  going  before  the  Lord  in  our  hopes  and  schemes 
of  happiness!  When  his  plan  comes  to  be  put  in  execution,  it  interferes 
with  ours,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt,  in  such  a  case,  which  must  give  place. 
If  Abraham  had  waited  God's  time  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise,  it 
would  not  have  been  accompanied  with  such  an  alloy;  but  having  failed  in 
this,  after  all  his  longing  desires  after  it,  it  becomes  in  a  manner  unwelcome 
to  him!  What  can  he  do  or  say  in  so  delicate  a  situation?  Grace  would 
say.  Accept  the  Divine  promise  with  thankfulness.  But  nature  struggles : 
the  bowels  of  the  father  are  troubled  for  Ishmael.  In  this  state  of  mind  he 
presumes  to  offer  up  a  petition  to  Heaven :  "  Oh  that  Ishmael  might  live 
before  thee !"  Judging  of  the  import  of  this  petition  by  the  answer,  it 
would  seem  to  mean,  either  that  God  would  condescend  to  withdraw  his 
promise  of  another  son,  and  let  Ishmael  be  the  person,  or  if  that  could  not 

children  of  a  nation,  (the  greater  part  of  whom  were  unbelievers,)  and  of  "  servants  born 
in  the  house,  or  bought  with  money,"  to  the  baptism  of  the  children  of  believers.  In  short, 
we  do  not  think  ourselves  warranted,  in  matters  of  positive  institution,  to  found  our  prac- 
tice on  analogies,  whether  real  or  supposed  ;  and  still  less  on  one  so  circuitous,  dissonant, 
and  uncertain  as  that  in  question.  Our  duty,  we  conceive,  is,  in  such  cases,  to  follow  the 
precepts  and  examples  of  the  dispensation  under  which  we  live. 


72  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

be,  that  his  life  might  be  spared,  and  himself  and  his  posterity  be  among 
the  people  of  God,  sharing  the  blessing,  or  being  heir  with  him  who  should 
be  born  of  Sarah.  To  live,  and  to  live  before  God,  according  to  the  usual 
acceptation  of  the  phrase,  could  not,  I  think,  mean  less  than  one  or  the  other 
of  these  things.  It  was  very  lawful  for  him  to  desire  the  temporal  and  spi- 
ritual welfare  of  his  son,  and  of  his  posterity  after  him,  in  submission  to  the 
will  of  God ;  but  in  a  case  wherein  natural  affection  appeared  to  clash  with 
God's  revealed  designs,  he  must  have  felt  himself  in  a  painful  situation  ;  and 
the  recollection  that  the  whole  was  owing  to  his  own  and  Sarah's  unbelief 
would  add  to  his  regret. 

Ver.  19-27.  As  Abraham's  petition  seemed  to  contain  an  implied  wish 
that  it  would  please  God  to  withdraw  his  promise  of  another  son,  the  answer 
to  it  contains  an  implied  bui  peremptory  denial,  with  a  tacit  reflection  on 
him  for  having  taken  Hagar  to  be  his  wife:  "And  God  said,  Sarah  thy  wife 
shall  bear  thee  a  son  indeed."  As  if  he  should  say,  She  is  thy  wife,  and 
ought  to  have  been  thine  only  wife,  and  verily  it  shall  be  in  a  son  born  of 
her  that  the  promise  shall  be  fulfilled. — It  is  also  intimated  to  him  that  this 
should  be  no  grief  to  him ;  but  that  he  should  call  his  name  Isaac,  that  is, 
laughter  or  gladness,  on  account  of  the  joy  his  birth  should  occasion.  And 
as  Abraham's  petition  seemed  to  plead  that  Ishmael  and  his  posterity  might 
at  least  be  heir  icith  Isaac,  so  as  to  be  ranked  among  God's  covenant  people, 
this  also  by  implication  is  denied  him.  "  I  will  establish  my  covenant  with 
him  for  an  everlasting  covenant,  and  with  his  seed  after  him."  Ishmael, 
while  he  is  in  Abraham's  family,  shall  be  considered  as  a  branch  of  it,  and 
as  such  be  circumcised ;  but  the  covenant  of  peculiarity  should  not  be 
established  with  him  and  his  descendants,  but  with  Isaac  exclusively.  As 
many,  however,  who  were  included  in  this  covenant  had  no  share  of  eternal 
life,  so  many  who  were  excluded  from  it  might,  notwithstanding,  escape 
eternal  death.  The  door  of  mercy  was  always  open  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieved. In  every  nation,  and  in  every  age,  he  that  feared  God  and  wrought 
righteousness  was  accepted  of  him. 

But  shall  no  part  of  this  petition  be  granted?  Yes.  "As  for  Ishmael,  I 
have  heard  thee ;  Behold,  I  have  blessed  him,  and  will  make  him  fruitful, 
and  will  multiply  him  exceedingly ;  twelve  princes  shall  he  beget,  and  I  will 
make  him  a  great  nation  ....  but  my  covenant  will  I  establish  with  Isaac, 
whom  Sarah  shall  bear  unto  thee."  And  having  said  thus  much,  the  very 
time  of  his  birth  is  now  particularly  named ;  it  shall  be  "  at  this  set  time  in 
the  next  year."  Here  ended  the  communications  of  this  kind  between  the 
Lord  and  his  servant  Abraham ;  and  it  appears  that  from  this  time  he  was 
satisfied.  We  hear  nothing  more  like  an  objection  to  the  Divine  will,  nor 
any  wish  to  have  things  otherwise  than  they  were.  On  the  contrary,  we 
find  him  immediately  engaged  in  an  implicit  obedience  to  the  command  of 
circumcision.  His  conduct  on  this  occasion  furnishes  a  bright  example  to 
all  succeeding  ages  of  the  manner  in  which  Divine  ordinances  should  be 
complied  with.  There  are  three  things  in  particular  in  the  obedience  of 
Abraham  worthy  of  notice.  1.  It  was  prompt.  "In  the  self-same  day  that 
God  had  spoken  unto  him"  the  command  was  put  in  execution.  This  was 
"  making  haste,  and  delaying  not  to  keep  his  commandments."  To  treat 
the  Divine  precepts  as  matters  of  small  importance,  or  to  put  off  what  is 
manifestly  our  duty  to  another  time,  is  to  trifle  with  supreme  authority.  So 
did  not  Abraham.  3.  It  was  punctilious.  The  correspondence  between 
the  command  of  God  and  the  obedience  of  his  servant  is  minutely  exact. 
The  words  of  the  former  are,  "  Thou  shalt  keep  my  covenant,  and  thy  seed 
after  thee  ....  and  he  that  is  born  in  thy  house,  or  bought  loith  money  of 
any  stranger,  which  is  not  of  thy  seed."     With  this  agrees  the  account  of 


ABRAHAM  ENTERTAINS  ANGELS.  73 

the  latter:  "In  the  self-same  day  was  Abraham  circumcised,  and  Ishmael 
his  son  ;  and  all  the  men  of  his  house,  born  in  the  house  and  bought  with 
money  of  the  stranger,  were  circumcised  with  him."  A  rigid  regard  to  the 
revealed  will  of  God  enters  deeply  into  true  religion;  that  spirit  which  dis- 
penses with  it,  though  it  may  pass  under  the  specious  name  of  liberality,  is 
antichristian.  3.  It  was  yielded  in  old  age,  when  many  would  have  pleaded 
off  from  engaging  in  any  thing  new,  or  different  from  what  they  had  before 
received ;  and  when,  as  some  think,  it  would  be  a  further  trial  to  his  faith 
as  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise.  "  Ninety  and  nine  years  old  was  Abra- 
ham when  he  was  circumcised."  It  is  one  of  the  temptations  of  old  age  to 
be  tenacious  of  what  we  have  believed  and  practised  from  our  youth ;  to 
shut  our  eyes  and  ears  against  every  thing  that  may  prove  it  to  have  been 
erroneous  or  defective,  and  to  find  excuses  for  being  exempted  from  hard 
and  dangerous  duties.  But  Abraham  to  the  last  was  ready  to  receive  further 
instruction,  and  to  do  as  he  was  commanded,  leaving  consequences  with 
God.  This  shows  that  the  admonition  to  "  walk  before  him,  and  be  per- 
fect," had  not  been  given  him  in  vain. 


DISCOURSE  XXVI. 


ABRAHAM  ENTERTAINING  ANGELS,  AND  INTERCEDING  FOR  SODOM. 

Gen.  xviii. 

Ver.  1-3.  The  time  drawing  nigh  that  the  promise  should  be  fulfilled, 
God's  appearances  to  Abraham  are  frequently  repeated.  That  which  is  here 
recorded  seems  to  have  followed  the  last  at  a  very  little  distance.  Sitting 
one  day  in  a  kind  of  porch,  at  his  tent  door,  which  screened  him  from  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  "  he  lift  up  his  eyes,  and  lo,  three  men"  stood  at  a  little  dis- 
tance from  him.  To  him  they  appeared  to  be  three  strangers  on  a  journey, 
and  as  such  he  treated  them.  His  conduct  on  this  occasion  is  held  up  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  as  an  example  of  hospitality ;  and  an  admirable 
example  it  affords.  His  generosity  on  this  occasion  is  not  more  conspicuous 
than  the  amiable  manner  in  which  it  was  expressed.  The  instant  he  saw 
them  he  rises  up,  as  by  a  kind  of  instinctive  courtesy,  to  bid  them  welcome 
to  his  tent,  and  that  in  the  most  respectful  manner.  Though  an  old  man, 
and  they  perfect  strangers  to  him,  he  no  sooner  saw  them  than  he  "  ran  to 
meet  them  from  the  tent  door,  and  bowed  himself  toward  the  ground ;" 
and  observing  one  of  them,  as  it  should  seem,  presenting  himself  to  him 
before  the  other,  he  said  to  him,  "  My  Lord,  if  now  I  have  found  favour  in 
thy  sight,  pass  not  away,  I  pray  thee,  from  thy  servant." 

Ver.  4,  5.  And  whereas  they  were  supposed  to  be  weary,  and  overcome 
with  the  heat,  he  persuades  them  to  wash  their  feet,  and  sit  down  under  the 
shade  of  the  spreading  oak  near  his  tent,  and  take  a  little  refreshment, 
though  it  were  but  a  morsel  of  bread,  to  comfort  their  hearts ;  after  which 
they  might  go  forward  on  their  journey.  Something  may  be  said  of  the 
customs  of  those  times  and  countries,  and  of  there  being  then  but  few,  if 
any,  inns  for  the  accommodation  of  strangers ;  but  it  certainly  affords  a 
charming  specimen  of  patriarchal  urbanity,  and  an  example  of  the  manner 
in  which  kindness  and  hospitality  should  be  shown.  To  impart  relief  in  an 
ungracious  and  churlish  manner  destroys  the  value  of  it.  We  see  also  in 
this  conduct  the  genuine  fruits  ot  true  religion.     That  which  m  worldlv 

Vol.  hi.— 10  G 


74  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

men  is  mere  complaisance,  dictated  often  by  ambition,  in  Abraham  was 
kindness,  goodness,  sympathy,  and  humbleness  of  mind.  It  is  to  the  honour 
of  religion  tliat  it  produces  those  amiable  dispositions  which  the  worst  of 
men  arc  constrained,  for  their  own  reputation,  to  imitate.  If  such  disposi- 
tions and  such  behaviour  were  universal,  the  world  would  be  a  paradise. 

Ver.  6-8.  The  supposed  strangers  having  consented  to  accept  the  invita- 
tion, the  good  old  man,  as  full  of  pleasure  as  if  he  had  found  a  prize,  resolves 
to  entertain  them  with  something  better  than  "  a  morsel  of  bread,"  though  he 
had  modestly  used  that  language.  Hastening  to  Sarah,  he  desires  her  to  get 
three  measures  of  fine  meal,  and  bake  cakes  upon  the  hearth;  while  he,  old 
as  he  was,  runs  to  the  herd,  and  fetches  a  calf,  tender  and  good,  and  gives  it 
to  one  of  his  young  men,  with  orders  to  kill  and  dress  it  immediately.  And 
now,  the  table  being  spread  beneath  the  cooling  shade  of  the  oak,  the  veal, 
with  butter  and  milk  to  render  it  more  palatable,  is  placed  upon  it,  and 
Abraham  himself  waits  on  his  guests.  Such  was  the  style  of  patriarchal 
simplicity  and  hospitality.  As  yet  Abraham  does  not  appear  to  have  sus- 
pected what  kind  of  guests  he  was  entertaining.  He  might  probably  be 
struck  from  the  first  with  their  mien  and  appearance,  which  seem  to  have 
excited  his  highest  respect ;  yet  he  considered  them  merely  as  strangers,  and 
as  such  entertained  them.  It  was  thus  that  he  "  entertained  angels  un- 
awares." 

Ver.  9,  10.  But  while  they  sat  at  dinner  under  the  tree,  inquiry  was  made 
after  Sarah  his  wife.  Abraham  answered,  "  Behold,  she  is  in  the  tent." 
This  inquiry  must  excite  some  surprise ;  for  how  should  these  strangers 
know  the  name  of  Abraham's  wife,  and  her  new  name  too  ;  and  why  should 
they  inquire  after  her?  But  if  the  inquiry  must  strike  Abraham  with  sur- 
prise, what  followed  must  have  a  still  greater  effect.  He  who  was  the  first 
in  the  train  on  their  arrival,  and  whom  he  had  addressed  in  terms  of  the 
highest  respect,  now  adds,  "  I  will  certainly  return  unto  thee,  according  to 
the  time  of  life,  and  lo,  Sarah  thy  wife  shall  have  a  son."  This  language 
must  remind  him  of  the  promise  which  he  had  so  lately  received,  and  con- 
vince him  that  the  speaker  was  no  other  than  Jehovah,  under  the  appear- 
ance of  a  man.  In  the  progress  of  the  Old  Testament  history  we  often  read 
of  similar  appearances;  particularly  to  Jacob  at  Peniel,  to  Moses  at  the 
bush,  and  to  Joshua  by  Jericho.  The  Divine  personage  who  in  this  man- 
ner appeared  to  men  must  surely  have  been  no  other  than  the  Son  of  God, 
who  thus  occasionally  assumed  the  form  of  that  nature  which  it  was  his  in- 
tention, in  the  fulness  of  time,  actually  to  take  upon  him.  It  was  thus  that, 
*'  being  in  the  form  of  God,  he  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God  ;" 
that  is,  he  spake  and  acted  all  along  as  God,  and  did  not  consider  himself 
in  so  doing  as  arrogating  any  thing  which  did  not  properly  belong  to  him. 

Ver.  1 1-15.  Sarah  having  overheard  what  was  said  concerning  her,  and 
knowing  that  according  to  the  ordinary  course  of  things  she  was  too  old  to 
have  a  son,  laughed  within  herself  at  the  saying.  She  supposed,  however, 
that  as  it  was  to  herself  the  whole  was  unknown  ;  but  it  was  not.  The  same 
word  is  used  as  was  before  used  of  Abraham,  but  it  was  not  the  same  thing. 
His  laughter  was  that  of  joy  and  surprise;  hers  had  in  it  a  mixture  of  unbe- 
lief, which  called  forth  the  reproof  of  Jehovah.  "Jehovah,"  the  same  per- 
sonage who  is  elsewhere  called  an  angel  and  a  man,  "  said  unto  Abraham," 
in  the  hearing  of  his  wife,  "  Wherefore  did  Sarah  laugh?"  And  to  detect 
the  sinfulness  of  this  laughter,  he  points  out  the  principle  of  it — it  was  say- 
ing, "  Shall  I  of  a  surety  bear  a  child,  who  am  old?"  which  principle  he 
silences  by  asking,  "  Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  Jehovah?"  And  then  he 
solemnly  repeats  the  promise,  as  that  which  ought  to  suffice:  "At  the  time 
appointed  I  will  return  unto  thee,  according  to  the  time  of  life,  and  Sarah 


ABRAHAM  ENTERTAINS  ANGELS.  75 

shall  have  a  son."  This  language,  while  it  proved  that  he  who  uttered  it 
was  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart,  covered  Sarah's 
face  with  confusion.  In  her  fright,  she  denies  having  laughed ;  but  the 
denial  was  in  vain.  He  who  knew  all  things  replied,  "  Nay,  but  thou  didst 
laugh."  We  may  imagine  that  what  merely  passes  in  our  own  minds  has 
in  a  manner  no  existence,  and  may  almost  persuade  ourselves  to  think  we 
are  innocent;  but  in  the  presence  of  God  all  such  subterfuges  are  no  better 
than  the  fig-leaves  of  our  first  parents.     When  he  judgeth,  he  will  overcome. 

Ver.  16-19.  The  mm,  as  they  are  called,  according  to  their  appearance, 
now  take  leave  of  the  tent,  and  go  on  their  way  towards  Sodom.  Abraham, 
loth  to  part  with  them,  went  in  company,  as  if  to  bring  them  on  their  way. 
While  they  were  walking  together,  Jehovah,  in  the  form  of  a  man,  said  unto 
the  other  two,  (who  appear  to  have  been  created  angels,)  "  Shall  I  hide  from 
Abraham  the  thing  which  I  do?"  Two  reasons  are  assigned  for  the  con- 
trary. First,  The  importance  of  his  character.  He  was  not  only  the  friend 
of  God,  but  the  father  of"  a  great  nation,"  in  which  God  would  have  a  special 
interest,  and  through  which  all  other  nations  should  be  blessed.  Let  him  be 
in  the  secret.  Secondly,  The  good  use  he  would  make  of  it.  Being  pre- 
viously disclosed  to  him,  he  would  be  the  more  deeply  impressed  by  it ;  and, 
according  to  his  tried  and  approved  conduct  as  the  head  of  a  family,  would 
be  concerned  to  impart  it  as  a  warning  to  his  posterity  in  all  future  ages. 
As  the  wicked  extract  ill  from  good,  so  the  righteous  will  extract  good  from 
ill.  Sodom's  destruction  shall  turn  to  Abraham's  salvation  ;  the  monument 
of  just  vengeance  against  their  crimes  shall  be  of  perpetual  use  to  him  and 
his  posterity,  and  contribute  even  to  the  bringing  of  that  good  upon  them 
which  the  Lord  had  spoken  concerning  them.  The  special  approbation  with 
which  God  here  speaks  of  family  religion  stamps  a  Divine  authority  upon 
it,  and  an  infamy  upon  that  religion,  or  rather  irreligion,  which  dispenses 
with  it. 

Ver.  20,  21.  Jehovah,  having  resolved  to  communicate  his  design  to 
Abraham,  proceeds  to  inform  him  as  follows :  "  Because  the  cry  of  Sodom 
and  Gomorrah  is  great,  and  because  their  sin  is  very  grievous,  I  will  go  down 
now,  and  see  whether  they  have  done  altogether  according  to  the  cry  of  it 
which  is  come  unto  me;  and  if  not,  I  will  know."  This  language,  though 
spoken  after  the  manner  of  men,  contains  much  serious  and  important  ii> 
struction.  It  teaches  us  that  the  most  abandoned  people  are  still  the  sub- 
jects of  Divine  government,  and  must  sooner  or  later  give  an  account ;  that 
impiety,  sensuality,  and  injustice  are  followed  with  a  cry  for  retribution; 
that  this  cry  is  often  disregarded  by  earthly  tribunals ;  that  where  it  is  so,  the 
prayers  of  the  faithful,  the  groans  of  the  oppressed,  and  the  blood  of  the  slain, 
constitute  a  cry  which  ascendeth  to  heaven,  and  entereth  into  the  ears  of  the 
Lord  of  sabaoth  ;  and  finally,  that  in  executing  judgment,  though  God  will 
regard  these  cries,  especially  where  they  wax  greater  and  greater,  as  this  is 
afterward  said  to  have  done ;  yet,  as  they  may  be  partial  and  erroneous,  he 
will  not  proceed  by  them  as  a  rule,  but  will  avail  himself  of  his  own  omni- 
science, that  the  worst  of  characters  may  have  no  cause  to  complain  of 
injustice. 

Ver.  22-33.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  mind  of  Abraham  must  be 
forcibly  impressed  with  this  intimation.  He  would  feel  for  his  poor  ungodly 
neighbours  ;  but  especially  for  Lot,  and  other  righteous  men  whom  he  might 
hope  would  be  found  among  them.  At  this  juncture  the  men,  that  is,  two 
out  of  the  three,  (chap.  xix.  1,)  went  towards  Sodom;  but  the  third,  who  is 
called  Jehovah,  continued  to  converse  with  Abraham.  The  patriarch  stand- 
ing before  him,  and  being  now  aware  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  the 
Most  High,  addressed  him  in  the  language  of  prayer,  or  intercession.     A 


76  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

remarkable  intercession  it  is.  We  remark,  1.  Abraham  makes  a  good  use 
of  his  previous  knowledge.  Being  made  acquainted  with  the  evil  coming 
upon  them,  he  stands  in  the  gap,  and  labours  all  he  can  to  avert  it.  They 
knew  nothing ;  and  if  they  had,  no  cries,  except  the  shrieks  of  desperation, 
would  have  been  heard  from  them.  It  is  good  to  have  such  a  neighbour  as 
Abraham ;  and  still  better  to  have  an  Intercessor  before  the  throne  who  is 
always  heard.  The  conduct  of  the  patriarcli  furnishes  an  example  to  all 
who  have  an  interest  at  the  throne  of  grace,  to  make  use  of  it  on  behalf  of 
their  poor  ungodly  countrymen  and  neighbours.  2.  He  does  not  plead  that 
the  wicked  may  be  spared  for  their  own  sake,  or  because  it  would  be  too 
severe  a  proceeding  to  destroy  them ;  but  for  the  sake  of  the  righteous  ivho 
might  he  found  among  them.  Had  either  of  the  other  pleas  been  advanced, 
it  had  been  siding  with  sinners  against  God,  which  Abraham  would  never 
do.  Wickedness  shuts  the  mouth  of  intercession  ;  or  if  any  should  presume 
to  speak,  it  would  be  of  no  account.  Though  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  should 
plead  for  the  ungodly,  they  would  not  be  heard.  Righteousness  only  will 
bear  to  be  made  a  plea  before  God.  But  how  then,  it  may  be  asked,  did 
Christ  make  intercession  for  transgressors  ?  Not  by  arraigning  the  Divine 
law,  nor  by  alleging  aught  in  extenuation  of  human  guilt ;  but  by  pleading 
his  own  obedience  unto  death.  3.  He  charitably  hopes  the  best  with  respect 
to  the  number  of  righteous  characters  even  in  Sodom.  At  the  outset  of  his 
intercession,  he  certainly  considered  it  as  a  possible  case,  at  least,  that  there 
might  be  found  in  that  wicked  place  fifty  righteous ;  and  though  in  this 
instance  he  was  sadly  mistaken,  yet  we  may  hope  hence  that  in  those  times 
there  were  many  more  righteous  people  in  the  world  than  those  which  are 
recorded  in  Scripture.  The  Scriptures  do  not  profess  to  be  a  book  of  life, 
containing  the  names  of  all  the  faithful ;  but  intimate,  on  the  contrary,  that 
God  reserves  to  himself  a  people,  who  are  but  little  known  even  by  his  own 
servants.  4.  God  was  willing  to  spare  the  worst  of  cities  for  the  sake  of  a 
few  righteous  characters.  This  truth  is  as  humiliating  to  the  haughty  enemies 
of  religion  as  it  is  encouraging  to  its  friends;  and  furnishes  an  important 
lesson  to  civil  governments,  to  beware  of  undervaluing,  and  still  more  of 
persecuting  and  banishing,  men  whose  concern  it  is  to  live  soberly,  right- 
eously, and  godly  in  the  world.*  Except  the  Lord  of  hosts  had  left  us  a 
remnant  of  such  characters,  we  might  ere  now  have  been  as  Sodom,  and 
made  like  unto  Gomorrah !  If  ten  righteous  men  had  been  found  in  Sodom, 
it  had  been  spared  for  their  sakes ;  but,  alas,  there  is  no  such  number !  God 
called  Abraham  to  Haran,  and  when  he  left  that  place,  mention  is  made, 
not  only  of"  the  substance  which  he  had  gathered,"  but  of"  the  souls  which 
he  had  gotten."  But  Lot,  who  went  to  Sodom  of  his  own  accord,  though 
he  also  gathered  substance,  yet  seems  not,  by  his  residence  in  the  place,  to 
have  won  a  single  soul  to  the  worship  of  the  true  God. 

•  Chap.  vi.  11  i 


DESTRUCTION"  OF  SODOM.  77 


DISCOURSE  XXVII. 

THE   DESTRUCTION    OF    SODOM    AND    GOMORRAH. 

Gen.  sis. 

Ver.  1,  2.  The  two  angels  who  left  Abraham  communing  with  Jehovah 
went  on  their  way  till  they  came  to  Sodom.  Arriving  at  the  city  in  the 
evening,  the  first  person  whom  they  saw  appears  to  have  been  Lot,  who  was 
sitting  alone,  it  should  seem,  at  the  gate  of  the  city.  They  had  found 
Abraham  also  sitting  alone,  but  it  was  at  his  own  tent  door.  Lot,  whose 
house  was  in  the  city,  had  probably  no  place  where  he  could  be  out  of  the 
hearing  of  those  whose  conversation  vexed  his  righteous  soul :  he  therefore 
took  a  walk  in  the  evening,  and  sat  down  without  the  city  gate,  where  he 
might  spend  an  hour  in  retirement.  Seeing  two  strangers  coming  up  to 
him,  he  behaved  in  much  the  same  courteous  and  hospitable  manner  as 
Abraham  had  done.  Bowing  himself  with  his  face  toward  the  ground,  he 
said,  "  Behold  now,  my  lords;  turn  in,  I  pray  you,  into  your  servant's  house, 
and  tarry  all  night,  and  wash  your  feet,  and  ye  shall  rise  up  early,  and  go  on 
your  ways."  This  was  lovely ;  and  the  contrast  between  this  and  the  con- 
duct of  his  neighbours  shows,  what  was  suggested  in  the  former  chapter,  the 
genuine  fruits  of  true  religion.  What  is  said  to  be  the  customary  hospitality 
of  the  age  and  country  was  far  from  being  practised  by  the  other  inhabitants 
of  Sodom.  But  though  Lot  had  given  them  so  kind  an  invitation,  they 
seem  determined  not  to  accept  of  it — "  Nay,"  say  they,  "  but  we  will  abide 
in  the  street  all  night."  This  might  be  either  for  the  purpose  of  being  eye- 
witnesses of  the  conduct  of  the  citizens,  or  to  express  their  abhorrence  of 
the  general  character  of  the  city ;  as  when  the  prophet  of  Judah  was  sent  to 
Beth-el,  he  was  forbidden  either  "  io  eat  bread  or  drink  water  in  that  place," 
1  Kings  xiii.  S-I7. 

Ver.  3.  After  being  greatly  pressed,  however,  by  Lot,  they  yielded  to  his 
importunity,  and  entered  into  his  house;  where  he  made  them  a  feast,  as 
Abraham  had  done,  and  they  did  eat. 

Ver.  4,  5.  But  while  things  were  going  on  well  with  respect  to  Lot,  the 
baseness  of  his  neighbours  soon  betrayed  itself  A  litde  before  bed-time 
they  beset  the  house ;  not  for  the  purpose  of  robbing,  or  insulting  them  in 
any  of  the  ordinary  ways  of  brutal  outrage — this  had  been  bad  enough,  espe- 
cially to  strangers — but  to  perpetrate  a  species  of  crime  too  shocking  and 
detestable  to  be  named;  a  species  of  crime  which  indeed  has  no  name 
given  it  in  the  Scriptures  but  what  is  borrowed  from  this  infamous  place. 

Ver.  G-9.  The  conduct  of  Lot,  in  going  out  and  expostulating  with  them, 
was  in  several  respects  praiseworthy.  His  shutting  the  door  after  him  ex- 
pressed how  delicately  he  felt  for  his  guests,  though  at  present  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  considered  them  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  strangers.  It 
was  saying,  in  effect.  Let  not  their  ears  be  offended  with  what  passes  abroad ; 
whatever  is  scurrilous,  obscene,  or  abusive,  let  me  hear  it,  but  not  them. — 
His  gentle  and  respectful  manner  of  treating  this  worst  of  mobs  is  also 
worthy  of  notice.  He  could  not  respect  them  on  the  score  of  character ; 
but  he  would  try  and  do  so,  as  being  still  his  fellow  creatures  and  near 
neighbours.  As  such  he  calls  them  brethren,  no  doubt  hoping,  by  such 
conciliating  language,  to  dissuade  them  from  their  toicked  purpose.  But 
when,  to  turn  off  their  attention  from  his  guests,  he  proposes  the  bringing 
out  of  his  daughters  to  them,  he  appears  to  have  gone  too  far.     It  is  not  for 

g2 


78  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

US  to  go  into  a  less  evil,  in  the  hope  of  preventing  a  greater ;  but  rather  to 
consent  to  no  evil.  It  might  be  owing  to  the  perturbation  of  his  mind  ;  but 
probably,  if  he  had  not  lived  in  Sodom  till  his  mind  was  almost  familiarized 
to  obscenity,  he  would  not  have  made  such  a  proposal.  Nor  had  it  any  good 
effect.  He  only  got  himself  more  abused  for  it;  and  even  his  gentle  remon- 
strance was  perversely  construed  into  obtrusive  forwardness,  and  setting 
himself  up  for  a  judge,  who  was  merely  a  sojourner  among  them.  Persua- 
sion has  no  force  with  men  who  are  under  the  dominion  of  their  lusts.  So 
now  their  resentment  burns  against  him,  and  they  will  be  revenged  on  him. 
They  will  not  be  contented  now  with  having  the  men  brought  out,  but  will 
go  in  unto  them,  and  break  the  door  open,  to  effect  their  purpose. 

Ver.  10,  11.  Such  an  attempt,  and  such  a  perseverance  in  it,  must  have 
been  proof  sufficient  to  the  heavenly  messengers  that  the  cry  of  Sodom  had 
not  exceeded  the  truth.  Putting  forth  their  hands,  therefore,  they  pulled 
Lot  into  the  house  to  them,  shut  to  the  door,  and  smote  the  people  without 
with  blindness.  The  power  and  indignation  displayed  in  these  acts  would 
convince  him  that  they  were  no  common  strangers ;  and,  one  would  have 
thought,  might  have  struck  them  with  awe,  and  caused  them  to  desist  from 
their  horrid  purpose:  but  they  are  infatuated.  Though  supernaturally  smitten 
with  blindness,  they  must  still  "weary  themselves  to  find  the  door."  Such 
daring  presumption,  in  the  face  of  Heaven,  must  have  filled  up  the  measure 
of  their  crimes,  and  rendered  them  ripe  for  destruction. 

Ver.  12,  13.  Things  are  now  hastening  to  their  awful  crisis ;  but  mark 
the  mercy  of  Divine  proceedings.  Ten  righteous  men  would  have  saved 
the  city;  but  there  seems  to  have  been  only  one.  Well,  not  only  shall  that 
one  escape,  but  all  that  belong  to  him  shall  be  delivered  for  his  sake ;  or,  if 
otherwise,  it  shall  be  their  own  fault.  Sons-in-law,  sons,  daughters,  or  what- 
ever he  had,  are  directed  to  be  brought  out  of  this  place ;  for,  said  they,  as 
it  were  opening  their  commission  and  reading  it  to  Lot,  "We  will  destroy 
this  place,  because  the  cry  of  them  is  waxen  great  before  the  face  of  Jehovah, 
and  Jehovah  hath  sent  us  to  destroy  it." 

Ver.  14.  Giving  full  credit  to  the  Divine  threatening,  and  being  deeply 
impressed  with  it.  Lot  went  forth  to  warn  his  sons-in-law,  who  had  married 
his  daughters.  We  do  not  read  till  now  that  Lot  had  a  family.  It  looks  as 
if  he  had  taken  his  wife  from  Sodom,  soon  after  he  had  parted  from  Abraham; 
and  as  he  must  have  been  there  about  twenty  years,  he  had  daughters,  some 
of  v/hom  were  married,  and  two  remained  with  him  single.  No  mention  is 
made  of  his  married  daughters  being  alive  at  this  time;  but  by  the  manner 
in  which  the  others  are  spoken  of,  in  verse  15,  "Thy  two  daughters  which 
are  here,"  it  is  probable  they  were  elsctohere;  viz.  along  with  their  husbands, 
and  perished  with  them  in  the  overthrow.  The  warning  given  to  his  sons- 
in-law  was  abrupt  and  pointed?  "Up,  get  ye  out  of  this  place;  for  Jehovah 
will  destroy  this  city!  But  he  seemed  to  them  as  one  that  mocked,"  or  who 
was  in  jest.  He  believed,  and  therefore  spake;  but  they  disbelieved,  and 
therefore  made  light  of  it.  A  striking  example  this  of  the  ordinary  effect  of 
truth  upon  the  minds  of  unbelievers. 

Ver.  15,  16.  All  this  had  taken  place  in  one  night.  Early  in  the  morn- 
ing, Lot  is  hastened  away  from  the  devoted  spot.  And  as  his  sons-in-law, 
and  it  seems  their  wives  with  them,  would  not  hear,  he  is  commanded  to 
leave  them ;  and,  without  further  delay,  to  take  his  wife,  and  his  two  daugh- 
ters who  were  with  him,  lest  he  should  be  consumed  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
city.  The  threatening  part  of  this  language  would  probably  not  have  been 
addressed  to  him,  had  he  not  discovered  a  reluctance  to  depart.  I  hope  it 
was  not  his  worldly  substance  that  clave  to  him,  much  less  any  attachment 
to  that  wicked  city;  but  rather  that  it  was  his  daughters  and  their  husbands. 


DESTRUCTION  OF  SODOM.  79 

who  could  not  be  persuaded  to  accompany  him,  that  occasioned  this  strong 
conflict.  It  was  on  this  account,  I  suppose,  that  he  is  said  to  have  lingered; 
and  his  deliverers  were  at  last  obliged  to  lay  hold  upon  his  hand,  and  upon 
the  hand  of  his  wife,  and  upon  the  hand  of  his  two  daughters,  and  (Jehovah 
being  merciful  unto  him)  by  force,  in  a  manner,  to  set  them  without  the 
city.  Such  has  been  the  struggle  in  many  minds,  when  called  to  leave  all 
and  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come;  and  such  the  mercy  of  God  towards  them. 

Ver.  17.  Having  been  so  far  saved,  almost  in  spite  of  himself,  he  is  now 
solemnly  charged  to  "  escape  for  his  life,"  not  so  much  as  to  look  behind 
him,  nor  stay  in  all  the  plain;  but  to  "escape  to  the  mountain,"  lest  he 
should  be  "  consumed."  This  was  continuing  to  be  mercifully  severe ;  and 
such  are  our  Lord's  commands  which  require  us  to  deny  self,  take  up  the 
cross,  and  follow  him.  It  was  better  for  Lot  to  be  thus  warned  off  the 
ground,  than  to  be  consumed  upon  it ;  and  we  had  better  cut  off  a  right 
hand,  or  pluck  out  a  right  eye,  than  be  cast  into  hell. 

Ver.  18-22.  Lot  was  certainly  a  righteous  man;  but  in  times  of  trial  his 
graces  do  not  appear  to  the  best  advantage.  He  is  directed  to  flee  to  the 
mountain,  and  he  had  better  have  been  there  all  his  days  than  where  he 
was;  but  he  pleads  hard  to  live  in  a  city,  and  hopes  he  may  be  excused  in 
this  desire,  seeing  it  was  "  a  little  one."  Had  he  properly  confided  in  God, 
he  would  have  gone  to  the  mountain  without  hesitation;  but  his  faith  is 
weak,  and  his  fears  prevail,  that  if  he  go  thither  "  some  evil  will  take  him, 
and  he  shall  die."  This  his  imbecility,  however,  is  graciously  passed  over; 
his  request  is  granted,  and  the  city  spared  for  his  sake.  Nor  was  this  all. 
The  angel  kindly  hastens  his  escape  to  this  city,  formally  called  Bela,  but 
henceforward  Zoar,  that  is,  little ;  for  that  he  could  do  nothing  till  he  should 
have  come  thither.  All  this  was  merciful,  very  merciful ;  and  proves  not 
only  that  the  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly  out  of  temptation,  but 
also  that  their  blood  is  precious  in  his  sight. 

Ver.  23-25.  By  the  time  that  Lot  entered  into  Zoar,  the  sun  had  risen 
upon  the  earth.  It  promised  perhaps  to  be  a  fine  day;  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Sodom,  after  their  night's  revel,  would  be  going  forth  to  do  as  at  other 
times.  But  lo,  on  a  sudden,  floods  of  fire  and  brimstone  from  the  Lord  out 
of  heaven  descend  upon  this  and  the  neighbouring  city  of  Gomorrah,  utterly 
consuming  them,  and  all  their  inhabitants!  Some  have  supposed  this 
tremendous  judgment  to  have  been  effected  by  a  volcanic  eruption  in  the 
neighbourhood,  the  lava  of  which,  first  ascending  high  into  the  atmosphere, 
and  then  descending  upon  the  devoted  cities,  destroyed  them.  If  so  it  were, 
God's  hand  was  in  it,  directing  and  timing  its  operations,  no  less  than  if  it 
were  accomplished  without  the  interference  of  any  second  cause. 

Ver.  20.  The  Lord  delivered  just  Lot;  and  his  whole  family,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  much  mercy  shown  them  for  his  sake.  But  favour  may  be  shown 
to  the  wicked,  yet  will  they  not  learn  righteousness.  Some  refused  to  go 
with  him,  and  those  that  did  go  proved  to  him  a  grief  and  a  snare.  His 
wife  is  said  to  have  "  looked  back  from  behind  him"  during  their  journey, 
and  was  instandy  struck  dead,  and  remained  upon  the  spot  a  petrified  monu- 
ment of  Divine  vengeance.  It  may  be  thought  a  hard  fate  for  a  mere  glance 
of  the  eye ;  but  that  glance,  no  doubt,  was  expressive  of  unbelief,  and  a 
lingering  desire  to  return.  Probably  she  was  of  much  the  same  mind  as  her 
sons-in-law,  and  attributed  the  whole  to  the  resentment  of  the  strangers, 
whom  her  husband  was  weak  enough  to  believe.  It  is  certain  that  her 
example  is  held  up  by  our  Lord  as  a  warning  against  "turning  back,"  which 
intimates  that  such  was  the  meaning  of  her  look. 

Ver.  27-29.  Abraham  having  made  intercession,  though  the  issue  of  it  gavo 
him  bat  little  hope  of  success,  yet  is  anxious  to  see  what  will  be  the  end  of 


80  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

these  things.  Unable,  it  seems,  to  rest  in  his  bed,  he  arose  early  the  next 
morning,  and  went  to  the  place  where  he  had  stood  before  the  Lord.  From 
having  a  view  of  the  plain,  he  beheld,  and  lo  the  smoke  of  the  country  went 
up  as  the  smoke  of  a  furnace.  He  had  not  mentioned  Lot  by  name,  in  his 
intercession,  though  doubtless  it  had  respect  to  him;  and  the  Lord  so  far 
hearkened  to  his  prayer  as  to  deliver  that  good  man  in  answer  to  it.  Lot 
could  not  pray  for  himself,  for  he  was  not  aware  of  his  danger  till  it  in  a 
manner  came  upon  him.  What  a  mercy  it  is  to  have  an  Intercessor  who 
knows  all  the  evils  which  are  coming  upon  us,  and  prays  for  us  that  our 
strength  fail  not !     But  to  return  to  Lot — 

Ver.  30.  On  leaving  Sodom  he  was  very  earnest  to  have  Zoar  granted 
him  for  a  refuge,  and  to  be  excused  from  going  to  dwell  in  the  mountain ; 
yet  now,  all  on  a  sudden,  he  went  up  out  of  Zoar,  and  dwelt  in  the  moun- 
tain ;  and  that  for  the  very  reason  which  he  had  given  for  a  contrary  choice. 
Then  he  feared  some  evil  would  take  him  if  he  went  to  the  mountain ;  now 
he  "  fears  to  dwell  in  Zoar."  It  is  well  to  know  that  the  way  of  man  is  not 
in  himself,  and  that  it  is  not  in  man  to  direct  his  steps.  Our  wisdom  is  to 
refer  all  to  God,  and  to  follow  wherever  his  word  and  providence  lead  the 
way.  But  why  did  not  Lot  return  to  Abraham?  There  was  no  occasion 
now  for  strife  about  their  herds;  for  he  had  lost  all,  and  but  just  escaped 
with  his  life.  Whatever  was  the  reason,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  made  a 
good  choice.  Had  he  gone  to  the  mountain  when  directed,  he  might  have 
hoped  for  preserving  mercy;  but  going  of  his  own  accord,  and  from  a  motive 
of  sinful  distrust,  evil  in  reality  overtakes  him.  His  daughters,  who  seem  to 
have  contracted  such  habits  in  Sodom  as  would  prepare  them  for  any  thing, 
however  unnatural,  draw  him  into  intemperance  and  incest,  and  thus  cover 
his  old  age  with  infamy.  The  offspring  of  this  illicit  intercourse  were  the 
fathers  of  two  great  but  heathen  nations,  viz.  the  Moabites  and  the  children 
of  Ammon. 

The  dishonourable  end  of  this  good  man  shows  that  we  are  never  out  of 
danger  while  we  are  upon  earth.  He  whose  righteous  soul  was  grieved  with 
the  filthy  conversation  of  the  wicked  while  in  a  city,  is  drawn  into  the  same 
kind  of  evils  himself  when  dwelling  in  a  cave!  His  whole  history  also, 
from  the  time  of  his  leaving  Abraham,  furnishes  an  affecting  lesson  to  the 
heads  of  families  in  the  choice  of  habitations  for  themselves  or  their  children. 
If  worldly  accommodations  be  preferred  to  religious  advantages,  we  have 
nothing  good  to  expect,  but  every  thing  evil.  We  may,  or  we  may  not,  lose 
our  substance  as  he  did  ;  but,  what  is  of  far  greater  consequence,  our  families 
may  be  expected  to  become  mere  heathens,  and  our  own  minds  be  con^ 
taminated  with  the  examples  which  are  continually  before  our  eyes.  Such 
was  the  harvest  which  Lot  reaped  from  his  well-watered  plain;  and  such  are 
the  fruits  very  commonly  seen  in  the  experience  of  those  that  follow  his 
example ! 


ABRAHAM  AND  ABIMELECH.  81 


DISCOURSE  XXVIII. 

ABRAHAM   AND    ABIMELECH. 
Gen.  XX. 


Ver.  1.  After  the  affecting  story  of  Lot,  we  return  to  Abraham.  When 
he  and  his  kinsman  parted,  he  pitched  his  tent  in  the  plains  of  Mamre,  and 
appears  to  have  continued  there  nearly  twenty  years.  At  length  he  removes 
again,  journeying  southward,  and  taking  up  his  residence  for  a  time  at  Gerar, 
which  was  then  a  royal  city  of  the  Philistines. 

Ver.  2.  And  here  we  find  him  a  second  time  saying  of  Sarah  his  wife, 
"  She  is  my  sister."  His  sin  in  so  speaking  seems  to  be  much  greater  than 
it  was  before.  For,  1.  He  had  narrowly  escaped  the  first  time.  If  God  had 
not  remarkably  interposed  in  his  favour,  there  is  no  saying  what  would  have 
been  the  consequence.  The  repetition  of  the  same  fault  looked  like  pre- 
suming upon  providence.  2.  Sarah  was  now  pregnant,  and  that  of  a  son  of 
promise;  he  might  therefore  surely  have  trusted  God  to  preserve  their  lives  in 
the  straight-forward  path  of  duty,  instead  of  having  recourse  to  his  own 
crooked  policy.  But  he  did  not.  There  are  exceptions  in  every  human 
character,  and  often  in  the  very  thing  wherein  they  in  general  excel.  The 
consequence  was,  Abimelech,  king  of  Gerar,  sent  and  took  her,  probably  by 
force,  to  be  one  of  his  wives.  We  should  have  thought  that  the  age  of  Sarah 
might  have  exempted  both  her  and  her  husband  from  this  temptation ;  but 
human  life  was  then  much  longer  than  it  is  now;  and  she  was  a  beautiful 
woman,  and  we  may  suppose  carried  her  years  better  than  many.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  she  is  involved  in  a  difficulty  from  which  she  cannot  get  clear,  nor 
can  Abraham  tell  how  to  deliver  her.  It  has  been  observed,  that  when 
wicked  men  deviate  from  truth,  they  will  very  commonly  get  through  with 
it;  but  if  a  good  man  think  to  do  so,  he  will  as  commonly  find  himself  mis- 
taken. If  once  he  leave  the  path  of  rectitude,  he  is  entangled,  and  presently 
betrays  himself  The  crooked  devices  of  the  flesh  are  things  in  which  he 
is  not  sufficiently  an  adept,  and  conscience  will  often  prevent  his  going 
through  with  them.  God  also  will  generally  so  order  things  that  he  shall  be 
detected,  and  put  to  shame  at  an  early  stage,  and  that  in  mercy  to  his  soul ; 
while  sinners  are  left  to  go  on  in  their  evil  courses  with  success. 

Ver.  3-7.  Man's  wisdom  leads  him  into  a  pit,  and  God's  wisdom  must 
draw  him  out.  God  has  access  to  all  men's  minds,  and  can  impress  them 
by  a  dream,  an  affliction,  or  in  any  way  he  thinks  proper.  He  did  thus  by 
Abimelech.  Dreams,  in  general,  are  mere  vanity,  the  excursions  of  imagina- 
tion, unaccompanied  with  reason ;  yet  these  are  under  the  control  of  God, 
and  have,  in  many  instances,  been  the  medium  of  impressing  things  of  great 
importance  on  the  mind  Abimelech  dreamed  that  he  heard  the  voice  of 
the  Almighty,  saying  unto  him,  "  Behold,  thou  art  a  dead  man,  for  the  woman 
which  thou  hast  taken,  for  she  is  a  man's  wife."  Whether  Abimelech  was 
an  idolater  I  know  not :  but  this  I  know,  that  if,  in  countries  called  Christian, 
every  adulterer  were  "a  dead  man,"  many  would  be  numbered  with  the  dead 
who  now  glory  in  their  shame.  And  though  human  laws  may  wink  at  this 
crime,  it  is  no  less  heinous  in  the  sight  of  God  than  when  it  is  punished 
with  death.  Abimelech,  conscious  that  he  had  not  come  near  the  woman, 
answered  in  his  dream,  "  Lord,  wilt  thou  slay  also  a  righteous  nation?  Said 
he  not  unto  me,  She  is  my  sister?  And  she,  even  she  herself,  said.  He  is 
my  brother.     In  the  integrity  of  my  heart  and  innocency  of  my  hands  have 

Vol.  hi.— U 


D»  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

I  done  this."  The  first  sentence  in  this  answer  appears  to  contain  a  reference 
to  the  recent  and  awful  event  of  Sodom's  overthrow,  which  must  have  greatly 
impressed  the  surrounding  country.  It  is  as  if  he  had  said,  I  am  aware  that 
thou  hast  slain  a  nation  notorious  for  its  filthy  and  unnatural  crimes;  but  we 
are  not  such  a  nation;  and  in  the  present  case  all  that  has  been  done  was  in 
perfect  ignorance.  Surely  thou  wilt  not  slay  the  innocent. — The  answer  of 
God  admits  his  plea  of  ignorance,  and  suggests  that  he  was  not  charged 
with  having  yet  sinned,  but  threatened  with  death  in  case  he  persisted,  now 
that  he  was  informed  of  the  truth.  It  is  intimated,  however,  that  if  he  had 
come  near  her,  he  would  in  so  doing  have  sinned  against  God,  whether  he 
had  sinned  against  Abraham  or  not;  and  this,  perhaps,  owing  to  her  being 
in  a  state  of  pregnancy,  of  which,  in  that  case,  he  could  not  have  been  igno- 
rant. But  God  had  mercifully  withheld  him  from  thus  sinning  against  him, 
for  which  it  became  him  to  be  thankful,  and  without  delay  to  "  restore  the 
man  his  wife."  It  was  also  added  that  the  man  was  "a  prophet,"  or  one  who 
had  special  intercourse  with  Heaven;  and  who,  if  he  restored  his  wife,  would 
pray  to  God  for  him,  and  he  should  live;  but  if  he  withheld  her,  he  should 
surely  die,  and  all  that  belonged  to  him. 

VVe  see  in  this  account,  1.  That  absolute  ignorance  excuses  from  guilt; 
but  this  does  not  prove  that  all  ignorance  does  so,  or  that  it  is  in  itself  excu- 
sable. Where  the  powers  and  means  of  knowledge  are  possessed,  and 
ignorance  arises  from  neglecting  to  make  use  of  them,  or  from  aversion  to 
the  truth,  it  is  so  far  from  excusing,  that  it  is  in  itself  sinful.  2.  That,  great 
as  the  wickedness  of  men  is  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  it  would  be  much 
greater  were  it  not  that  God  by  his  providence,  in  innumerable  instances, 
withholds  them  from  it.  The  conduct  of  intelligent  beings  is  influenced  by 
motives ;  and  all  motives  which  are  presented  to  the  mind  are  subject  to  his 
disposal.  Hence  we  may  feel  the  propriety  of  that  petition,  "  Lead  us  not 
into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil." 

Ver.  8.  Abimelech,  awaking,  is  deeply  impressed  with  his  dream.  He 
rises  early,  calls  together  the  principal  people  about  him,  and  imparts 
particulars  to  them,  at  the  rehearsal  of  which  they  are  sore  afraid.  Some 
afflictions  had  already  been  laid  upon  them,  of  which  they  seem  to  have  been 
aware  (ver.  18) ;  and  considering  the  late  tremendous  judgments  of  God 
upon  Sodom,  with  the  terrific  dream  of  the  king  just  rehearsed,  it  is  no 
wonder  they  should  be  seized  with  fear. 

Ver.  9,  10.  After  speaking  to  his  servants,  he  next  sent  for  Abraham  to 
converse  the  matter  over.  His  address  to  the  patriarch  is  pointed,  but  tem- 
perate: "What  hast  thou  done  unto  us?  And  (in)  what  have  I  offended 
thee,  that  thou  hast  brought  on  me  and  on  my  kingdom  a  great  sin  ?  Thou 
hast  done  deeds  unto  me  that  ought  not  to  be  done. — What  sawest  thou,  that 
thou  hast  done  this  thing?"  We  are  grieved  to  find  Abraham  in  such  a 
situation.  How  honourable  did  he  appear  before  the  king  of  Sodom,  and 
the  king  of  Salem  ;  but  how  dishonourable  before  the  king  of  Gerar !  Sin 
is  the  reproach  of  any  people,  and  the  greater  and  better  the  man,  the  greater 
is  the  reproach. 

Ver.  11-13.  But  let  us  hear  his  apology.  "And  Abraham  said,  Because 
I  thought.  Surely  the  fear  of  God  is  not  in  this  place,  and  they  will  slay  me 
for  my  wife's  sake.  And  yet,  indeed,  she  is  my  sister:  she  is  the  daughter 
of  my  father,  but  not  the  daughter  of  my  mother;  and  she  became  my  wife. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  when  God  caused  me  to  wander  from  my  father's 
house,  that  I  said  unto  her.  This  is  thy  kindness  which  thou  shalt  show  unto 
me:  at  every  place  whither  we  shall  come,  say  of  me.  He  is  my  brother." 
According  to  his  account,  to  be  sure,  there  was  nothing  against  Abimelech 
in  particular;  and  this  might  serve  to  appease  him :  but  with  respect  to  God, 


THE  BIRTH  OP  ISAAC.  83 

or  his  "  doing  deeds  that  ought  not  to  be  done,"  what  he  had  said,  if  not  a 
lie,  was  yet  an  equivocation.  Many  things  of  this  sort  pass  among  men ; 
but  they  will  not  bear  a  strict  scrutiny.  If  our  words,  though  in  some  sense 
true,  yet  are  designed  to  convey  what  is  not  true,  as  was  the  case  in  this 
instance,  we  are  guilty  of  doing  what  ought  not  to  be  done. 

Ver.  14,  15.  Abimelech,  satisfied  with  this  answer,  so  far  as  respected 
himself,  restored  Sarah  to  her  husband,  and  that  with  a  trespass-offering,  like 
that  which  was  afterwards  presented  by  his  countrymen  with  the  ark  (1  Sam. 
vi.  3) ;  adding,  with  great  conrteousness,  "  Behold,  my  land  is  before  thee: 
dwell  where  it  pleaseth  thee."     For  he  saw  that  the  Lord  was  with  him. 

Ver.  16-18.  He  did  not  part  with  Sarah,  however,  without  giving  her  a 
word  of  reproof.  In  calling  Abraham  her  brother,  he  made  use  of  her  own 
language  in  a  sarcastic  way ;  and  tells  her  that  her  husband  should  be  to  her 
as  a  veil,  that  she  should  look  on  none  else,  and  none  else  should  look  on 
her.  Some  have  rendered  the  words,  "  It,"  that  is,  the  silver,  "  shall  be  to 
thee  a  covering  for  the  eyes,  unto  all  that  are  with  thee,  and  to  all  other." 
As  if  he  had  given  it  to  buy  her  a  veil,  which  might  prevent  all  such  mis- 
takes in  future.  Take  this,  (q.  d.)  and  never  go  without  a  veil  again,  nor 
any  of  your  married  servants.     "  So  she  was  reproved." 

The  issue  was,  Abraham  prayed,  and  the  Lord  answered  him,  and  healed 
the  family  of  Abimelech.  He  would  feel  a  motive  for  prayer,  in  this  case, 
which  he  did  not  when  interceding  for  Sodpra ;  for  of  this  evil  he  himself 
had  been  the  cause. 


DISCOURSE  XXIX. 

THE   BIRTH    OF    ISAAC,    ETC. 

Gen.  ssi. 


Ver.  1.  Abraham,  still  sojourning  in  the  lands  of  the  Philistines,  at  length 
sees  the  promise  fulfilled.  It  is  noted  with  some  degree  of  emphasis,  as 
forming  a  special  epoch  in  his  life,  that  "  the  Lord  visited  Sarah  as  he  had 
said,  and  the  Lord  did  unto  Sarah  as  he  had  spoken."  Such  a  kind  of  lan- 
guage is  used  of  his  posterity  being  put  in  possession  of  the  Promised  Land  : 
"  The  Lord  gave  them  rest  round  about,  according  to  all  that  he  sware  unto 
their  fathers — there  failed  not  aught  of  any  good  thing  which  the  Lord  had 
spoken  unto  the  house  of  Israel :  all  came  to  pass."  And  such  will  be  our 
language  sooner  or  later  concerning  all  the  good  things  promised  to  the 
church,  or  to  us  as  individuals. 

Ver.  2.  Two  things  are  particularly  noticed  in  the  birth  of  this  child  :  It 
was  in  Abraham's  "  old  age,"  and  "  at  the  set  time  of  which  God  had  spoken 
to  him."  Both  these  circumstances  showed  the  whole  to  be  of  God.  That 
whigh  comes  to  us  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things  may  be  of  God,  but  that 
which  comes  otherwise  manifestly  appears  to  be  so.  One  great  difference 
between  this  child  and  the  son  of  Hagar  consisted  in  this :  the  one  was  born 
"after  the  flesh;"  that  is,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  generation:  but  the 
other  "  after  the  Spirit ;"  that  is,  by  extraordinary  Divine  interposition,  and 
in  virtue  of  a  special  promise.  Gal.  iv.  23,  29.  Analogous  to  these  were 
those  Jews  on  the  one  hand  who  were  merely  descended  from  Abraham 
"  according  to  the  flesh ;"  and  those  on  the  other  who  were  "  not  of  the 
circumcision  only,  but  also  walked  in  the  steps  of  the  faith  of  their  fether 


'84 


EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


Abraham,"  Rom.  iv.  12.  The  former  were  the  children  of  the  bond-woman, 
who  were  cast  out;  the  latter  of  the  free-woman,  who,  being  "his  people 
whom  he  foreknew,"  were  not  "  cast  away,"  but  were  counted  for  his  seed, 
Gal.  iv.  28-31 ;  Rom.  ix.  7,  9;  xi.  1,  2. 

Ver.  3,  4.  The  name  by  which  this  extraordinary  child  should  be  called 
was  Isaac,  according  to  the  previous  direction  of  God.  It  signifies  laughter, 
or  joy,  and  corresponds  with  the  gladness  which  accompanied  his  birth. 
Children  are  ordinarily  "  a  heritage  of  the  Lord."  On  account  of  the  un- 
certainty of  their  future  character,  however,  we  have  reason  to  rejoice  with 
trembling:  but  in  this  case  it  was  joy  in  a  manner  unmixed;  for  he  was 
born  under  the  promise  of  being  "  blessed,  and  made  a  blessing."  But  what 
a  difference  between  the  joy  of  Abraham  at  the  birth  of  a  child,  and  that 
which  is  commonly  seen  among  us!  His  was  not  that  vain  mirth,  or  noisy 
laughter,  which  unfits  for  obedience  to  God :  on  the  contrary,  he  circum- 
cised his  son  when  he  was  eight  days  old,  not  in  conformity  to  custom,  but 
"  as  God  had  commanded  him." 

Ver.  5-7.  The  sacred  writers  seldom  deal  in  reflections  themselves ;  but 
will  often  mention  those  of  others.  Moses,  having  recorded  the  fact  that 
"Abraham  was  a  hundred  years  old  when  his  son  Isaac  was  born  unto  him," 
tells  us  of  the  joyful  sayings  of  Sarah : — "  God,"  saith  she,  "  hath  made  me 
to  laugh,  so  that  all  who  hear  will  laugh  with  me." — "  Who  would  have  said 
unto  Abraham  that  Sarah  should  have  given  children  suck  1  For  I  have 
borne  him  a  son  in  his  old  age !"  Yes,  God  had  made  her  to  laugh,  and 
that  without  any  of  her  crooked  measures ;  and  not  merely  with  a  private, 
but  a  public  joy ;  for  "  all  that  hear  shall  laugh  with  her." 

Ver.  8.  For  a  time  nothing  remarkable  occurred  :  the  child  grew,  and  all 
went  on  pleasantly.  When  the  time  came  for  his  being  weaned,  a  great 
feast  was  made,  in  token  of  joy  that  he  had  passed  the  most  delicate  and 
dangerous  stage  of  life. 

Ver.  9.  But  the  joy  of  that  day  was  imbittered.  The  son  of  Hagar,  being 
stung  with  envy,  cannot  bear  such  an  ado  about  this  child  of  promise.  So 
he  turns  it  into  ridicule,  probably  deriding  the  parents  and  the  promise  to- 
gether ;  and  all  this  in  the  sight  of  Sarah  !  Thus  he  that  was  born  after  the 
flesh  began  at  an  early  stage  io persecute  him  that  was  born  after  the  Spirit; 
and  thus  Sarah's  crooked  policy,  in  giving  Hagar  to  Abraham,  goes  on  to 
furnish  them  with  new  sources  of  sorrow.  From  what  was  said  of  Hagar 
in  chap.  xvi.  we  conceived  hopes  of  her;  but  whatever  she  was,  her  son 
appears  at  present  to  be  a  bitter  enemy  to  God  and  his  people. 

Ver.  10-13.  The  consequence  was,  Sarah  was  set  on  both  the  mother 
and  the  son  being  banished  from  the  family.  Abraham  had  earnestly  desired 
that  Ishmael  might  live  before  God ;  but  Sarah  says.  He  shall  not  be  heir 
with  her  son,  with  Isaac.  This  resolution  on  the  part  of  Sarah  might  be  the 
mere  effect  of  temper;  but  whatever  were  her  motives,  the  thing  itself 
accorded  with  the  design  of  God ;  though  therefore  it  was  grievous  to  Abra- 
ham, he  is  directed  to  comply  with  it.  The  Lord  would  indeed  make  a 
nation  of  Ishmael,  because  he  was  his  seed  ;  but  in  Isaac  should  his  seed  be 
called.  We  must  not  refuse  to  join  in  doing  what  God  commands,  however 
contrary  it  may  be  to  our  natural  feelings,  nor  on  account  of  the  suspicious 
motives  of  some  with  whom  we  are  called  to  act. 

Ver.  14.  Impressed  with  these  principles,  the  father  of  the  faithful  without 
further  delay  rose  early  the  next  morning,  probably  before  Sarah  was  stirring, 
and  sent  away  both  the  mother  and  the  son.  His  manner  of  doing  it,  how- 
ever, was  tender  and  kind.  Giving  Hagar  a  portion  of  bread,  and  a  bottle 
of  water,  he  committed  them  to  Him  who  had  in  effect  promised  to  watch 
over  them.     And  now  for  a  little  while  we  take  leave  of  Abraham's  familv, 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ISAAC,  ETC.  85 

and  observe  the  unhappy  Ilagar  and  her  son  wandering  in  the  wilderness  of 
Beersheba. 

Ver.  15,  16.  It  was  doubtless  the  design  of  Hagar,  when  she  set  off,  to 
go  to  Egypt  her  native  country ;  but  having  to  travel  through  a  desert  land, 
where  there  was  ordinarily  no  water,  it  was  necessary  she  should  be  fur- 
nished with  that  article.  Whether  "  the  wilderness  of  Beersheba,"  as  it  was 
called  at  the  time  Moses  wrote  the  narrative,  was  directly  in  her  way,  or 
whether  she  went  thither  in  consequence  of  having  "  wandered,"  or  lost  her 
way,  so  it  was,  that  she  was  reduced  to  the  greatest  distress.  The  bread 
might  not  be  exhausted,  but  the  water  was  ;  and  no  spring  being  to  be  found 
in  this  inhospitable  place,  she  and  Ishtnael  appear  to  have  walked  about,  till 
he,  overcome  of  thirst,  could  walk  no  longer.  She  had  supported  him,  it 
seems,  as  long  as  she  could  ;  but  fearing  he  should  die  in  her  arms,  she  cast 
him  under  a  shrub,  just  to  screen  him  from  the  scorching  sun,  and  "  went 
and  sat  herself  down  over  against  him,  a  good  way  off,  as  it  were  a  bow-shot ; 
for  she  said,  Let  me  not  see  the  death  of  the  child !  And  she  sat  over  against 
him,  and  lifted  up  her  voice  and  wept." 

Ver.  17,  IS.  A  more  finished  picture  of  distress  we  shall  seldom  see.  The 
bitter  cries  and  flowing  tears  of  the  afflicted  mother,  with  the  groans  of  her 
dying  son,  are  heard,  and  seen,  and  felt,  in  a  manner  as  though  we  were 
present.  And  wherefore  do  they  cry?  Had  there  been  any  ear  to  hear 
them,  any  eye  to  pity  them,  or  hand  to  help  them,  these  cries  and  tears  might 
have  been  mingled  with  hope  ;  but,  as  fir  as  human  aid  was  concerned,  there 
was  no  place  for  this.  Whether  any  of  them  were  directed  to  Heaven  we 
know  not.  We  could  have  wished,  and  should  almost  have  expected,  that 
those  of  the  mother  at  least  would  have  been  so ;  for  surely  she  could  not 
have  forgotten  Him  who  had  seen  and  delivered  her  from  a  similar  condition 
about  sixteen  years  before,  and  who  had  then  promised  to  "  multiply  her 
seed,"  and  to  cause  this  very  child  to  "  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his  bre- 
thren." But  whether  any  of  these  expressions  of  distress  were  directed  to 
God  or  not,  the  groans  of  the  distressed  reached  his  ear.  "  God  heard  the 
voice  of  the  lad ;  and  the  angel  of  God  called  to  Hagar  out  of  heaven,  and 
said  unto  her.  What  aileth  thee,  Hagar?  Fear  not;  for  God  hath  heard  the 
voice  of  the  lad  where  he  is.  Arise,  lift  up  the  lad,  and  hold  him  in  thine 
hand ;  for  I  will  make  him  a  great  nation." 

Ver.  19.  At  this  instant,  lifting  up  her  eyes,  she  saw  a  spring  of  water, 
which  before  she  had  overlooked ;  and,  filling  her  bottle  from  it,  returned  to 
the  lad,  and  gave  him  drink.  "  To  God  the  Lord  belong  the  issues  from 
death."  He  maketh  strong  the  bands  of  the  mocker ;  and  again  he  looseth 
his  prisoners,  and  delivereth  those  that  were  appointed  to  die.  If  Ishmael 
were  at  any  future  time  possessed  of  true  religion,  he  must  look  back  upon 
these  humbling  but  gracious  dispensations  of  the  God  of  his  father  Abraham 
with  very  tender  emotions. 

Ver.  20,  21.  Whether  Ilagar  and  her  son  continued  any  longer  in  the 
wilderness  of  Beersheba  we  are  not  informed  :  it  would  rather  seem  that  they 
left  it  and  prosecuted  their  journey.  They  did  not  however  settle  in  Egypt, 
though  in  process  of  time  she  took  a  wife  for  him  from  that  country ;  but  in 
"  the  wilderness  of  Paran,"  where  the  providence  of  God  watched  over  him, 
and  where  he  lived  and  perhaps  maintained  his  mother  by  the  use  of  the 
bow.     But  to  return — 

Ver.  22-24.  Abraham  still  continued  to  sojourn  in  the  land  of  the  Phi- 
listines, not  indeed  at  Gerar,  but  within  a  few  miles  of  it.  Here  he  was 
visited  by  king  Abimelech,  who,  attended  by  the  captain  of  his  host,  in  the 
most  friendly  manner,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  his  posterity,  requested  to 
live  in  perpetual  amity  with  him.     "  God  is  with  thee,"  saith  he, "  in  all  that 

H 


OO  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

thou  doest.  Now  therefore  swear  unto  me  here  by  God  that  thou  wih  not 
deal  falsely  with  me,  nor  with  my  son,  nor  with  my  son's  son ;  but  accord- 
ing to  the  kindness  that  I  have  done  unto  thee,  thou  shalt  do  unto  me,  and 
to  the  land  wherein  thou  hast  sojourned.  And  Abraham  said,  I  will  swear." 
Observe,  1.  The  motive  that  induces  this  friendly  request:  he  saw  that  God 
was  with  him.  Probably  the  news  of  the  extraordinary  birth  of  Isaac  had 
reached  the  court  of  Abimelech,  and  become  a  topic  of  conversation.  This, 
said  he,  is  a  great  man,  and  a  great  family,  and  will  become  a  great  nation : 
the  blessing  of  Heaven  attends  him.  It  is  our  wisdom,  therefore,  to  take 
the  earliest  opportunity  to  be  on  good  terms  with  him !  Had  Abimelech's 
successors  always  acted  on  this  principle  towards  Israel,  it  had  been  better 
for  them;  for,  whether  they  knew  it  or  not,  God  in  blessing  Abraham  had 
promised  to  •'  bless  them  that  blessed  him,  and  to  curse  them  that  cursed 
him."  2.  The  solemnity  with  which  he  wished  the  friendship  to  be  con- 
firmed :  "  swear  unto  me  by  God."  It  is  a  dictate  of  prudence,  very  com- 
mon among  magistrates,  to  require  men  to  swear  by  a  name  which  the  party 
liolds  sacred.  In  this  view,  Abimelech  certainly  acted  a  wise  part ;  for  who- 
ever made  light  of  God's  name,  the  party  here  would  not.  3.  Abraham's 
cheerful  and  ready  compliance.  I  hope  he  did  not  need  to  be  sworn  not  to 
deal  falsely ;  but,  as  posterity  was  concerned,  the  more  solemn  the  engage- 
ment the  better.  The  friend  of  God  has  no  desire  but  to  be  the  friend  of 
man. 

Ver.  25,  26.  Now  that  they  are  entering  into  closer  terms  of  amity,  how- 
ever, it  is  proper  that  if  there  be  any  cause  of  complaint  on  either  side,  it 
should  be  mentioned  and  adjusted,  that  nothing  which  is  past,  at  least,  may 
interrupt  their  future  harmony.  Abraham  accordingly  makes  mention  of 
"  a  well  of  water"  which  Abimelech's  servants  had  violently  taken  away. 
In  this  country,  and  to  a  man  whose  substance  consisted  much  in  cattle,  a 
spring  of  water  was  of  consequence ;  and  to  have  it  taken  away  by  mere 
violence,  though  it  might  be  borne  with  from  an  enemy,  yet  is  not  to  be 
overlooked  where  there  is  professed  friendship.  In  this  matter  Abimelech 
fairly  and  fully  exonerates  himself:  "  I  wot  not,"  saith  he,  "  who  hath  done 
this  thing :  neither  didst  thou  tell  me,  neither  yet  heard  I  of  it  but  to-day." 
Public  characters  cannot  always  be  accountable  for  the  misdeeds  of  those 
who  act  under  them ;  they  had  need  take  care,  however,  what  sort  of  ser- 
vants they  employ,  as,  while  matters  are  unexplained,  that  which  is  wrong  is 
commonly  placed  to  their  account. 

Ver.  27-32.  Abraham,  satisfied  with  the  answer,  proceeds  to  enter  into  a 
solemn  covenant  with  Abimelech,  and,  as  it  should  seem,  a  covenant  by 
sacrifice.*  The  "  sheep  and  oxen"  appear  to  have  been  presented  for  this 
purpose;  and  the  "  seven  ewe  lambs"  were  probably  a  consideration  to  him, 
as  lord  of  the  soil,  for  a  rightful  and  acknowledged  propriety  in  the  well. 
Having  mutually  sworn  to  this  covenant  of  peace,  the  place  where  it  was 
transacted  was  hence  called  Becrsheba,  the  locll  of  the  oath,  or  the  well  of 
seven,  alluding  to  the  seven  lambs  which  were  given  as  the  price  of  it.  Mat- 
ters being  thus  adjusted,  Abimelech  and  Phicol,  the  chief  captain  of  his 
host,  took  leave  and  departed. 

Ver.  33,  34.  Abraham,  being  now  quietly  settled  at  Beersheba,  "  planted 
a  grove,  and  called  there  on  the  name  of  Jehovah,  the  everlasting  God." 
The  grove  might  be  for  the  shadowing  of  his  tent,  and  perhaps  for  a  place 
of  worship.  Such  places  were  afterwards  abused  to  idolatry;  or  if  otherwise, 
they  became  unlawful  when  the  temple  was  erected.  The  use  which 
Abraham  made  of  it  was  worthy  of  him.     Such  was  his  common  practice; 

*  See  on  chap.  xv.  10. 


ABRAHAM  COMMANDED  TO  OFFER  UP  ISAAC.  87 

wherever  he  pitched  his  tent,  there  he  reared  an  altar  to  the  Lord.  A  lovely 
example  this,  to  all  those  who  would  tread  in  the  steps  of  the  faith  of 
Abraham.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  this  was  a  common,  but  rather 
a  special  act  of  worship ;  somewhat  like  that  of  Samuel,  when  he  set  up  a 
stone  between  Mizpeh  and  Shen,  and  called  it  Ebenezer,  saying,  "Hitherto 
the  Lord  hath  helped  us."  There  are  periods  in  life  in  which  we  are  led  to 
review  the  dispensations  of  God  towards  us  with  special  gratitude  and  re- 
newed devotion.  In  this  situation  Abraham  continued  "  many  days ;"  but 
Btill  he  is  "a  sojourner,"  and  such  he  must  continue  in  the  present  world. 


DISCOURSE  XXX. 

ABRAHAM   COMMANDED    TO    OFFER    UP    HIS    SON    ISAAC. 
Gen.  xxii. 

When  Isaac  was  born,  Abraham  might  be  apt  to  hope  that  his  trials  were 
nearly  at  an  end  ;  but  if  so,  he  was  greatly  mistaken.  It  is  not  enough  that, 
in  consequence  of  this  event,  he  is  called  to  give  up  Ishmael ;  a  greater  trial 
than  this  is  yet  behind. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  after  these  things,  that  God  did  tempt  Abraham." 
Many  temptations  had  assailed  him  from  other  quarters,  out  of  which  God 
had  delivered  him;  and  does  he  after  this  become  his  tempter?  As  "God 
cannot  be  tempted  with  evil,  so  neither  (in  one  sense)  tempteth  he  any  man." 
But  he  sees  tit  to  try  the  righteous;  and  very  frequently  those  most  who  are 
most  distinguished  by  their  faith  and  spirituality.  So  great  a  value  doth  the 
Lord  set  upon  the  genuine  exercises  of  grace,  that  all  the  grandeur  of  heaven 
and  earth  is  overlooked,  in  comparison  of  "  a  poor  and  contrite  spirit,  which 
trembleth  at  his  word."  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  he  should  bring  his 
servants  into  situations  which,  though  trying  to  them,  are  calculated  to  draw 
forth  these  pleasant  fruits. 

In  discoursing  upon  this  temptation  of  Abraham,  I  shall  deviate  from  my 
usual  practice  of  expounding  verse  by  verse;  and  shall  notice  the  trial  itself — 
the  conduct  of  the  patriarch  under  it — the  reward  conferred  upon  him — and 
the  general  design  of  the  whole. 

First,  with  respect  to  the  trial  itself.  The  time  of  it  is  worthy  of  notice. 
The  same  things  may  be  more  or  less  trying  as  they  are  connected  with 
other  things.  If  the  treatment  of  Job's  friends  had  not  been  preceded  by 
the  loss  of  iiis  substance,  the  untimely  death  of  his  children,  the  cruel  coun- 
sel of  his  wife,  and  the  heavy  hand  of  God,  it  had  been  much  more  tolerable  ; 
and  if  Abraham's  faith  and  patience  had  not  been  exercised  in  the  manner 
they  were  anterior  to  this  temptation,  it  might  have  been  somewhat  different 
from  what  it  was.  It  is  also  a  much  greater  trial  to  be  deprived  of  an  object 
when  our  hopes  have  been  raised,  and  in  a  manner  accomplished,  respecting 
it,  than  to  have  it  altogether  withheld  from  us.  The  spirits  of  a  man  may  be 
depressed  by  a  heavy  affliction;  but  if  he  be  nearly  recovered,  and  experiences 
a  relapse,  if  again  he  recovers,  and  again  relapses,  this  is  much  more  depress- 
ing than  if  no  such  hopes  had  been  afforded  him.  "Thou  hast  lifted  me 
up,"  said  the  psalmist,  "and  cast  me  down!"  Now  such  was  the  temptation 
of  Abraham.  It  was  "after  these  things"  that  God  did  tempt  Abraham; 
that  is,  after  five-and-twenty  years'  waiting;  after  the  promise  had  been  fre- 
quently repeated;  after  liope  had  been  raised  to  the  highest  pitch;  yea,  after 


88  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

it  had  been  actually  turned  into  enjoyment ;  and  when  the  child  had  lived 
long  enough  to  discover  an  amiable  and  godly  disposition,  ver.  7. 

The  shock  which  it  was  adapted  to  produce  upon  his  natural  affections  is 
also  worthy  of  notice.  The  command  is  worded  in  a  manner  as  if  it  were 
designed  to  harrow  up  all  his  feelings  as  a  father:  "Take  now  thy  son,  thine 
ONLY  SON  (of  promise) — Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest" — Or,  as  some  read  it, 
"Take  now  that  son  ....  that  only  one  of  thine  ....  whom  thou  lovest 
....  that  Isaac" — and  what?  Deliver  him  to  some  other  hand  to  sacrifice 
liim  ?  No :  be  thou  thyself  the  priest ;  go,  "  offer  him  up  for  a  burnt-offer- 
ing !"  When  Ishmael  was  thirteen  years  old,  Abraham  could  have  been 
well  contented  to  have  gone  without  another  son;  but  when  Isaac  was  born, 
and  had  for  a  number  of  years  been  entwining  round  his  heart,  to  part  with 
him  in  this  manner  must,  we  should  think,  be  a  rending  stroke.  Add  to 
this,  Isaac's  having  to  carry  the  wood,  and  himself  the  fire  and  the  knife ; 
but,  above  all,  the  cutting  question  of  the  lad,  asked  in  the  simplicity  of  his 
heart,  without  knowing  that  he  himself  was  to  be  the  victim:  "  Behold  the 
fire  and  the  wood  ;  but  where  is  the  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering?" — This  would 
seem  to  be  more  than  human  nature  could  bear. 

But  the  shock  which  it  would  be  to  natural  affection  is  not  represented 
as  the  principal  part  of  the  trial ;  but  rather  what  it  must  have  been  to  his 
faith.  It  was  not  so  much  his  being  his  son,  as  his  only  son  of  promise; 
his  Isaac,  in  whom  all  the  great  things  spoken  of  his  seed  were  to  be  fulfilled. 
When  called  to  give  up  his  other  son,  God  condescended  to  give  him  a  reason 
for  it;  but  here  no  reason  is  given.  In  that  case,  though  Ishmael  must  go, 
it  is  because  he  is  not  the  child  of  promise ;  "  for  in  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be 
called."     But  if  Isaac  go,  who  shall  be  a  substitute  for  him? 

Let  us  next  observe  the  conduct  of  Abraham  under  this  sharp  trial.  In 
general,  we  see  no  opposition,  either  from  the  struggles  of  natural  affection 
or  those  of  unbelief ;  all  bow  in  absolute  submission  to  the  will  of  God.  We 
may  depict  to  ourselves  how  the  former  would  revolt,  and  how  the-  latter 
would  rise  up  in  rebellion,  and  what  a  number  of  plausible  objections  might 
have  been  urged  ;  but  there  is  not  a  single  appearance  of  either  in  Abraham, 
We  have  here,  then,  a  surprising  instance  of  the  efficacy  of  Divine  grace, 
in  rendering  every  power,  passion,  and  thought  of  the  mind  subordinate  to 
the  will  of  God.  There  is  a  wide  difference  between  this  and  the  extinction 
of  the  passions.  That  were  to  be  deprived  of  feeling;  but  this  is  to  have 
the  mind  assimilated  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  who,  though  he  felt  most  sensi- 
bly, yet  said,  "  If  this  cup  may  not  pass  from  me,  except  I  drink  it,  thy  will 
be  done !" 

No  sooner  had  the  father  of  the  faithful  received  the  heavenly  mandate 
than,  without  further  delay,  he  prepares  for  the  journey.  Lot  lingered,  even 
when  his  own  deliverance  was  at  stake;  but  Abraham  "rose  early  in  the 
morning,"  in  prompt  obedience  to  God.  He  had  to  go  three  days'  journey 
ere  he  reached  the  appointed  spot;  a  distance  perhaps  of  about  sixty  miles. 
Sarah  seems  to  have  known  nothing  of  it.  He  takes  only  two  young  men 
with  him  to  carry  what  was  necessary ;  and  on  his  arrival  within  sight  of  the 
place,  they  were  left  behind.  "  Abide  you  here,"  said  he,  "  with  the  ass, 
and  I  and  the  lad  will  go  yonder  and  worship,  and  come  again  to  you." 
This  would  intimate  that  he  wished  not  to  be  interrupted.  In  hard  duties 
and  severe  trials,  we  should  consider  that  we  have  enough  to  struggle  with 
in  our  minds,  without  having  any  interruption  from  other  quarters.  Great 
trials  are  best  entered  upon  with  but  little  company.  Such  was  the  pre- 
caution taken  by  our  Lord  himself  It  is  admirable  to  see  how,  in  this  try- 
ing hour,  Abraham  possessed  his  soul.  He  lays  the  wood  upon  his  son- 
takes  the  fire  and  the  knife — they  go  both  of  them  together — he  evades  the 


ABRAHAM  COMMANDED  TO  OFFER  UP  ISAAC.  89 

cutting  question  of  Isaac  so  as  to  prevent  disclosure,  and  yet  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  e>:cite  resignation  to  God — built  the  altar — stretched  forth  his 
hand — and  took  the  knife  with  an  intention  to  slay  his  son ! 

But  what  did  he  mean  by  telling  his  two  servants  that  he  and  the  lad 
would  come  again  to  them?  These  words,  compared  with  those  of  the 
apostle,  in  Heb.  xi.  17,  explain  the  whole  story.  They  show  that  Abraham 
from  the  first  believed  that  the  lad  would  in  some  way  be  restored  to  him, 
because  God  had  said,  "In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called."  He  expected  no 
other  than  that  he  should  have  to  slay  him,  and  that  he  would  be  burnt  to 
ashes;  but  if  so  it  were,  he  was  persuaded  that  he  should  receive  him  again, 
"  accounting  that  God  was  able  to  raise  him  up  even  from  the  dead."  Such 
was  the  victory  of  faith. 

Take  notice,  in  the  next  place,  of  the  reioard  conferred  upon  him.  At  the 
very  moment  when  he  was  about  to  give  the  fatal  stroke,  and  to  which  Isaac 
seems  to  have  made  no  resistance,  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  who  visited  him 
at  Mamre,  and  with  whom  he  had  interceded  in  behalf  of  Sodom,  called 
unto  him  to  forbear:  "for  now  I  know,"  saith  he,  "that  thou  fearest  God, 
seeing  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  from  me."  The  Lord 
knew  the  heart  of  Abraham  before  he  had  tried  him ;  but  he  speaks  after  the 
manner  of  men.  It  is  by  a  holy  and  obedient  reverence  of  the  Divine  autho- 
rity that  faith  is  made  manifest.  As  a  sinner,  Abraham  was  justified  by  faith 
only;  but  as  a  professing  believer,  he  was  justified  by  the  works  which  his 
faith  produced.  This  accounts,  I  apprehend,  for  what  is  said  by  Paul  on 
the  former  of  these  subjects,  and  by  James  on  the  latter.  They  both  allege 
the  example  of  Abraham  ;  but  the  one  respects  him  as  ungodhj,  and  the  other 
as  godly.  In  the  former  instance  he  is  justified  by  faith,  exclusive  of  works, 
or  as  having  reference  merely  to  the  promised  seed;  in  the  latter  by  faith  as 
producing  works,  and  thereby  proving  him  to  be  the  friend  of  God,  Rom. 
iv.  3-5 ;  James  ii.  21-24. 

Abraham  being  thus  agreeably  arrested  in  his  design,  makes  a  pause,  and, 
lifting  up  his  eyes,  sees  "  a  ram  caught  in  a  thicket  by  his  horns."  Him  he 
takes,  as  provided  of  God,  and  "  offers  him  up  for  a  burnt-offering  instead 
of  his  son."  This  extraordinary  deliverance  so  impressed  his  mind,  that  he 
called  the  name  of  the  place  "  Jehovah-jireh;  The  Lord  will  see,  or  provide." 
And  this  name  seems  to  have  become  a  kind  of  proverb  in  Israel,  furnishing 
not  only  a  memorial  of  God's  goodness  to  Abraham,  but  a  promise  that  he 
would  interpose  for  them  that  trust  in  him  in  times  of  extremity.  To  all 
this,  the  Lord  adds  a  repetition  of  the  promised  blessing.  The  angel  of  the 
Lord,  who  called  unto  him  before,  "called  unto  him  a  second  time,  saying, 
By  myself  have  I  sworn,  saith  the  Lord;  for  because  thou  hast  done  this 
thing,  and  hast  not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son ;  that  in  blessing  I  will 
bless  thee,  and  in  multiplying  I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  the 
heaven,  and  as  the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore;  and  thy  seed  shall  possess  the 
gate  of  his  enemies;  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed, 
because  thou  hast  obeyed  my  voice."  Though  the  things  here  promised 
are  much  the  same  as  had  been  promised  before;  yet  they  are  more  than  a 
mere  repetition.  The  terms  are  stronger  than  had  ever  been  used  on  any 
former  occasion,  and,  as  such,  more  expressive  of  Divine  complacency. 
"Blessing  I  will  bless  thee,"  &c.,  is  a  mode  of  speaking  which  denotes,  I 
will  greatly  bless  thee,  chap.  iii.  IG.  It  is  also  delivered  in  the  form  of  an 
oath,  that  it  may  be  a  ground  of  strong  consolation;  and  the  same  things 
which  were  promised  before  are  now  promised  as  the  reward  of  this  singular 
instance  of  obedience,  to  express  how  greatly  God  approved  of  it. 

A  few  remarks  on  the  general  design  of  the  ivhole  will  conclude  this  sub- 
ject.    Though  it  was  not  the  intention  of  God  to  permit  Abraham  actually 

Vol.  hi.— 12  h  2 


yO  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

to  offer  a  human  sacrifice,  yet  he  might  mean  to  assert  his  own  right,  as 
Lord  of  all,  to  require  it,  as  well  as  to  manifest  the  implicit  obedience  of 
faith  in  the  conduct  of  his  servant.  Such  an  assertion  of  his  right  would 
manifest  his  goodness  in  refusing  to  exercise  it.  Hence,  when  children 
were  sacrificed  to  Moloch,  who  had  no  such  right,  Jehovah  could  say  in  re- 
gard of  himself,  "It  is  what  J  commanded  not,  nor  spake  it,  neither  came  it 
into  my  mind."  God  never  accepted  but  one  human  sacrifice;  and  blood  in 
that  case  was  not  shed  at  his  command,  but  by  the  wicked  hands  of  men. 
It  is  necessary,  however,  that  we  should  resign  our  lives,  and  every  thing  we 
have,  to  his  disposal.  We  cannot  be  said  to  love  him  supremely  if  father,  or 
mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  our  own  lives  be  preferred  before  him.  The 
way  to  enjoy  our  temporal  comforts  is  to  resign  them  to  God.  When  we 
have  in  this  manner  given  them  up,  and  receive  them  again  at  his  hand,  they 
become  much  sweeter,  and  are  accompanied  with  blessings  of  greater  value. 

But  in  this  transaction  there  seems  to  be  a  still  higher  design;  namely,  to 
predict  in  a  figure  the  great  substitute  which  God  in  due  time  should  "  see 
and  provide."*  The  very  place  of  it,  called  "  the  mount  of  the  Lord,"  seems 
to  have  been  marked  out  as  the  scene  of  great  events ;  and  of  that  kind  too 
in  which  a  substitutional  sacrifice  was  offered  and  accepted.  Here  it  was 
that  David  offered  burnt-offerings,  and  peace-offerings,  and  called  upon  the 
Lord ;  and  he  answered  him  from  heaven  by  fire  upon  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering,  and  commanded  the  angel  of  death  to  put  up  his  sword,  1  Chron. 
xxi.  2(5,  27.  It  was  upon  the  same  mountain  that  Solomon  was  aftewards 
directed  to  build  the  temple,  2  Chron.  iii.  I.  And,  if  it  were  not  at  the 
very  spot,  it  could  not  be  far  distant  that  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  cruci- 
fied. Mount  Moriah  was  large  enough  to  give  name  to  a  tract  of  land  about 
it,  ver.  2.  Mount  Calvary  therefore  was  probably  a  smaller  mountain,  which 
ascended  from  a  certain  part  of  it.  Hither  then  was  led  God's  own  Son, 
his  only  Son,  whom  he  loved,  and  in  whom  all  nations  of  the  earth  were  to 
be  blessed ;  nor  was  he  spared  at  the  awful  crisis  by  means  of  a  substitute, 
but  was  himself  freely  delivered  up  as  the  substitute  of  others.  One  reason 
of  the  high  approbation  which  God  expressed  of  Abraham's  conduct  might 
be  its  affording  some  faint  likeness  of  what  would  shortly  be  his  own. 

The  chapter  concludes  with  an  account  of  Nahor's  family,  who  settled  at 
Haran.  Probably  this  had  not  been  given,  but  for  the  connexion  which  it 
had  with  the  church  of  God.  From  them  Isaac  and  Jacob  took  them  wives  j 
and  it  is  as  preparatory  to  those  events  that  the  genealogy  is  recorded. 


DISCOURSE  XXXL 

THE    DEATH   AND    BURIAL   OF    SARAH. 
Gen.  xsiii. 


We  have  no  such  account  of  the  death  of  any  woman  before,  or  of  the 
respect  paid  to  her  memory,  as  is  here  given  of  Sarah.  She  was  not  with- 
out her  faults,  and  who  is?  but  she  was  upon  the  whole  a  great  female 
character.  As  such  her  name  stands  recorded  in  the  New  Testament 
among  the  worthies,  and  the  memory  of  her  was  more  than  usually  blessed. 

Ver.  1,  2.  Observe,  1.  The  time  of  her  death.  She  was  younger  by  ten 
years  than  Abraham,  and  yet  died  thirty-eight  years  before  him.  Human 
life  is  a  subject  of  very  uncertain  calculation :  God  often  takes  the  youngest 


DEATH  OF  SARAH.  91 

before  the  eldest.  She  lived,  however,  thirty-seven  years  after  the  birth  of 
Isaac,  to  a  good  old  age,  and  went  home  as  a  shock  of  corn  ripe  in  its 
season.  2.  The  place.  It  was  anciently  called  Kirjath-arba,  afterwards 
Hebron,  situated  in  the  plain  of  Mamre,  where  Abraham  had  lived  more 
than  twenty  years  before  he  went  into  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and 
whither  he  had  since  returned. — See  p.  57.  Here  Sarah  died,  and  here 
Abraham  mourned  for  her.  We  may  take  notice  of  the  forms  of  it.  He 
came  to  mourn ;  that  is,  he  came  into  her  tent  where  she  died,  and  looked  at 
her  dead  body ;  his  eye  affected  his  heart.  There  was  none  of  that  false 
delicacy  of  modern  times  which  shuns  to  see  or  attend  the  burial  of  near 
relations.  Let  him  see  her,  and  let  him  weep;  it  is  the  last  tribute  of  affec- 
tion which  he  will  be  able  in  that  manner  to  pay  her.  We  should  also 
notice  the  sincerity  of  it ;  he  loept.  Many  affect  to  mourn  who  do  not  weep ; 
but  Abraham  both  mourned  and  wept.  Religion  does  not  stop  the  course 
of  nature,  though  it  moderates  it;  and,  by  inspiring  the  hope  of  a  blessed 
resurrection,  prevents  our  being  swallowed  up  of  overmuch  sorrow. 

Ver.  3,  4.  From  mourning,  which  was  commonly  accompanied  with  sit- 
ting on  the  ground,  (Job  i.  20;  ii.  13;  Lam.  i.  1,)  Abraham  at  length 
"  stood  up  from  before  his  dead,"  and  took  measures  to  bury  her.  It  is  pro- 
per to  indulge  in  weeping  for  a  time,  but  there  is  a  time  for  it  to  abate ;  and 
it  is  well  there  is.  The  necessary  cares  attending  life  are  often  a  merciful 
means  of  rousing  the  mind  from  the  torpor  of  melancholy.  But  see  what  a 
change  death  makes.  Those  faces  which  once  excited  strong  sensations  of 
pleasure  require  now  to  be  buried  "  out  of  our  sight."  In  those  times,  and 
long  afterwards,  they  appear  to  have  had  no  public  burying-places ;  and 
Abraham,  often  removing  from  place  to  place,  and  not  knowing  where  his 
lot  might  be  cast  at  the  time,  had  not  provided  one.  He  had  therefore  at 
this  time  a  burying-place  to  seek.  As  yet  he  had  none  inheritance  in  the 
land,  though  the  whole  was  given  him  in  promise.  We  see  him  here  plead- 
ing for  a  grave  as  "  a  stranger  and  a  sojourner."  This  language  is  com- 
mented upon  by  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews :  "  They  confessed,"  says  he, 
"  that  they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the  earth;  and  they  that  say  such 
things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek  a  country."  Abraham  did  not  sustain 
this  character  alone,  nor  merely  on  account  of  his  having  no  inheritance  in 
Canaan;  for  Israel,  when  put  in  possession  of  the  land,  were  taught  to  con- 
sider it  as  properly  the  Lord's,  and  themselves  as  strangers  and  sojourners 
with  him  in  it.  Lev.  xxv.  23.  Even  David,  who  was  king  of  Israel,  made 
the  same  confession,  Psal.  xxxix.  12. 

Ver.  5-16.  One  admires  to  observe  the  courteous  behaviour  between 
Abraham  and  the  Canaanites ;  for  Heth  was  a  son  of  Canaan.  On  his  part, 
having  signified  his  desire,  and  receiving  a  respectful  answer,  he  "  bowed 
himself  to  them;"  and  when  he  had  fixed  upon  a  spot  in  his  mind,  he  does 
not  ask  it  of  the  owner,  but  requests  them  to  entreat  him  on  his  behalf;  ex- 
pressing also  his  desire  to  give  him  the  full  value  of  it,  and  refusing  to  accept 
it  otherwise.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  wanting  on  their  part ;  but  every  thing 
appears  generous  and  lovely.  Abraham  calls  himself  a  stranger  and  a 
sojourner:  but  they  call  him  "a  mighty  prince  among  them;"  give  him  the 
choice  of  their  sepulchres ;  offer  any  one  of  them  gratis  ;  and  when  he  insisted 
on  paying  for  it,  mention  its  value  in  the  most  delicate  manner,  intimating 
that  such  a  sum  was  as  nothing  between  them.  Were  commerce  conducted 
on  such  principles,  how  pleasant  would  it  be!  How  different  from  that 
selfish  spirit  described  by  Solomon,  and  still  prevalent  among  men;  "  Naught, 
naught,  saith  the  buyer ;  but  when  he  is  gone  his  way,  then  he  boasteth !" 
Civility,  courtesy,  and  generosity  adorn  religion.  The  plainness  of  Chris- 
tianity is  not  a  rude  and  insolent  one ;  it  stands  aloof  from  flattery,  but  not 


92  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

from  obliging  behaviour.  Some  who  are  very  courteous  to  strangers  are 
very  much  the  reverse  to  those  about  them ;  but  Abraham's  behaviour  to  his 
neighbours  is  no  less  respectful  than  it  was  to  the  three  strangers  who  called 
at  his  tent.  It  is  painful  to  add,  however,  that  civility  and  courtesy  may  be 
where  there  is  no  religion.  However  it  may  tend  to  smooth  the  rugged 
paths  of  life,  and  however  much  we  are  indebted  to  the  providence  of  God 
for  it,  yet  this  alone  will  not  avail  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Ver.  17-20.  Respecting  the  purchase  of  this  sepulchre,  I  observe  it  was 
an  exercise  of  faith.  Jacob  and  Joseph  had  certainly  an  eye  to  the  promise, 
in  requesting  their  bones  to  be  carried  up  from  Egypt.  A  sepulchre  was 
like  an  earnest,  and  indicated  a  persuasion  of  future  possession,  Isa.  xxii.  16. 
It  would  tend  also  to  endear  the  land  to  his  posterity.  This  was  so  much 
a  dictate  of  nature,  that  Nehemiah  could  urge  it  to  a  heathen  king,  whom 
no  religious  considerations  would  probably  have  influenced  (Neh.  ii.  3) ;  and 
when  to  this  was  added  the  character  of  those  who  should  be  there  deposited, 
it  would  render  the  country  still  more  endeared.  Heathens  venerate  the 
dust  of  their  forefathers,  but  contemplate  it  without  hope.  It  is  not  so  with 
believers;  those  who  should  lie  in  this  sepulchre  walked  with  God  in  their 
generations;  and,  though  dead,  yet  lived  under  the  promise  of  a  glorious 
resurrection. 

Upon  the  whole,  it  is  natural  to  wish  to  mingle  dust  with  those  whom  we 
Jove :  "  Where  thou  diest  there  will  I  be  buried."  And  sometimes  with 
those  whom  we  only  respect :  "  When  I  am  dead,"  said  the  old  prophet  of 
Beth-el  to  his  sons,  "  bury  me  in  the  sepulchre  wherein  the  man  of  God  is 
buried,  and  lay  my  bones  beside  his  bones."  But,  after  all,  the  chief  con- 
cern is  with  whom  we  shall  rise. 


DISCOURSE  XXXII. 


ABRAHAM    SENDING    HIS    SERVANT    TO    OBTAIN    A    WIFE    FOR    ISAAC. 
Gen.  xxiv. 

The  last  chapter  contained  a  funeral ;  this  gives  an  account  of  a  marriage. 
Such  are  the  changes  of  human  life !  Let  not  this  minute  narrative  seem 
little  in  our  eyes.  It  was  thought  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  be  of  more  im- 
portance than  all  that  was  at  that  time  going  on  among  the  great  nations  of 
antiquity.  It  is  highly  interesting  to  trace  great  things  to  their  small  begin- 
nings ;  and  to  them  that  love  Zion  it  must  be  pleasant  to  observe  the  minute 
turns  of  providence  in  respect  of  its  first  fathers. 

Ver.  1-9.  Abraham  being  now  an  old  man,  and  having  lost  the  partner  of 
his  life,  feels  anxious  to  adjust  his  affairs,  that  he  may  be  ready  to  follow  her. 
"  The  Lord  had  blessed  him  in  all  things,"  and  he  had  doubtless  much  to 
dispose  of;  but  the  greatest  blessing  of  all  related  to  his  seed,  and  this 
occupies  his  chief  attention.  Aware  that  character,  as  well  as  happiness, 
greatly  depended  on  a  suitable  connexion,  he  was  desirous  that  before  he 
died  he  might  discharge  this  part  of  the  duty  of  a  father.  Calling  to  him 
therefore  his  eldest  servant,  who  was  already  steward  of  his  affairs,  and  in 
case  of  death  must  have  been  his  trustee  in  behalf  of  Isaac,  he  bound  him 
in  a  solemn  oath  respecting  the  wife  that  he  should  take  to  him.  We  are 
not  here  told  the  servant's  name ;  but  by  the  account  which  is  given  of  him 


Abraham's  servant  seeks  a  wife  for  isaac.  93 

compared  with  chap.  xv.  2,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  it  was  Eliezer  of  Da- 
mascus. 

The  characters  of  men  are  not  so  easily  ascertained  from  a  few  splendid 
actions  as  from  the  ordinary  course  of  life,  in  which  their  real  dispositions 
are  manifested.  In  this  domestic  concern  of  Abraham  we  see  several  of  the 
most  prominent  features  of  his  character.  1.  His  decided  aversion  to  idolatry. 
"  I  will  make  thee  swear  by  Jehovah,  the  God  of  heaven,  and  the  God  of  the 
earth,  that  thou  wilt  not  take  a  wife  unto  my  son  of  the  daughters  of  the 
Canaanites,  among  whom  I  dwell."  Had  Abraham  then  contracted  preju- 
dice against  his  neighbours?  This  does  not  appear  by  what  occurred  be- 
tween them  in  the  last  chapter.  He  does  not  complain  of  their  treatment 
of  him,  but  of  their  alienation  from  his  God.  He  has  no  objection  to  an 
exchange  of  civilities  with  them ;  but  to  take  their  daughters  in  marriage 
was  the  sure  way  to  corrupt  his  own  family.  The  great  design  of  God,  in 
giving  the  land  to  Abraham's  posterity,  was  the  eventual  overthrow  of 
idolatry,  and  the  establishment  of  his  true  worship  on  earth.  To  what  pur- 
pose then  was  he  called  from  among  Chaldean  idolaters,  if  his  son  join 
affinity  with  those  of  Canaan?  Such,  or  nearly  such,  were  the  sentiments 
which  dictated  the  address  to  his  servant.  "  The  Lord  God  of  heaven,  ivho 
took  me  from  my  father's  house,  and  svvare  unto  me,  saying,  Unto  thy  seed 
will  I  give  this  land,  he  shall  send  his  angel  before  thee."  2.  His  godliness. 
There  does  not  appear  in  all  this  concern  the  least  taint  of  worldly  policy, 
or  any  of  those  motives  which  usually  govern  men  in  the  settlement  of  their 
children.  No  mention  is  made  of  riches,  or  honours,  or  natural  accom- 
plishments; but  merely  of  what  related  to  God.  Let  not  the  woman  be  a 
daughter  of  Canaan,  but  of  the  family  of  Nahor,  who  had  forsaken  Chaldean 
idolatry,  and  with  Milcah  his  wife  settled  at  Haran,  and  who  was  a  wor- 
shipper of  the  true  God,  ch.  xxxi.  53.  3.  His  faith  and  obedience.  The 
servant  being  about  to  bind  himself  by  oath,  is  tenderly  concerned  lest  he 
should  engage  in  more  than  he  should  be  able  to  accomplish.  "  Peradven- 
ture,"  saith  he,  "  the  woman  will  not  follow  me  into  this  land  :  must  I  needs 
bring  thy  son  again  to  the  land  whence  thou  camest?"  No:  as  Isaac  must 
not  marry  a  daughter  of  Canaan,  neither  must  he  leave  Canaan  to  humour  a 
daughter  of  Haran ;  for  though  Canaan's  daughters  are  to  be  shunned,  yet 
Canaan  itself  is  to  be  chosen  as  the  Lord's  inheritance,  bestowed  on  the  pro- 
mised seed.  Nor  do  these  supposed  difficulties  at  all  deter  Abraham  :  "  The 
Lord  God  of  heaven,"  saith  he,  "  who  took  me  from  my  father's  house,  and 
from  the  land  of  my  kindred,  and  who  spake  unto  me,  and  sware  unto  me, 
saying,  Unto  thy  seed  will  I  give  this  land,  he  shall  send  his  angel  before 
thee,  and  thou  shalt  take  a  wife  unto  my  son  from  thence."  On  the  ground 
of  this  promise,  he  would  send  him  away,  fully  acquitting  him  of  his  oath, 
if  the  party  should  prove  unwilling;  only  charging  him  not  to  bring  Isaac 
to  Haran,  as  he  had  before  charged  him  not  to  marry  him  to  a  daughter  of 
Canaan. 

Ver.  10-14.  Abraham's  servant  having,  on  the  above  terms,  consented 
to  take  the  oath,  now  betakes  himself  to  his  journey.  No  time  seems  to 
have  been  lost ;  for  his  heart  was  in  the  business.  He  did  not  trouble  his 
aged  master  in  things  of  inferior  moment;  but  having  all  his  affairs  intrusted 
to  him,  adjusts  those  matters  himself  Taking  with  him  ten  camels,  and  of 
course  a  number  of  attendants,  partly  for  accommodation,  and  partly,  we 
may  suppose,  to  give  a  just  idea  of  his  master's  substance,  he  set  off"  for 
Mesopotamia,  to  the  city  of  Nahor.  Nothing  remarkable  occurs  by  the 
way ;  but  arriving,  on  a  summer's  evening,  at  the  outside  of  the  city,  he 
espies  a  well.  Here  he  causes  his  camels  to  kneel  down  for  rest,  and  with 
a  design,  as  soon  as  opportunity  offered,  to  furnish  them  with  drink.     Now 


94  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

it  was  customary  in  those  countries  for  the  women,  at  the  time  of  the  even- 
ing, to  go  out  to  draw  water.  Of  this  Abraham's  servant  is  aware.  And 
having  placed  himself  and  his  camels  by  the  well,  in  a  waiting  posture,  he 
betakes  himself  to  prayer  for  Divine  direction.  Light  as  men  make  of  such 
concerns  in  common,  there  are  few  things  of  greater  importance,  and  in 
which  there  is  greater  need  for  imploring  the  guidance  and  blessing  of  Hea- 
ven. Upon  a  few  minute  turns  at  this  period  of  life  more  depends  than  can 
possibly  be  conceived  at  the  time.  Young  people !  pause  a  moment,  and 
consider  ....  Think  of  the  counsel  of  God  .  ..."  In  all  thy  ways  acknow- 
ledge him,  and  he  shall  direct  thy  paths  "  That  which  is  done  for  life,  and 
which  may  involve  things  of  another  life,  requires  to  be  done  well ;  and 
nothing  can  be  done  well  in  which  the  will  of  God  is  not  consulted,  and  his 
blessing  implored.  Let  us  each  pause  a  few  minutes,  too,  and  notice  the 
admirable  prayer  of  Abraham's  servant.  Truly  he  had  not  lived  with  Abra- 
ham in  vain!  Observe,  I.  The  cAaracfcr  under  which  he  addresses  the 
Great  Supreme :  "  O  Jehovah,  God  of  my  master  Abraham."  He  well 
knew  that  Jehovah  had  entered  into  covenant  with  Abraham,  and  had  given 
him  exceedingly  great  and  precious  promises.  By  approaching  him  as  a 
God  in  covenant,  he  would  find  matter  for  faith  to  lay  hold  upon ;  every  pro- 
mise to  Abraham  would  thus  furnish  a  plea,  and  turn  to  a  good  account. 
Surely  this  may  direct  us,  in  our  approaches  to  a  throne  of  grace,  to  make 
mention  of  a  greater  than  Abraham,  with  whom  also  God  is  in  covenant, 
and  for  whose  sake  the  greatest  of  all  blessings  may  be  expected.  The  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  to  us  what  the  God  of  Abraham  was 
to  Eliezer,  and  in  the  name  of  our  Redeemer  we  may  pray  and  hope  for 
every  thing  that  is  great  and  good.  2.  The  limitation  of  the  .prayer  to  the 
present  time ;  Send  me  good  speed  this  day.  We  may  in  a  general  way 
ask  for  grace  for  our  whole  lives;  but  our  duty  is  more  especially  lo  seek 
direction  at  the  time  we  want  it.  Our  Lord  teaches  us  to  pray  for  daily 
bread  as  the  day  occurs.  3.  The  sign  which  he  presumed  to  ask  for ;  that 
the  damsel  to  whom  he  should  say  so  and  so,  and  who  should  make  such 
and  such  answers,  should  be  the  person  whom  the  Lord  had  appointed  for 
his  servant  Isaac.  In  this  he  might  be  under  extraordinary  influence,  and 
his  conduct  therefore  affords  no  example  to  us.  The  sign  he  asked,  how- 
ever, was  such  as  would  manifest  the  qualifications  which  he  desired  and 
expected  to  find  in  a  companion  who  should  be  worthy  of  his  master's  son ; 
namely,  industry,  courtesy,  and  kindness  to  strangers.  4.  The  faith  in 
which  the  prayer  was  offered.  He  speaks  all  along  under  a  full  persuasion 
that  the  providence  of  God  extended  to  the  minutest  events,  to  the  free  actions 
of  creatures,  and  even  to  their  behaviour,  of  which  at  the  time  they  are 
scarcely  conscious.  His  words  are  also  full  of  humble  confidence  that  God 
would  direct  him  in  a  matter  of  so  much  consequence  to  his  church  in  all 
future  ages.  I  believe,  if  we  were  to  search  the  Scriptures  through,  and 
select  all  the  prayers  that  God  has  answered,  we  should  find  them  to  have 
been  the  prayers  of  faith. 

Ver.  15-28.  While  he  was  speaking,  a  damsel,  with  a  pitcher  upon  her 
shoulder,  came  towards  the  well.  By  her  appearance  he  is  possessed  of  the 
idea  that  she  is  the  person,  and  that  the  Lord  hath  heard  his  prayer.  He 
said  nothing  to  her  till  she  had  gone  down  to  the  well,  and  was  come  up 
again.  Then  he  ran  towards  her,  and  addressed  her  in  the  words  which  he 
had  resolved  to  do,  entreating  permission  to  drink  a  little  water  of  her 
pitcher.  To  this  she  cheerfully  consented,  and  offered  her  assistance  to  give 
drink  also  to  his  camels  ;  all  exactly  in  the  manner  which  he  had  prayed  for. 
The  gentleness,  cheerfulness,  assiduity,  and  courtesy  manifested  towards  a 
stranger,  of  whom  she  at  present  could  have  no  knowledge,  is  truly  admira 


Abraham's  servant  seeks  a  wife  for  isaac.  95 

ble.  The  words  in  which  it  is  described  are  picturesque  and  lively  to  the 
highest  degree.  We  need  only  read  them  in  order  to  feel  ourselves  in  the 
midst  of  the  pleasing  scene.  "And  she  said,  Drink,  my  lord;  and  she 
hasted,  and  let  down  her  pitcher  upon  her  hand,  and  gave  him  drink.  And 
•when  she  had  given  him  drink,  she  said,  I  will  draw  for  thy  camels  also, 
until  they  have  done  drinking.  And  she  hasted,  and  emptied  her  pitcher 
into  the  trough,  and  ran  again  unto  the  well  to  draw,  and  drew  for  all  his 
camels."  This  conduct,  in  itself  so  amiable,  and  so  exactly  in  unison  with 
the  previous  wishes  of  the  man,  struck  him  with  a  kind  of  amazement, 
accompanied  with  a  momentary  hesitation  whether  all  could  be  true.  "Won- 
dering at  her,  he  held  his  peace,  to  wit,  whether  the  Lord  had  made  his 
journey  prosperous  or  not."  We  pray  for  blessings,  and  when  our  prayers 
are  answered,  we  can  scarcely  believe  them  to  be  so.  There  are  cases  in 
which  the  mind,  like  the  eye  by  a  great  and  sudden  influx  of  light,  is  over- 
powered. Thus  Zion,  though  importunate  in  prayer  for  great  conversions, 
yet,  when  they  come,  is  described  as  being  in  a  manner  confounded  with 
them :  "  Thine  heart  shall  fear,  and  be  eidarged — thou  shalt  say  in  thine 
heart,  Who  hath  begotten  me  these?"  Recovering  from  his  astonishment, 
and  being  satisfied  that  the  Lord  had  indeed  heard  his  prayer,  he  opens  his 
treasures,  and  presents  the  damsel  with  certain  Eastern  ornaments,  which  he 
had  provided  for  the  purpose;  inquiring  at  the  same  time  after  her  kindred, 
and  whether  they  had  room  to  lodge  him.  Being  told,  in  answer,  that  she 
was  "  the  daughter  of  Bethuel,  the  son  of  Nahor  and  Milcah,"  and  that  they 
had  plenty  of  accommodation  for  him  and  his  company,  his  heart  is  so  full 
that  he  cannot  contain  himself,  but  even  in  the  presence  of  Rebecca,  and 
perhaps  of  the  men  who  were  with  him,  "  bowed  down  his  head,  and  wor- 
shipped, saying.  Blessed  be  Jehovah,  God  of  my  master  Abraham,  who  hath 
not  left  destitute  my  master  of  his  mercy  and  his  truth :  .1  being  in  the  way, 
Jehovah  led  me  to  the  house  of  my  master's  brother !"  We  see  here  not 
only  a  grateful  mind,  equally  disposed  to  give  thanks  for  mercy  as  to  pray 
for  it,  but  a  delicate  and  impressive  manner  of  communicating  to  Rebecca 
a  few  particulars  which  he  wished  her  to  know.  His  words  were  addressed 
to  the  Lord ;  but  being  spoken  in  her  hearing,  she  would  perceive  by  them 
who  he  was,  whence  he  came,  and  that  the  hand  of  the  God  of  Abraham  was 
in  the  visit,  whatever  was  the  object  of  it.  Full  of  joyful  surprise,  she  runs 
home,  with  the  bracelets  upon  her  hands,  and  tells  the  family  of  what  had 
passed.  But  here  I  must  break  off  for  the  present,  and  leave  the  conclusion 
of  this  interesting  story  to  another  discourse. 


DISCOURSE  xxxin. 

ABRAHAM  SENDING  HIS  SERVANT  TO  OBTAIN  A  WIFE  FOR  ISAAC  (cONTINUEd) 

Gen.  xxiv.  29-67. 

Ver.  29-3L  As  yet,  no  one  suspects  the  object  of  the  visit;  but  all  hearts 
are  full,  and  there  is  much  running  hither  and  thither.  No  mention  is  made 
at  present  of  Bethuel,  or  of  Milcah;  they  were  aged  people,  and  the  affairs 
of  the  family  seem  principally  to  have  devolved  on  its  younger  branches. 
Laban  appears  to  have  taken  a  very  active  part  in  this  business.  Hearing 
his  sister's  tale,  and  seeing  the  ornaments  upon  her  hands,  he  is  all  alive, 
and  runs  towards  the  well,  to  welcome  the  man  into  his  house.     By  the 


96  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

account  which  is  afterwards  given  of  Laban,  it  is  perhaps  more  than  probable 
that  these  golden  ornaments  had  great  influence  on  what  would  otherwise 
appear  a  very  generous  behaviour.  His  whole  history  shows  him  to  have 
been  a  mercenary  man ;  and  we  frequently  see  in  such  characters  the  truth 
of  Solomon's  remarks ;  "  A  man's  gift  rnaketh  room  for  him. — It  is  as  a 
precious  stone  in  the  eyes  of  him  that  hath  it;  whithersoever  it  turneth  it 
prospereth."  If  a  man  be  in  straits,  he  is  coldly  treated ;  but  if  once  he 
begin  to  rise  in  the  world,  he  becomes  another  man,  and  his  company  and 
acquaintance  are  courted.  Such  is  the  spirit  of  this  world.  But  whatever 
were  Laban's  motives,  he  carried  it  very  kindly  to  Abraham's  servant.  Find- 
ing him  at  the  well,  modestly  waiting  for  a  further  invitation  from  some  of 
the  heads  of  the  family,  he  accosted  him  in  language  that  would  have  befitted 
the  lips  of  a  much  better  man :  "Come  in,  thou  blessed  of  the  Lord;  where- 
fore standest  thou  without?  For  I  have  prepared  the  house,  and  room  for 
the  camels."  It  becomes  us  to  bless  and  welcome  those  whom  the  Lord 
hath  blessed ;  nor  must  we  confine  it  to  those  whom  he  hath  blessed  with 
outward  prosperity;  a  Christian  spirit  is  in  the  sight  of  God  of  great  price, 
and  ought  to  be  so  in  ours. 

Ver.  32,  33.  On  this  becoming  invitation,  the  man  goes  into  the  house ; 
and  we  see  Laban  very  attentive.  First  he  ungirds  the  poor  beasts  which 
had  borne  the  burdens,  and  furnishes  them  with  provender;  then  he  pro- 
vides water  for  the  man,  and  those  who  were  with  him,  to  wash  their  feet ; 
and  after  this,  sets  meat  before  him.  All  this  is  proper.  But  the  good  man's 
heart  is  full,  and  he  cannot  eat  till  he  has  told  his  errand.  Such  are  the 
feelings  of  a  servant  of  God  whose  heart  is  in  his  work.  Where  this  is  the 
case,  personal  indulgence  will  give  place  to  things  of  greater  importance. 
"I  will  not  give  sleep  to  mine  eyes,"  said  David,  "nor  slumber  to  mine  eye- 
lids, till  I  find  out  a  place  for  Jehovah,  a  habitation  for  the  mighty  God  of 
Jacob."  While  the  woman  of  Samaria  was  gone  to  tell  her  neighbours  of 
the  man  who  had  told  her  all  things  that  ever  she  did,  his  disciples,  knowing 
how  weary  and  faint  he  must  have  been,  "  prayed  him  to  eat."  But  seeing 
the  Samaritans  flocking  down  the  hill  to  hear  the  word  of  God,  he  an- 
swered, "  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of — My  meat  is  to  do  the 
will  of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to  finish  his  work.  Say  ye  not,  There  are  yet 
four  months,  and  then  cometh  harvest?  Behold — lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look 
on  (yonder  companies) — the  fields  are  white  already  to  harvest!" 

Ver.  34,  35.  Being  requested  to  tell  his  tale,  the  servant  begins  by  inform- 
ing them  who  he  is.  His  prayer  to  "the  God  of  his  master  Abraham,"  in  the 
hearing  of  Rebecca,  might  possibly  have  superseded  the  necessity  of  this 
part  of  his  statement,  but  lest  it  should  not,  he  tells  them  expressly,  "  I  am 
Abraham's  servant."  He  was  an  upright  man,  and  upright  men  do  not  con- 
ceal who  they  are.  He  was  also  a  humble  man,  and  humble  men  are  not 
ashamed  to  own  their  situation  in  life,  though  it  be  that  of  a  servant.  A 
vain  man  might  have  talked  about  himself,  and  that  he  was  the  first  servant 
of  the  house,  the  steward  that  ruled  over  all  that  Abraham  had,  and  that  all 
his  master's  goods  were  in  his  hand,  Esth.  v.  II,  12.  But  not  a  word  of 
this  is  heard ;  for  his  heart  was  set  on  his  errand.  He  has  no  objection, 
however,  to  tell  of  the  glory  of  his  master ;  for  this  would  tend  to  promote 
the  object.  Nor  does  he  fail  to  acknowledge  the  hand  of  God  in  it;  "The 
Lord  hath  blessed  my  master  greatly."  And  if  they  were  worthy  to  be  con- 
nected with  Abraham,  this  would  tend  further  to  promote  the  object;  yea, 
more  than  all  the  riches  and  glory  of  Abraham  without  it. 

Ver.  3G.  And  now  for  the  first  time  he  makes  mention  of  Isaac.  A  mes- 
senger less  ingenuous  might  have  given  a  hint  of  this  kind  to  the  damsel, 
when  he  presented  her  with  the  "earring  and  bracelets:  but  so  did  not 


Abraham's  servant  seeks  a  wife  for  isaac.  97 

Abraham's  servant.  Not  an  intimation  of  the  kind  is  given  till  he  is  before 
her  parents.  In  their  presence,  and  that  of  the  whole  family,  he  frankly 
makes  mention  of  his  master's  son;  and  as  his  object  was  to  recommend 
him  to  their  esteem,  and  to  prepossess  Rebecca  in  his  favour,  it  is  admirable 
to  see  how  he  accomplishes  his  end.  All  is  in  the  form  of  a  simple  narra- 
tive; yet  every  moving  consideration  is  worked  into  it  that  the  subject  will 
admit.  In  only  this  single  verse  we  observe  four  circumstances  touched 
upon,  each  of  which  would  have  a  powerful  effect — He  was  the  son  of  the 
highly  honoured  Abraham — by  the  much-loved  Sarah — in  their  old  age — 
(of  course  he  himself  must  be  young) — and  was  made  heir  of  all  his  father's 
substance. 

Ver.  37,  38.  Hence  he  proceeds  to  a  still  more  explicit  mention  of  the 
object  of  his  journey,  mixing  with  it  such  grounds  or  reasons  as  must  ingra- 
tiate both  his  master  and  his  master's  son  in  their  esteem,  and  so  tend  to 
accomplish  his  design.  He  informs  them  that  Abraham  was  utterly  averse 
from  his  son's  being  united  with  a  daughter  of  Canaan;  so  much  so  that  he 
even  made  him  solemnly  swear  upon  the  subject.  The  family  at  Haran  might 
possibly  have  thought  that  ere  now  Abraham  had  forgotten  his  old  friends, 
and  formed  new  connexions;  but  they  would  perceive  by  this  that  he  had 
not.  There  is  a  charming  delicacy  in  his  introducing  the  subject  of  marriage. 
He  speaks  of  "  a  wife  being  taken"  for  his  master's  son ;  but  first  mentions 
it  in  reference  to  the  daughters  of  Canaan,  whom  he  must  not  take,  before 
he  suggests  any  thing  of  the  person  he  wished  to  take;  thus  giving  them  to 
infer  what  was  coming  ere  he  expressed  it,  And  now,  having  intimated  to 
the  flimily  whom  his  master  preferred,  he  represents  him  as  speaking  of  them 
in  the  most  affectionate  language;  "AJy  father's  house,  my  kindred." 

Ver.  39-41.  Next  he  repeats  what  passed  between  his  master  and  himself, 
as  to  the  supposed  willingness  or  unwillingness  of  the  party;  and  here  also 
we  see  much  that  will  turn  to  account.  In  expressing  Abraham's  persuasion 
in  the  affair,  he  appeals  to  their  piety.  It  was  saying,  in  effect,  The  hand 
of  God  was  in  it;  and  this  with  godly  minds  would  be  sure  to  weigh.  Indeed 
it  did  weigh ;  for  when  required  to  give  an  answer,  it  was  this :  "  The  thing 
proceedeth  from  the  Lord."  Religion,  thus  mingled  with  natural  affection, 
sanctifies  it,  and  renders  sweetness  itself  more  sweet.  In  repeating  also  the 
words  of  Abraham,  Thou  shall  take  a  wife  for  my  son  "  of  my  kindred,  and 
of  my  father's  house,"  he  touches  and  retouches  the  strings  of  fraternal  love. 
And  in  that  he  intimates  that  his  master  had  laid  nothing  more  upon  him 
than  to  tell  his  tale,  and  leave  the  issue  to  the  Lord,  he  gives  them  to  under- 
stand that  whether  they  were  willing  or  unwilling  he  should  be  clear  of  his 
oath.  In  this,  and  several  other  parts  of  this  pleasant  story,  our  thoughts 
must  needs  run  to  the  work  of  Christ's  servants,  in  espousing  souls  to  him. 
They  may  be  clear  of  the  blood  of  all  men,  though  sinners  may  be  unwilling ; 
and  it  is  their  duty  to  tell  them  so;  that  while,  on  the  one  hand,  they  allure 
them  by  exhibiting  the  glory  of  their  Master,  they  may,  on  the  other,  con- 
vince them  that  their  message  is  not  to  be  trifled  with.  Both  .are  means 
appointed  of  God  to  bring  them  to  Christ;  and  if  the  Lord  be  with  them  in 
their  work,  such  will  be  the  effect. 

Ver.  42-49.  The  repealing  of  the  interview  with  Rebecca  at  the  well  was 
all  admirably  in  point,  and  of  a  tendency  to  bring  the  matter  to  a  crisis. — I 
came  to  the  well — I  called  on  the  God  of  my  master  Abraham — I  asked  for 
a  sign — a  sign  was  given  me — every  thing  answered  to  my  prayer — ^judge 
ye — let  Rebecca  judge — whether  the  hand  of  the  Lord  be  not  in  it? — "  And 
now,  if  ye  will  deal  kindly  and  truly  with  my  master,  tell  me,  and  if  not,  tell 
me ;  that  I  may  turn  to  the  right  hand,  or  to  the  left." 

Ver.  50-52.  With  this  simple  but  interesting  account  the  whole  family  is 
Vol.  III.— 13  I 


98  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

overcome:  one  sentiment  bows  every  mind.  Rebecca  says  nothing;  but  her 
heart  is  full.  It  is  an  affair  in  which  little  or  nothing  s^ems  left  for  creatures 
to  decide.  "The  thing,"  say  they,  "proceedeth  from  the  Lord:  we  cannot 
speak  unto  thee  good  or  bad.  Behold,  Rebecca  is  before  thee ;  take  her,  and 
go,  and  let  her  be  thy  master's  son's  wife,  as  the  Lord  hath  spoken !"  Such 
was  the  liappy  result  of  this  truly  religious  courtship;  and  the  good  man, 
who  saw  God  in  all  things,  still  keeps  up  his  character.  Hearing  their 
words,  he  bowed  himself  to  the  earth,  and  worshipped  God !  How  sweet 
would  all  our  temporal  concerns  be  rendered,  if  they  were  thus  intermingled 
with  godliness! 

Ver.  53.  The  main  things  being  settled,  he,  according  to  the  customs  of 
those  times,  presents  the  bride  elect  with  "jewels  of  silver,  jewels  of  gold, 
and  raiment"  suited  to  the  occasion;  and,  further  to  conciliate  the  esteem 
of  the  family,  "  he  gave  also  to  her  brother,  and  to  her  mother,  precious 
things."  Presents,  when  given  from  sincere  affection,  are  very  proper,  and 
productive  of  good  effects.  It  is  by  a  mutual  interchange  of  kind  oihces 
that  love  is  often  kindled,  and  always  kept  alive.  Our  Saviour  accepted  the 
presents  which  were  offered  him,  not  only  of  food,  but  raiment,  and  even 
the  anointing  of  his  feet.  Where  love  exists,  it  is  natural  and  grateful  to 
express  it  in  acts  of  kindness. 

Ver.  54-58.  The  good  man  would  not  eat  till  he  had  told  his  errand;  but 
now  that  his  work  is  done,  he  and  the  men  who  were  with  him  both  eat  and 
drink ;  and  doubtless  it  would  add  to  the  enjoyment  of  their  meal  to  know 
that  the  Lord  had  made  their  way  prosperous.  The  next  morning,  having 
accomplished  his  object,  the  diligent  and  faithful  servant  wants  to  be  going. 
To  this  proposal  however,  though  honourable  to  him  as  a  servant,  the  mother 
and  the  brother  object;  pleading  for  a  few  days,  ten  at  least,  ere  they  parted; 
nor  does  their  objection  seem  to  be  unreasonable.  Though  willing  upon 
the  whole  that  she  should  go,  yet  parting  is  trying  work,  especially  when 
they  considered  that  they  might  never  see  her  more  in  this  world,  as  in 
truth  they  never  did.  The  man,  however,  knows  not  how  to  consent  to  it ; 
but  entreats  that  he  might  not  be  hindered,  seeing  the  Lord  had  prospered 
his  way.  Whether  we  consider  him  as  too  pressing  in  this  case,  or  not,  we 
may  lay  it  down  as  a  general  rule,  never  to  hinder  those  who  are  engaged 
in  a  right  way,  and  who  have  received  manifest  tokens  that  God  hath  blessed 
them  in  it.  The  case  being  somewhat  difficult,  and  neither  of  the  parties 
disposed  to  disoblige  the  other,  they  consent  to  leave  it  to  the  damsel  hersel£ 
A  few  days  to  take  leave  of  her  friends  could  not,  we  may  suppose,  have 
been  disagreeable  to  her;  but  seeing,  as  she  did,  so  much  of  God  in  the 
affair,  and  the  man's  hear-t  so  deeply  set  upon  it ;  feeling  also  her  own  heart 
entirely  in  it;  she  would  not  so  much  as  seem  to  make  light  of  it,  or  hinder 
it  even  for  an  hour ;  but,  far  from  all  affectation,  answered,  "  I  will  go." 

Ver.  59,  GO.  And  now  preparation  is  made  for  her  departure.  Before 
she  goes  she  must  be  provided  with  "  a  nurse."  Rebecca's  having  been 
employed  in  drawing  water,  we  see,  was  no  proof  of  the  poverty  of  her 
parents,  but  rather  of  the  simplicity  of  the  times.  Daughters  were  not  yet 
taught  to  be  so  delicate  as  scarcely  to  "  adventure  to  set  the  sole  of  their 
foot  upon  the  ground."  But  now  that  she  is  going  to  leave  her  family,  it  is 
desirable  that  she  should  have  one  of  its  domestics,  who  had  probably  been 
brought  up  with  her  from  her  childhood,  who  in  times  of  affliction  would 
kindly  wait  on  her,  and  at  all  times  be  a  friend  and  companion.  The  name 
of  this  nurse  was  Deborah.  We  hear  no  more  of  her  till  we  are  told  of  her 
death.  She  appears  to  have  survived  her  mistress,  and  to  have  died  in  the 
family  of  Jacob,  much  lamented,  chap.  xxxv.  8.  To  an  affectionate  nurse, 
they  added  a  parting  blessing.     The  language  used  in  it  shows  that  Abra- 


Abraham's  servant  seeks  a  wife  for  isaac,  99 

ham's  servant  had  told  them  of  the  promises  which  God  had  made  to  his 
master,  and  which  were  to  be  fulfilled  in  Isaac  and  his  posterity.  They 
speak  as  believing  the  truth  of  them,  and  as  having  their  hearts  full  of  hope 
and  joy,  amidst  the  natural  sorrow  which  must  have  attended  the  parting 
scene.  "They  blessed  Rebecca,  and  said  unto  her.  Thou  art  our  sister;  be 
thou  the  mother  of  thousands  of  millions,  and  let  thy  seed  possess  the  gate 
of  those  that  hate  them !" 

Ver.  61-63.  Taking  leave  of  Haran,  they  go  on  their  way  towards  Canaan. 
A  little  before  their  arrival  at  Hebron,  they  are  unexpectedly  met  by  a  person 
who  was  taking  an  evening  walk.  This  was  no  other  than  Isaac.  It  may 
be  thought  that  he  was  looking  out  in  hope  of  meeting  them ;  but  we  are 
expressly  told  that  his  walk  was  for  another  purpose,  namely,  to  "meditate." 
It  is  a  word  which  is  sometimes  used  kx  prayer,  and  hence  it  is  so  rendered 
in  the  margin  of  our  Bibles.  He  was  a  man  of  reflection  and  prayer ;  and, 
in  the  cool  of  the  evening,  it  might  be  common  for  him  to  retire  an  hour  to 
converse,  as  we  should  say,  with  himself  and  with  his  God.  Admitting  that 
the  thought  might  occur, — I  may  possibly  see  my  father's  servant  on  his 
return — still  his  object  would  be,  on  such  an  important  turn  in  his  life,  to 
commit  the  matter  to  God.  Those  blessings  are  likely  to  prove  substantial 
and  durable  which  are  given  us  in  answer  to  prayer. 

Ver.  64,  05.  "  Rebecca,  having  espied  a  stranger  approaching  towards 
them,  inquires  of  her  guide  whether  he  knew  him ;  and  being  told  that  it 
was  no  other  than  his  young  "  master,"  she  modestly  alighted  from  the 
camel,  and  took  a  veil  and  covered  herself.  This  Eastern  head  dress  might 
in  the  present  instance  answer  a  double  purpose:  First,  it  would  express  her 
subjection  to  her  husband,  as  being  already  his  espoused  wife.  Secondly, 
it  would  prevent  that  confusion  which  the  exposure  of  her  person,  especially 
in  so  sudden  and  unexpected  a  manner,  must  have  occasioned. 

Ver.  66,  67.  Isaac,  observing  her  to  have  put  on  her  veil,  very  properly 
avoids  addressing  himself  to  her;  but  walking  awhile  with  the  servant  by 
himself,  heard  the  whole  narrative  of  his  journey,  which  appears  to  have 
wrought  on  his  mind  as  the  former  had  wrought  on  that  of  Rebecca.  And 
now  the  marriage  is  consummated.  "  Isaac  brought  her  into  his  mother 
Sarah's  tent,  and  took  Rebecca,  and  she  became  his  wife,  and  he  loved  her : 
and  Isaac  was  comforted  after  his  mother's  death."  In  this  tender  manner 
is  the  admirable  story  closed.  Who  can  forbear  wishing  them  all  happiness? 
The  union  of  filial  and  conjugal  affection  is  not  the  least  honourable  trait  in 
the  character  of  this  amiable  man.  "  He  brought  her  into  his  mother 
Sarah's  tent;"  and  was  then,  and  not  till  then,  comforted  for  the  loss  of  her. 
Dutiful  sons  promise  fair  to  be  affectionate  husbands;  he  that  fills  up  the 
first  station  in  life  with  honour  is  thereby  prepared  for  those  that  follow. 
God,  in  mercy,  sets  a  day  of  prosperity  over  against  a  day  of  adversity. 
Now  he  woundeth  our  spirits  by  dissolving  one  tender  union,  ahd  now 
bindeth  up  our  wounds  by  cementing  another. 


JOO  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


DISCOURSE  XXXIV. 


> 


ABRAHAM  S    MARRIAGE   WITH    KETURAH,   AND    DEATH. ISHMAEL  S    POSTERITT 

AND  DEATH. THE  BIRTH  AND  CHARACTERS  OF  ESAU  AND  JACOB. 

Gen.  XXV. 

This  chapter  gives  an  account  of  several  changes  in  the  families  of  Abra- 
ham, Ishmael,  and  Isaac.  In  each  the  sacred  writer  keeps  his  eye  on  the 
fulfilment  of  the  great  promise  to  the  father  of  the  faithful. 

Ver.  1-6.  The  marriage  of  Abraham  to  Keturah  is  an  event  which  we 
should  not  have  expected.  From  the  last  account  we  had  of  him,  chargincr 
his  servant  respecting  the  marriage  of  his  son  Isaac,  we  were  prepared  to 
look  for  his  being  buried  rather  than  married.  I  do  not  know  that  it  was  a 
sin;  but  it  is  easy  to  see  in  it  more  of  man  than  of  God.  No  reason  is  given 
for  it;  no  marks  of  Divine  approbation  attend  it;  five-and-thirty  years  pass 
over  with  little  more  than  recording  the  names  of  his  children,  and  that  not 
from  any  respect  to  the  connexion,  but  to  show  the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine 
promise  of  multiplying  his  seed.  During  this  last  period  of  his  life  we  see 
nothing  of  that  extraordinary  strength  of  faith  by  which  he  was  formerly 
distinguished;  but,  like  Samson  when  he  had  lost  his  hair,  he  is  become 
weak  like  another  man.  While  the  promise  of  Isaac  was  pending,  and 
while  Abraham  was  employed  in  promoting  that  great  object,  the  cloud  of 
glory  accompanies  all  his  movements;  but  this  being  accomplished,  and  his 
mind  diverted  to  something  else,  the  cloud  now  rests  upon  Isaac ;  and  he 
must  walk  the  remainder  of  his  journey  in  a  manner  without  it. 

Who  Keturah  was  we  are  not  told;  probably  she  was  one  of  his  family. 
She  and  Hagar  are  called  concubines.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
they  were  not  his  lawful  wives,  but  that  they  occupied  a  less  honourable 
station  than  Sarah,  who  was  a  fellow  heir  with  him  in  promise.  Keturah 
bare  Abraham  six  sons,  among  whose  descendants  were  preserved,  in  some 
measure,  the  knowledge  and  fear  of  the  true  God.  From  one  of  them, 
namely  Midian,  descended  Jethro,  the  father-in-law  of  Moses;  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  Job  and  his  friends  had  the  same  general  origin. 

We  have  seen  how  the  last  thirty-five  years  of  Abraham's  life  fall  short  of 
what  it  was  in  former  periods ;  it  is  pleasant,  however,  to  observe  that  his 
sun  does  not  set  in  a  cloud.  There  are  several  circumstances  which  shed  a 
lustre  upon  his  end.  Among  others,  his  regard  for  Isaac,  constituting  him 
his  heir,  and  settling  his  other  sons  at  a  sufficient  distance  from  him,  shows 
that  his  heart  was  still  with  God's  heart,  or  that  he  whom  the  Lord  had 
chosen  was  the  object  to  whom  his  thoughts  were  chiefly  directed.  He  was 
not  wanting  in  paternal  goodness  to  any  of  his  children.  Though  Ishmael 
was  sent  away,  and  as  it  should  seem  by  the  other  parts  of  the  history  with 
nothing,  yet  it  is  here  plainly  intimated  that  his  father  gave  gifts  to  him,  as 
well  as  to  the  sons  of  Keturah.  Probably  he  visited  and  provided  for  him 
in  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  and  gave  him  a  portion  when  he  married.  But 
God's  covenant  being  established  with  Isaac,  his  settlement  in  Canaan  is 
that  to  which  all  the  others  are  rendered  subservient.  All  this  shows  that  his 
faith  did  not  fail ;  that  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  promise  in  which  he  had 
believed  for  justification;  but  that  as  he  had  lived,  so  he  died. 

Ver.  7-10.  Let  us  notice  the  death  and  burial  of  this  great  and  good  man. 
His  death  is  expressed  by  a  common  but  impressive  Scriptural  phrase — "  he 
gave  up  the  ghost ;"  and  his  burial  by  another — "  he  was  gathered  to  his 


Abraham's  death  and  burial.  101 

people."  The  one  is  the  parting  of  body  and  soul ;  the  other  the  mingling 
of  our  dust  with  that  of  our  kindred  who  have  gone  before  us.  Even  in  the 
grave,  it  is  natural  to  wish  to  associate  with  those  whom  we  have  known  and 
loved  on  earth  ;  and  still  more  in  the  world  to  come.  When  all  the  sons  of 
Adam  shall  be  assigned  their  portion,  each  in  a  sense  will  be  gathered  to  his 
people !  The  inscription  on  his  tomb,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  was,  "  He  died  in 
a  good  old  age."  On  this  I  have  two  remarks  to  offer.  1.  It  was  accord- 
ing to  promise.  Upwards  of  fourscore  years  before  this,  the  Lord  told  Abra- 
ham in  vision,  saying,  "  Thou  shalt  go  to  thy  fathers  in  peace ;  thou  shalt  be 
buried  in  a  good  old  age."  In  every  thing,  even  in  death,  the  promises  are 
fulfilled  to  Abraham. — 2.  It  is  language  that  is  never  used  of  wicked  men, 
and  not  very  commonly  of  good  men.  It  is  used  of  Gideon  and  of  David 
(Judg.  viii.  32;  1  Chron.  xxix.  28) ;  and  I  know  not  whether  of  any  other. 
The  idea  answers  to  what  is  spoken  by  the  psalmist,  "  They  shall  bring  forth 
fruit  in  old  age;"  or  that  in  Job,  "Thou  shalt  come  to  thy  grave  in  a  full 
age,  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  in  his  season."  Isaac  and  Ishmael 
are  both  present  at  his  funeral.  We  have  no  account  of  their  having  ever 
seen  each  other  before,  from  the  day  that  Ishmael  was  cast  out  as  a  mocker; 
but  whether  they  had  or  not,  they  met  at  their  father's  interment.  Death 
brings  those  together  who  know  not  how  to  associate  on  any  other  occasion, 
and  will  bring  us  all  together,  sooner  or  later.  Finally,  the  place  where 
they  buried  him  was  the  same  as  that  in  which  he  had  buried  his  beloved 
Sarah. 

Ver.  11.  The  death  and  burial  of  so  great  and  good  a  man  as  Abraham 
must  have  made  an  impression  upon  survivors :  howbeit,  the  cause  of  God 
died  not.  "  It  came  to  pass  after  the  death  of  Abraham  that  God  blessed 
his  son  Isaac."  Isaac  was  heir  to  the  promise ;  and  though  all  flesh  withereth 
and  fadeth  like  the  grass,  yet  the  word  of  the  Lord  shall  stand  for  ever.  We 
shall  hear  more  of  Isaac  soon  :  at  present  we  are  only  told,  in  general,  that  he 
'•'  dwelt  by  the  well  Lahai-roi."  It  was  necessary  in  those  countries  to  fix 
their  residence  by  a  well ;  and  it  is  no  less  necessary,  if  we  wish  to  live,  that 
we  fix  ours  near  to  the  ordinances  of  God.  The  well  where  Isaac  pitched 
his  tent  was  distinguished  by  two  interesting  events :  1.  The  merciful  ap- 
pearance of  God  to  Hagar,  whence  it  received  its  name — "The  well  of  him 
that  livcth  and  seeth  me."  Hagar  or  Ishmael,  methinks,  should  have  pitched 
a  tent  there,  that  it  miglit  have  been  to  them  a  memorial  of  past  mercies ; 
but  if  they  neglect  it,  Isaac  will  occupy  it.  The  gracious  appearance  of  God 
in  a  place  endears  it  to  him,  let  it  have  been  to  whom  it  may.  2.  It  was 
the  place  from  the  way  of  which  he  first  met  his  beloved  Rebecca;  there 
therefore  they  continue  to  dwell  together. 

Ver.  12-18.  A  short  account  is  here  given  of  Ishmael's  posterity,  and  of 
his  death.  His  sons  were  numerous  and  great;  they  had  their  ^o?^j».s  «"f^ 
their  castles;  nay,  more,  they  are  denominated  "  twelve  princes,  according 
to  their  nations."  Thus  amply  was  fulfilled  the  promise  of  God  concerning 
him :  "  Behold,  I  have  blessed  him,  and  will  make  him  fruitful,  and  will 
multiply  him  exceedingly ;  twelve  princes  shall  he  beget,  and  I  will  make 
him  a  great  nation."  But  this  is  all.  When  a  man  leaves  God  and  his 
people,  the  sacred  historian  leaves  him.  After  living  in  prosperity  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven  years,  "  he  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  died;"  and  was 
"  gathered  unto  his  people."  As  this  language  is  applicable  to  men,  whether 
good  or  bad,  no  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  it  in  favour  of  his  having 
feared  God.  It  is  added  that  "  he  died  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren ;" 
that  is,  in  peace,  or  with  his  friends  about  him;  which,  considering  how  his 
hand  had  been  against  every  man,  and  of  course  every  man's  hand  against 
him,  was  rather  surprising;  but  so  it  had  been  promised  of  the  Lord  to 

i3 


102  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

his  mother,  at  the  tcdl  Lahai-roi,  "  He  shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
brethren."  So  he  lived,  and  so  he  died,  an  object  of  providential  care  for 
his  father's  sake ;  but  as  to  any  thing  more,  the  oracles  of  God  are  silent. 

Ver.  19-23.  The  history  now  returns  to  the  son  of  promise.  Forty  years 
old  was  he  when  he  took  Rebecca  to  wife ;  and  for  twenty  years  afterwards 
he  had  no  issue.  We  should  have  supposed  that,  as  the  promise  partly  con- 
sisted in  a  multiplication  of  his  seed,  the  great  number  of  his  children  would 
have  made  a  prominent  part  of  his  history.  When  Bethuel,  and  Milcah,  and 
Laban,  took  leave  of  Rebecca,  saying,  "  Be  thou  the  mother  of  thousands  of 
millions,"  they  doubtless  expected  to  hear  of  a  very  numerous  family.  And 
she  herself,  and  her  husband,  would,  as  believing  the  Divine  promise,  expect 
the  same.  But  God's  thoughts  are  not  as  our  thoughts,  nor  his  ways  as  our 
ways.  Abraham's  other  sons  abound  in  children,  while  he  in  whom  his  seed 
is  to  be  as  the  stars  of  heaven  for  multitude  lives  childless.  In  this  manner 
God  had  tried  his  father  Abraham ;  and  if  he  be  heir  to  his  blessings,  he 
must  expect  to  inherit  a  portion  of  his  trials.  God  bestows  his  mercies  upon 
wicked  men  without  waiting  for  their  prayers;  but  his  conduct  is  somewhat 
different  with  them  that  fear  him.  Isaac  had  received  Rebecca  in  answer 
to  prayer ;  and  let  him  not  expect  to  receive  seed  by  her  in  any  other  way. 
Well,  the  good  man  is  led  to  pray :  "  Isaac  entreated  the  Lord  for  his  wife, 
because  she  was  barren ;  and  the  Lord  was  entreated  of  him,  and  Rebecca 
conceived."  During  the  time  of  her  pregnancy,  she  was  the  subject  of  some 
extraordinary  sensations,  which  filling  her  mind  with  perplexity,  she  "  inquired 
of  the  Lord."  Both  the  entreaty  of  Isaac,  and  the  inquiry  of  Rebecca,  might 
be  improper  in  ordinary  cases ;  but  as  it  was  not  the  natural  desire  of  chil- 
dren that  prompted  him,  so  neither  was  it  an  idle  curiosity  that  excited  her : 
they  each  kept  in  view  the  promise  of  all  nations  being  blessed  in  their  pos- 
terity, and  therefore  were  not  only  solicitous  for  children,  but  anxious  con- 
cerning every  thing  which  seemed  indicative  of  their  future  character.  And 
as  Isaac  had  received  an  answer  to  prayer,  so  it  is  revealed  to  Rebecca  that 
the  sensations  which  she  felt  were  signs  of  other  things — that  she  was  preg- 
nant of  twins — that  they  should  become  two  nations — and  not  only  so,  but 
two  manner  of  nations — lastly,  that  the  elder  should  serve  the  younger.  The 
struggle  between  these  children,  which  was  expressive  of  the  struggles  that 
should  in  after-ages  take  place  between  their  posterity,  furnished  another 
instance  of  the  opposition  between  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  the  seed  of 
the  serpent,  both  which  are  commonly  found  in  most  religious  families.  Paul 
introduces  this  case  as  an  instance  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  the  dispen- 
sation of  his  grace.  The  rejection  of  a  great  part  of  the  Jewish  nation  was 
to  some  a  stumbling-block.  It  seemed  to  them  as  if  the  word  of  promise 
to  the  fathers  had  taken  none  effect.  The  apostle,  in  answer,  maintains  that 
it  was  not  the  original  design  of  God  in  the  promise  to  save  all  Abraham's 
posterity;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  from  the  beginning  he  drew  a  line  of 
distinction  between  Isaac  and  Ishmael,  Jacob  and  Esau,  though  all  were 
alike  descended  from  him  according  to  the  flesh.  To  a  further  supposed 
objection,  that  such  a  distinction  between  children,  while  they  were  yet  un- 
born, reflected  on  the  righteousness  of  God,  he  contents  himself  with  deny- 
ing the  consequence,  and  asserting  the  absolute  right  of  God  to  have  mercy 
on  whom  he  will  have  mercy. 

Ver.  24-28.  As  there  were  extraordinary  sensations  during  the  pregnancy 
of  the  mother,  so  in  the  birth  of  the  children  there  was  a  certain  circumstance 
which  betokened  that  the  one  should  prevail  over  the  other;  and  that  not 
only  in  his  person,  but  in  his  posterity.  Hence  the  prophet  Hosea,  reproach- 
ing the  degenerate  sons  of  Jacob,  says  of  him,  "  He  took  his  brother  by  the 


Abraham's  death  and  burial.  103 

heel  in  (he  womb — and  by  his  strength  had  power  with  God."  But,  as  if 
he  should  say,  Are  you  worthy  of  being  called  his  children?  Hos.  xii.  3. 

From  the  circumstances  attending  the  birth  of  a  child,  it  was  common  in 
those  ages  to  derive  their  names;  and  thus  it  was  in  the  present  instance. 
The  first-born,  from  his  colour,  was  called  Esau,  i.  e.  I'ed;  the  younger, 
from  the  circumstance  of  his  taking  hold  of  his  brother's  heel,  was  called 
Jacob,  a  supplantcr.  Both  these  names  were  prophetic.  Esau  was  of  a 
sanguinary  disposition,  and  his  posterity,  the  Edomites,  always  cherished  a 
most  cruel  and  bloody  antipathy  against  Israel.  In  allusion  to  this,  when  the 
enemies  of  the  church  are  punished,  they  are  not  only  represented  as  Edom- 
ites, but  God  is  described  as  giving  them  as  it  were  blood  for  blood:  "Who 
is  this  that  cometh  from  Edom,  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah  ? — Where- 
fore art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel,  and  thy  garments  like  him  that  treadeth 
in  the  wine-fat?  I  have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone;  and  of  the  people 
there  was  none  with  me :  for  I  will  tread  them  in  mine  anger,  and  trample 
them  in  my  fury,  and  their  blood  shall  be  sprinkled  upon  my  garments,  and 
I  will  stain  all  my  raiment."  Jacob,  on  the  other  hand,  supplanted  his  bro- 
ther in  the  affair  of  the  birthright,  as  we  shall  see  presently.  As  his  having 
hold  of  his  brother's  heel  seemed  as  if  he  would  have  drawn  him  back  from 
the  birth,  and  have  been  before  him ;  so  his  mind  in  after-life  appeared  to 
aspire  after  the  blessing  of  the  first-born,  and  never  to  have  rested  till  he  had 
obtained  it. 

As  they  grew  up  they  discovered  a  different  turn  of  mind.  Esau  was  the 
expert  huntsman,  quite  a  man  of  the  field ;  but  Jacob  was  simple-hearted, 
preferring  the  more  gentle  employment  of  rearing  and  tending  cattle.  The 
partiality  of  Isaac  towards  Esau,  on  account  of  his  venison,  seems  to  have 
been  a  weakness  rather  unworthy  of  him :  that  of  Rebecca  towards  Jacob 
appears  to  have  been  better  founded ;  her  preference  was  more  directed  by 
the  prophecies  which  had  gone  before  him,  choosing  him  whom  the  Lord 
had  chosen. 

Ver.  29-34.  In  process  of  time,  a  circumstance  arose  in  the  family  which 
in  its  consequences  was  very  serious.  Jacob  was  one  day  boiling  some  pot- 
tage, perhaps  for  his  dinner;  for  he  lived  mostly  upon  herbs.  Just  then 
came  in  Esau  from  hunting,  very  faint  and  hungry,  and  had  a  great  mind  to 
Jacob's  pottage.  Its  very  colour,  corresponding  with  his  sanguinary  dispo- 
sition, seemed  to  take  his  fancy ,  on  which  account  he  was  called  Edom,  a 
name  commonly  applied  to  his  posterity,  and  of  similar  import  with  that 
which  was  at  first  given  to  him.  There  seems,  at  first  sight,  to  be  some- 
thing ungenerous  in  Jacob's  availing  himself  of  his  brother's  hunger  in  the 
manner  he  did ;  but  if  there  were,  however  it  may  reflect  dishonour  upon 
him,  it  reflects  none  upon  the  event.  God  often  brings  his  purposes  to  pass 
by  means  which  on  man's  part  are  far  from  justifiable.  The  Reformation 
was  a  great  and  good  work,  and  we  may  wish  to  vindicate  every  measure 
which  contributed  to  it ;  but  that  is  more  than  we  can  do.  God's  thoughts 
are  not  as  our  thoughts,  nor  his  ways  as  our  ways.  It  will  be  found  that  "  he 
is  righteous  in  all  his  ways,  and  holy  in  all  his  works ;"  but  this  is  more 
than  can  be  said  of  his  best  servants,  in  any  age  of  the  world.  A  close  inspec- 
tion of  this  affair,  however,  will  convince  us  that  whether  Jacob  was  right  as 
to  the  means  he  used  or  not,  his  motives  were  good,  and  those  of  Esau  were 
evil.  Observe,  particularly,  I.  The  birthright  attached  to  seniority.  2.  It 
ordinarily  consisted  in  the  excellence  of  dignity,  the  excellence  of  power,  and 
a  double  portion,  Gen.  xlix.  3 ;  Deut.  xxi.  17.  3.  These  privileges  of  the 
first-born  were  in  several  instances  forfeited  by  the  misconduct  of  the  parties ; 
as  in  the  case  of  Cain,  Reuben,  &c.  4.  There  was  in  the  family  of  Abra- 
ham a  peculiar  blessing,  which  was  supposed  to  be  attached  to  the  birth- 


.104  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

right,  though  God  in  several  instances  put  it  into  another  direction.  This 
blessing  was  principally  spiritual  and  distant,  having  respect  to  the  setting 
up  of  God's  kingdom,  to  the  birth  of  the  Messiah,  or,  in  other  words,  to  all 
those  great  things  included  in  the  covenant  with  Abraham.  This  was  well 
understood  by  the  family :  both  Esau  and  Jacob  must  have  often  heard  their 
parents  converse  about  it.  If  the  birthright  that  was  bought  at  this  time 
had  consisted  in  any  temporal  advantages  of  dignity,  authority,  or  property 
to  be  enjoyed  in  the  lifetime  of  the  parties,  Esau  would  not  have  made  so 
light  of  it  as  he  did,  calling  it  this  birthright,  and  intimating  that  he  should 
soon  die,  and  then  it  would  be  of  no  use  to  him.*  It  is  a  fact,  too,  that 
Jacob  had  none  of  the  ordinary  advantages  of  the  birthright  during  his  life- 
time. Instead  of  a  double  portion,  he  was  sent  out  of  the  family  with  only 
a  staff  in  his  hand,  leaving  Esau  to  possess  the  whole  of  his  father's  sub- 
stance. And  when,  more  than  twenty  years  afterwards,  he  returned  to 
Canaan,  he  made  no  scruple  to  ascribe  to  his  brother  the  excellence  of  dignity, 
and  the  excellence  of  power,  calling  him,  3fi/  lord  Esau,  and  acknowledging 
himself  as  his  servant.  The  truth  is,  the  question  between  them  was,  which 
should  be  heir  to  the  blessings  promised  in  the  covenant  with  Abraham. 
This  Jacob  desired,  and  Esau  despised ;  and  in  despising  blessings  of  so 
sacred  a  nature,  and  that  for  a  morsel  of  meat,  he  was  guilty  of  profaneness. 
The  spirit  of  his  language  was,  "  I  cannot  live  upon  promises  :  give  me  some- 
thing to  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  I  die."  Such  is  the  spirit  of  unbelief 
in  every  age;  and  thus  it  is  that  poor  deluded  souls  continue  to  despise 
things  distant  and  heavenly,  and  prefer  to  them  the  momentary  gratifications 
of  flesh  and  sense. 

From  the  whole,  we  may  perceive  in  this  case  a  doctrine  which  runs 
through  the  Scriptures;  namely,  that  while  the  salvation  of  those  that  are 
saved  is  altogether  of  grace,  the  destruction  of  those  that  are  lost  will  be 
found  to  be  of  themselves.  From  what  is  recorded  of  Jacob,  he  certainly 
had  notliing  to  boast  of;  neither  had  Esau  any  thing  to  complain  of.  He 
lost  the  blessing,  but  not  without  having  first  despised  it.  Thus  when  the 
apostle  had  asserted  the  doctrine  of  election,  and  grounded  it  upon  God's 
absolute  right  to  have  mercy  on  whom  he  would  have  mercy,  he  nevertheless 
proceeds  to  ascribe  the  cause  of  the  overthrow  of  them  that  perish  merely  to 
themselves.  "  But  Israel,  which  followed  after  the  law  of  righteousness, 
hath  not  attained  to  the  law  of  righteousness.  Wherefore?  Because  they 
sought  it  not  by  faith ;  but  as  it  were  by  the  works  of  the  law :  for  they 
stumbled  at  the  stumbling-stone."  I  am  aware  that  when  we  preach  in  this 
manner  many  are  ready  to  accuse  us  of  inconsistency.  "  You  preach  the 
doctrine  of  election,"  say  they  :  "  but  before  you  have  done  you  destroy  your 
own  work,  by  telling  the  unconverted  that  if  they  perish,  the  fault  will  lie  at 
their  own  door."  We  answer,  it  is  enough  for  us  to  teach  what  the  Scrip- 
tures teach.  If  we  cannot  conceive  how  the  purposes  of  God  are  to  be 
reconciled  with  the  agency  and  accountableness  of  man,  let  us  be  content 
to  be  ignorant  of  it.  The  Scriptures  teach  both;  and  true  wisdom  will  not 
aspire  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written. 

*  He  could  not  mean  surely  that  he  should  then  die  of  hunger,  unless  he  ate  of  the  pot- 
tage ;  for  that  is  scarcely  conceivable,  while  he  had  full  access  to  all  the  provision  in  Isaac's 
house ;  but  that  in  a  little  time  he  should  be  dead;  and  then  of  what  account  would  these 
fine  promises  be  to  him  1 


ISAAC  AND  ABIMELECH-  105 


DISCOURSE  XXXV. 

ISAAC    AND    ABIMELECH. 
Gen.  xxvi. 

We  saw  Abraham  in  a  great  variety  of  situations,  by  means  of  which 
sometimes  his  excellences  and  sometimes  his  failings  became  the  more  con- 
spicuous. Isaac  has  hitherto  been  but  little  tried,  and  therefore  his  character 
is  but  little  known.  In  this  chapter,  however,  we  shall  see  him  roused  from 
his  retirement,  and  brought  into  situations  in  which,  if  there  be  some  things 
to  lament,  there  will  be  many  to  admire. 

Ver.  1-G.  We  now  see  him  in  affiict'wn,  by  reason  of  "a  famine  in  the 
land,  besides  the  first  fimine  that  was  in  the  days  of  Abraham."  There 
seem  to  have  been  more  famines  in  the  times  of  the  patriarchs  than  usual  ; 
which  must  not  only  be  afflictive  to  them  in  common  with  iheir  neighbours, 
but  tend  more  than  a  little  to  try  their  faith.  Every  such  season  must  prove 
a  temptation  to  think  lightly  of  the  Land  of  Promise.  Unbelief  would  say, 
"  It  is  a  land  that  eatethup  the  inhabitants;"  it  is  not  worth  waiting  for.  But 
faith  will  conclude  that  he  who  hath  promised  to  give  it  is  able  to  bless  it. 
Thus  Abraham  believed,  and  therefore  took  every  thing  patiently;  and  thus 
it  is  with  Isaac.  He  first  went  to  Abimelech,  king  of  the  Philistines,  at 
Gerar.  His  father  Abraham  had  found  kind  treatment  there  about  a  hun- 
dred years  before,  and  there  was  a  covenant  of  peace  between  them.  It 
seems,  however,  as  if  he  had  thought  of  going  as  flir  as  Egypt;  but  the  Lord 
appeared  to  him  at  Gerar,  and  admonished  him  to  put  himself  under  his 
direction,  and  go  no  where  without  it.  "Dwell,"  saith  he,  "in  the  land 
that  I  shall  tell  thee  of:  sojourn  in  this  land,  and  I  will  be  with  thee,  and  I 
will  bless  thee."  In  times  of  trouble  we  are  apt  to  cast,  and  forecast,  what 
we  shall  do ;  but  God  mercifully  checks  our  anxiety,  and  teaches  us,  by  such 
dispensations,  in  all  our  ways  to  acknowledge  him.  To  satisfy  Isaac  that 
he  should  never  want  a  guide,  or  a  provider,  the  Lord  renews  to  him  the 
promises  which  had  been  made  to  his  fither  Abraham.  Had  he  met  with 
nothing  to  drive  him  from  his  retreat  by  the  well  of  Lahai-roi,  he  might  have 
enjoyed  more  quiet ;  but  he  might  not  have  been  indulged  with  such  great 
and  precious  promises.  Times  of  affliction,  though  disagreeable  to  the 
flesh,  have  often  proved  our  best  times. 

Two  things  are  observable  in  this  solemn  renewal  of  the  covenant  with 
Isaac.  1.  The  good  things  promised.  The  sum  of  these  blessings  is,  the 
land  of  Canaan,  a  numerous  progeny,  and,  what  is  the  greatest  of  all,  the 
Messiah,  in  whom  the  nations  should  be  blessed.  On  these  precious  pro- 
mises Isaac  is  to  live.  God  provided  him  with  bread  in  the  day  of  famine ; 
but  he  lived  not  on  bread  only,  but  on  the  words  which  proceeded  from  the 
mouth  of  God.  It  was  in  reference  to  such  words  as  these  that  Moses  said 
unto  Hobab,  "We  are  journeying  to  the  place  of  which  the  Lord  said,  I  will 
give  it  you:  come  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  do  thee  good;  for  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  good  concerning  Israel."  2.  Their  being  given  for  Abraham's  sake: 
"  Because  that  Abraham  obeyed  my  voice,  and  kept  my  charge,  my  com- 
mandments, my  statutes,  and  my  laws."  We  are  expressly  informed  in  what 
manner  this  patriarch  was  accepted  of  God,  namely,  as  "believing  on  him 
who  justifieth  the  ungodly ;"  and  this  accounts  for  the  acceptance  of  his  works. 
The  most  spiritunl  sacrifices,  being  offered  by  a  sinful  creature,  can  no  other- 
wise be  acceptable  to  God  than  by  Jesus  Christ;  for,  as  President  Edwards 

Vol.  III.— 14 


106 


EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


justly  remarks,  "Tt  does  not  consist  with  the  honour  of  the  majesty  of  the 
King  of  heaven  and  earth  to  accept  of  any  thing  from  a  condemned  male- 
faclor,  condemned  by  the  justice  of  his  own  holy  law,  till  that  condemnation 
be  removed."  But  a  sinner  being  accepted  as  believing  in  Jesus,  his  works 
also  are  accepted  for  his  sake,  and  become  rewardable.  It  was  in  this  way, 
and  not  of  works,  that  Abraham's  obedience  was  honoured  with  so  great  a 
reward.  The  blessings  here  promised  are  called  the  mercy  to  Abraham, 
Mic.  vii.  20.  Hence  we  perceive  the  fallacy  of  an  objection  to  the  New 
Testament  doctrine  of  our  being  forgiven  and  blessed  in  Christ's  name,  and 
for  his  sake;  that  this  is  no  more  than  was  true  of  Israel,  who  were  blessed 
and  often  forgiven  for  the  sake  of  Abraham.  "  Instead  of  this  fact  making 
against  the  doctrine  in  question,"  says  a  late  judicious  writer,  "  it  makes  for 
it ;  for  it  is  clear  from  hence  that  it  is  not  accounted  an  improper  or  unsuit- 
able thing,  in  the  Divine  administration,  to  confer  favours  on  individuals, 
and  even  nations,  out  of  respect  to  the  piety  of  another  to  whom  they  stood 
related.  But  if  this  principle  be  admitted,  the  salvation  of  sinners,  out  of 
respect  to  the  obedience  and  sufferings  of  Christ,  cannot  be  objected  to  as 
unreasonable.  To  this  may  be  added,  that  every  degree  of  Divine  respect 
to  the  obedience  of  the  patriarchs  was  in  fact  no  other  than  respect  to  the 
obedience  of  Christ,  in  whom  they  believed,  and  through  whom  their  obe- 
dience, like  ours,  became  acceptable.  The  light  of  the  moon,  which  is 
derived  from  its  looking  as  it  were  on  the  face  of  the  sun,  is  no  other  than 
the  light  of  the  sun  itself  reflected.  But  if  it  be  becoming  the  wisdom  of 
God  to  reward  the  righteousness  of  his  servants,  and  that  many  ages  after 
their  decease,  so  highly,  (which  was  only  borrowed  lustre,)  much  more  may 
he  reward  the  righteousness  of  his  Son,  from  which  it  originated,  in  the 
salvation  of  those  that  believe  in  him."* 

The  renewal  of  these  great  and  precious  promises  to  Isaac  in  a  time  of 
famine  would  preserve  him  from  the  fear  of  perishing,  and  be  more  than  a 
balance  to  present  inconveniences.  It  is  not  unusual  for  our  heavenly 
Father  to  make  up  the  loss  of  sensible  enjoyments  by  increasing  those  of 
faith.  We  need  not  mind  where  we  sojourn,  nor  what  we  endure,  if  the 
Lord  be  urith  us  and  help  us.  When  Joseph  was  sold  into  a  strange  land, 
and  unjustly  cast  into  prison,  it  was  reckoned  a  sufficient  antidote  to  add, 
"  But  the  Lord  was  with  Joseph." 

Ver.  6-11.  After  so  extraordinary  a  manifestation  of  the  Lord's  goodness 
to  Isaac,  we  might  have  supposed  he  would  have  dwelt  securely  and  happily 
in  Gerar:  but  great  mercies  are  often  followed  with  great  temptations.  The 
abundance  of  revelations  given  to  Paul  were  succeeded  by  a  thorn  in  the 
flesh,  a  messenger  of  Satan  sent  to  buffet  him.  It  is  said  of  our  Lord 
himself,  after  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  the  most  singular  testimony  had 
been  borne  to  him  at  Jordan, "  Then  was  Jesus  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the 
wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil."  Heavenly  enjoyments  are  given  to 
us  in  this  world,  not  merely  to  comfort  us  under  present  troubles,  but  to  arra 
us  against  future  dangers;  and  happy  is  it  for  us  if  they  be  so  improved. 

Isaac  had  generally  lived  in  solitude  ;  but  now  he  is  called  into  company, 
and  company  becomes  a  snare.  "  The  men  of  the  place  asked  him  of  his 
wife."  These  questions  excited  his  apprehensions,  and  put  him  upon  mea- 
sures for  self-preservation  that  involved  him  in  sin.  Observe,  1.  He  did  not 
sin  by  thrusting  himself  into  the  way  of  temptation ;  for  he  was  necessitated 
and  directed  of  God  to  go  to  Gerar.  Even  the  calls  of  necessity  and  duty 
may,  if  we  be  not  on  our  watch,  prove  insnaring;  and  if  so,  what  must 
those  situations  be  in  which  we  have  no  call  to  be  found  ?    2.  The  tempta- 

*  Williams's  Letters  to  Belsham,  pp.  156-158. 


ISAAC  AND  ABIMELECH.  107 

tion  of  Isaac  is  the  same  as  that  which  had  overcome  his  father,  and  that  in 
two  instances.  This  rendered  his  conduct  the  greater  sin.  The  fills  of 
them  that  liave  gone  before  us  are  so  many  rocks  on  which  others  have 
split;  and  the  recording  of  them  is  like  placing  buoys  over  them,  for  the 
security  of  future  mariners.  3.  It  was  a  temptation  that  arose  from  the 
beauty  of  Rebecca.  There  is  a  vanity  which  attaches  to  all  earthly  good. 
Beauty  has  often  been  a  snare,  both  to  those  who  possess  it  and  to  others. 
In  this  case,  as  in  that  of  Abraham,  it  put  Isaac  upon  unjustifiable  measures 
for  the  preservation  of  his  own  life;  measures  that  might  have  exposed  his 
companion  to  that  which  would  have  been  worse  than  death.  Man  soon 
falls  into  mischief  when  he  sets  up  to  be  his  own  guide. 

And  now  we  see,  what  we  are  grieved  to  see,  a  great  and  good  man  let 
down  bef)re  heathens,  and  reproved  by  them  for  his  dissimulation.  He  had 
continue<l  at  Gerar  a  long  time  uninterrupted,  which  sufficiently  showed  his 
fears  were  groundless ;  yet  he  continued  to  keep  up  the  deception,  till  the 
king  observed  from  his  window  some  freedoms  he  took  with  Rebecca,  from 
which  he  inferred  that  she  was  his  wife.  The  conduct  of  Abimelech  on 
this  occasion  was  as  worthy  of  a  king  as  that  of  Isaac  had  been  unworthy  of 
a  servant  of  God. 

Ver.  12-17.  Things  being  thus  far  rectified,  we  see  Isaac  engaged  in  the 
primitive  employment  of  husbandry;  and  the  Lord  blessed  him  and  increased 
him,  so  that  he  became  the  envy  of  the  Philistines.  Here  again  we  see  how 
vanity  attaches  to  every  earthly  good ;  prosperity  begets  envij,  and  from  envy 
proceeds  injury.  The  wells  which  Abraham's  servants  had  digged  Isaac 
considered  as  his  own,  and  made  use  of  them  for  his  flocks;  but  the  Philis- 
tines, out  of  envy  to  him,  "  stopped  them  up,  and  filled  them  with  earth." 
Had  they  drank  of  them,  it  might  have  been  excused;  but  to  stop  them  up 
was  downright  wickedness,  and  a  gross  violation  of  the  treaty  of  peace  which 
had  been  made  between  a  former  Abimelech  and  Abraham.  The  issue  was, 
the  king,  perceiving  the  temper  of  his  people,  entreated  Isaac  quietly  to  de- 
part. The  reason  he  gave  for  it,  that  he  was  much  mightier  than  they,  might 
be  partly  to  apologize  for  his  people's  jealousy,  and  partly  to  soften  his  spirit 
by  a  compliment.  If  Isaac  was  so  great  as  was  suggested,  he  might,  instead 
of  removing  at  their  request,  have  disputed  it  with  them ;  he  might  have 
alleged  the  covenant  made  with  his  father,  the  improvement  of  his  lands,  &c. 
But  he  was  a  peaceable  man;  and  therefore,  without  making  words,  removed 
to  the  valkif  of  Gerar,  either  beyond  the  borders  of  Abimelech's  territory, 
or  at  least  farther  off  from  the  metropolis.  A  little  with  peace  and  quietness 
is  better  than  much  with  envy  and  contention. 

Ver.  18-23.  Isaac,  though  removed  to  another  part  of  the  country,  yet 
finds  "  wells  of  water  which  had  been  digged  in  the  days  of  Abraham  his 
father,"  and  which  the  Philistines  had  stopped  up  after  his  death.  It  seems, 
wherever  Abraham  went,  he  improved  the  country;  and  wherever  the  Philis- 
tines followed  him,  their  study  was  to  mar  his  improvements,  and  that  for  no 
other  end  than  the  pleasure  of  doing  mischief  Isaac,  however,  is  resolved 
to  open  these  wells  again.  Their  waters  would  be  doubly  sweet  to  him  for 
their  having  been  first  tasted  by  his  beloved  father ;  and  to  show  his  filial 
affection  still  more,  he  called  their  names  after  the  names  by  which  his 
father  had  called  them.  Many  of  our  enjoyments,  both  civil  and  religious, 
are  the  sweeter  for  being  the  fruits  of  the  labour  of  our  fathers;  and  if  they 
have  been  corrupted  by  adversaries  since  their  days,  we  must  restore  them 
to  their  former  purity.  Isaac's  servants  also  digged  "  new  wells,"  which 
occasioned  new  strife.  While  we  avail  ourselves  of  the  labours  of  our  fore- 
fathers, we  ought  not  to  rest  in  them  without  making  further  progress,  even 
though  it  expose  us  to  many  unpleasant  disputes.     Envy  and  strife  may  be 


108  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

expected  to  follow  those  whose  researches  are  really  beneficial,  provided  they 
go  a  step  beyond  their  forefathers.  But  let  them  not  be  discouraged :  the 
wells  of  salvation  are  worth  striving  for;  and,  after  a  few  conflicts,  they  may 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labours  in  peace.  Isaac's  servants  dug  two  wells, 
which,  from  the  bitter  strife  they  occasioned,  were  called  Esek  and  Sitnah, 
contention  and  hatred;  but  peaceably  removing  from  these  scenes  of  wrangle, 
he  at  length  digged  a  well  for  which  "  they  strove  not."  This  he  called 
Rehoboth,  saying,  "  Now  the  Lord  hath  made  room  for  us,  and  we  shall  be 
fruitful  in  the  land." 

Ver.  23-25.  The  famine  being  now  over,  Isaac  returned  to  Beersheba, 
the  place  where  he  and  his  father  had  lived  many  years  before.  It  may 
seem  strange,  after  God  had  made  room  for  him  at  Rehoboth,  that  the  next 
news  we  hear  is  that  he  takes  leave  of  it.  This  however  might  be  at  some 
distance  of  time,  and  Beersheba  was  to  him  a  kind  of  home.  Here,  the 
very  first  night  he  arrived,  the  Lord  appeared  to  him,  probably  in  vision, 
saying,  "  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham  thy  father ;  fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee, 
and  will  bless  thee,  and  multiply  thy  seed,  for  my  servant  Abraham's  sake." 
Isaac  was  attached  to  the  wells  which  his  father  had  digged,  and  to  the  place 
where  he  had  sojourned ;  and  doubtless  it  would  add  endearment  to  the 
very  name  of  Jehovah  himself,  that  he  was  the  God  of  Abraham,  especially 
as  it  would  remind  him  of  the  covenant  which  he  had  made  with  him.  A 
self-righteous  spirit  would  have  been  oflended  at  the  idea  of  being  blessed 
for  another's  sake;  but  he  who  walked  in  the  steps  of  his  father's  fiiith  would 
enjoy  it:  and  by  how  much  he  loved  him  for  whose  sake  the  blessing  was 
bestowed,  by  so  much  would  this  enjoyment  be  the  greater.  The  promises 
are  the  same  for  substance  as  were  made  to  him  on  his  going  to  Gerar. 
The  same  truths  are  new  to  us  under  new  circumstances,  and  in  new  situa- 
tions. To  express  the  grateful  sense  he  had  of  the  Divine  goodness,  he 
arose  and  "  built  an  altar,  and  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  :"  and  now, 
the  very  place  being  rendered  doubly  dear  to  him,  "there  he  pitched  his 
tent,  and  there  his  servants  digged  a  well."  Temporal  mercies  are  sweet- 
ened by  their  contiguity  to  God's  altars,  and  by  their  being  given  us  after  we 
have  first  sought  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness. 

Ver.  26-31.  One  would  not  have  expected,  after  driving  him,  in  a  manner, 
out  of  their  country,  that  the  Philistines  would  have  had  any  thing  more  to 
say  to  him.  Abimelech,  however,  and  some  of  his  courtiers,  pay  him  a 
visit.  They  were  not  easy  when  he  was  with  him,  and  now  they  seem 
hardly  satisfied  when  he  has  left  them.  I  believe  they  were  afraid  of  his 
growing  power,  and,  conscious  that  they  had  treated  him  unkindly,  wished 
for  their  own  sakes  to  adjust  these  differences  before  they  proceeded  any 
further.  Isaac,  while  they  acted  as  enemies,  bore  it  patiently,  as  a  part  of 
his  lot  in  an  evil  world ;  but  now  they  want  to  be  thought  friends,  and  to 
renew  covenant  with  him,  he  feels  keenly,  and  speaks  his  mind:  "Wherefore 
come  ye  to  me,  seeing  ye  hate  me,  and  have  sent  me  away  from  you?"  We 
can  bear  that  from  an  avowed  adversary  which  we  cannot  bear  from  one  in 
habits  of  friendship.  "  It  was  not  an  enemy  that  reproached  me ;  then  I 
could  have  borne  it."  To  this  they  answer,  "  We  saw  certainly  that  the 
Lord  was  with  thee."  Had  they  any  regard,  then,  for  Isaac's  God,  or  for 
him  on  that  account?  I  fear  they  had  not;  they  feel  however  a  regard  to 
themselves,  and  a  kind  of  respect  for  Isaac,  which  is  very  commonly  seen  in 
men  of  no  religion  towards  them  that  fear  the  Lord.  We  do  not  blame 
them  for  wishing  to  be  on  good  terms  with  such  a  man  as  Isaac ;  but  they 
should  not  have  pretended  to  have  "done  unto  him  nothing  but  good," 
when  they  must  know,  and  he  must  have  felt,  the  contrary.  But  this  is  the 
very  character  of  a  self-righteous  heart,  when  seeking  reconciliation  with 


JACOB'S  OBTAINING  THE  BLESSING.  109 

God  as  well  as  with  man.  It  palliates  its  sin,  and  desires  peace  in  return 
for  its  good  deeds,  when  in  fact  its  deeds  are  evil.  Isaac,  being  of  a  peace- 
able spirit,  admitted  their  plea,  though  a  poor  one,  and  treated  them  gene- 
rously. Next  morning  they  arose ;  and  having  solemnly  renewed  covenant 
with  each  other,  pa-rted  in  peace. 

Ver.  32,  33.  The  same  day  in  v/hich  Abimelech  and  his  courtiers  took 
leave,  the  news  came  out  of  the  field  that  Isaac's  servants  had  dicovered  a 
well.  It  is  the  same  well  as  they  are  said  in  the  25th  verse  to  have  digged; 
only  there  the  thing  is  mentioned  without  respect  to  the  time.  Here  we  are 
told  that  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  the  well  arrived  immediately  after  the 
mutual  oath  which  had  been  taken  between  Issac  and  Abimelech,  and  he 
for  a  memorial  of  the  event  called  it  Shcba,  an  oath;  and  a  city  being  after- 
wards built  on  the  spot,  was  hence,  it  seems,  called  Beersheba,  the  ivdl  of 
the  oath.  Indeed  this  name  had  been  given  it  by  Abraham  above  a  hundred 
years  before,  and  that  on  a  similar  occasion ;  but  what  was  now  done  would 
serve  to  confirm  it. 

Ver.  34,  35.  The  Lord  had  promised  to  multiply  Isaac's  seed;  and  they 
are  multiplied  in  the  person  of  Esau;  howbeit  not  to  the  increase  of  comfort, 
either  in  him  or  in  Rebecca.  Esau  went  into  the  practice  of  polygamy,  and 
took  both  his  wives  from  among  the  Canaanites.  Whether  he  went  into 
their  idolatrous  customs  we  are  not  told,  nor  whether  they  lived  in  the 
father's  family.  However  this  might  be,  their  ungodly,  and  some  think 
undutiful  behaviour,  was  a  grief  of  mind  to  their  aged  parents.  Isaac 
entreated  the  Lord  for  his  wife  when  she  bare  no  children ;  and  now  that 
they  have  children  grown  up,  one  of  them  occasions  much  bitterness  of 
spirit ;  this  indeed  is  not  uncommon.  Such  an  issue  of  things  in  this  in- 
stance would  tend  to  turn  away  the  hopes  of  Isaac  from  seeing  the  accom- 
plishment of  Abraham's  covenant  in  the  person  of  his  first-born  son,  to  whom 
he  appears  to  have  been  inordinately  attached.  By  other  instances  of  the 
kind,  God  teaches  us  to  beware  of  excessive  anxiety  after  earthly  comforts, 
and  in  receiving  them  to  rejoice  with  trembling. 


DISCOURSE  XXXVI. 
Jacob's  obtaining  the  blessing. 

Gen.  Kxvii, 


Before  we  entered  on  the  history  of  Isaac,  we  met  with  some  painful 
events  respecting  the  departure  of  Ishmael ;  but  in  the  introduction  to  the 
history  of  Jacob,  we  find  things  much  more  painful.  In  the  former  instance, 
we  found  him  that  was  rejected  a  mocker;  but  in  this  we  see  in  the  heir  of 
promise  a  supplanter.  This  deviation  from  rectitude,  though  it  changes  not 
the  Divine  purpose,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  overruled  for  its  accomplishment, 
yet  sows  the  seed  of  much  evil  in  the  life  of  the  offender.  Isaac  retained 
his  place  in  the  family;  but  Jacob  was  obliged  to  depart  from  it.  When  the 
former  was  of  age  to  be  married,  an  honourable  embassy  was  sent  to  bring 
it  about;  but  the  latter  is  necessitated  to  go  by  himself,  as  one  that  had  just 
escaped  with  his  life.  There  is  a  deep  mystery  in  the  system  of  providence, 
and  much  eventual  good  brought  out  of  great  evils. 

Ver.  1-4.  Isaac  was  now  about  a  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years  of  age, 
and  "  his  eyes  were  dim,  so  that  he  could  not  see."     He  therefore  called 

K 


110  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Esau  his  eldest  son,  and  said,  "  Behold  now,  I  am  old,  I  know  not  the  day 
of  my  death — take  I  pray  thee  thy  weapons — and  go  out  to  the  field,  and 
take  me  some  venison ;  and  make  me  savoury  meat,  such  as  I  love,  and 
bring  it  to  me  that  I  may  eat,  that  my  soul  may  bless  thee  before  1  die." 
Isaac  lived  forty-three  years  after  this;  but  as  it  was  unknown  to  him,  he  did 
very  properly  in  settling  his  affairs.  The  day  of  our  death  is  concealed  from 
us  for  the  very  purpose  that  we  may  be  always  ready ;  and  when  life  is  upon 
the  wane,  especially,  it  becomes  us  to  do  what  we  do  quickly.  The  above 
account,  however,  does  not  appear  greatly  to  his  honour.  His  partiality 
towards  Esau  would  seem  to  imply  a  disregard  to  what  had  been  revealed  to 
Rebecca;  and  his  fondness  for  the  venison  has  the  appearance  of  weakness. 

But,  passing  this,  there  are  two  questions  which  require  an  answer — 
Wherein  consisted  the  blessing  which  was  now  about  to  be  bestowed  ?  and 
why  was  savoury  meat  required,  in  order  to  the  bestowment  of  it?  Respect- 
ing the  first,  I  might  refer  to  what  has  been  said  already  on  the  birthright, 
chap.  XXV.  29-34.  There  was,  no  doubt,  a  common  blessing  to  be  expected 
from  such  a  father  as  Isaac  on  all  his  children,  and  a  special  one  on  his 
first-born ;  but  in  his  family  there  was  a  blessing  superior  to  both.  It  included 
all  those  great  things  contained  in  the  covenant  with  Abraham,  by  which 
his  posterity  were  to  be  distinguished  as  God's  peculiar  people.  Hence  that 
which  Isaac  did  is  said  to  have  been  done  in  faith,  and  was  prophetic  of 
"things  to  come,"  Heb.  xi.  20.  The  faith  of  this  good  man  was  however, 
at  first,  much  interrupted  by  natural  attachment.  Desirous  of  conferrmg 
the  blessing  on  Esau,  he  gives  him  directions  as  to  the  manner  of  receiving 
it.  And  here  occurs  the  second  question.  Why  was  savoury  meat  required 
in  order  to  the  bestowment  of  the  blessing?  The  design  of  it  seems  to  have 
been,  not  merely  to  strengthen  animal  nature,  but  to  enkindle  affection. 
Isaac  is  said  to  have  lovtd  Esau  on  account  of  his  venison,  (chap.  xxv.  23) ; 
this  therefore  would  tend,  as  he  supposed,  to  revive  that  affection,  and  so 
enable  him  to  bless  him  with  all  his  heart.  It  seems,  however,  to  have  been 
but  a  carnal  kind  of  introduction  to  so  Divine  an  act ;  partaking  more  of  the 
flesh  than  of  the  Spirit,  and  savouring  rather  of  that  natural  afl'ection,  under 
the  influence  of  which  he  at  present  acted,  than  of  the  faith  of  a  son  of 
Abraham. 

Ver.  5-10.  Rebecca,  overhearing  this  charge  of  Isaac  to  his  son  Esau, 
takes  measures  to  direct  the  blessing  into  another  channel.  This  is  a  mys- 
terious affair.  It  was  just  that  Esau  should  lose  the  blessing,  for  by  selling 
his  birthright  he  had  despised  it.  It  was  God's  design  too  that  Jacob  should 
have  it.  Rebecca  also  knowing  of  this  design,  from  its  having  been  revealed 
to  her  that  the  elder  should  serve  the  younger,  appears  to  have  acted  from  a 
good  motive.  But  the  scheme  which  she  formed  to  correct  the  error  of  her 
husband  was  far  from  being  justifiable.  It  was  one  of  those  crooked  mea- 
sures which  have  too  often  been  adopted  to  accomplish  the  Divine  promises; 
as  if  the  end  would  justify,  or  at  least  excuse,  the  means.  Thus  Sarah 
acted  in  giving  Hagar  to  Abraham;  and  thus  many  others  have  acted,  under 
the  idea  of  bemg  useful  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ.  The  answer  to 
all  such  things  is  that  which  God  addressed  to  Abraham;  "I  am  God 
Almighty;  tvalk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect."  The  deception  practised 
on  Isaac  was  cruel.  If  he  be  in  the  wrong,  endeavour  to  convince  him ;  or 
commit  the  affair  to  God,  who  could  turn  his  mind,  as  he  afterwards  did  that 
of  Jacob,  when  blessing  Ephraim  and  Manasseh ;  but  do  not  avail  yourself 
of  his  loss  of  sight  to  deceive  him.  Such  would  have  been  the  counsel  of 
wisdom  and  rectitude;  but  Rebecca  follows  her  own. 

Ver.  11-13.  We  ought  not  to  load  Jacob  with  more  of  the  guilt  of  this 
transaction  than  belongs  to  him.     He  was  not  first  in  the  transgression 


Jacob's  obtaining  the  blessing.  Ill 

His  feelings  revolted  at  it  when  it  was  proposed  to  him.  He  remonstrated 
against  it.  Considering  too  that  it  was  against  the  advice,  or  rather  the 
command,  of  a  parent,  such  remonstrance  would  seem  to  go  far  towards 
excusing  him.  But  no  earthly  authority  can  justify  us  in  disregarding  the 
authority  of  God.  Moreover,  the  remonstrance  itself  is  founded  merely  on 
the  consequences  of  the  evil,  and  not  on  the  evil  itself.  What  a  difference 
between  this  reasoning  and  that  of  his  son  Joseph!  "I  shall  bring  a  curse 
upon  me,"  said  he,  "  and  not  a  blessing."  "  How  can  I  do  this  great  wicked- 
ness," said  the  other,  "and  sin  against  God!"  The  resoluteness  of  Rebecca 
is  affecting.  "  Upon  me  be  thy  curse,  my  son ;  only  obey  my  voice."  Surely 
she  must  have  presumed  upon  the  Divine  promise,  which  is  a  dangerous 
thing :  our  Lord  considered  it  as  tempting  God,  Matt.  iv.  7.  Those  who  do 
evil  under  an  idea  of  serving  God  commonly  go  to  the  greatest  lengths.  It 
was  in  this  track  that  the  Lord  met  Saul  in  his  way  to  Damascus. 

Ver.  14-17.  If  Jacob's  remonstrance  had  arisen  from  an  aversion  to  the 
evil,  he  would  not  so  readily  have  yielded  to  his  mother  as  he  did ;  but,  to 
resist  temptation  with  merely  the  calculation  of  consequences,  is  doing 
nothing.  Rebecca  takes  the  consequence  upon  herself,  and  then  he  has  no 
more  to  object,  but  does  as  she  instructs  him.  She  also  performs  her  part; 
and  thus  between  them  the  scheme  is  executed.  What  labour  and  con- 
trivance are  required  to  dissemble  the  truth  and  carry  on  a  bad  cause!  Up- 
rightness needs  no  such  circuitous  measures. 

Ver.  18-24.  Jacob  now  enters  upon  the  business.  And  first,  with  all  the 
artifice  of  his  mother,  she  cannot  guard  him  at  all  points.  He  is  obliged  to 
speak,  and  he  could  not  counterfeit  his  brother's  voice.     "  My  father,"  said 

he:  the  patriarch  starts "Who  art  thou,  my  sonf     It  was  the  voice 

of  one  of  his  sons,  but  not  of  him  whom  he  expected.  And  now  what  can 
Jacob  answer?  He  must  either  confess  the  deception,  or  persist  in  it  at  all 
events.  He  chooses  the  latter.  One  sin  makes  way  for  another,  and  in  a 
manner  impels  us  to  commit  it:  "Jacob  said,  I  am  Esau  thy  first-born — I 
have  done  according  as  thou  badest  me — Arise,  I  pray  thee,  sit,  and  eat  of 
my  venison,  that  thy  soul  may  bless  me."  Isaac,  still  suspicious,  inquires 
how  he  came  so  soon.  The  answer  intimates  that  by  a  special  interposition 
of  his  father's  God  he  had  met  with  early  success!  It  is  not  easy  to  conceive 
of  any  thing  more  wicked  than  this.  It  was  bad  enough  to  deal  in  so  many 
known  falsehoods ;  but  to  bring  in  the  Lord  God  of  his  father,  in  order  to 
give  them  the  appearance  of  truth,  was  much  worse,  and  what  we  should 
not  have  expected  but  from  one  of  the  worst  of  men.  There  is  something 
about  falsehood  which  though  it  may  silence,  yet  will  not  ordinarily  satisfy. 
Isaac  is  yet  suspicious,  and  therefore  desirous  to  feel  his  hands ;  and  here 
the  deception  answered.  The  hands,  he  thinks,  are  Esau's;  but  still  it  is 
mysterious,  for  the  voice  is  Jacobus.  Were  it  not  for  some  such  things  as  these 
we  might  overlook  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  in  affording  us  so  many 
marks  by  which  to  detect  imposture,  and  distinguish  man  from  man.  Of  all 
the  multitudes  of  faces,  voices,  and  figures  in  the  world,  no  two  are  perfectly 
alike;  and  if  one  sense  fail  us,  the  others  are  frequently  improved.  Such 
was  the  strength  of  Isaac's  doubts,  that  he  would  not  be  satisfied  without 
directly  asking  him  again,  "Art  thou  my  very  son  Esau?"  and  receiving  for 
answer  "  I  am."  After  this  he  seems  to  have  thought  that  it  must  be  Esau, 
and  therefore  proceeded  to  bless  him. 

The  adversaries  of  revelation  may  make  the  most  they  can  of  these  narra- 
tions :  evil  as  was  the  conduct  of  Jacob  and  of  Rebecca,  the  history  of  it 
contains  the  strongest  internal  evidence  that  it  is  written  by  inspiration  of 
God.  Had  it  been  a  cunningly  devised  fable,  it  would  have  been  the  busi- 
ness of  the  writer  to  have  thrown  the  faults  of  this  his  great  ancestor  into  the 


112  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

shade;  but  the  Scriptures  do  not  profess  to  describe  perfect  characters;  they 
represent  men  and  things  as  they  were.  We  feel  for  the  imposition  prac- 
tised on  Isaac ;  and  yet  it  was  no  doubt  a  chastisement  to  him  for  his  ill- 
placed  partiality  for  Esau,  on  grounds  so  unworthy  of  him,  and  to  the  dis- 
regarding of  what  God  had  revealed  concerning  them. 

Ver  25-29.  It  was  of  the  Lord  that  Jacob  should  have  the  blessing,  not- 
withstanding the  unwarrantable  means  he  had  used  to  obtain  it.  In  pro- 
nouncing it,  Isaac  was  supernaturally  directed ;  otherwise  it  would  not  have 
corresponded  with  what  afterwards  actually  befell  his  posterity,  which  it 
manifestly  does;  nor  would  he  have  felt  himself  unable  to  revoke  it.  It  is 
observable,  however,  that  the  blessing  is  expressed  in  very  general  terms. 
No  mention  is  made  of  those  distinguishing  mercies  included  in  the  cove- 
nant with  Abraham ;  and  this  might  be  owing  to  his  having  Esau  in  his 
mind,  though  it  was  Jacob  who  was  before  him.  He  could  not  be  ignorant 
how  that  young  man  had  despised  these  things,  and  this  might  be  a  check 
to  his  mind  while  he  thought  he  was  blessing  him.  Moreover,  his  attach- 
ment to  Esau,  to  the  disregard  of  the  mind  of  God,  must  have  greatly  weak- 
ened and  injured  his  own  faith  in  these  things  :  it  might  therefore  be  expected 
that  the  Lord  would  cause  a  comparative  leanness  to  attend  his  blessing, 
corresponding  with  the  state  of  his  mind. 

Ver.  30-33.  Jacob  had  scarcely  left  the  room  when  Esau,  returning  from 
the  chase,  enters  it,  and  presents  his  father  with  his  venison.  This  at  once 
discovers  the  imposition.  Isaac  is  greatly  affected  by  it.  At  first,  when  he 
heard  his  voice,  he  was  confounded:  "Who  art  thou?"  And  when  he  per- 
ceived that  it  was  indeed  his  first-born  son,  Esau,  he  "  trembled  very  exceed- 
ingly," and  said,  "Who,  where  is  he  that  hath  taken  venison,  and  brought  it 
to  me,  and  I  have  eaten  of  all  before  thou  camest,  and  have  blessed  him?" 
Such  a  shock  must  have  been  more  than  he  knew  how  to  sustain.  To 
ascertain  the  sensations  of  which  it  was  composed,  we  must  place  ourselves 
in  his  situation.  As  an  aged  and  afflicted  man,  the  imposition  which  had 
been  practised  on  him  would  excite  his  indignation.  Yet  a  moment's  reflec- 
tion would  convince  him  that  the  transfer  of  the  blessing  must  have  been 
of  the  Lord;  and,  consequently,  that  he  had  all  along  been  acting  against 
his  will  in  seeking  to  have  it  otherwise.  Two  such  considerations  rushing 
upon  his  mind  in  the  same  instant  sufficiently  account  for  all  his  feelings:  it 
was  to  him  like  a  place  where  two  seas  met,  or  as  the  union  of  subterraneous 
fires  and  waters,  the  commotion  of  which  causeth  the  earth  to  tremble.  It 
must  have  appeared  to  him  as  a  strong  measure,  permitted  of  God  for  his 
correction ;  and  that  he  had  thus  caused  him  to  do  that  against  his  choice 
which  should  have  been  done  with  it.  Viewing  it  in  this  light,  and  know- 
ing the  blessing  to  be  irrevocable,  he,  like  a  good  man,  acquiesced  in  the 
will  of  God,  saying,  "  Yea,  and  he  shall  be  blessed." 

Ver.  34-40.  The  veri/  exceeding  trembling  of  Isaac  is  now  followed  by 
"  a  great  and  exceeding  bitter  cry"  on  the  part  of  Esau.  Nothing  he  had 
ever  met  with  seems  to  have  affected  him  like  it.  But  how  is  it  that  he  who 
made  so  light  of  the  birthright,  as  to  part  with  it  for  a  morsel  of  meat,  should 
now  make  so  much  of  the  blessing  connected  with  it?  It  was  not  that  he 
desired  to  be  a  servant  of  the  Lord,  or  that  his  posterity  should  be  his  peo- 
ple, according  to  the  tenor  of  Abraham's  covenant;  but  as  he  that  should  be 
possessed  of  these  distinctions  would  in  other  respects  be  superior  to  his 
brother,  it  became  an  object  of  emulation.  Thus  we  have  often  seen  reli- 
gion set  at  naught,  while  yet  the  advantages  which  accompany  it  have  been 
earnestly  desired ;  and  where  grace  has  in  a  manner  crossed  hands,  by 
favouring  a  younger  or  inferior  branch  of  a  family,  envy,  and  its  train  of 
malignant  passions,  have  frequently  blazed  on  the  other  side.     It  was  not 


Jacob's  obtaining  the  blessing.  115 

as  the  father  of  the  holy  nation,  but  as  being  "  lord  over  his  brethren,"  that 
Jacob  was  the  object  of  Esau's  envy.  And  this  may  further  account  for  the 
blessing  of  Isaac  on  the  former  dwelling  principally  upon  temporal  advan- 
tages, as  designed  of  God  to  cut  off  the  vain  hopes  of  the  latter  of  enjoying 
the  power  attached  to  the  blessing,  while  he  despised  the  blessing  itself 

When  Esau  perceived  that  Jacob  must  be  blessed,  he  entreated  to  be 
blessed  also:  "Bless  me,  even  me  also,  O  my  father !"  One  sees  in  this 
language  just  that  partial  conviction  of  there  being  something  in  religion, 
mixed  with  a  large  portion  of  ignorance,  which  it  is  common  to  see  in  per- 
sons who  have  been  brought  up  in  a  religious  family,  and  yet  are  strangers 
to  the  God  of  their  fathers.  If  this  earnest  request  had  extended  only  to 
what  was  consistent  with  Jacob's  having  the  pre-eminence,  there  was 
another  blessing  for  him,  and  he  had  it ;  but  though  he  had  no  desire  after 
the  best  part  of  Jacob's  portion,  yet  he  was  very  earnest  to  have  had  that 
clause  of  it  reversed,  "Be  lord  over  thy  brethren,  and  let  thy  mother's  sons 
bow  down  to  thee."  If  this  could  have  been  granted  him,  he  had  been 
satisfied;  for  "  the  fatness  of  the  earth"  was  all  he  cared  for.  But  this  was 
an  object  concerning  which,  as  the  apostle  observes,  "  he  found  no  place 
of  repentance,"  (that  is,  in  the  mind  of  his  father,)  "  though  he  sought  it 
carefully  with  tears."  Such  will  be  the  case  with  fornicators,  and  all  pro- 
fane persons,  who,  like  Esau,  for  a  few  momentary  gratifications  in  the 
present  life,  make  light  of  Christ,  and  the  blessings  of  the  gospel.  They 
will  cry  with  a  great  and  exceedingly  bitter  cry,  saying,  "  Lord,  Lord,  open 
unto  usl"  But  they  will  find  no  place  of  repentance  in  the  mind  of  the 
Judge,  who  will  answer  them,  "I  know  you  not  whence  ye  are:  depart 
from  me,  ye  workers  of  iniquity." 

Esau's  reflections  on  his  brother  for  having  twice  supplanted  him  were 
not  altogether  without  ground ;  yet  his  statement  is  exaggerated.  It  was 
not  accurate  to  say,  "  He  took  away  my  birthright,"  as  though  he  had  robbed 
him  of  it,  seeing  he  himself  had  so  despised  it  as  to  part  with  it  for  a  morsel 
of  meat;  and  having  done  so,  whatever  might  be  said  of  Jacob's  conduct  in 
the  sight  of  God,  he  had  no  reason  to  complain. 

Ver.  41.  Esau  obtained,  as  we  have  seen,  a  blessing,  and  some  relief  on 
the  score  of  subjection ;  yet  because  he  could  not  gain  his  point,  but  the 
posterity  of  Jacob  must  needs  have  the  ascendancy,  there  is  nothing  left  for 
him  but  to  "  hate  him  for  the  blessing  wherewith  his  father  blessed  him." 
He  was  not  ignorant  of  Isaac's  partiality;  he  must  therefore  have  known 
that  it  was  not  owing  to  him,  nor  even  to  Jacob's  subtlety,  that  the  first 
dominion  was  given  him.  He  must  have  perceived,  from  what  his  father 
had  said,  that  the  thing  was  of  the  Lord,  and  therefore  could  not  be  reversed. 
Hence  it  appears  that  the  hatred  of  Esau  was  of  the  same  nature  with  that 
of  Cain  to  Abel,  and  of  Saul  to  David;  and  operated  in  the  same  way;  it 
was  directed  against  him  principally  on  account  of  his  having  been  an  ob- 
ject whom  the  Lord  had  fivoured.  Such  also  was  the  motive  of  hatred 
which,  in  after-ages,  subsisted  in  the  Edomites  against  Israel.  As  nothing 
could  comfort  Esau  but  the  hope  of  murder,  so  nothing  could  satisfy  his 
posterity  but  to  see  Jerusalem  razed  to  its  foundations.  Isaac  had  talked  of 
dying,  and  Esau  thought  to  be  sure  the  time  was  not  far  distant;  and  then, 
during  the  days  of  mourning  for  his  father,  he  hoped  for  an  opportunity  of 
murdering  his  brother.  He  might  think  also  that  it  was  best  to  suppress 
his  resentment  till  the  poor  old  man  was  dead,  and  then  it  would  not  be  a 
grief  to  him.  The  most  cruel  designs  of  wicked  men  may  be  mixed  with 
a  partiality  for  those  who  have  been  partial  to  them. 

Ver.  42-4.5.  Esau,  it  seems,  had  not  only  said  in  his  heart,  I  will  slay  my 
brother,  but  had  put  his  thought  into  words,  probably  before  some  of  the 

Vol.  hi.— 15  k  2 


114  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

servants.  The  hint,  however,  was  carried  to  Rebecca,  and  she  clearly  fore- 
saw what  was  to  be  expected.  She  therefore  sent  for  Jacob,  and  told  him 
of  his  brother's  design,  counselling  him  at  the  same  time  to  go  to  her  rela- 
tions at  Ilaran,  and  tarry  there  awhile,  till  Esau's  anger  should  have  subsided. 
The  reason  which  she  urges  to  enforce  her  counsel  is  very  strong :  "  Why 
should  I  be  deprived  of  you  both  in  one  day?"  Had  Esau's  purpose  succeeded, 
the  murderer,  as  well  as  the  murdered,  had  been  lost  to  her.  We  see  here 
the  bitter  fruits  which  Rebecca  begins  to  reap  from  her  crooked  policy  ;  she 
must  part  with  her  favourite  son  to  preserve  his  life,  and  will  never  see  him 
again  in  this  world,  though  she  thinks  of  sending  in  a  little  time  to  fetch 
him  home. 

Ver.  46.  By  the  manner  in  which  things  are  here  related,  it  appears  that 
Isaac  was  so  infirm  as  to  have  lost  all  the  power  of  management,  and  that 
the  whole  in  a  manner  devolved  on  Rebecca.  She  advises  Jacob  what  to 
do ;  it  is  expedient,  if  not  necessary,  however,  before  he  takes  his  departure, 
to  obtain  his  flither's  concurrence.  She  does  not  choose  to  tell  her  husband 
the  true  reason  of  her  wishes,  as  that  was  a  tender  point,  and  might  lead  to 
a  subject  which  she  might  think  it  better  to  pass  over  in  silence;  but  know- 
ing that  he  as  well  as  herself  had  been  grieved  with  Esau's  wives,  (chap, 
xxvi.  35,)  she  judges  that  the  most  likely  means  of  success  would  be  a  pro- 
posal for  Jacob  to  go  to  Haran  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  wife  from  among 
their  relations  in  that  country.  She  does  not  propose  it,  however,  directly, 
but  merely  expresses  her  strong  disapprobation  of  his  following  the  example 
of  his  brother,  leaving  it  to  Isaac  to  mention  positively  what  should  be  done. 
And  this,  her  apparent  modesty,  answered  the  end,  as  we  shall  see  in  the 
following  chapter. 


DISCOURSE  XXXVII. 
Jacob's  departure  from  beersheba. 

Gen.  xxviii. 


Ver.  1-4.  The  hint  which  Rebecca  had  dropped  against  Jacob's  taking 
a  wife  from  among  the  daughters  of  Heth  quite  fell  in  with  Isaac's  mind; 
and  knowing  that  there  was  but  one  place  for  him  to  go  to  on  such  an 
errand,  he  determines  without  delay  to  send  him  thither.  The  account  here 
given  o{h\s  calling,  blessing,  and  charging  him  is  very  much  to  his  honour. 
The  first  of  these  terms  implies  his  reconciliation  to  him  ;  the  second,  his 
satisfaction  in  what  had  been  done  before  without  design ;  and  the  last,  his 
concern  that  he  should  act  in  a  manner  worthy  of  the  blessing  which  he  had 
received.  How  differently  do  things  issue  in  different  minds!  Esau,  as 
well  as  Isaac,  was  exceedingly  affected  by  what  had  lately  occurred  ;  but  the 
hitter  cry  of  the  one  issued  in  a  settled  hatred,  while  the  trembling  of  the 
other  brought  him  to  a  right  mind.  He  had  been  thinking  matters  over 
ever  since,  and  the  more  he  thought  of  them,  the  more  satisfied  he  was  that 
it  was  the  will  of  God,  and  that  all  his  private  partialities  should  give  place 
to  it. 

One  sees  in  what  he  now  does  that  his  heart  is  in  it.  He  not  only  blesses 
him,  but  invokes  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  to  attend  him :  "  God  Al- 
mighty bless  Ihee,  and  make  thee  fruitful,  and  multiply  thee,  that  thou  mayest 
be  a  multitude  of  people;  and  give  thee  the  blessing  of  Abraham,  to  thee. 


Jacob's  departure  from  beersheba.  115 

and  to  thy  seed  with  thee,  that  thou  maycst  inherit  the  land  wherein  thou 
art  a  stranger,  which  God  gave  unto  Abraham."  Who  does  not  perceive  the 
diflference  between  this  blessing  and  the  former?  In  that  he  was  thinking 
of  one  person,  and  blessing  another ;  in  this  he  understands  what  he  is  about. 
Then  his  mind  was  straitened  by  carnal  attachment,  now  it  is  enlarged  by 
faith.  The  rich  promises  of  Abraham's  covenant  seem  there  to  have  been 
almost  forgotten ;  but  here  they  are  expressly  named,  and  dwelt  upon  with 
delight.  Of  what  importance  is  it  for  our  minds  to  be  kept  one  with  God's 
mind!  and  what  a  difference  it  makes  in  the  discharge  of  duty!  We  may 
pray,  or  preach,  after  a  manner,  while  it  is  otherwise;  and  God  may  pre- 
serve us  from  uttering  gross  error:  but  what  we  deliver  will  be  miserably  flat 
and  defective  in  comparison  of  what  it  is  when  a  right  spirit  is  renewed 
within  us. 

Ver.  5-9.  The  departure  of  Jacob  was  attended  by  many  painful  and 
humiliating  circumstances,  as  well  it  might;  for  these  are  the  necessary 
consequences  of  sin.  The  parting  scene  to  Isaac  was  tender ;  but  Jacob 
and  his  mother  must  have  felt  something  more  than  tenderness.  As  to  Esau, 
it  is  not  likely  that  he  was  present.  He  was  near  enough  however  to  eye 
his  motions,  and  by  some  means  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  every 
thing  that  passed.  Probably  he  expected  more  supplanting  schemes  were 
forming,  and  longed  for  the  time  when  a  fair  opportunity  should  offer  for 
his  being  revenged  on  the  supplanter.  But  when  he  found  that  his  father 
had  blessed  him,  and  charged  him  not  to  take  a  wife  of  the  daughters  of 
Canaan,  and  that  he  had  obeyed  his  voice,  and  was  gone  to  Padan-aram,  it 
seems  to  have  wrought  in  a  way  that  we  should  scarcely  have  expected. 
Finding  himself  left  in  the  possession  of  all  the  substance  of  the  family,  and 
Jacob  out  of  his  way,  he  thinks  he  has  now  only  to  please  his  father,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  loss  of  his  birthright  and  blessing,  all  will  be  his.  And 
now,  to  accomplish  his  end,  he  carefully  notices  the  means  by  which  Jacob 
succeeded  in  pleasing  his  parents.  One  great  advantage  which  he  had 
gained  over  him,  as  he  perceived  by  his  father's  charge,  was  in  reference  to 
marriage.  He  had  obeyed  the  voice  of  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  was 
gone  to  take  a  wife  from  the  family  of  Bethuel.  I  will  take  another  wife 
then,  said  Esau  to  himself,  if  that  will  please  them ;  and,  as  they  seem 
attached  to  their  relations,  it  shall  be  from  among  them.  Moreover,  as  Jacob, 
who  is  his  mother's  favourite,  intends  to  marry  into  her  family,  I,  who  am 
my  father's,  will  marry  into  his.  See  what  awkward  work  is  made  when 
men  go  about  to  please  others  and  promote  their  worldly  interest,  by  imitating 
that  in  which  they  have  no  delight.  Ignorance  and  error  mark  every  step 
they  take.  Esau  was  in  no  need  of  a  wife,  for  he  had  two  already ;  nor  did 
his  parents  desire  him  to  add  to  the  number;  nor  would  they  be  gratified 
by  his  connexion  with  the  apostate  family  of  Ishmael ;  nor  was  it  principally 
on  account  of  Bethuel's  being  a  relation  that  Abraham's  family  took  wives 
from  his.  In  short,  he  is  out  in  all  his  calculations;  nor  can  he  discover 
the  principles  which  influence  those  who  fear  the  Lord.  Thus  have  we 
often  seen  men  try  to  imitate  religious  people,  for  the  sake  of  gaining 
esteem,  or  in  some  way  promoting  their  selfish  ends ;  but  instead  of  succeed- 
ing, they  have  commonly  made  bad  worse.  That  which  to  a  right  mind  is 
as  plain  as  the  most  public  highway,  to  a  mind  perverted  shall  appear  full 
of  difficulties.  "  The  labour  of  the  foolish  wearieth  every  one  of  them,  be- 
cause he  knoweth  not  how  to  go  to  the  city."     But  to  return : — 

Ver.  10,  11.  The  line  of  promise  being  now  fully  ascertained,  Jacob  be- 
comes the  hero  of  the  tale.  He  was  now  about  seventy-seven  years  old ; 
and  though  his  brother  Esau  had  two  wives,  yet  he  was  single.  The  pos- 
terity of  Ishmael  and  Esau  increased  much  faster  than  those  of  Isaac  and 


116  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Jacob.  It  seemed  to  be  the  design  of  God  that  the  fulfihTient  of  the  promise 
should  be  protracted  in  order  to  try  the  faith  of  his  servants.  Setting  out 
from  his  father's  house  at  Beersheba,  we  find  Jacob  journeying  towards  Haran, 
a  distance  of  about  five  hundred  miles.  Without  a  servant  to  attend  him,  or 
a  beast  to  carry  him,  or  any  other  accommodation,  except,  as  he  afterwards 
informs  us,  a  staff  to  walk  with,  he  pursues  his  solitary  way.  Having  tra- 
velled one  whole  day,  the  sun  being  set,  he  alighted  on  a  certain  place, 
where  he  took  up  his  abode  for  the  night.  The  place  was  called  Luz,  and 
is  said  to  have  been  a  city,  ver.  19.  Jacob,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have 
entered  it;  but,  for  some  reason,  chose  to  sleep  in  the  open  air  in  its 
suburbs.  Sleeping  abroad  is  a  custom  very  common  in  the  East,  and  less 
dangerous  than  in  colder  climates.  The  stones  which  he  used  for  a  pillow 
might  preserve  him  from  the  damp  of  the  ground;  but,  we  should  think, 
must  have  contributed  but  little  to  rest  his  weary  body. 

Ver.  12-15.  During  the  night  he  had  a  very  extraordinary  dream,  almost 
every  particular  of  which  is  introduced  by  the  sacred  writer  with  the  inter- 
jection "Behuld!" 

We  might  have  been  at  a  loss  in  ascertaining  the  meaning  of  the  ladder, 
if  the  great  medium  of  communion  between  heaven  and  earth  had  not  almost 
expressly  applied  it  to  himself  "  Hereafter,"  said  Jesus  to  Nathanael,  "  ye 
shall  see  heaven  open,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  (that  is,  to  heaven) 
and  descending  (that  is,  to  the  eaith)  upon  the  Son  of  man."  Our  Lord's 
design  appears  to  have  been  to  foretell  the  glory  of  gospel  times,  in  which, 
through  his  mediation,  heaven  should  as  it  were  be  opened,  and  a  free  inter- 
course be  established  between  God,  angels,  and  men.  But,  it  may  be  asked, 
What  analogy  could  there  be  between  this  and  that  which  was  revealed  to 
Jacob?  I  answer.  We  have  seen  that  the  Messiah  was  not  only  included  in 
the  promises  to  Abraham,  but  that  he  made  a  principal  part  of  them;  and 
as  these  promises  were  now  renewed  to  Jacob,  though  we  had  read  nothing 
of  his  vision  of  the  ladder,  yet  we  should  have  known  that  they  looked  as  far 
forward  as  to  him,  and  to  that  dispensation  in  which  "  all  the  families  of  the 
earth  should  be  blessed"  in  him.  As  it  is,  we  may  conclude  that  what  was 
see7i  in  vision  was  of  the  same  general  import  as  what  was  heard  in  the  pro- 
mises which  followed.  It  was  giving  the  patriarch  a  glimpse  of  that  glory 
which  should  be  accomplished  in  his  seed. 

There  was  something  very  seasonable  in  this  vision,  and  in  the  promises 
which  accompanied  it.  Jacob  had  lately  acted  an  unworthy  part,  and,  if 
properly  sensible  of  it,  must  have  been  very  unhappy.  His  father,  it  is  true, 
had  blessed  him,  and  of  course  forgiven  him;  but,  till  God  has  done  so  too, 
he  can  enjoy  no  solid  peace.  Now  such  was  the  present  vision :  it  was  the 
Lord  his  God  saying  Amen  to  his  father's  blessing,  ver.  3,  4,  with  13,  14. 
He  was  taking  leave  of  Canaan,  and  if  he  had  calculated  on  human  proba- 
bilities, he  was  never  likely  to  return  to  it,  at  least  during  the  lifetime  of 
Esau ;  but,  by  the  gift  of  the  land  on  which  he  lay  to  him,  and  to  his  seed, 
he  was  taught  to  expect  it,  and  to  consider  himself  only  as  a  sojourner  at 
Haran.  Considering  his  age,  too,  there  seemed  but  little  probability  of  his 
having  a  numerous  offspring.  If  the  blessing  consisted  in  this,  it  seemed 
much  more  likely  to  be  fulfilled  in  his  brother  than  in  him ;  but  he  was 
hereby  assured  that  his  seed  should  be  as  the  dust  of  the  earth,  spreading 
abroad  in  every  direction.  The  thought  also  of  leaving  his  father's  house, 
and  of  going  among  strangers,  must  needs  have  aiTccted  him.  During  his 
solitary  walk  from  Beersheba  he  had  doubtless  been  thinking  of  his  lonely 
condition,  and  of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  he  had  to  encounter. 
How  seasonable  then  was  the  promise,  "  Behold,  I  am  with  thee,  and  will 
keep  thee  in  all  places  whither  thou  goest,  and  will  bring  thee  again  into 


Jacob's  departure  prom  beersheba.  117 

this  land!"  Finally,  the  present  was  a  new  epoch  in  his  life,  and,  as  an 
heir  of  promise,  a  kind  of  commencement  of  it.  In  this  character  he  must, 
like  his  predecessors,  live  by  faith.  Esau's  blessing  was  soon  fulfilled  ;  but 
Jacob's  related  to  things  at  a  great  distance,  which  none  but  God  Almighty 
could  bring  to  pass.  How  seasonable  then  were  those  precious  promises 
which  furnished  at  his  outset  a  ground  for  faith  to  rest  upon !  "  I  will  not 
leave  thee  till  I  have  done  that  which  I  have  spoken  to  thee  of" 

Ver.  16-22.  Awaking  from  sleep  in  the  night  time,  and  reflecting  on  his 
dream,  he  was  greatly  affected,  as  well  he  might.  "  Surely,"  exclaimed  he, 
"  Jehovah  is  in  this  place,  and  I  knew  it  not !"  And  he  was  afraid,  and 
said,  "  How  dreadful  is  this  place!  This  is  none  other  than  the  house  of 
God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven !"  As  if  he  had  said.  Surely  this  is  no 
common  dream!  God  is  in  it!  God  is  near!  I  went  to  sleep  aS  at  other 
times,  expecting  nothing;  and  lo,  ere  I  was  aware,  God  hath  visited  me! 
Feeling  himself  as  in  the  presence  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  he  trembles;  the 
place  seems  to  be  holy  ground,  the  temple  of  Jehovali,  the  suburbs  of  hea- 
ven !  Whether  he  slept  after  this  we  are  not  told :  be  that  as  it  may,  he  "  rose 
early  in  the  morning ;"  and,  deeply  impressed  with  what  had  passed,  resolved 
to  perpetuate  the  remembrance  of  it.  Taking  the  stone  upon  which  he  had 
lain,  he  set  it  up  for  a  pillar,  or  monument;  and,  that  he  might  consecrate 
it  to  the  future  service  of  the  Lord,  "  poured  oil  upon  the  lop  of  it."  This 
done,  he  gave  the  place  a  new  name.  Instead  of  Ljtz,  (probably  so  called 
on  account  of  a  number  of  almond  or  md  trees  growing  near  it,)  he  called 
it  "  Beth-el — the  house  of  God." 

Finally,  He  closed  this  extraordinary  vision  by  a  solemn  vow,  or  dedica- 
tion of  himself  to  God.  The  terms  of  this  solemn  vow  were  not  of  Jacob's 
dictating  to  the  Almighty,  but  arose  out  of  his  own  gracious  promises;  and 
so  furnish  a  lovely  example  of  the  prayer  of  faith.  God  had  promised  to  be 
with  him,  to  keep  him,  to  bring  him  again  into  the  land,  and  not  to  leave 
him.  Jacob  takes  up  the  precious  words,  saying,  "  If  God  will  thus  be  with 
me,  and  keep  me,  and  provide  for  me,  and  bring  me  home  in  peace,  then  in 
return  I  will  be  his  for  ever."  We  may  pray  for  things  which  God  hath  not 
promised  in  submission  to  his  will,  as  Abraham  interceded  for  Sodom,  and 
Moses  for  the  idolaters  at  Horeb;  but  when  we  ask  for  that  which  he  hath 
engaged  to  bestow,  we  approach  him  with  much  greater  encouragement.  The 
order  of  what  he  desired  is  also  deserving  of  notice.  It  corresponds  with  our 
Saviour's  rule,  to  seek  things  of  the  greatest  importance  first.  By  how  much 
God's  favour  is  better  than  life,  by  so  much  his  being  trith  us,  and  keeping 
7/s,  is  better  than  food  and  raiment.  A  sense  of  this  will  moderate  our  desires 
for  inferior  things,  as  it  did  Jacob's.  A  little  with  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is 
better  than  great  treasures  with  trouble.  If  God  be  with  us,  and  keep  us,  the 
mere  necessaries  of  life  will  make  us  happy.  The  voto  itself  contains  an 
entire  renunciation  of  idolatry,  and  a  taking  Jehovah  to  be  his  God.  And 
inasmuch  as  it  looks  forward  to  his  return  to  Canaan,  it  includes  a  solemn 
promise  to  maintain  the  worship  of  God  in  his  family.  Then  he  would  rear 
an  altar  to  him  in  Beth-el,  and  consecrate  the  tenth  of  all  his  substance  to 
his  cause. 

In  the  course  of  the  history  we  shall  perceive  the  use  that  Jacob  made  of 
this  vision,  and  that  which  the  Lord  made  of  the  vow  which  here  he  vowed 
to  him.  But  I  conclude  with  only  remarking  that  in  the  former  chapter  we 
saw  much  of  man ;  but  in  this  we  have  seen  much  of  God.  In  the  works 
of  the  one,  sin  abounded ;  in  those  of  the  other,  grace  hath  much  more 
abounded. 


118  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 


DISCOURSE  XXXVIII. 
Jacob's  arrival  at  haban. 

Gen.  xxix. 

Ver.  1.  Jacob's  second  day's  journey  was  very  different  from  the  first; 
then  he  had  a  heavy  burden,  but  now  he  has  lost  it.  His  outset  from  Beth-el 
is  expressed  by  a  phrase  which  signifies  he  lifted  up  his  feet ;  that  is,  he 
went  lightly  and  cheerfully  on.  Nothing  more  is  recorded  of  his  journey, 
but  that  "  he  came  into  the  land  of  the  people  of  the  east." 

Ver.  2-10.  The  first  object  that  struck  him  was  a  well,  with  three  flocks 
of  sheep  lying  by  it,  ready  to  be  watered.  The  shepherds  coming  up  rolled 
away  the  stone  from  the  well's  mouth,  watered  the  flocks,  and  then  put  the 
stone  again  in  its  place.  Jacob,  who  had  hitherto  looked  on,  now  began 
the  following  conversation  with  them. — My  brethren,  whence  be  ye? — Of 
Haran. — Know  ye  Laban,  the  son  of  Nahor? — We  know  him. — Is  he 
well? — He  is  well;  and,  behold,  Rachel  his  daughter  cometh  with  the 
sheep.  On  this  Jacob  suggests  that  it  was  too  soon  to  gather  all  the  flocks 
together,  as  they  did  at  night;  and  that  there  was  much  time  for  their  being 
again  led  forth  to  pasture.  "  Water  ye  the  sheep,"  said  he,  "  and  go  and 
feed  them."  It  might  appear  somewhat  out  of  character  for  a  stranger  to  be 
so  officious  as  to  direct  them  how  to  proceed  with  their  flocks  ;  but  the  design 
was,  I  apprehend,  to  induce  them  to  depart,  and  to  leave  him  to  converse 
with  Rachel  by  herself  They  tell  him,  however,  that  they  must  stop  till  all 
the  flocks  are  watered ;  Rachel's,  it  seems,  as  well  as  the  rest.  Such  pro- 
bably was  the  custom,  that  the  well  might  be  left  secure.  While  they  were 
talking  Rachel  came  up.  The  sight  of  the  daughter  of  his  mother's  brother 
aflfected  Jacob.  He  could  have  wished  that  so  tender  an  interview  had  been 
by  themselves ;  but  as  this  could  not  be,  he,  in  the  presence  of  the  shep- 
herds, went  and  "  rolled  away  the  stone  from  the  well's  mouth,  and  watered 
her  flock ;"  which  being  done,  he  "  kissed  Rachel,  and  lifted  up  his  voice 
and  wept."  The  tears  shed  on  this  occasion  must  have  arisen  from  a  full 
heart.  We  cannot  say  that  the  love  which  he  afterwards  bore  to  Rachel  did 
not  commence  from  his  first  seeing  her.  But  however  that  might  be,  the 
cause  of  this  weeping  was  of  another  kind;  it  was  her  being  "the  daughter 
of  his  mother's  brother"  that  now  affected  him.  Every  thing  that  revived 
Tier  memory,  even  the  very  flocks  of  sheep  that  belonged  to  her  brother, 
went  to  his  heart.  Nor  did  he  wish  to  be  alone  with  Rachel,  but  that  he 
might  give  vent  without  reserve  to  these  sensations. 

Ver.  12-14.  It  must  have  excited  surprise  in  Rachel's  mind  to  see  a 
stranger  so  attentive  in  watering  her  flock,  and  still  more  so  to  receive  from 
him  so  affectionate  a  salutation;  but  now,  having  relieved  his  heart  by  a 
burst  of  weeping,  he  tells  her  who  he  is; — he  is  her  father's  near  kinsman, 
Rebecca's  son !  And  now  we  may  expect  another  very  tender  interview. 
Rachel  ran  and  told  her  father;  and  the  father  "  ran  to  meet  him,  and  em- 
braced him,  and  kissed  him,  and  brought  him  to  his  house."  After  an  inter- 
change of  salutations,  Jacob  tells  him  his  whole  story ;  and  Laban  seems 
much  affected  with  it,  and  speaks  to  him  in  aflfectionate  language,  "  Surely, 
thou  art  my  bone  and  my  flesh." 

Ver.  15-20.  During  the  first  month  of  his  stay,  Jacob  employed  himself 
about  his  uncle's  business;  but  nothing  was  said  with  respect  to  terms.  On 
such  a  subject  it  was  not  for  Jacob  to  speak ;  so  Laban  very  properly  inti 


JACOB  IN  HARAN.  119 

mated  that  he  did  not  desire  to  take  advantage  of  his  near  relationship,  that 
he  should  serve  him  any  more  than  another  man  for  nothing.  Tell  me,  said 
he,  what  shall  be  thy  wages.  This  gives  Jacob  an  opportunity  of  expressinor 
his  love  to  Rajhel.  Aware  that  he  had  no  dowry,  like  his  father  Isaac,  he 
could  not  well  have  asked  her,  but  for  such  an  opportunity  as  this  beino- 
afforded  him.  It  was  humiliating,  however,  to  be  thus  in  a  manner  obliged 
to  earn  his  wife  before  he  could  have  her.  This  is  twice  afterward  referred 
to  in  the  Scriptures,  as  an  instance  of  his  low  condition.  It  was  a  part  of 
the  confession  required  to  be  made  by  every  Israelite,  when  he  presented 
his  basket  of  first-fruits  before  the  Lord,  "A  Syrian,  ready  to  perish,  was  my 
father!"  And  when,  in  the  days  of  Hosea,  they  were  grown  haughty,  the 
prophet  reminds  them  that  "  Jacob  jled  into  the  country  of  Syria,  and  Israel 
served  for  a  wife,  and  for  a  wife  he  kept  sheep."  Half  the  generosity  which 
Laban's  words  seem  to  express  would  have  given  Jacob  the  object  of  his 
choice,  without  making  him  wait  seven  years  for  her.  It  was  very  proper 
for  the  one  to  offer  it;  but  it  was  mean  and  selfish  for  the  other  to  accept  it. 
If  he  had  really  esteemed  his  daughters,  and  on  this  account  set  a  high  value 
on  them,  he  would  not  afterwards  have  imposed  two,  where  only  one  was 
desired.  But  his  own  private  interest  was  all  he  studied.  In  his  sister 
Rebecca's  marriage  there  were  presents  of  gold  and  silver,  and  costly  raiment, 
besides  an  assurance  of  the  Lord  having  greatly  blessed  the  family,  and  that 
Isaac  was  to  be  the  heir.  These  were  things  which  wrought  much  on 
Laban's  mind.  He  could  then  say,  "  Rebecca  is  before  thee,  take  her,  and 
go,  and  let  her  be  thy  master's  son's  wife."  But  here  are  none  of  these 
moving  inducements.  Here  is  a  man,  it  is  true,  and  he  talks  of  promised 
blessings;  but  he  is  poor,  and  Laban  cannot  live  upon  promises.  He  per- 
ceives that  Abraham's  descendants  are  partial  to  his  family,  and  he  is  resolved 
to  make  his  market  of  it.  The  sight  of  the  very  flocks  of  Laban,  as  being 
his  mother's  brother,  interested  Jacob's  heart;  but  he  would  soon  find  that 
Laban  will  make  him  pay  for  his  attachments.  Such,  however,  was  the  love 
he  bore  to  Rachel,  that  he  took  all  in  good  part,  and  consented  to  serve 
seven  years  for  her.  Nay,  such  was  the  strength  of  his  affection,  that  "  they 
seemed  unto  him  but  a  few  days."  Some  would  suppose  that  love  must 
operate  in  a  contrary  way,  causing  the  time  to  appear  long  rather  than  short ; 
and  therefore  conclude  that  what  is  here  spoken  is  expressive  of  what  it 
appeared  ivheii  it  loas  past :  but  the  phraseology  seems  rather  to  denote  what 
it  appeared  at  the  time.  The  truth  seems  to  be  this :  when  there  is  nothing 
to  obstruct  a  union,  love  is  impatient  of  delay;  but  when  great  difficulties 
interpose,  it  stimulates  to  a  patient  and  resolute  course  of  action,  in  order  to 
surmount  them.  Where  the  object  is  highly  valued,  we  think  little  of  the 
labour  and  expense  of  obtaining  it.     "  Love  endureth  all  things." 

Ver.  21-24.  At  the  expiration  of  the  time  Jacob  demanded  his  wife,  and 
preparation  is  made  accordingly  for  the  marriage.  Laban,  like  some  in  their 
gifts  to  God,  is  not  wanting  in  ceremony.  He  made  a  feast,  gave  his  daugh- 
ter a  handmaid,  and  went  through  all  the  forms;  but  the  gift  itself  was  a 
deception ;  it  was  not  Rachel,  but  Leah,  that  was  presented.  It  seems 
somewhat  extraordinary  that  Jacob  should  be  capable  of  being  thus  imposed 
upon.  Perhaps  the  veil  which  was  then  worn  by  a  woman  on  her  marriage 
might  contribute  to  his  not  perceiving  her.  It  was  a  cruel  business  on  the 
part  of  Laban;  yet  Jacob  might  see  in  it  the  punishment  of  his  having  im- 
posed upon  his  father.  In  such  a  way  God  often  deals  with  men,  causing 
them  to  reap  the  bitter  fruits  of  sin,  even  when  they  have  lamented  and  for- 
saken it.  "  When  thou  shall  make  an  end  to  deal  treacherously,  they  shall 
deal  treacherously  with  thee." 

Ver.  25-30.  Jacob,  perceiving  by  the  light  of  the  morning,  how  he  had 


120  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

been  deceived,  remonstrated ;  but  it  was  to  no  purpose.  The  answer  of 
Laban  was  frivolous.  If  the  custom  of  the  country  was  as  he  alleged,  he 
ought  to  have  said  so  from  the  first ;  but  it  is  manifest  that  he  wanted  to  dis- 
pose of  both  his  daugliters  in  a  way  that  might  turn  to  his  own  advantage. 
Hence  he  adds,  "  Fulfil  her  week,  and  I  will  give  thee  this  also."  These 
words  would  seem  to  intimate  that  he  had  seven  years  longer  to  stay  for 
Rachel ;  but  this  does  not  agree  with  other  facts.  Jacob  was  twenty  years 
in  Haran,  chap.  xxxi.  41.  At  the  end  of  fourteen  years  Joseph  was  born. 
At  which  time  Rachel  had  been  a  wife,  without  bearing  any  children,  for 
several  years,  chap.  xxx.  22-25.  The  two  marriages  therefore  must  have  been 
within  a  week  of  each  other;  and  the  meaning  of  Laban's  words  must  be, 
Fulfil  the  seven  days'  feasting  for  Leah,  and  then  thou  shalt  have  Rachel, 
and  shalt  serve  me  seven  years  after  the  marriage  on  her  account. — With 
this  perfectly  agrees  what  is  said  in  ver.  30,  in  which  he  is  said  to  have  gone 
in  also  unto  Rachel,  denoting  that  it  was  soon  after  his  having  gone  in  unto 
Leah;  and  in  which  the  seven  years'  service  is  spoken  of  as  following  his 
marriage  to  her.  This  proposal  on  the  part  of  Laban  was  as  void  of  prin- 
ciple as  any  thing  could  well  be.  His  first  agreement  was  ungenerous,  his 
breach  of  it  unjust;  and  now  to  extort  seven  years'  more  labour,  or  withhold 
the  object  agreed  for,  was  sordid  in  the  extreme.  Jacob  had  no  desire  for 
more  wives  than  one;  yet  as  polygamy  was  at  that  time  tolerated,  and  as 
the  marriage  had  been  consummated,  though  ignorantly,  with  Leah,  he 
could  not  well  put  her  away ;  yet  neither  could  he  think  of  foregoing  Rachel. 
So  he  acceded  to  the  terms,  notwithstanding  their  injustice,  and  vvas  mar- 
ried also  to  Rachel ;  and  Bilhah  was  given  to  her  for  a  handmaid.  But  it 
was  to  him  a  sore  trial,  and  that  which  laid  the  foundation  of  innumerable 
discords  in  his  family,  of  which  the  succeeding  history  of  it  abounds.  The 
following  prohibition  to  Israel  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by  this  un- 
happy example  in  their  great  ancestor :  "  Thou  shalt  not  take  a  wife  to  her 
sister,  to  vex  her,  to  uncover  her  nakedness,  besides  the  other,  in  her  lifetime." 

Ver.  31-35.  That  Leah,  who  vvas  never  the  object  of  Jacob's  choice,  and 
who  must  have  had  a  share  in  the  late  imposition,  should  be  hated  in  com- 
parison of  Rachel,  is  no  more  than  might  be  expected  ;  yet  it  is  worthy  of  no- 
tice how  God  balances  the  good  and  ill  of  the  present  life.  Leah  is  slighted 
in  comparison  of  Rachel ;  but  God  gives  children  to  her,  while  he  withholds 
them  from  the  other;  and  children,  in  a  family  whose  chief  blessing  con- 
sisted in  a  promised  seed,  were  greatly  accounted  of  The  names  given  to 
the  children  were  expressive  of  their  mother's  state  of  mind;  partly  as  to  her 
affliction  for  want  of  an  interest  in  her  husband's  heart,  and  partly,  we  hope, 
as  to  her  piety,  in  viewing  the  hand  of  God  in  all  that  befell  her.  Four 
children  were  born  of  her  successively  ;  namely,  Reuben,  Simeon,  Levi,  and 
Judah ;  and  thus  God  was  pleased  to  put  more  abundant  honour  upon  the 
part  that  lacked.  The  name  of  the  last  of  these  children,  though  given  him 
by  his  mother  merely  under  an  emotion  of  thankfulness,  yet  was  not  a  little 
suited  to  the  royal  tribe,  whence  also  the  Messiah  should  descend.'  Of  this 
his  father  was  made  acquainted  by  revelation  when  he  blessed  his  sons. 
"  Judah,"  said  he,  "  thou  art  he  whom  thy  brethren  shall  praise — the  sceptre 
shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  until 
Shiloh  come;  and  unto  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be!" 

One  sees,  in  the  conduct  of  both  Jacob  and  Leah,  under  their  afflictions, 
a  portion  of  that  patience  which  arose  from  a  consciousness  of  their  having 
brought  them  upon  themselves.  They  were  each  bufleted  in  this  manner 
for  their  faults ;  and,  being  so,  there  was  less  of  praiseworthiness  in  their 
taking  it  patiently.  Yet,  when  compared  with  some  others,  who,  in  all  their 
troubles,  are  as  bullocks  unaccustomed  to  the  yoke,  we  see  what  is  worthy 
of  imitation. 


JACOB  IN  HARAN.  121 

DISCOURSE  XXXIX. 

JACOB    IN    HARAN. 
Gen.  XXX.;  xxxi.  1-16. 

Though  every  part  of  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  pro- 
fitable for  various  purposes,  yet  I  conceive  it  is  no  disparagement  from  its 
real  value  to  say  that  every  particular  passage  in  it  is  not  suited  for  a  public 
exposition.  On  this  ground  I  shall  pass  over  the  thirtieth  chapter,  with  only 
two  or  three  general  remarks. 

First,  The  domestic  discords,  envies,  and  jealousies,  between  Jacob's 
Avives,  serve  to  teach  us  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  Christian  law,  that 
every  man  have  his  own  wife,  as  well  as  every  woman  her  own  husband. 
No  reflecting  person  can  read  this  chapter  without  being  disgusted  with 
polygamy,  and  thankful  for  that  dispensation  which  has  restored  the  original 
law  of  nature,  and  with  it  true  conjugal  felicity. 

Secondly,  Though  the  strifes  and  jealousies  of  Jacob's  wives  were  dis- 
gusting, yet  we  are  not  to  attribute  their  desire  of  children,  or  the  measures 
which  it  put  them  upon  for  obtaining  them,  to  mere  carnal  motives.  Had 
it  been  so,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  inspired  writer  would  have 
condescended  to  narrate  them.  "  It  would,"  as  an  able  writer  observes, 
**  have  been  below  the  dignity  of  such  a  sacred  history  as  this  is  to  relate 
such  things,  if  there  had  not  been  something  of  great  consideration  in  them." 
The  truth  appears  to  be,  they  were  influenced  by  the  promises  of  God  to 
Abraham ;  on  whose  posterity  were  entailed  the  richest  blessings,  and  from 
whom  the  Messiah  was,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  to  descend.  It  was  the  belief 
of  these  promises  that  rendered  every  pious  female  in  those  times  emulous 
of  being  a  mother.  Hence  also  both  Leah  and  Rachel  are  represented  as 
praying  to  God  for  this  honour,  and,  when  children  were  given  them,  as 
acknowledging  the  favour  to  have  proceeded  from  him,  ver.  17,  18,  22. 

Thirdly,  The  measure  which  Jacob  took  to  obtain  the  best  of  the  cattle 
would  at  first  sight  appear  to  be  selfish  and  disingenuous;  and  if  viewed  as 
a  mere  human  device,  operating  according  to  the  established  laws  of  nature, 
it  would  be  so:  but  such  it  was  not.  As  when  unbelievers  object  to  the 
curse  of  Noah  upon  his  son  that  it  was  the  mere  effect  of  revenge,  we  an- 
swer. Let  them  curse  those  who  displease  them,  and  see  whether  any  such 
effects  will  follow ;  so  if  they  object  to  the  conduct  of  Jacob  as  a  crafty 
device,  we  might  answer.  Let  them  make  use  of  the  same,  if  they  be  able. 
I  believe  it  will  not  be  pretended  that  any  other  person  has  since  made  the 
like  experiment  with  success.  It  must  therefore  have  been  by  a  special 
direction  of  God  that  he  acted  as  he  did,  chap.  xxxi.  10-12.  And  this  will 
acquit  him  of  selfishness,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Divine  command  to  the 
Israelites  to  borrow  of  the  Egyptians  acquits  them  of  fraud.  Both  were 
extraordinary  interpositions  in  behalf  of  the  injured;  a  kind  of  Divine 
reprisal,  in  which  justice  was  executed  on  a  broad  scale.  And  as  the  Egyp- 
tians could  not  complain  of  the  Israelites,  for  that  they  had  freely  lent  or 
rather  given  them  their  jewels,  without  any  expectation  of  receiving  them 
again;*  so  neither  could  Laban  complain  of  Jacob,  for  that  he  had  nothing 
more  than  it  was  freely  agreed  he  shoidd  have;  nor  was  he  on  the  whole 
injured,  but  greatly  benefited  by  Jacob's  services. 

*  The  Hebrew  word  hnv  often  signifies  merely  to  ask.  Psal.  ii.  8. 

Vol.  III.— 16  L 


122  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Chap.  xxxi.  1,  2.  It  is  time  for  Jacob  to  depart;  for  thougli  Laban  has 
acknowledged,  in  the  hope  of  detaining  him,  that  the  Lord  had  blessed  Jiim 
for  his  sake,  yet  here  is  at  this  time  much  envy  and  evil-mindedness  at  work 
in  the  family  against  him,  overlooking  all  their  gains,  and  dwelling  only 
upon  his.  Mercenary  characters  are  not  contented  to  prosper  with  others, 
but  think  much  of  every  thing  that  goes  beside  themselves.  If  a  poor  tenant 
or  a  servant  thrive  under  them,  they  will  soon  be  heard  murmuring,  "  He 
hath  taken  away  all  that  was  ours,  and  of  that  which  was  ours  hath  he  gotten 
all  this  glory."  If  Laban's  sons  only  had  murnmred  thus,  Jacob  might  have 
borne  it ;  but  their  father  was  of  the  same  mind,  and  carried  it  thus  unkindly 
towards  him.  He  had  been  very  willing  to  part  with  his  daughters,  more 
so  indeed  than  he  ought  to  have  been ;  but  Jacob's  increase  of  cattle  under 
him  touches  him  in  a  tender  part. 

Ver.  3.  The  Lord  had  promised  to  be  with  Jacob,  and  to  keep  him  in  all 
places  whither  he  went;  and  he  makes  good  his  promise.  Like  a  watchful 
friend  at  his  right  hand,  he  observes  his  treatment,  and  warns  him  to  depart. 
If  Jacob  had  removed  trom  mere  personal  resentment,  or  as  stimulated  only 
by  a  sense  of  injury,  he  might  have  sinned  against  God,  though  not  against 
Laban.  But  when  it  was  said  to  him,  "  Return  unto  the  land  of  thy  fathers, 
and  to  thy  kindred,  and  I  will  be  with  thee,"  his  way  was  plain  before  him. 
In  all  our  removals,  it  becomes  us  to  act  as  that  we  may  hope  for  the  Divine 
presence  and  blessing  to  attend  us ;  else,  though  we  may  flee  from  one 
trouble,  we  shall  fall  into  many,  and  be  less  able  to  endure  them. 

Ver.  4-13.  And  now,  being  warned  of  God  to  depart,  he  sends  for  his 
wives  into  the  field,  where  he  might  converse  with  them  freely  on  the  sub- 
ject, without  danger  of  being  overheard.  Had  they  been  servants,  it  had 
been  sufficient  to  have  imparted  to  them  his  will ;  but  being  wives,  they 
require  a  diHerent  treatment.  There  is  an  authority  which  Scripture  and 
nature  give  to  the  man  over  the  woman ;  but  every  one  who  deserves  the 
name  of  a  man  will  exercise  it  with  a  gentleness  and  kindness  that  shall 
render  it  pleasant,  rather  than  burdensome.  He  will  consult  with  her  as  a 
friend,  and  satisfy  her  by  giving  the  reasons  of  his  conduct.  Thus  did 
Jacob  to  both  his  wives,  who,  by  such  kind  conduct,  forgot  the  differences 
between  themselves,  and  cheerfully  cast  in  their  lot  with  him. 

The  reasons  assigned  for  leaving  were  partly  the  treatment  of  Laban,  and 
pardy  the  intimations  from  God.  "  I  see  your  father's  countenance,"  says 
he,  "  that  it  is  not  toward  me  as  before."  It  is  wisely  ordered  that  the  coun- 
tenance shall,  in  most  cases,  be  an  index  to  the  heart;  else  there  would  be 
much  more  deception  in  the  world  than  there  is.  We  gather  more  of  men's 
disposition  towards  us  from  looks  than  from  words ;  and  domestic  happiness 
is  more  influenced  by  the  one  than  by  the  other.  Sullen  silence  is  often 
less  tolerable  than  contention  itself,  because  the  latter,  painful  as  it  is,  affords 
opportunity  for  mutual  explanation.  But  while  Jacob  had  to  complain  of 
Laban's  cloudy  countenance,  he  could  add,  "  The  God  of  my  father  hath 
been  with  me."  God's  smiles  are  the  best  support  under  man's  frowns; 
if  we  walk  in  the  light  of  his  countenance,  we  need  not  fear  what  man  can 
do  unto  us.  He  then  appeals  to  his  wives,  as  to  the  faithfulness  and  dili- 
gence with  which  he  had  served  their  father,  and  the  deceitful  treatment  he 
had  met  with  in  return.  "  Ye  know  that  with  all  my  power  I  have  served 
your  father;  and  your  father  hath  deceived  me,  and  changed  my  wages  ten 
times."  Next  he  alleges  the  good  hand  of  his  God  upon  him,  that  he  had 
not  suffered  him  to  hurt  him ;  but,  in  whatever  form  his  wages  were  to  be, 
had  caused  things  in  the  end  to  turn  to  his  account;  and  that  the  purport 
of  this  was  revealed  to  him  by  a  dream  before  it  came  to  pass,  in  which  he 
saw  the  cattle  in  those  colours  which  were  to  distinguish  them  as  his  hire 


JACOB  IN  HARAN.  123 

Moreover,  that  he  had  very  lately  had  another  dream,*  in  which  the  Angel 
of  God  directed  him  to  observe  the  fact  as  accomplished,  of  which  he  had 
before  received  only  a  pre-intimation ;  and  accounted  for  it,  saying,  "  I  have 
seen  all  that  Laban  doeth  unto  thee."  In  alleging  these  things  in  his  defence, 
Jacob  said,  in  effect.  If  your  father's  cattle  have  of  late  been  given  to  me,  it 
is  not  my  doing,  but  God's,  who  hath  seen  my  wrongs,  and  redressed  them. 
Finally,  He  alleges,  as  the  grand  reason  of  his  departure,  the  command  of 
God.  The  same  Angel  who  had  directed  him  to  observe  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  former  dream,  at  the  same  time  added,  "  I  am  the  God  of  Beth-el, 
where  thou  anointedst  the  pillar,  and  vowedst  a  vow  unto  me :  now  arise, 
get  thee  out  from  this  land,  and  return  unto  the  land  of  thy  kindred." 

Let  us  pause,  and  observe  with  attention  this  important  passage.  "  I  am 
the  God  of  Beth-ell"  Such  words  could  never  have  been  uttered  by  a 
created  angel;  nor  does  the  appearing  in  the  form  of  an  angel,  or  messenger, 
accord  with  the  Scripture  account  of  God  the  Father:  it  must  therefore  have 
been  the  Son  of  God,  whose  frequent  appearances  to  the  patriarchs  afforded 
a  prelude  to  his  incarnation.  Paul,  speaking  of  Christ  in  his  incarnate 
character,  says,  that,  "  being  in  the  form  of  God,  he  thought  it  not  robbery 
to  be  equal  with  God."  But  to  what  does  the  apostle  refer?  When  or 
where  had  he  appeared  equal  with  God?  In  such  instances  as  these,  no 
doubt;  wherein  he  constantly  spoke  of  himself,  and  was  spoken  to  by  his 
servants,  as  God;  and  in  a  manner  which  evinces  that  he  accounted  it  no 
usurpation  of  that  which  did  not  belong  to  him. 

"I  am  the  God  of  Beth-el!"  When  at  Beth-el,  the  Lord  said,  "lam 
Jehovah,  God  of  Abraham  thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac."  He  might 
have  said  the  same  now;  but  it  was  his  pleasure  to  direct  the  attention  of 
his  servant  to  the  last,  and  to  him  the  most  interesting,  of  his  manifestations. 
By  giving  him  hold  of  the  last  link  in  the  chain,  he  would  be  in  possession 
of  the  whole.  The  God  of  Beth-el  was  the  God  of  his  fathers,  Abraham 
and  Isaac;  the  God  who  had  entered  into  covenant  with  the  former,  had  re- 
newed it  with  the  latter,  and  again  renewed  it  with  him.  What  satisfaction 
must  it  afford  to  be  directed  by  such  a  God ! 

It  is  also  observable,  that,  in  directing  Jacob's  thoughts  to  the  vision  at 
Beth-el,  the  Lord  reminds  him  of  those  solemn  acts  of  his  own  by  which  he 
had  at  that  time  devoted  himself  to  him.  "  I  am  the  God  of  Beth-el,  where  thou 
anointedst  the  pillar,  and  vowedst  a  vow  unto  me."  It  is  not  only  necessary 
that  we  be  reminded  of  God's  promises  for  our  support  in  troubles,  but  of 
our  own  solemn  engagements,  that  the  same  affections  which  distinguished 
the  best  seasons  of  our  life  may  be  renewed,  and  that  in  all  our  movements 
we  may  keep  in  view  the  end  for  which  we  live.  The  object  of  the  vow 
was  that  Jehovah  should  be  his  God:  and  whenever  he  should  return,  that 
that  stone  should  be  God's  house.  And  now  that  the  Lord  commands  him 
to  return,  he  reminds  him  of  his  vow.  He  must  not  go  to  Canaan  with  a 
view  to  promote  his  own  temporal  interest,  but  to  introduce  the  knowledge 
and  worship  of  the  true  God.  This  was  the  great  end  which  Jehovah  had 
in  view  in  all  that  he  did  for  Abraham's  posterity,  and  they  must  never  lose 
sight  of  it. 

Ver.  14-10.  Jacob,  having  given  the  reasons  for  his  proposed  departure, 
paused.  The  women,  without  any  hesitation,  acquiesce,  intimating  that 
there  was  nothing  in  their  f  ither's  house  that  should  induce  them  to  wish  to 
stay  in  it.     It  is  grievous  to  see  the  ties  of  nature  dissolved  in  a  manner  by 

*  I  am  aware  that  the  dreams  in  verses  10,  11,  are  generally  considered  as  one  and  the 
same.  But  those  who  thus  consider  them  are  not  only  obhged  to  interpret  those  as  one 
which  the  text  represents  as  two,  but  what  is  said  by  the  Angel  in  the  12th  and  13th  verses 
as  two  speeches,  which  manifestly  appears  to  be  one. 


124  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

a  series  of  selfish  actions.  I  am  not  sure  that  Rachel  and  Leah  were  clear 
of  this  spirit  towards  their  father ;  their  words  imply  that  tliey  were  suffi- 
ciently on  their  own  side.  Yet  the  complaints  which  they  make  of  him 
were  but  too  well-founded.  The  sordid  bargain  which  he  had  made  with 
Jacob,  exacting  fourteen  years'  labour  from  him  as  the  price  of  his  daugh- 
ters, appears  to  have  stung  them  at  the  time;  and,  now  that  an  opportunity 
offers,  they  speak  their  minds  without  reserve.  They  felt  that  they  had  been 
treated  more  like  slaves  than  daughters,  and  that  he  had  not  consulted  their 
happiness  any  more  than  their  husband's,  but  merely  his  own  interest. 
Moreover,  they  accuse  him  of  having  devoured  all  their  money.  Instead  of 
providing  for  them  as  daughters,  which  the  law  of  nature  required,  (2  Cor. 
xii.  14,)  he  seems  to  have  contrived  to  get  all  that  private  money  which  it  is 
common  to  allow  a  son  or  a  daughter  while  residing  with  their  parents  into 
his  hands,  and  had  kept  them  in  a  manner  pennyless.  Hence  they  allege 
that  all  the  riches  which  had  been  taken  from  him  and  given  to  their  hus- 
band were  theirs  and  their  children's  in  right;  and  that  God,  knowing  their 
injuries,  had  done  this  to  redress  them.  Upon  the  whole,  their  mind  is  that 
Jacob  should  go,  and  they  will  go  with  him. 

VVe  have  seen  some  things  in  the  history  of  these  women  which  has 
induced  us  to  hope  well  of  them,  notwithstanding  their  many  failings:  but 
though  in  this  case  it  was  their  duty  to  comply  with  the  desire  of  their  hus- 
band, and  to  own  the  hand  of  God  in  what  had  taken  place  between  their 
father  and  him ;  yet  there  is  something  in  their  manner  of  expressing  them- 
selves that  looks  more  like  the  spirit  of  the  world  than  the  spirit  which  is  of 
God.  A  right  spirit  would  have  taught  them  to  remember  that  Laban, 
whatever  was  his  conduct,  was  still  their  father.  They  might  have  felt  it 
impossible  to  vindicate  him;  but  they  should  not  have  expatiated  on  his 
faults  in  such  a  manner  as  to  take  pleasure  in  exposing  them.  Such  con- 
duct was  but  too  much  like  that  of  Ham  towards  his  father.  And  as  to  their 
aclinowledging  the  hand  of  God  in  giving  their  father's  riches  to  their  hus- 
band, this  is  no  more  than  is  often  seen  in  the  most  selfish  characters,  who 
can  easily  admire  the  Divine  providence  when  it  goes  in  their  favour.  The 
ease,  however,  with  which  all  men  can  discern  what  is  just  and  equitable 
towards  themselves,  renders  the  love  of  ourselves  a  proper  standard  for  the 
love  of  others,  and  will,  sooner  or  later,  stop  the  mouth  of  every  sinner. 
Even  those  who  have  no  written  revelation  have  this  Divine  law  engraven 
on  their  consciences;  they  can  judge  with  the  nicest  accuracy  what  is  jus- 
tice to  them,  and  therefore  cannot  plead  ignorance  of  what  is  justice  from 
them  to  others. 


DISCOURSE  XL. 
Jacob's  departure  from  haran. 

Gen.  xxxi.  17-55. 

Ver.  17-21.  Jabob  having  consulted  with  his  wives,  and  obtained  their 
consent,  the  next  step  was  to  prepare  for  their  departure,  Had  Laban 
known  it,  there  is  reason  to  fear  he  would  either  have  detained  him  by  force, 
or  at  least  have  deprived  him  of  a  part  of  his  property.  He  must  therefore, 
if  possible,  depart  without  his  knowledge.  At  that  time  Laban  was  three 
days'  journey  from  home,  at  a  sheep-shearing.     Jacob,  taking  advantage  of 


Jacob's  departure  from  haran.  125 

this,  effected  his  escape.  The  women,  returning  from  the  field,  collected 
their  matters  together  in  a  little  time;  and  being  all  ready,  Jacob  rose  up, 
set  his  family  upon  the  camels,  and,  with  all  his  substance,  set  off  for  his 
father's  house  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  Being  apprehensive  that  Laban  would 
pursue  him,  he  passed  over  the  Euphrates,  and  hastened  on  his  way  towards 
Mount  Gilead. 

I  do  not  know  that  we  can  justly  blame  Jacob  for  this  his  sudden  and 
secret  departure ;  but  when  we  read  of  Rachel's  availing  herself  of  her 
ftither's  absence  to  steal  his  images,  a  scene  of  iniquity  opens  to  our  view ! 
What,  then,  is  the  family  of  Nahor,  who  left  the  idolatrous  Chaldees — the 
family  to  which  Abraham  and  Isaac  repaired,  in  marrying  their  children,  to 
the  rejection  of  the  idolatrous  Canaanites — is  this  family  itself  become 
idolaters?  It  is  even  so.  But  is  Rachel,  the  beloved  wife  of  Jacob,  not 
only  capable  of  stealing,  but  of  stealing  images?  Some,  reluctant  to  enter- 
tain such  an  opinion  of  her,  have  supposed  she  might  take  them  away  to 
prevent  their  ill  effects  on  her  father's  fimily;  but  subsequent  events  are  far 
from  justifying  such  a  supposition.  It  is  a  fact  that  these  teraphim  after- 
wards proved  a  snare  to  Jacob's  family,  and  that  he  could  not  go  up  to 
Beth-el  till  he  had  cleansed  his  house  of  them,  chap.  xxxv.  1-3.  But  had 
the  family  of  Laban  cast  off  the  acknowledgment  of  Jehovah,  the  one  true 
God  ?  This  does  not  appear,  for  they  make  frequent  mention  of  him.  Both 
Rachel  and  Leah,  on  the  birth  of  their  children,  were  full  of  apparently 
devout  acknowledgments  of  him;  and  we  were  willing,  thence,  to  entertain 
a  hope  in  favour  of  their  piety.  Laban  also,  notwithstanding  his  keeping 
these  images  in  his  house,  could  afterwards  invoke  Jehovah  to  watch  be- 
tween him  and  Jacob,  ver.  49.  The  truth  seems  to  be,  they  were  like  some 
in  after-times,  who  sicare  by  the  Lord  and  by  Blalcham  (Zeph.  i.  5);  and 
others  in  our  times,  who  are  neither  cold  nor  hot,  but  seem  to  wish  to  serve 
both  God  and  mammon.  The  teraphim  that  Rachel  stole  were  not  public 
idols,  set  up  in  temples  for  worship;  but,  as  some  think,  little  images  of 
them,  a  kind  of  household  gods.  Laban's  family  would  probably  have  been 
ashamed  of  publicly  accompanying  the  heathen  to  the  worship  of  their  gods; 
but  they  could  keep  images  of  them  in  their  house,  which  implies  a  super- 
stitious respect,  if  not  a  private  homage  paid  to  them. 

This  dividing  of  matters  between  the  true  God  and  idols  has  in  all  ages 
been  a  great  source  of  corruption.  A  little  before  the  death  of  Joshua,  when 
Israel  began  to  degenerate,  it  was  in  this  way.  They  did  not  openly  re- 
nounce the  acknowledgment  of  Jehovah,  but  kept  images  of  the  idols  in  the 
countries  round  about  them  in  their  houses.  Of  this  the  venerable  man  was 
aware;  and  therefore,  when  they  declared,  saying,  "We  will  serve  Jehovah, 
for  he  is  our  God,"  he  answered,  "Ye  cannot  serve  Jehovah,  for  he  is  a  holy 
God,  he  is  a  jealous  God;  he  will  not  forgive  your  transgressions,  nor  your 
sins."  And  when  they  replied,  "Nay,  but  we  will  serve  Jehovah,"  he  an- 
swered, "Put  away  the  strange  gods  that  are  among  you:"  as  if  he  should 
say,  "You  cannot  serve  God  and  your  idols:  if  Jehovah  be  God,  follow  him; 
but  if  Baal,  follow  him."  What  is  popery?  It  does  not  profess  to  renounce 
the  true  God;  but  abounds  in  images  of  Christ  and  departed  saints.  What 
is  the  religion  of  great  numbers  among  protestants,  and  even  protestant 
Dissenters?  They  will  acknowledge  the  true  God  in  words;  but  their 
hearts  and  houses  are  the  abodes  of  spiritual  idolatry.  When  a  man,  like 
Laban,  gave  himself  up  to  covetousness,  he  has  no  room  for  God  or  true 
religion.  The  world  is  his  god ;  and  he  has  only  to  reside  among  gross 
idolaters  in  order  to  be  one,  or  at  least  a  favourer  of  their  abominations. 

Ver.  22-30.  The  news  of  Jacob's  abrupt  departure  was  soon  carried  to 
Laban,  who,  collecting  all  his  force,  immediately  pursued  him.   It  was  seven 

l2 


126  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

days,  however,  ere  he  came  up  with  him.  Without  douht,  he  meditated 
mischief.  He  would  talk  of  his  regard  to  his  children  and  grandchildren, 
and  how  much  he  was  hurt  in  being  prevented  from  taking  leave  of  them ; 
but  that  which  lay  nearest  his  heart  was  the  substance  which  Jacob  had 
taken  with  him.  This,  I  conceive,  he  meant  by  some  means  to  recover. 
And  if  he  had  by  persuasion  or  force  induced  the  family  to  return,  it  had 
been  only  for  the  sake  of  this.  But,  the  night  before  he  overtook  Jacob, 
God  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  and  warned  him  not  only  against  doing 
him  harm,  but  even  against  "  speaking  to  him  (that  is,  on  the  subject  of 
returning  to  Haran)  either  good  or  bad."  From  this  time  his  spirit  was 
manifestly  overawed,  and  his  heart  was  smitten  as  with  a  palsy.  Overtaking 
Jacob  at  Mount  Gilead,  he  begins  with  him  in  rather  a  lofty  tone,  but  fnlters 
as  he  proceeds,  dwelling  upon  the  same  charges  over  and  over  again. 
"  What  hast  thou  done,"  said  he,  "  that  thou  hast  stolen  away  unawares  to 
me,  and  carried  away  my  daughters,  as  captives  taken  with  the  sword? 
Wherefore  didst  thou  flee  away  secretly,  and  steal  away  from  me?  and  didst 
not  tell  me,  that  I  might  have  sent  thee  away  with  mirth,  and  with  songs, 
with  tabret  and  with  harp?  and  hast  not  suflered  me  to  kiss  my  sons  and  my 
daughters?  thou  hast  now  done  foolishly  in  so  doing."  In  all  this  he  means 
to  insinuate  that  Jacob  had  no  cause  to  leave  him  on  account  of  any  thing 
he  had  done;  that  where  there  was  so  much  secrecy  there  must  be  something 
dishonourable;  and  that,  in  pursuing  him,  he  was  only  moved  by  affection 
to  his  children.  He  adds,  "It  is  in  the  power  of  my  hand  to  do  you  hurt; 
but  the  God  of  your  father  spake  unto  me  yesternight,  saying,  Take  thou 
heed  that  thou  speak  not  to  Jacob  either  good  or  bad."  Without  doubt 
Laban's  company  was  much  more  powerful  than  that  of  Jacob,  and  he  meant 
to  impress  this  idea  upon  him,  that  his  forbearance  might  appear  to  be  the 
effect  of  generosity;  nay,  it  is  possible  he  might  think  he  acted  very  reli- 
giously, in  paying  so  much  deference  to  the  warning  voice  of  his  God.  He 
concludes  by  adding,  "And  now,  though  thou  wouldest  needs  be  gone,  be- 
cause thou  sore  longedst  after  thy  father's  house ;  yet  wherefore  hast  thou- 
stolen  my  gods?"  The  manner  in  which  he  accounts  for  his  desire  to  be 
gone  has  an  appearance  of  candour  and  sympathy;  but  the  design  was  to 
insinuate  that  it  was  not  on  account  of  any  ill  treatment  he  had  received 
from  Mm,  and  perhaps  to  give  an  edge  to  the  heavy  charge  with  which  his 
speech  is  concluded.  It  was  cutting  to  be  accused  of  theft ;  more  so  of 
having  stolen  what  he  abhorred ;  and,  for  the  charge  to  be  preferred  by  a  man 
who  wished  to  make  every  possible  allowance,  would  render  it  more  cutting 
still.  Jacob  felt  it,  and  all  his  other  accusations,  as  his  answers  sufficiently 
indicate. 

Ver.  31,  32.  With  respect  to  the  reiterated  complaints  of  the  secrecy  of 
his  departure,  Jacob  answers  all  in  a  few  words :  It  was  "  because  I  was 
afraid;  for  I  said,  peradventure  thou  wouldst  take  by  force  thy  daughters  from 
me."  This  was  admitting  his  power,  but  impeaching  his  justice ;  and  as  he 
had  dwelt  only  upon  the  taking  away  of  his  daughters,  so  Jacob  in  answer 
confines  himself  to  them.  Laban  might  feel  for  the  loss  of  something  else 
besides  his  daughters;  and  Jacob,  when  he  left  Haran,  might  be  afraid  for 
something  else;  but  as  the  charge  respected  only  them,  it  was  sufficient  that 
the  answer  corresponded  to  it.  If  by  withholding  the  women  he  could  have 
detained  him  and  his  substance,  his  former  conduct  proved  that  he  would 
not  have  been  to  be  trusted.  With  respect  to  the  gods,  Jacob's  answer  is 
expressive  of  the  strongest  indignation.  He  will  not  deign  to  disown  the 
charge;  but  desires  that  all  his  company  might  be  searched,  saying,  "With 
whomsoever  thou  findest  thy  gods,  let  him  not  live !"  It  was  worthy  of  an 
upright  man  to  feel  indignant  at  the  charge  of  stealing,  and  of  a  servant  of 


Jacob's  departure  from  haran.  127 

God,  at  that  of  stealing  idols.  But  unless  he  had  been  as  well  assured  of 
the  innocence  of  all  about  him  as  he  was  of  his  own,  he  ought  not  to  have 
spoken  as  he  did.  His  words  might  have  proved  a  sorer  trial  to  him  than 
he  was  aware  of 

Though  Laban  had  not  expressly  charged  him  with  fraud  in  any  thing 
except  the  gods ;  yet,  having  dwelt  so  much  upon  the  privacy  of  his  depar- 
ture as  to  intimate  a  general  suspicion,  Jacob  answers  also  in  a  general  way, 
"  Before  our  brethren,  discern  thou  what  is  thine  with  me,  and  take  it  to 
thee."  It  was  unpleasant  to  be  thus  pursued,  accused,  and  searched;  but  it 
was  all  well.  But  for  this,  his  uprightness  would  have  appeared  in  a  more 
suspicious  light. 

Ver.  33-42.  Laban  accepts  the  offer,  and  now  begins  to  search.  Going 
from  tent  to  tent,  he  hopes  to  find  at  least  his  gods.  Rachel's  policy,  how- 
ever, eludes  his  vigilance:  "  He  searched,  but  found  not  the  images."  No 
mention  is  made  of  his  going  among  the  catde,  which  proves  he  had  no  sus- 
picion of  being  wronged  in  respect  of  them.  During  the  search,  Jacob 
looked  on  and  said  nothing;  but  when  nothing  was  found  that  could  justify 
the  heavy  charges  which  had  been  preferred  against  him,  his  spirit  was  pro- 
voked. "He  was  wroth,  and  chode  with  Laban."  Hard  words  and  cutting 
interrogations  follow.  "What  is  my  trespass?  what  is  my  sin,  that  thou 
hast  so  hotly  pursued  after  me?  Whereas  thou  hast  searched  all  my  stuff, 
what  hast  thou  found  of  all  thy  household  stuff?  Set  it  here  before  my 
brethren,  and  thy  brethren,  that  they  may  judge  betwixt  us  both?"  He  goes 
on,  and  takes  a  review  of  his  whole  conduct  towards  him  for  twenty  years 
past,  and  proves  that  he  had  been  very  hardly  dealt  with,  summing  up  his 
answer  in  these  very  emphatic  terms :  "  Except  the  God  of  my  father,  the 
God  of  Abraham,  and  the  fear  of  Isaac  had  been  with  me,"  notwithstanding 
all  thy  talk  of  sending  me  away  with  mirth  and  with  songs,  with  tabret  and 
with  harp,  "surely  thou  hadst  sent  me  away  now  empty:  God  hath  seen 
mine  aflhction,  and  the  labour  of  mine  hands,  and  rebuked  thee  yesternight." 
Laban  made  a  merit  of  obeying  the  dream ;  but  Jacob  improves  it  into  an 
evidence  of  his  evil  design,  for  which  God  had  rebuked  him,  and  pleaded 
the  cause  of  the  injured. 

Ver.  43-53.  Laban,  whose  spirit  was  checked  before  he  began,  was  now 
confounded.  He  quite  gives  up  the  cause,  and  wishes  to  make  up  matters 
as  well  as  he  can.  He  cannot  help  prefacing  his  wish,  however,  with  a  por- 
tion of  vain  boasting. and  affected  generosity.  "These  daughters  are  my 
daughters,  and  these  children  are  my  children,  and  these  cattle  are  my  cattle, 
and  all  that  thou  seest  is  mine:  and  what  can  I  do  this  day  unto  these  my 
daughters  or  unto  their  children,  which  they  have  borne?"  As  if  he  had 
said.  Yes,  yes,  God  hath  given  you  many  things ;  but  remember  they  were 
all  mine,  and  you  have  obtained  them  under  me.  Let  us  have  no  more  dis- 
putes however ;  for  though  I  am  come  so  far,  and  possess  so  great  a  force, 
yet  how  can  I  find  in  my  heart  to  hurt  my  own  children?  Come,  therefore, 
and  let  us  make  a  covenant  and  be  good  friends. 

Jacob  makes  no  reply  to  Laban's  boasting,  but  lets  it  pass;  and  though  he 
had  felt  so  keenly,  and  spoken  so  warmly,  yet  he  consents  to  a  covenant  of 
peace.  Anger  may  rise  in  the  breast  of  a  wise  man ;  but  it  rcsteth  only  in 
the  bosom  of  fools.  He  said  nothing,  but  expressed  his  mind  by  actions. 
He  first  "  took  a  stone,  and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar;"  then  said  to  his  brethren, 
"Gather  stones;  and  they  took  stones,  and  made  a  heap,  and  did  eat  together," 
in  token  of  reconciliation,  upon  it.  This  done,  Laban  called  it  Jegar-saha- 
dutha,  and  Jacob  Galeed:  the  one  was  the  Syriac  and  the  other  the  Hebrew 
word  for  the  same  thing ;  that  is,  the  heap  of  witness.  It  was  also  called 
Mizpah,  a  beacon,  or  watch-tower.     The  meaning  of  these  names,  in  refer- 


128  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

ence  to  the  present  case,  is  explained  by  Laban,  as  being  the  elder  man,  and 
the  leading  party  in  the  covenant.  "This  heap,"  said  he,  "is  a  witness  be- 
tween me  and  thee  this  day.  Jehovah  ivatch  between  me  and  tliee,  when 
we  are  absent  one  from  another.  If  thou  shalt  afflict  my  daughters,  or  if 
thou  shalt  take  other  wives  besides  my  daughters,  no  man  is  with  us:  see, 
God  is  witness  betwixt  me  and  thee."  To  this  he  added,  "  Behold  this 
heap,  and  behold  this  pillar — this  heap  be  witness,  and  this  pillar  be  witness, 
that  1  will  not  pass  over  this  heap  to  thee,  and  that  thou  shalt  not  pass  over 
this  heap  and  this  pillar  unto  me,  for  harm.  The  God  of  Abraham,  and  the 
God  of  Nahor,  the  God  of  their  father  judge  betwixt  us."  To  this  covenant 
Jacob  fully  assented,  and  sware  by  the  fear  of  his  father  Isaac ;  that  is,  by 
the  God  whom  Isaac  feared. 

We  are  surprised  to  hear  a  man  who  had  been  seven  days  in  pursuit  of 
certain  stolen  gods  speak  so  much,  and  in  so  solemn  a  manner,  about 
Jehovah;  but  wicked  men  will,  on  some  occasions,  utter  excellent  words. 
After  all,  he  could  not  help  manifesting  his  attachment  to  idolatry.  When 
speaking  to  Jacob  of  Jehovah,  he  calls  him  "  the  God  of  your  father,"  in  a 
manner  as  if  he  was  not  his  God;  and  in  swearing  to  the  solemn  covenant 
which  had  been  made  between  them,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  invoked 
Jehovah  as  the  onli/ true  God.  It  is  very  observable,  that  though  he  makes 
mention  of  "  the  God  of  Abraham,"  yet  it  is  in  connexion  with  Nahor  and 
their  father,  that  is,  Terah;  but  when  Abraham  was  with  Nahor  and  Terah, 
they  were  idolaters.  To  this  purpose  we  read  in  Joshua;  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord  God  of  Israel,  Your  fathers  dwelt  on  the  other  side  of  the  flood  in  old 
time,  even  Terah  the  father  of  Abraham,  and  the  father  of  Nachor;  and  they 
served  other  Gods."  The  God  of  Abraham,  and  Nahor,  and  Terah,  there- 
fore, were  words  capable  of  a  very  ill  construction.  Nor  does  Jacob  appear 
to  be  ignorant  of  Laban's  design  in  thus  referring  to  their  early  ancestors; 
and  therefore,  that  he  might  bear  an  unequivocal  testimony  against  all 
idolatry,  even  that  of  Abraham  in  his  younger  years,  he  would  swear  only 
by  "  the  fear  of  his  father  Isaac,"  who  had  never  worshipped  any  other  than 
the  true  God.  It  were  worth  while  for  those  who  plead  for  antiquity  as  a 
mark  of  the  true  church  to  consider  that  herein  they  follow  the  example  of 
Laban,  and  not  of  Jacob. 

Ver.  54,  55.  Laban  had  professed  his  regret  that  he  had  not  an  opportunity 
to  enjoy  a  day  of  feasting  and  of  mirth  at  parting  with  his  children.  Such  a 
parting  would  hardly  have  been  seemly,  even  in  a  family  which  had  no  fear 
of  God  before  their  eyes.  Jacob,  however,  makes  a  religious  feast,  previously 
to  the  departure  of  his  father-in-law.  "He  offered  sacrifices  upon  the  Mount 
Galeed,  and  called  his  brethren,"  that  is,  the  whole  company,  "  to  eat  bread: 
and  they  did  eat  bread,  and  tarried  all  night  in  the  mount.  And  early  in 
the  morning  Laban  rose  up,  and  kissed  his  sons  and  his  daughters,  and 
blessed  them :  and  Laban  departed,  and  returned  unto  his  place."  This 
parting  proved  final.  We  hear  no  more  of  Laban,  nor  of  the  family  of 
Nahor.  They  might  for  several  ages  retain  some  knowledge  of  Jehovah ; 
but,  mixing  with  it  the  superstitions  of  the  country,  they  would  in  the  end 
sink  into  gross  idolatry,  and  be  lost  among  the  heathens. 

On  observing  the  place  from  which  Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  is  said  to 
have  been  sent  for,  to  curse  Israel,  namely,  Pcthor  of  Mesopotamia,  (Deut. 
Kxiii.  4,)  or  Aram,  (Numb,  xxiii.  7,)  or,  as  it  is  frequently  called,  Padan- 
aram,  and  that  it  is  the  same  with  that  in  which  Laban  dwelt,  I  have  been 
inclined  to  think  he  might  be  one  of  his  descendants.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
lived  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  years  after  Jacob's  departure  from  that 
country,  which  in  those  ages  would  not  include  above  two  or  three  genera- 
tions.    The  opinion  of  ancient  Jewish  writers,  though  often  fabulous,  yet. 


Jacob's  wrestling  with  the  angel.  129 

when  agreeing  with  what  is  otlierwise  probable,  may  serve  to  strengthen  it. 
"The  Targum  of  Jonathan  on  Numb.  xxii.  5,  and  the  Targum  on  1  Chron. 
i.  44,  make  Balaam  to  be  Laban  himself:  and  others  say  he  was  the  son  of 
Beor,  the  son  of  Laban."*  The  former  of  these  opinions,  though  in  itself 
utterly  incredible,  yet  may  so  far  be  true  as  to  hit  upon  the  family  from  which 
he  descended ;  and  the  latter,  allowing  perhaps  for  a  defect  of  one  genera- 
tion, appears  to  be  highly  probable.  ,  Add  to  this,  that  the  teraphim,  or 
images,  which  Laban  kept  in  his  house,  and  which  he  would  doubtless  re- 
place on  his  return,  are  supposed  to  be  a  sort  of  "  talismans ;"  they  "  were 
consulted  as  oracles,  and  in  high  esteem  with  the  Chaldeans  and  Syrians,  a 
people  given  to  astrology,  and  by  which  they  made  their  divinations,  Hos.  iii. 
4;  Zech.  x.  2."t  According  to  this,  Balaam,  the  soothsayer,  would  only 
tread  in  the  steps  of  his  ancestors;  not  utterly  disowning  Jehovah,  but  being 
devoted  to  the  abominations  of  the  heathen. 

If  the  above  remarks  be  just,  they  show,  in  a  strong  point  of  light,  the 
progress  of  opostacy  and  corruption.  Laban  imitated  the  corruptions  of  his 
ancestors,  some  of  whom  were  good  men;  and  his  descendants  degenerated 
still  more.  Thus  you  will  often  see  a  man  who  has  descended  from  religious 
parents,  but  whose  heart  is  entirely  taken  up  with  the  world ;  he  keeps  up 
the  forms  of  godliness,  though  he  denies  the  power,  and  mixes  with  them 
all  the  evil  that  he  can  rake  up  from  the  examples  of  his  forefathers,  and 
considerable  additions  of  his  own.  The  next  generation  degenerates  still 
more,  having  less  of  the  form  of  religion,  and  more  conformity  to  the  world. 
The  third  throws  oft'  both  the  form  and  the  power,  retaining  no  vestige  of 
the  religion  of  their  ancestors,  excepting  a  few  speculative  notions,  learnt 
from  a  few  old  books  and  sayings,  which  have  no  other  influence  upon  them 
than  to  enable  them  to  be  more  wicked  than  their  neighbours,  by  sinning 
against  somewhat  of  superior  light.  How  important  is  it  for  good  men  to 
act  in  character  in  their  families,  inasmuch  as  every  evil  which  they  practise 
will  be  reacted  and  increased  by  their  carnal  posterity ! 


DISCOURSE  XLL 
Jacob's  fear  of  esau.     his  wrestling  with  the  angel. 

Gen.  xxxii. 

Ver.  1,  2.  The  sacred  writer,  pursuing  the  history  of  Jacob,  informs  us 
that  he  went  on  his  way,  and  the  angels  of  God  met  him.  And  when  he 
saw  them,  he  said,  "This  is  God's  host;  and  he  called  the  name  of  that 
place  Mahanaim."  That  the  angels  of  God  are  "  ministering  spirits,  sent 
forth  to  minister  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation,"  is  a  truth  clearly 
revealed  in  the  Scriptures;  but  this  their  ministry  has  seldom  been  rendered 
visible  to  mortals.  "The  angel  of  Jehovah,"  it  is  said,  "  encampelli  round 
about  them  that  fear  him,  and  delivereth  them."  But  I  do  not  recollect  that 
any  of  these  celestial  guardians  have  appeared  in  this  character  to  the 
servants  of  God,  except  in  times  of  imminent  danger.  When  a  host  of 
Syrians  encompassed  Dothan,  in  order  to  take  Elisha,  his  servant  was 
alarmed,  and  exclaimed,  "Alas!  master,  how  shall  we  do?"  The  prophet 
exclaimed,  "  Fear  not ;  for  they  that  be  with  us  are  more  than  they  that  be 

*  See  Gill  on  Numb.  xxii.  5.  t  Gill  on  Gen.  xxxi.  19. 

Vol.  III.— 17 


130  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

with  them."  Yet  there  was  no  earthly  force  to  protect  them.  But  when, 
in  answer  to  the  prophet's  prayer,  "  the  young  man's  eyes  were  opened,  he 
saw  the  mountain  full  of  horses,  and  chariots  of  fire  round  about  Elisha." 
In  this  case,  God's  host  became  visible,  to  allay  the  fear  of  man's  hosts. 
Thus  it  was  also  in  the  present  instance.  Jacob  had  just  escaped  one  host 
of  enemies,  and  another  is  coming  forth  to  meet  him.  At  this  juncture 
God's  host  makes  its  appearance,  teaching  him  to  whom  he  owed  his  late 
escape,  and  that  he  who  had  delivered  did  deliver,  and  he  might  safely  trust 
would  deliver  him.  The  angels  which  appeared  on  this  occasion  are  called 
God's  host,  in  the  singular;  but  by  the  name  which  Jacob  gave  to  the  place, 
it  appears  that  they  were  divided  into  two,  encompassing  him  as  it  were 
before  and  behind ;  and  this  would  correspond  with  the  two  hosts  of  adver- 
saries which  at  the  same  time,  and  with  almost  the  same  violent  designs, 
were  coming  against  him;  the  one  had  already  been  sent  back  without 
striking  a  blow,  and  the  other  should  be  the  same.  This  however  was  not 
expressly  revealed  to  Jacob,  but  merely  a  general  encouragement  afforded 
him ;  for  it  was  not  the  design  of  God  to  supersede  other  means,  but  to  save 
him  in  the  use  of  them. 

Ver.  3-5.  Jacob  had  as  yet  heard  nothing  of  his  brother  Esau,  except  that 
he  had  settled  "in  the  land  of  Seir,  the  country  of  Edom;"  but  knowing 
what  had  formerly  taken  place,  and  the  temper  of  the  man,  he  is  apprehen- 
sive of  consequences.  He  therefore  resolves  on  sending  messengers  before 
him,  in  order  to  sound  him,  and,  if  possible,  to  appease  his  anger.  These 
messengers  are  instructed  what  they  shall  say,  and  how  they  shall  conduct 
themselves  on  their  arrival,  all  in  a  way  to  conciliate.  "Thus  shall  ye  speak 
unto  my  lord  Esau ;  Thy  servant  Jacob  saith  thus :  I  have  sojourned  with 
Laban,  and  staid  there  until  now.  And  I  have  oxen,  and  asses,  flocks,  and 
men-servants,  and  women-sen'ants ;  and  I  have  sent  to  tell  my  lord,  that  I 
may  find  grace  in  thy  sight."  Observe,  1.  He  declines  the  honour  of  pre- 
cedency given  him  in  the  blessing,  calling  Esau  his  lord.  Isaac  had  said  to 
him,  "Be  lord  over  thy  brethren,  and  let  thy  mother's  sons  bow  down  to 
thee ;"  but  Jacob  either  understood  it  of  spiritual  ascendancy,  or  if  of  tem- 
poral, as  referring  to  his  posterity  rather  than  to  him.  He  therefore  declines 
all  disputes  on  that  head.  2.  He  would  have  him  know  that  he  was  not 
come  to  claim  the  double  portion,  nor  even  to  divide  with  him  his  father's 
inheritance ;  for  that  God  had  given  him  plenty  of  this  world's  goods  with- 
out it.  Now  as  these  were  the  things  which  had  so  greatly  provoked  Esau, 
a  relinquishment  of  them  would  tend  more  than  any  thing  to  conciliate  him. 

Ver.  6-12.  The  messengers  had  not  proceeded  far  ere  they  met  Esau 
coming  forth  to  meet  his  brother  Jacob,  and  four  hundred  men  with  him. 
It  would  seem,  by  the  account,  that  they  went  and  delivered  their  message 
to  him.  But  however  that  was,  they  appear  to  have  been  struck  with  the 
idea  that  he  was  coming  with  a  hostile  design,  and  therefore  quickly  re- 
turned and  informed  their  master  of  particulars.  We  are  surprised  that 
Jacob's  journey,  which  had  taken  him  only  about  a  fortnight,  and  had  been 
conducted  with  so  much  secrecy,  should  yet  have  been  known  to  Esau. 
His  thirst  for  revenge  must  have  prompted  him  to  great  vigilance.  One 
would  think  he  had  formed  connexions  with  persons  who  lived  in  the  way, 
and  engaged  them  to  give  him  information  of  the  first  movements  of  his 
brother.  However  this  was,  Jacob  loas  greatly  afraid,  and  even  distressed. 
This  term  with  us  is  sometimes  lightly  applied  to  the  state  of  mind  produced 
by  ordinary  troubles ;  but  in  the  Scriptures  it  denotes  a  sore  strait,  from 
which  there  seems  to  be  no  way  of  escape.  This  distress  would  probably 
be  heightened  by  the  recollection  of  his  sin,  which  first  excited  the  resent- 
ment of  Esau.    There  is  no  time,  however,  to  be  lost.   But  what  can  he  do 


Jacob's  wrestling  with  the  angel,  131 

Well,  let  us  take  notice  what  a  good  man  will  do  in  a  time  of  distress,  that 
we  may  as  occasion  requires  follow  his  example.  First,  He  uses  all  possi- 
ble precaution,  "  dividing  the  people  that  was  with  him,  and  the  flocks,  and 
herds,  and  the  camels,  into  two  bands,"  saying,  "  If  Esau  come  to  the  one 
company  and  smite  it,  then  the  other  company  which  is  left  shall  escape." 
Secondly,  He  betakes  himself  to  prayer ;  and  as  this  is  one  of  the  Scripture 
examples  of  successful  prayer,  we  shall  do  well  to  take  particular  notice  of 
it.  Observe,  1.  He  approaches  God  as  the  God  of  his  father;  and  as  such, 
a  God  in  covenant.  "O  God  of  my  father  Abraham,  and  God  of  my  father 
Isaac!"  This  was  laying  hold  of  the  Divine  faithfulness;  it  was  the  prayer 
of  faith.  We  may  not  have  exactly  the  same  plea  in  our  approaches  to 
God;  but  we  have  one  that  is  more  endearing,  and  more  prevalent.  The 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  a  character  which  excites  more 
hope,  and  in  which  more  great  and  precious  promises  have  been  made,  than 
in  the  other.  2.  As  his  own  God,  pleading  what  he  had  promised  to  him. 
"Jehovah,  who  saidst  unto  me,  Return  unto  thy  country,  and  to  thy  kindred, 
and  I  will  deal  well  with  thee."  Jehovah  has  never  made  promises  to  us  in  the 
same  extraordinary  way  as  he  did  to  Jacob;  but  whatever  he  hath  promised 
to  believers  in  general  may  be  pleaded  by  every  one  of  them  in  particular, 
especially  when  encountering  opposition  in  the  way  which  he  hath  directed 
them  to  go.  3.  While  he  celebrates  the  great  mercy  and  truth  of  God 
towards  him,  he  acknowledges  himself  unworthy  of  the  least  instance  of 
either.  The  worthiness  of  merit  is  what  every  good  man,  in  every  circum- 
stance, must  disclaim ;  but  that  which  he  has  in  view  I  conceive  is  that  of 
meetness.  Looking  back  to  his-  own  unworthy  conduct,  especially  that 
which  preceded  and  occasioned  his  passing  over  Jordan  with  a  staff  only  in 
his  hand,  he  is  affected  with  the  returns  of  mercy  and  truth  which  he  had 
met  with  from  a  gracious  God.  By  sin  he  had  reduced  himself  in  a  manner 
to  nothing ;  but  God's  goodness  had  made  him  great.  As  we  desire  to  suc- 
ceed in  our  approaches  to  God,  we  must  be  sure  to  take  low  ground ;  hum- 
bling ourselves  in  the  dust  before  him,  and  suing  for  relief  as  a  matter  of 
mere  grace.  Finally,  having  thus  prefaced  his  petition,  he  now  presents  it : 
"Deliver  me,  I  pray  thee,  from  the  hand  of  my  brother,  from  the  hand  of 
Esau ;  for  I  fear  him,  lest  he  will  come  and  smite  me,  and  the  mother  with 
the  children."  This  was  doubtless  the  petition  of  a  kind  husband  and  a 
tender  father ;  it  was  not  as  such  only,  nor  principally,  however,  but  as  a 
believer  in  the  promises,  that  he  presented  it:  the  great  stress  of  the  prayer 
turns  on  this  hinge.  It  was  as  though  he  had  said.  If  my  life,  and  that  of 
the  mother,  with  the  children,  be  cut  off,  how  are  thy  promises  to  be  fulfilled? 
Hence  he  adds,  "  And  thou  saidst,  I  will  surely  do  thee  good,  and  make  thy 
seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  which  cannot  be  numbered  for  multitude."  It 
is  natural  for  us  as  husbands  and  as  parents  to  be  importunate  with  God  for 
the  well-being  of  those  who  are  so  nearly  related  to  us ;  but  the  way  to  obtain 
mercy  for  them  is  to  seek  it  in  subordination  to  the  Divine  glory. 

Ver.  13-30.  Jacob  and  his  company  seem  now  to  have  been  north  of  the 
river  Jabbok,  near  to  the  place  where  it  falls  into  the  Jordan.  Here  he  is 
said  to  have  "  lodged  that  night."  Afterwards  we  read  of  his  rising  i/p,  and 
sending  his  company  over  the  ford,  ver.  22.  Probably  it  was  during  one 
single  night  that  the  whole  of  what  follows  in  this  chapter  occurred.  The 
messengers  having  returned  towards  evening,  he  divided  his  company  into 
two  bands,  and  then  committed  his  cause  to  God.  After  this  he  halted  for 
the  night ;  but  whatever  sleep  might  fldl  to  the  lot  of  the  children,  or  rest  to 
the  beasts  of  burden,  there  was  but  litde  of  either  for  him.  First,  he  resolves 
neither  to  flee  nor  fight;  but  to  try  the  effect  oi  a  present.  Upwards  of  five 
hundred  head  of  cattle  were  sent  off  in  the  night,  under  the  care  of  his  ser 


13l3  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

vants ;  and,  to  produce  the  greater  effect,  they  were  divided  into  droves,  with 
a  space  between  drove  and  drove.  Having  sent  off  the  present,  he  seems  to 
have  tried  to  get  a  little  rest ;  but  not  being  able  to  sleep,  he  rose  up,  and 
took  his  whole  family,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  sent  them  over  the  ford  of 
Jabbok.  Every  servant  presenting  his  drove  in  the  same  words,  would  strike 
Esau  with  amazement.  It  would  seem  as  if  all  the  riches  of  the  East  were 
coming  to  him ;  and  every  one  concluding  by  announcing  his  master  as 
coming  behind  them,  would  work  upon  his  generosity.  He  expected,  it  is 
likely,  a  host  of  armed  men,  and  felt  resolved  to  fight  it  out;  but,  instead  of 
an  army,  here  is  a  present  worthy  of  a  prince,  and  the  owner  coming  after 
it  with  all  the  confidence  of  a  friend,  and  kindness  of  a  brother. 

Whether  he  thought  it  would  express  more  friendship,  and  be  better  taken, 
to  be  at  the  trouble  of  crossing  the  ford  in  order  to  meet  Esau,  than  to  oblige 
Esau  to  cross  it  in  order  to  meet  him,  or  whatever  was  his  reason,  so  he 
acted  ;  and,  the  family  being  all  over  the  river,  he  himself  staid  behind.  Here 
it  was  that  he  met  with  that  extraordinary  appearance  on  which  he  wrestled 
with  the  Angel  and  prevailed.  The  account  is  as  follows: — "And  Jacob 
was  left  alone  ;  and  there  wrestled  a  man  with  him  until  the  breaking  of  the 
day.  And  when  he  saw  that  he  prevailed  not  against  him,  he  touched  the 
hollow  of  his  thigh;  and  the  hollow  of  Jacob's  thigh  was  out  of  joint,  as  he 
wrestled  with  him.  And  he  said.  Let  me  go,  for  the  day  breaketh.  And  he 
said,  I  will  not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless  me.  And  he  said  unto  him, 
What  is  thy  name  ?  And  he  said,  Jacob.  And  he  said.  Thy  name  shall  be 
called  no  more  Jacob,  but  Israel  (that  is,  a  prince  of  God);  for  as  a  prince 
hast  thou  power  with  God  and  with  men,  and  hast  prevailed.  And  Jacob 
asked  him,  and  said.  Tell  me,  I  pray  thee,  thy  name:  and  he  said,  Wiiere- 
fore  is  it  that  thou  dost  ask  after  my  name?  And  he  blessed»him  there. 
And  Jacob  called  the  name  of  the  place  Peniel :  for  I  have  seen  God  face 
to  face,  and  my  life  is  preserved." 

On  this  singular  manifestation  of  God  to  his  servant,  we  offer  the  follow- 
ing remarks: — I.  It  does  not  appear  to  be  a  vision,  but  a  literal  transaction. 
A  personage,  in  the  form  of  a  man,  really  wrestled  with  him,  and  permitted 
him  to  prevail  so  far  as  to  gain  his  object.  2.  Though  the  form  of  the 
struggle  was  corporeal,  yet  the  essence  and  object  of  it  was  spiritual.  An 
inspired  commentator  on  this  wrestling  says,  "  He  wept  and  made  supplica- 
tion to  the  Angel."  That  for  which  he  strove  was  a  blessing,  and  he  ob- 
tained it.  3.  The  personage  with  whom  he  strove  is  here  called  a  man,  and 
yet,  in  seeing  him,  Jacob  said,  "  I  have  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  my  life 
is  preserved."  Hosea,  in  reference  to  his  being  a  messenger  of  God  to 
Jacob,  calls  him  "  the  Angel ;"  yet  he  also  describes  the  patriarch  as  having 
"  power  with  God."  Upon  the  whole,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  the 
same  Divine  personage  who  appeared  to  him  at  Beth-el,  and  at  Padan-aram  ; 
who,  being  in  the  form  of  God,  again  thought  it  no  usurpation  to  appear  as 
God.  4.  What  is  here  recorded  had  relation  to  Jacob's  distress,  and  may 
be  considered  as  an  answer  to  his  evening  supplications.  By  his  poicer  with 
God  he  had  poioer  with  men.  Esau  and  his  hostile  company  were  conquered 
at  Peniel.  5.  The  change  of  his  name  from  Jacob  to  Israel,  and  the  bless- 
ing which  followed,  signified  that  he  was  no  longer  to  be  regarded  as  having 
obtained  it  by  supplanting  his  brother,  but  as  a  prince  of  God,  who  had 
wrestled  with  him  for  it,  and  prevailed.  It  was  thus  that  the  Lord  pardoned 
his  sin,  and  wiped  away  his  reproach.  It  is  observable,  too,  that  this  is  the 
name  by  which  his  posterity  are  afterwards  called.  Finally,  The  whole 
transaction  furnishes  an  instance  of  believing,  importunate,  and  successful 
prayer.  As  Jacob  would  not  let  the  angel  go  except  he  blessed  him ;  and 
as  the  latter  (though  to  convince  him  of  his  power  he  touched  the  hollow 


Jacob's  interview  with  esau.  133 

of  his  thigh,  and  put  it  out  of  joint)  suffered  himself  to  be  overcome  by  him  ; 
so  every  true  Israelite  pleads  the  promises  of  God  with  an  importunity  that 
will  take  no  denial,  and  God  is  pleased  to  suffer  himself  in  this  manner  to 
be  as  it  were  overcome. 

Ver.  30-32.  What  a  night  was  this  to  Jacob!  What  a  difference  between 
what  he  felt  the  past  evening,  on  the  return  of  the  messengers,  and  what  he 
now  felt!  Well  might  he  wonder  and  exclaim,  "I  have  seen  God  face  to 
face,  and  my  life  is  preserved !"  Passing  over  Peniel,  however,  to  rejoin  his 
family,  just  as  the  sun  rose  upon  him,  he  halted  upon  his  tliigh.  This  would 
be  a  memorial  to  him  of  his  own  weakness,  as  well  as  of  the  power  and 
goodness  of  God,  who,  instead  of  touching  a  single  part,  might,  as  he  inti- 
mated, have  taken  away  his  life.  The  law  which  afterwards  prevailed  in 
Israel,  of  not  eating  of  the  sinew  which  shrank,  might  be  of  Divine  origin, 
as  it  corresponds  with  the  genius  of  the  ceremonial  economy. 


DISCOURSE  XLII. 


Jacob's  interview  with  esau,  and  arrival  in  canaan. 

Gen.  xxxiii. 

Ver.  1-4.  No  sooner  had  Jacob  passed  over  the  ford  of  Jabbok,  and  re 
joined  his  family,  but,  lifting  up  his  eyes,  he  saw  his  brother  approaching 
him,  and  four  hundred  men  with  him.  He  has  just  time  before  he  comes 
up  to  arrange  his  family,  placing  the  children  with  their  respective  mothers, 
and  those  last  for  whom  he  has  the  tenderest  affection.  This  circumstance 
shows  that  though  he  treated  Esau  with  the  fullest  confidence,  yet  he  was 
still  secretly  afraid  of  him.  He  must,  however,  put  the  best  face  he  can 
upon  it,  and  go  on  to  meet  him.  This  he  does;  and  as  he  had  by  his  mes- 
sengers acknowledged  him  as  his  lord,  so  he  will  do  the  same  by  bowing 
doion  to  him.  His  object  was  to  satisfy  him  that  he  made  no  claim  of  that 
kind  of  pre-eminence  which  the  other's  heart  was  set  upon,  but  freely  gave 
it  up.  And  this  seems  to  have  had  the  desired  effect  on  Esau's  mind ;  for 
though  he  did  not  bow  in  return  to  his  brother,  since  that  had  been  relin- 
quishing his  superiority ;  yet  "  he  ran  to  meet  him,  and  embraced  him,  and 
fell  on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him :"  nor  could  such  an  unexpected  meeting 
fail  to  dissolve  both  of  them  in  tears !  It  is  pleasant  and  affecting  to  see  the 
bitter  heart  of  Esau  thus  melted  by  a  kind  and  yielding  conduct.  We  must 
not  forget  that  God's  hand  was  in  h,  who  turneth  the  hearts  of  men  as  rivers 
of  water;  but  neither  must  we  overlook  the  means  by  which  it  was  effected. 
"A  soft  tongue,"  saith  Solomon,  "  breaketh  the  bone."  On  which  our  com- 
mentator Henry  remarks,  with  his  usual  pith,  "  Hard  words,  we  say,  break 
no  bones,  and  therefore  we  should  bear  them  patiently ;  but  it  seems  soft 
words  do,  and  therefore  we  should  on  all  occasions  give  them  prudently." 
Treat  men  as  friends,  and  make  them  so.  Pray  but  as  Jacob  did,  and  be  as 
obliging  and  condescending  as  he  was,  and  you  will  go  through  the  world 
by  it. 

Ver.  5-7.  The  two  brothers  having  wept  over  each  other,  Esau,  lifting  up 
his  eyes,  saw  the  women  and  children,  and  inquired  who  they  were  ?  Jacob's 
answer  is  worthy  of  him.  It  savours  of  the  fear  of  God  which  ruled  in  his 
heart,  and  taught  him  to  acknowledge  him  even  in  the  ordinary  concerns  of 

M 


134  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

life.  They  are,  saith  he,  "  the  children  which  God  hath  graciousl)'  giveu 
thy  servant.  Then  the  handmaidens  came  near,  they  and  their  children, 
and  they  bowed  themselves.  And  Leah  also,  with  her  children,  came  near, 
and  bowed  themselves;  and  after  came  Joseph  near,  and  Rachel,  and  they 
bowed  themselves."  Had  this  been  done  to  Jacob,  methinks  he  would  have 
answered,  "  God  be  gracious  unto  you,  my  children  1"  But  we  must  take 
Esau  as  he  is,  and  rejoice  that  things  are  as  they  are.  We  have  often  occa- 
sion to  be  thankful  for  civilities,  where  we  can  find  nothing  like  religion. 
One  cannot  help  admiring  the  uniformly  good  behaviour  of  all  Jacob's 
family.  If  one  of  them  had  failed,  it  might  have  undone  all  the  good  which 
his  ingratiating  conduct  had  done ;  but,  to  their  honour  it  is  recorded,  they 
all  acted  in  unison  with  him.  When  the  head  of  a  family  does  right,  and 
the  rest  follow  his  example,  every  thing  goes  on  well. 

Ver.  8.  But  Esau  desires  to  know  the  meaning  of  these  droves  of  cattle 
being  sent  to  him.  The  answer  is,  "  These  are  to  find  grace  in  the  sight  of 
my  lord."  This  would  express  how  high  a  value  he  set  upon  his  favour, 
and  how  much  he  desired  to  be  reconciled  to  him ;  and  so  tended  to  con- 
ciliate. We  might,  in  most  cases,  purchase  peace  and  good-will  from  men 
at  a  much  cheaper  rate  than  this ;  a  few  shillings,  nay,  often  only  a  few  kind 
words,  would  do  it;  and  yet  we  see,  for  the  want  of  these,  strifes,  conten- 
tions, lawsuits,  and  I  know  not  what  evil  treatment,  even  between  those  who 
ought  to  love  as  brethren.  But  if  the  favour  of  man  be  thus  estimable,  how 
much  more  that  of  God !  Yet  no  worldly  substance,  nor  good  deeds  of  ours, 
are  required  as  the  price  of  this ;  but  merely  the  receiving  of  it  as  a  free 
gift,  through  Him  who  hath  given  himself  a  sacrifice  to  obtain  the  consistent 
exercise  of  it  towards  the  unworthy. 

Ver.  9-11.  The  reply  of  Esau  to  this  obliging  answer  was,  "I  have 
enough,  my  brother,  keep  that  thou  hast  unto  thyself."  There  might  be  in 
this  language  pretty  much  of  a  high  spirit  of  independence.  Whatever 
effect  Jacob's  present  had  had  upon  him,  he  would  not  be  thought  to  be  in- 
fluenced by  any  thing  of  that  kind ;  especially  as  he  had  great  plenty  of  his 
own,  Jacob,  however,  continued  to  urge  it  upon  him,  not  as  if  he  thought 
he  needed,  but  as  a  token  of  good-will,  and  of  his  desire  to  be  reconciled. 
He  did  not  indeed  make  use  of  this  term,  nor  of  any  other  that  might  lead 
to  the  recollection  of  their  former  variance.  He  did  not  say  that  he  should 
consider  the  acceptance  of  his  present  as  a  proof  that  he  was  cordially  re- 
conciled to  him ;  but  what  he  did  say,  though  more  delicately  expressed, 
was  to  the  same  effect.  Such  I  conceive  to  be  the  import  of  the  terms,  "  If 
now  I  have  found  grace  in  thy  sight,  then  receive  my  present  at  my  hand." 
The  receiving  of  a  present  at  another's  hand  is  perhaps  one  of  the  greatest 
proofs  of  reconciliation.  Every  one  is  conscious  that  he  could  not  receive  a 
present  at  the  hand  of  an  enemy.  And  upon  this  principle  no  offerings  of 
sinful  creatures  can  be  accepted  of  God,  till  they  are  reconciled  to  him  by 
faith  in  the  atonement  of  his  Son.  To  find  grace  in  the  sight  of  Esau,  and 
to  have  his  present  accepted  as  a  token  of  it,  was  the  desire  of  Jacob.  To 
these  ends  he  further  assures  him  how  highly  his  favour  was  accounted  of, 
and  that  to  have  seen  his  face  in  the  manner  he  had  was  to  him  next  to 
.seeing  the  face,  of  God.  This  was  strong  language,  and  doubtless  it  was 
expressive  of  strong  feelings.  Reconciliation  with  those  with  whom  we 
have  long  been  at  variance,  especially  when  it  was  through  our  own  mis- 
conduct, is,  as  to  its  effect  upon  the  mind,  next  to  reconciliation  with 
God.  Finally,  he  entreats  him  to  accept  what  he  had  presented,  as  his 
blessing;  (so  a  present  was  called  when  accompanied  with  love  or  good- 
will: see  Josh.  xv.  19;  1  Sam.  xxv.  27;  3  Kings  v.  15;)  and  the  rather, 
because  God  had  graciously  blessed  him,  and  given  him  enough ;  nay  more, 


Jacob's  interview  with  esatt.  135 

had  given  him  all  ihings.*  Esau  on  this  accepted  it ;  and,  as  far  as  we 
know,  the  reconciliation  was  sincere  and  lasting. 

Ver.  12-15.  Esau  proposes  to  be  going,  and  to  guard  his  brother  and  his 
family  through  the  country.  The  proposal  was  doubtless  very  friendly  and 
very  honourable ;  and  appears  to  have  contained  an  invitation  of  Jacob  and 
his  family  to  his  house  at  Seir ;  but  Jacob  respectfully  declines  it,  on  account 
of  the  feebleness  of  the  cattle,  and  of  the  children.  There  is  no  reason  that 
I  know  of  for  supposing  Jacob  had  any  other  motive  than  that  which  he 
alleged ;  and  this  is  expressive  of  his  gentleness  as  a  shepherd,  and  his  ten- 
derness as  a  father.  There  are  many  persons  with  whom  we  may  wish  to 
be  on  good  terms,  who  nevertheless,  on  account  of  a  difference  of  character, 
taste,  or  manners,  would  be  very  unsuitable  companions  for  us.  Jacob  pro- 
poses going  to  Seir  after  his  arrival ;  and  this  he  probably  did,  though  we 
read  not  of  it.  We  have  no  account  of  his  visiting  his  father  Isaac  till  he 
had  been  several  years  in  Canaan ;  yet,  to  suppose  him  capable  of  such  a 
neglect,  were  not  only  injurious  to  his  character,  but  contrary  to  what  is 
implied  in  Deborah,  one  of  Isaac's  family,  being  found  in  his  house  at  the 
time  of  her  death,  chap.  xxxv.  8.  Esau's  first  proposal  being  declined,  he 
next  offers  to  leave  a  part  of  his  men,  as  a  guard  to  Jacob's  company ;  but 
this  also  he  respectfully  declines,  on  the  ground  of  its  being  unnecessary; 
adding,  "  Let  me  find  grace  in  the  sight  of  my  lord" — which  I  conceive  was 
equal  to  saying.  Let  me  have  thy  favour,  and  it  is  all  I  desire. 

Ver.  16-20.  The  two  brothers  having  parted  friendly,  Esau  returns  to 
Seir,  and  Jacob  journeyed  to  a  place  east  of  Jordan,  where  he  stopped 
awhile,  and  built  a  house  for  his  family,  and  booths  for  his  cattle.  Upon 
this  spot  a  city  was  afterwards  built,  and  called  Succoth,  that  is,  booths,  from 
the  circumstance  above  related,  Josh.  xiii.  27 ;  Judg.  viii.  5  He  did  not 
stop  here,  however,  with  a  design  to  abide  ;  for  he  was  commanded  to  return 
to  the  land  of  his  kindred,  that  is,  to  Canaan,  and  he  was  as  yet  not  in 
Canaan :  but  finding  it  a  country  abounding  with  rich  pasture,  he  might 
wish  to  refresh  his  herds,  and  take  time  for  inquiry  into  a  more  suitable 
place  for  a  continued  residence.  Hence,  when  after  this  he  passed  over 
Jordan,  and  "  came  to  Shalem,  a  city  of  Shechem,  in  the  land  of  Canaan," 
it  is  said  to  be  "  when  he  came  from  Padan-aram ;"  intimating  that  till  then 
he  had  not  arrived  at  the  end  of  his  journey.  Shalem  is  considered  by  Ains- 
worth,  and  some  others,  not  as  the  name  of  a  city,  but  as  a  term  denoting 
the  peace  and  safety  with  which  Jacob  arrived.  Hence  they  render  it,  "  He 
came  in  safety,  or,  in  peace,  to  the  city  of  Shechem."  It  is  an  argument  in 
favour  of  this  translation  that  we  have  no  account  of  a  city  called  Shalem  near 
to  Shechem.  All  agree  that  it  could  not  be  the  place  where  Melchizedek 
reigned,  as  it  was  forty  miles  distant  from  it ;  and  as  to  that  near  Enon, 
where  John  was  baptizing,  (John  iii.  23,)  it  was  not  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Shechem,  but  of  Jordan.  This  rendering  also  gives  additional  propriety 
and  force  to  the  phrase,  "  When  he  came  from  Padan-aram."  It  is  a  decla- 
ration to  the  honour  of  him  who  had  said,  "  Behold,  I  am  with  thee,  and  will 
keep  thee  in  all  places  whither  thou  goest,  and  will  bring  thee  again  into  this 
land."  He  arrived  in  peace  at  his  journey's  end,  notwithstanding  the  dangers 
and  difl[iculties  he  met  with  by  the  way. 

Shechem,  before  which  Jacob  pitched  his  tent,  was  a  city  called  after  the 
name  of  the  son  of  Hamor,  its  king,  of  whom  we  shall  presently  hear  more. 
It  is  the  same  place  as  that  which  in  the  New  Testament  is  called  Sychar, 
John  iv.  5.     Here  he  bought  "  a  parcel  of  a  field,"  that  neither  he  nor 

*  Though  both  expressions  are  rendered  alike,  I  have  enough,  yet  they  differ  in  the  ori« 
ginal:  Esau  said,  3-)  I'y  tpi  I  have  much;  but  Jacob,  i^  \^  b><  I  have  all. — R. 


136  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

his  cattle  might  trespass  on  the  property  of  others.  This  field  was  after- 
wards taken  from  him,  it  should  seem,  by  the  Amorites;  and  he  was  under 
the  necessity  of  recovering  it  "  by  his  sword  and  his  bow ;"  which  having 
accomplished,  he  bequeathed  it  to  his  son  Joseph.  I  have  sometimes 
thought  that  this  parcel  of  ground  might  be  designed  to  exhibit  a  specimen 
of  the  whole  land  of  Canaan.  When  the  Most  High  divided  to  the  nations 
their  inheritance,  he  marked  out  an  allotment  for  the  children  of  Israel 
(Deut.  xxxii.  8) ;  but  the  Canaanites,  taking  possession  of  it,  were  obliged 
to  be  dispossessed  by  the  rightful  owners,  with  the  sword  and  with  the  bow. 
But  that  which  requires  the  most  particular  notice  is,  that  "he  erected 
there  an  altar,  and  called  it  El-elohe-Israel,  i.  e.  God  the  God  of  Israel."  It 
was  worthy  of  this  great  and  good  man  publicly  to  acknowledge  God,  after 
so  many  signal  deliverances,  and  soon  after  his  arrival.  His  first  purchasing 
a  piece  of  ground,  and  there  erecting  his  altar,  was  like  saying,  Whenever 
this  whole  country  shall  be  in  possession  of  my  posterity,  let  it  in  this  man- 
ner be  devoted  to  God.  Nay,  it  was  as  if  he  had  then  taken  possession  of  it 
in  the  name  of  the  God  of  Israel,  by  setting  up  his  standard  in  it.  It  is  the 
first  time  also  in  which  he  is  represented  as  availing  himself  of  his  neiv  name, 
and  of  the  covenant  blessing  conferred  upon  him  under  it.  The  name  given 
to  the  altar  was  designed,  no  doubt,  to  be  a  memorial  of  both ;  and  whenever 
he  should  present  his  offerings  upon  it,  to  revive  all  those  sentiments  which 
he  had  felt  when  wrestling  with  God  at  Peniel.  It  were  no  less  happy  for 
us  than  consistent  with  our  holy  profession,  if  every  distinguishing  turn  of 
our  lives  were  distinguished  by  renewed  resignations  of  ourselves  to  God. 
Such  times  and  places  would  serve  as  memorials  of  mercy,  and  enable  us  to 
recover  those  thoughts  and  feelings  which  we  possessed  in  our  happiest  days. 


DISCOURSE  XLIII. 


DINAH    DEFILED,  AND    THE    SHECHEMITES    MURDERED. 

Gen.  xxxiv. 

The  arrival  of  Jacob  in  Canaan  promised  fair  for  a  holy  and  happy  resi- 
dence in  it.  Laban  no  more  oppresses  him,  and  the  breach  between  him 
and  his  brother  Esau  is  healed.  But,  alas!  foreign  troubles  being  removed, 
domestic  ones  take  place  of  them.  He  had  but  one  daughter,  and  she  is 
defiled.  He  had  many  sons,  and  the  greater  part  of  them  are  deceitful  and 
cruel.  What  with  the  conduct  of  the  one  and  the  other,  his  heart  must  be 
sorely  grieved.  It  was  not  however  till  he  had  lived  six  or  seven  years  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Shechem  that  these  troubles  came  upon  him;  for  in 
less  time  than  this  the  two  brethren  could  not  have  arrived  at  man's  estate ; 
and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that,  from  his  first  settlement  at  this  place,  his 
mind  began  to  sink  into  a  state  of  spiritual  declension.  One  would  think, 
if  he  had  had  a  proper  sense  of  things,  he  could  not  have  continued  so  long 
to  expose  a  family  of  young  people  to  the  contagious  influence  of  a  heathen 
city.  It  was  next  to  the  conduct  of  Lot  when  he  took  up  his  residence  in 
Sodom. 

Ver.  1,  2.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  younger  branches  of  the  family, 
hearing  every  thing  that  was  going  on  among  the  youth  of  the  place,  would 
think  it  hard  if  they  must  not  go  among  them.  Whether  the  sons  formed 
acquaintances  among  the  Shechemites,  we  know  not;  but  Dinah,  on  a  certain 


DINAH  DEFILED.  137 

occasion,  "  must  needs  go  out  to  see  the  daughters  of  the  land."  She 
wished  no  doubt  to  be  acquainted  with  them,  to  see  and  be  seen  of  them, 
and  to  do  as  they  did.  It  might  not  be  to  a  ball,  nor  a  card  party;  but  I 
presume  it  was  to  some  merry-making  of  this  kind:  and  though  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  land  were  her  professed  companions,  yet  the  sons  of  the  land 
must  have  assembled  with  them,  else  how  came  Shechem  there?  Young 
people,  if  you  have  any  regard  for  your  parents,  or  for  yourselves,  beware  of 
such  parties !  The  consequence  was  what  might  have  been  expected. 
Shechem  was  the  son  of  the  "  prince  of  the  country,"  and  men  of  rank  and 
opulence  are  apt  to  think  themselves  entitled  to  do  any  thing  which  their 
inclinations  prompt  them  to.  The  young  woman  was  inexperienced,  and 
unused  to  company  of  this  kind;  she  therefore  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the 
seducer.  But  could  Dinah  have  gone  without  the  consent  or  connivance 
of  her  parents,  at  least  of  one  of  them  ?  We  should  think  she  could  not. 
I  fear  Leah  was  not  clear  in  this  matter. 

Ver.  3,  4.  The  story  is  such  as  must  needs  excite  indignation :  some  cir- 
cumstances, however,  bad  as  it  is,  tend  in  a  certain  degree  to  extenuate  it. 
The  young  man  is  not  like  Amnon  by  Tamar;  he  is  attached  to  her,  and 
applies  to  his  father  Hamor  to  obtain  her  for  him  to  wife.  Had  this  been 
done  at  first,  all  had  been  honourable;  but  a  bad  beginning  seldom  admits 
of  a  good  ending.  And  though  a  respectful  application  was  immediately 
made  to  the  parents  of  the  damsel,  yet  she  herself  was  at  the  same  time 
detained  in  Shechem's  house.  But  let  us  observe  the  effect  of  this  disgrace- 
ful transaction. 

Ver.  .5-24.  The  news  soon  reached  Jacob's  ear;  his  sons  were  in  the 
field;  he  felt  much,  no  doubt,  but  said  nothing  till  they  returned.  He  did 
not,  however,  foresee  what  would  follow,  or  he  would  not  have  reserved  the 
utterance  of  his  grief  to  them.  But  probably  he  knew  not  what  to  do.  If 
Leah  had  connived  at  her  daughter's  visit,  he  would  not  know  how  to  speak 
to  her ;  and  as  to  Rachel,  the  jealousies  between  the  sisters  might  prevent 
his  speaking  freely  to  the  one  on  the  concerns  of  the  other.  So  he  held  his 
peace  till  his  sons  should  return.  Meanwhile  Hamor,  and  it  seems  his  son 
with  him,  came  out  of  the  city  to  Jacob,  to  commune  with  him  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  to  ask  the  young  woman  in  marriage.  It  had  been  well  if  he  and 
Jacob  had  settled  it,  and  this  to  all  appearance  they  might  have  done ;  but 
scandal,  with  its  swift  wings,  reaching  the  young  men  in  the  field,  brought 
them  home  before  the  usual  time ;  so  that  Hamor  and  his  son  had  scarcely 
entered  Jacob's  door  ere  they  followed  them.  Had  Jacob  and  Hamor  con- 
versed the  matter  over  by  themselves,  or  Jacob  and  his  sons  by  themselves, 
their  anger  might  have  been  somewhat  abated ;  but,  all  meeting  together, 
there  was  no  vent  for  the  first  strong  feelings  of  the  mind ;  and  such  feelings 
when  suppressed,  like  subterraneous  fires,  must  find  their  way,  and  very 
commonly  issue  in  some  dreadful  explosion.  The  young  men  said  little, 
but  thought  the  more.  The  real  state  of  their  minds  is  thus  described: 
"And  the  men  were  grieved,  and  they  were  very  wroth,  because  he  had 
wrought  folly  in  Israel  in  lying  with  Jacob's  daughter,  which  thing  ought 
not  to  be  done."  There  certainly  was  cause  for  great  displeasure;  and  pro- 
vided it  had  been  directed  against  the  sin,  frankly  avowed,  and  kept  within 
the  limits  of  equity,  great  displeasure  ought  to  have  been  manifested.  Light 
as  heathens  and  other  wicked  men  may  make  of  fornication,  it  is  an  evil  and 
a  bitter  thing.  To  the  honour  of  Jacob  and  his  posterity,  he  that  was  guilty 
of  it  among  them  was  said  to  have  "wrought  folly  in  Israel,"  and  to  have 
done  that  which  "  ought  not  to  be  done."  It  might  be  from  the  present 
early  example  that  this  phraseology  became  proverbially  descriptive  of  a  for- 
nicator (2  Sam.  xiii.  12);  and  a  great  advantage  it  must  be  to  any  people 
Vol.  III.— 18  m  2 


138  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

where  the  state  of  society  is  so  far  influenced  by  principles  of  honour  and 
chastity,  as  by  common  consent  to  brand  such  characters  with  infamy.  It 
was  proper  that  the  brothers  of  the  young  woman  should  he  grieved;  it  was 
not  unnatural  that  they  should  be  wroth :  but  wherefore  did  they  feel  thus 
strongly?  Was  it  for  the  sin  committed  against  God,  or  only  for  the  shame 
of  it  in  respect  of  the  family?  Here,  alas!  they  failed;  and  this  it  was  that 
prompted  them  to  all  their  other  wickedness.  Jacob  was  grieved  and  dis- 
pleased as  well  as  they;  but  his  grief  and  displeasure  wrought  not  in  the 
manner  theirs  did.  The  reserve  which  they  assumed,  while  Hamor  and  his 
Bon  were  speaking,  concealed  behind  it  the  most  deadly  resentment.  They 
heard  all  that  was  said  (and  many  fine  things  were  said,  both  by  the  father 
as  a  politician,  in  favour  of  intermarriages  between  the  families  in  genera], 
and  by  the  son  as  a  lover,  in  order  to  gain  the  damsel) ;  they  heard  it,  I  say, 
with  much  apparent  coolness,  and  stated  their  objections  in  a  manner  as  if 
there  was  nothing  between  them  but  the  compliance  with  a  certain  ceremony, 
and  as  though  they  felt  nothing  for  their  sister  that  should  hinder  their  enter- 
ing into  a  covenant  of  peace  with  him  who  had  seduced  her.  But  all  was 
deceit;  a  mere  cover  to  a  bloody  design,  which  they  appear  to  have  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  revenge,  because  he  had  defiled  Dinah  their  sister. 

The  deceitful  proposal,  however,  succeeded :  "  Their  words  pleased  Hamor, 
and  Shechera,  Hamor's  son."  So  they  go  about  forthwith  to  persuade  the 
citizens  into  a  compliance  with  them;  not  as  a  matter  of  principle,  but  of 
policy,  as  a  measure  which  would  contribute  to  the  country's  good.  They 
also  succeed,  the  Shechemites  are  circumcised,  and  all  seems  to  bid  fair  for 
an  amicable  issue. 

But  let  us  pause  and  reflect  on  the  right  and  wrong  in  these  transactions. 
What  was  the  line  of  conduct  that  Hamor  and  Shechem  should  have  pur- 
sued? They  ought  no  doubt,  in  the  first  place,  to  have  restored  the  young 
woman  to  her  parents;  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  acknowledged  the 
great  injury  done  to  her  and  to  the  family,  and  expressed  their  sorrow  on 
account  of  it.  Till  they  had  done  this,  they  had  no  reason  to  expect  any 
thing  like  a  reconciliation  on  the  part  of  Jacob  or  his  sons.  But  it  is  likely 
the  young  man  being  of  so  honourable  a  family,  and  the  sin  of  fornication 
being  so  common  in  the  country,  made  them  think  these  punctilios  might 
be  dispensed  with  in  the  present  instance.  And  being  wholly  under  the 
influence  of  sensual  and  worldly  motives,  they  are  prepared  to  profess  any 
religion,  or  profane  any  institution,  however  sacred,  so  that  they  may 
accomplish  their  selfish  ends. — But  what  was  the  line  of  conduct  which 
ought  to  have  been  pursued  by  Jacob  and  his  sons?  If  the  one  had  taken 
a  greater  share  in  the  conversation,  and  the  other  a  less,  it  had  been  more  to 
the  honour  of  both ;  and  might  not  have  issued  in  the  manner  it  did.  It  is 
veiy  proper  for  brothers  to  consider  themselves  as  guardians  of  a  sister's 
honour ;  but  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  supersede  the  authority  or  silence  the 
counsel  of  a  father.  The  answer  to  the  question.  Whether  Dinah  should  be 
given  in  marriage  to  Shechem,  belonged  to  the  parents,  and  not  to  the 
brothers.  With  respect  to  the  displeasure  which  required  to  be  expressed, 
it  ought  to  have  been  confined  to  words ;  and  if  the  proposed  marriage  could 
not  be  acceded  to,  they  should,  as  they  said,  have  "taken  their  sister  and 
been  gone."  As  to  their  objection  on  the  score  of  circumcision,  there 
appears  to  have  been  no  such  law  established  as  yet  in  Jacob's  fiimily.  It 
is  true  they  were  discouraged  from  marrying  with  the  devotees  of  idolatry; 
but  the  circumcision  of  the  Shechemites  was  merely  a  form;  and  had  they 
been  suffered  to  live,  would  have  produced  no  change  in  respect  of  this. 
Could  they  indeed  have  been  induced  to  renounce  their  idolatrous  practices, 
and  to  cast  in  their  lot  with  Israel,  the  good  had  overbalanced  the  evil ;  but 


DINAH  DEFILED.  139 

religion  was  no  part  of  the  young  men's  concern :  the  whole  was  a  mere 
pretence  to  cover  their  malignant  designs. 

Ver.  25-29.  The  result  was  shocking.  Simeon  and  Levi,  two  of  Dinah's 
brethren  by  the  same  mother,  as  well  as  father,  availing  themselves  of  the 
present  incapacity  of  the  Shechemites  to  resist  them,  took  each  man  his 
sword,  and  slew  all  the  males  of  the  city,  with  Hamor,  and  Shechem  his 
son,  and  took  their  sister  out  of  his  house,  and  went  their  way!  Nor  was 
this  cruel  business  to  be  attributed  to  the  two  brothers  only ;  for  the  rest 
were  so  far  accessory  as  to  join  in  plundering  the  city,  and  taking  captive 
all  the  females. 

Alas,  how  one  sin  leads  on  to  another,  and,  like  flames  of  fire,  spreads 
desolation  in  every  direction!  Dissipation  leads  to  seduction;  seduction 
produces  wrath;  wrath  thirsts  for  revenge;  the  thirst  of  revenge  has  recourse 
to  treachery;  treachery  issues  in  murder;  and  murder  is  followed  by  lawless 
depredation!  Were  we  to  trace  the  history  of  illicit  commerce  between  the 
sexes,  we  should  find  it,  more  perhaps  than  any  other  sin,  terminating  in 
blood.  We  may  read  this  warning  truth,  not  only  in  the  history  of  David 
and  his  family,  but  in  what  is  constantly  occurring  in  our  own  times.  The 
murder  of  the  innocent  offspring  by  the  hand  of  the  mother,  or  of  the  mother 
by  the  hand  of  the  seducer,  or  of  the  seducer  by  the  hand  of  a  brother  or  a 
supplanted  rival — is  an  event  which  too  frequently  falls  under  our  notice. 
Nor  is  this  all,  even  in  the  present  world.  Murder  seldom  escapes  detec- 
tion ;  a  public  execution  therefore  may  be  expected  to  close  the  tragical 
process ! 

Ver.  30,  31.  It  is  some  relief  to  find  the  good  old  man  expressing  his  dis- 
approbation of  these  proceedings:  "Ye  have  troubled  me,"  says  he  to  Simeon 
and  Levi,  "  to  make  me  stink  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  land — and  I 
being  few  in  number,  they  shall  gather  themselves  together  against  me,  and 
I  shall  be  destroyed,  I  and  my  house."  Both  Abraham  and  Isaac  had 
carried  it  peaceably  in  all  places  where  they  pitched  their  tents,  and.  by  their 
good  conduct  had  recommended  true  religion,  and  gained  great  respect 
among  the  heathen.  It  was  Jacob's  desire  to  have  trod  in  their  steps;  but 
his  sons  were  children  of  Belial,  who  knew  not  the  Lord;  yet,  being  so 
nearly  akin  to  him,  his  character  is  implicated  by  their  conduct.  Their 
answer  is  insolent  in  the  extreme :  "  Should  he  deal  with  our  sister,"  say 
they,  "as  with  a  harlot?"  As  if  their  father  had  no  proper  concern  for  the 
honour  of  his  children,  and  cared  not  what  treatment  they  met  with,  so  that 
he  might  be  at  peace  and  maintain  his  credit. 

But  how  is  it  that  Jacob  should  dwell  only  upon  the  consequences  of  the 
sin,  and  say  nothing  about  the  sin  itself?  Probably  because  he  knew  his 
sons  to  be  so  hardened  in  wickedness,  that  nothing  but  consequences,  and 
such  as  affected  their  own  safety  too,  would  make  them  feel.  It  is  certain 
that  he  did  abhor  the  deed,  and  that  with  all  his  soul.  Of  this  he  gave  a 
most  affecting  proof  upon  his  dying  bed,  when,  instead  of  blessing  the  two 
brethren  with  the  rest  of  his  children,  he  in  a  manner  cursed  them,  or  at 
least  branded  their  conduct  with  perpetual  infamy.  "  Simeon  and  Levi," 
said  he,  "  are  brethren ;  instruments  of  cruelty  are  in  their  habitations.  O 
my  soul,  come  not  thou  into  their  secret;  unto  their  assembly,  mine  honour, 
be  not  thou  united ;  for  in  their  anger  they  slew  a  man,  and  in  their  self-will 
they  digged  down  a  wall.  Cursed  be  their  anger,  for  it  was  fierce;  and  their 
wrath,  for  it  was  cruel :  I  will  divide  them  in  Jacob,  and  scatter  them  in 
Israel  !"* 

*  Simeon  and  Levi  are  bretlircn, 

Instruments  of  violence  are  their  fraudulent  bargains; 

Into  their  secret  come  not  thou,  0  my  soul  j 


140  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

We  read  no  more  of  Dinah,  except  her  bare  name :  probably  she  died 
single.  Her  example  aflbrds  a  loud  warning  to  young  people  to  beware  of 
visiting  in  mixed  companies,  or  indulging  in  amusements  by  which  they  put 
themselves  in  the  way  of  temptation. 


DISCOURSE  XLIV. 


Jacob's  removal  to  beth-el. — god's  renewal  of  covenant  with  him.— 
the  death  of  deborah,  rachel,  and  isaac. —  esau's  generations. 

Gen.  XXXV.,  sxxvi. 

There  is  a  greater  diversity  in  the  life  of  this  patriarch  than  in  that  of 
Abraham,  and  much  greater  in  that  of  Isaac.  If  he  did  not  attain  to  "  the 
days  of  the  years  of  the  life  of  his  fathers,"  the  records  of  his  pilgrimage  are 
not  less  useful  than  those  of  either  of  them. 

Ver.  1,  It  might  have  been  expected  that  Jacob  would  leave  Shechem, 
on  account  of  what  had  taken  place;  yet  he  would  not  know  whither  to  flee; 
but  "God  said  unto  him.  Arise,  go  up  to  Beth-el,  and  dwell  there;  and  make 
there  an  altar  unto  God  that  appeared  unto  thee  when  thou  fleddest  from 
the  face  of  Esau  thy  brother."  This  admonition  appears  to  resemble  that 
which  was  addressed  to  Abram,  "Walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect;" 
that  is,  it  implies  a  reproof,  and  was  intended  to  lead  Jacob  to  reflect  upon 
his  conduct.  There  were  two  things  in  particular  which  required  serious 
consideration.  1.  Whether  he  had  not  neglected  to  perform  his  vow.  He 
had  solemnly  declared,  in  the  presence  of  God,  that  if  he  would  be  with  him, 
and  keep  him  in  the  way  he  went,  and  give  him  bread  to  eat,  and  raiment 
to  put  on,  then  Jehovah  should  be  his  God ;  and  that  the  stone  which  he 
then  set  up  for  a  pillar  should  be  God's  house,  chap,  xxviii.  20-22.  Now 
God  had  performed  all  these  things  on  his  part ;  but  Jacob  had  not  been  at 
Beth-el,  even  though  he  had  now  resided  in  Canaan  about  seven  years. 
And  what  was  worse,  though  Jehovah  had  been  his  God,  so  far  as  respected 
himself,  yet  his  house  was  not  clear  of  idols !  Rachel's  stolen  teraphim  had 
proved  a  snare  to  the  family.  At  the  time  Laban  overtook  him,  Jacob  knew 
nothing  of  them,  but  he  appears  to  have  discovered  them  afterwards;  and 
yet,  till  roused  by  this  Divine  admonition,  he  never  interposed  his  authority 
to  have  them  put  moat/.  2.  Whether  the  late  lamentable  evils  in  his  family 
had  not  arisen  from  this  cause.  Had  he  gone  sooner  to  Beth-el,  his  house 
had  been  sooner  purged  of  the  strange  gods  that  were  in  it,  and  his  children 
had  escaped  the  taint  which  they  must  of  necessity  impart.  At  first  the  gods 
of  Laban  were  hid  by  Rachel,  and  none  of  the  family  except  herself  seemed 
to  know  of  them ;  but  now  Jacob  had  to  speak  to  his  "  household,  and  to  all 
that  were  with  him,"  to  cleanse  themselves.     Moreover,  had  he  gone  sooner 

Unto  their  assembly  be  not  united,  mine  honour: 
For  in  their  anger  they  slew  a  man, 
And  in  their  self-will  they  exterminated  a  prince. 
Cursed  be  their  anger,  for  it  was  fierce ; 
And  their  excess  of  passion,  for  it  was  cruel. 
I  will  divide  them  in  Jacob, 
And  scatter  them  in  Israel. 
But  Venema  would  render  the  last  distich  in  a  good  sense. 

[Yet]  I  will  grant  them  a  portion  in  Jacob, 

And  cause  them  to  be  diffused  abroad  (Geu.  x.  IS)  in  Israel. — R. 


Jacob's  removal  to  beth-el.  141 

to  Beth-el,  his  children  might  have  been  out  of  the  way  of  temptation,  and 
all  the  impure  and  bloody  conduct  in  which  they  were  concerned  have  been 
prevented.  From  the  whole,  we  see  the  eflects  of  spiritual  negligence,  and 
of  trifling  with  temptation.  Do  not  neglect  God's  house,  nor  delay  to  keep 
hrs  commandments.  He  that  puts  them  off  to  a  more  convenient  season  has 
commonly  some  idols  about  him,  which  it  does  not  suit  him  just  yet  to  put 
away. 

Ver.  2,  3.  No  sooner  is  Jacob  admonished  to  go  to  Beth-el  than  he  feels 
the  necessity  of  a  reformation,  and  gives  command  for  it.  This  proves  that 
he  knew  of  the  corrupt  practices  of  his  family,  and  had  too  long  connived  at 
them.  We  are  glad,  however,  to  find  him  resolved  at  last  to  put  them  awai/. 
A  constant  attendance  on  God's  ordinances  is  dwelling-  as  it  were  in  Beth-el ; 
and  it  is  by  this  that  we  detect  evils  in  ourselves  which  we  should  otherwise 
retain  without  thought  or  concern  It  is  "  coming  to  the  light,"  which  will 
"manifest  our  deeds,  whether  they  be  wrought  in  God"  or  not.  Wicked 
men  may  reconcile  the  most  sacred  religious  duties  with  the  indulgence  of 
secret  sins;  but  good  men  cannot  do  so.  They  must  wash  their  hands  in 
innocency,  and  so  compass  God's  altar,  Psal.  xxvi.  6.  Jacob  not  only  com- 
mands his  household  to  put  away  their  idols,  but  endeavours  to  impress  upon 
them  his  own  sentiments.  "  Let  us  arise,"  saith  he,  "  and  go  up  to  Beth-el ; 
and  I  will  make  there  an  altar  unto  God,  who  answered  me  in  the  day  of 
my  distress,  and  was  with  me  in  the  way  which  I  went."  He  is  decided  for 
himself,  and  uses  all  means  to  persuade  his  family  to  unite  with  him.  His 
intimating  that  God  had  heretofore  answered  him  in  the  day  of  his  distress 
might  be  designed  not  only  to  show  them  the  propriety  of  what  he  was  about 
to  do,  but  to  excite  a  hope  that  God  might  disperse  the  cloud  which  now 
hung  over  them  on  account  of  the  late  impure  and  bloody  transaction. 

Ver.  4.  Considering  the  evils  which  prevailed  in  this  family,  and  the 
bewitching  nature  of  idolatry,  it  is  rather  surprising  to  observe  the  readiness 
with  which  they  consent  to  give  it  up.  But  no  doubt  the  hand  of  the  Lord 
was  in  it.  When  Jacob  spoke  as  he  ought  to  speak,  their  hearts  were  bowed 
before  him.  Difficulties  which,  in  a  languid  state  of  mind,  seem  insur- 
mountable, are  easily  got  over  when  once  we  come  to  act  decidedly  for  God  ; 
and  those  whom  we  expected  to  oppose  the  good  work  shall  frequendy  be 
found  willing  to  engage  with  us  in  it.  They  not  only  gave  their  gods,  but 
even  their  earrings,  which  in  those  times  were  convertible,  and  often,  if  not 
always,  converted,  to  purposes  of  idolatry,  Exod.  xxxii.  2  ;  Hos.  ii.  13.  But 
why  did  Jacob  bury  them  ?  We  may  think  they  might  have  been  melted 
down,  and  converted  to  a  better  use ;  but  that  was  expressly  forbidden  by 
the  Mosaic  law,  Dent.  vii.  25,  and  it  seems  the  patriarchs  acted  on  the  same 
principle.  But  why  did  he  not  utterly  destroy  them?  Perhaps  it  would 
have  been  better  if  he  had.  I  hope,  however,  he  hid  them  where  they  were 
found  no  more.  Upon  the  whole,  we  see  at  this  time  a  great  change  for  the 
better  in  Jacob's  family.  He  should  not  have  been  reluctant,  or  indifferent, 
to  going  up  to  Beth-el ;  for  it  appears  to  have  been  the  design  of  God  to 
make  it  one  of  his  best  removals.  It  was  a  season  of  grace,  in  which  God 
not  only  blessed  him,  but  caused  even  those  that  dwelt  under  his  shadow  to 
return.  I  have  more  hope  of  Rachel  and  Leah's  having  relinquished  all  for 
the  God  of  Israel  from  this  time  than  from  any  thing  in  the  former  part  of 
their  history. 

Ver.  5.  We  now  see  Jacob  and  his  family  on  their  journey.  It  would 
appear  to  the  cities  round  about  that  the  slaughter  of  the  Shechemites  was 
the  cause  of  this  removal.  Their  not  pursidng  them  being  ascribed  to  the 
terror  of  God  being  upon  them,  implies  that  the  public  indignation  was  so 
excited  against  them,  that  if  they  had  dared,  they  would  have  cut  them  off. 


142  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

The  kind  care  which  God  exercised  on  this  occasion  was  no  less  contrary 
to  the  parent's  fears  than  to  the  deserts  of  his  ungodly  children  ;  and  its  being 
extended  to  them  for  his  sake  must,  if  they  had  any  sense  of  things,  appal 
their  proud  spirits,  and  repress  the  insolence  with  which  they  had  lately 
treated  hira. 

Ver.  G,  7.  Arriving  at  Beth-el  in  safety,  Jacob,  according  to  his  vow, 
"built  there  an  altar"  unto  Jehovah,  and  gave  it  a  name  which  God  had 
graciously  given  himself;  namely,  "El-beth-d,  the  God  of  Beth-el."  This 
altar,  and  this  name,  would  serve  as  a  perpetual  memorial  of  God's  having 
"  appeared  to  him  when  he  fled  from  the  face  of  his  brother."  And  as  that 
time  many  great  and  precious  promises  were  made  to  him,  it  would  be  na- 
tural for  him  to  associate  with  the  idea  of  the  God  of  Beth-el  that  of  a  God 
in  covenant  ;  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob. 

Ver.  8.  While  Jacob  and  his  family  were  at  Beth-el,  their  enjoyments 
seem  to  have  been  interrupted  by  the  death  of  "  Deborah,  Rebecca's  nurse." 
Some  particulars  are  here  implied  which  are  not  recorded  in  the  history. 
Deborah  did  not  belong  to  the  family  of  Jacob,  but  to  that  of  Isaac.  Jacob 
must  therefore  have  gone  and  visited  his  father;  and  finding  his  mother 
dead,  and  her  nurse  far  advanced  in  years,  more  fit  to  be  nursed  herself  than 
to  be  of  any  use  to  her  aged  master,  he  took  her  home,  where  she  would 
meet  with  kind  attentions  from  her  younger  countrywomen,  and  probably 
furnished  his  f;ither  with  another  more  suitable  in  her  place.  Nothing  is 
said  of  her  from  the  time  she  left  Padan-aram  with  her  young  mistress ;  but, 
by  the  honourable  mention  that  is  here  made  of  her,  she  seems  to  have  been 
a  worthy  character.  The  death  of  an  aged  servant,  when  her  work  was 
done,  would  not  ordinarily  excite  much  regret.  To  have  afforded  her  a 
decent  burial  was  all  that  in  most  cases  would  be  thought  of;  but  Jacob's 
family  were  so  much  affected  by  the  event,  as  not  only  to  weep  over  her 
grave,  but  to  call  the  very  tree  under  the  shadow  of  which  she  was  interred 
AUon-bachuth,  the  oak  of  toeeping.  It  is  the  more  singular,  too,  that  the 
family  who  wept  over  her  was  not  that  in  which  she  had  lived  in  what  we 
should  call  her  best  days ;  but  one  that  had  merely  taken  her  under  their 
care  in  her  old  age.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  sorrow  expressed  at 
her  interment  was  on  account,  not  only  of  her  character,  but  her  office,  or 
her  having  been  "  Rebecca's  nurse."  The  text  seems  to  lay  an  emphasis 
upon  these  words.  The  sight  of  the  daughter  of  Laban,  "  his  mother's  bro- 
ther," and  even  of  his  sheep,  had  interested  Jacob's  heart,  chap.  xxix.  10; 
much  more  would  the  burial  of  her  nurse.  In  weeping  over  her  grave,  he 
would  seem  to  be  weeping  over  that  of  his  beloved  parent,  and  paying  that 
tribute  of  affection  to  her  memory  which  providence  had  denied  him  at  the 
time  of  her  decease 

Ver.  9-15.  During  the  seven  years  in  which  Jacob  resided  at  Shechem 
we  do  not  find  a  single  instance  of  God's  manifesting  himself  to  him,  except 
that  of  admonishing  him  to  depart.  But  now  that  he  is  come  to  Beth-el, 
and  has  performed  his  vow,  "  God  appeared  unto  him  again,  and  blessed 
hira."  But  how  is  it  that  this  is  said  to  be  "when  he  came  out  of  Padan- 
aram  ?"  The  design  of  the  phrase,  I  apprehend,  is  not  to  convey  the  idea 
of  its  being  at  the  time  of  his  return  from  that  country,  or  immediately  after 
it ;  but  to  distinguish  it  from  that  appearance  of  God  to  him,  in  the  same 
place  where  he  now  was,  in  his  way  thither.  He  appeared  to  him  at  Beth-el 
when  he  was  going  to  Padan-aram  ;  and  now  he  "  appeared  to  him  again," 
at  the  same  place,  "  when  he  was  come  out  of  it."*  The  whole  account 
given  in  these  verses  of  the  appearance  of  God  to  Jacob,  and  of  his  conduct 

*  So  the  passage  is  rendered  by  Ainsworth 


Jacob's  removal  to  beth-el.  143 

in  return,  describes  a  solemn  and  mutual  renetcal  of  covenant.  There  is 
nothing  material  in  what  is  here  said  to  him  but  what  had  been  said  before; 
and  nothing  material  which  he  did  but  what  had  been  done  before ;  but  the 
whole  was  now  as  it  were  consolidated  and  confirmed.  1.  God  had  before 
told  him  that  his  name  should  no  more  be  called  Jacob,  but  Israel,  chap, 
xxxii.  28 ;  this  honour  is  here  renewed,  and  the  renewal  of  it  contained  an 
assurance  that  he  should  still  go  on  and  prevail.  2.  God  had  before  declared 
that  the  promises  made  to  Abraham  should  be  fulfilled  in  him  and  his  pos- 
terity, chap,  xxviii.  13,  14 ;  this  declaration  is  here  renerved,  and  prefaced 
with  an  assertion  of  his  own  all-sufiiciency  to  fulfil  them.  3.  When  God 
had  before  appeared  to  him,  he  set  up  a  pillar  of  stone,  and  poured  oil  upon 
it,  and  called  the  name  of  the  place  Beth-el,  chap,  xxviii.  18,  19;  this  pro- 
cess he  now  renetced,  with  the  addition  of  a  drink-offering,  for  which  on  his 
first  journey  he  probably  had  not  the  materials.  These  renewals  of  promises 
and  acknowledgments  may  teach  us  not  to  be  so  anxious  after  new  dis- 
coveries as  to  overlook  those  which  we  have  already  obtained.  God  may 
appear  to  us  by  the  revival  of  known  truths,  as  well  as  by  the  discovery  of 
what  was  unknown ;  and  we  may  glorify  him  as  much  by  "  doing  our  first 
works,"  as  by  engaging  in  something  which  has  not  been  done  before.  Old 
truths,  ordinances,  and  even  places,  become  new  to  us  when  we  renew  com- 
munion with  God  in  them. 

Ver.  16-20.  We  are  not  told  the  reason  of  Jacob's  leaving  Beth-el.  Pro- 
bably he  was  directed  to  do  so.  However  this  might  be,  his  removal  in  the 
present  instance  was  accompanied  with  a  very  painful  event;  namely,  the 
loss  of  his  beloved  Rachel,  and  that  in  the  prime  of  life.  Journeying  from 
Beth-el,  and  within  a  little  of  Ephrath,  or  Bethlehem,  she  "  travailed,  and 
had  hard  labour."  The  issue  was,  the  infant  was  spared,  but  the  mother 
removed.  Thus  she  that  had  said,  "  Give  me  children,  or  I  die,"  died  in 
child-birth ! 

Several  circumstances  which  attended  this  afflictive  event  are  deserving 
of  notice.  1.  The  words  of  the  midwife;  "Fear  not;  thou  shalt  have  this 
son  also."  When  Rachel  bare  her  first  son,  she  called  him  Joseph,  that  is. 
Adding;  "for,"  said  she,  by  a  prophetic  impulse,  "the  Lord  shall  add  to 
me  another  son."  It  is  probably  in  reference  to  this  that  the  midwife  spake 
as  she  did.  Her  words,  if  reported  to  Jacob,  with  the  recollection  of  the 
above  prophetic  hint,  would  raise  his  hopes  and  render  his  loss  more  affect- 
ing, by  adding  to  it  the  pain  of  disappointment.  They  appear  to  have  no 
influence,  however,  on  Rachel.  She  has  the  sentence  of  death  in  herself, 
and  makes  no  answer ;  but  turning  her  eyes  towards  the  child,  and  calling 
him  Ben-oni,  the  son  of  my  sorroiv,  she  expires!  2.  The  terms  by  which 
her  death  is  described — "it  came  to  pass,  as  her  soul  was  in  departing." 
An  ordinary  historian  would  have  said,  as  she  was  dying,  or  as  she  was  ready 
to  expire;  but  the  Scriptures  delight  in  an  impressive  kind  of  phraseology, 
which  at  the  same  time  shall  both  instruct  the  mind  and  affect  the  heart. 
It  was  by  means  of  such  language,  on  various  occasions,  that  the  doctrine 
of  a  future  state  was  known  and  felt  from  generation  to  generation  among 
the  Israelites,  while  the  heathen  around  them,  with  all  their  learning,  were 
in  the  dark  upon  the  subject.  3.  The  change  of  the  child's  name :  "  She 
called  his  name  Ben-oni ;  but  his  father  called  him  Benjamin."  The  former, 
though  very  appropriate  at  the  time,  yet,  if  continued,  must  tend  perpetually 
to  revive  the  recollection  of  the  death  of  his  mother?  and  of  such  a  monitor 
Jacob  did  not  stand  in  need.  The  name  given  him  signified,  the  son  of  my 
right  hand;  that  is,  a  son  of  the  most  tender  affection  and  delight,  inherit- 
ing the  place  which  his  mother  had  formerly  possessed  in  his  fallier's  heart. 
If  the  love  of  God  be  wanting,  that  of  a  creature  will  often  be  supreme ;  and 


144  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

where  this  is  the  case,  the  loss  of  the  object  is  frequently  known  to  leave  the 
party  utterly  inconsolable :  but  though  the  affection  of  a  good  man  may  be 
very  strong,  and  his  sorrow  proportionably  deep,  yet  he  is  taught  to  consider 
that  every  created  good  is  only  lent  hhii ;  and  that,  his  generation  work 
being  as  yet  unfulfilled,  it  is  not  for  him  to  feed  melancholy,  nor  to  pore 
over  his  loss  with  a  sullenness  that  shall  unfit  him  for  duty,  but  rather  to 
divert  his  affections  from  the  object  that  is  taken,  and  direct  them  to  those 
that  are  left.  4.  The  stone  erected  to  her  memory,  which  appears  to  have 
continued  for  many  generations.  Burying  her  in  the  place  where  she  died, 
*'  Jacob  set  a  pillar  upon  her  grave ;"  and  that  was  the  pillar  of  Rachel's 
grave  when  her  history  was  written.  It  was  near  this  place,  if  not  upon  the 
very  spot,  that  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  afterwards  had  its  inheritance;  and 
therefore  it  is  that  the  people  who  lived  in  the  times  of  Jeremiah  are  called 
"  Rachel's  children,"  Jer.  xxxi.  15.  The  babes  which  Herod  murdered  are 
also  so  called;  and  she  herself,  though  long  since  dead,  is  supposed  to  rise, 
as  it  were,  out  of  her  grave,  and  witness  the  bloody  deed ;  yea  more,  to  stand 
upon  it  and  weep,  refusing  to  be  comforted,  because  they  were  not ! 

Ver.  21.  It  is  proper  that  Jacob,  or,  as  he  is  now  called,  Israel,  after  hav- 
ing interred  his  beloved  Rachel,  should  remove  to  some  little  distance,  at 
least,  from  her  grave.  The  tower  of  Edar,  near  to  which  he  next  spread 
his  tent,  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bethlehem.  In  removing,  however, 
from  the  scene  of  one  sorrow,  he  is  soon  overtaken  by  another.  While  dwell- 
ing in  that  land,  a  criminal  intercourse  took  place  between  Reuben  and 
Bilhah,  his  father's  wife.  It  was  done  in  secret;  hni  Israel  heard  of  it. 
For  this,  his  unnatural  wickedness,  Reuben  was  afterwards  cursed  as  a  tribe, 
the  heavier  on  account  of  his  being  the  first-born  of  the  family,  chap.  xlix.  4. 
By  his  conduct,  however,  in  reference  to  his  brother  Joseph,  (chap,  xxxvii. 
20,  22,)  he  seems  to  have  obtained  at  least  a  mitigation  of  his  punishment; 
for  Moses,  in  blessing  the  tribes,  said  of  him,  "  Let  Reuben  live,  and  not 
die,  and  let  not  his  men  be  few."  Yet  even  here  he  does  but  live :  no  idea 
is  suggested  that  he  should  ever  excel,  and  with  this  the  history  of  his  tribe, 
in  after-ages,  perfectly  accords. 

Ver.  22-2G.  The  history  will  henceforward  principally  respect  "  the  sons 
of  Jacob,"  as  being  the  fathers  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  We  have  here, 
therefore,  at  the  outset,  a  particular  account  of  them,  as  descended  from  the 
different  wives  of  their  father  Jacob. 

Ver.  27-29.  Before  the  sacred  writer,  however,  proceeds  to  narrate  their 
history,  he  furnishes  two  other  subjects,  that  the  thread  of  the  story  may  not 
be  broken.  One  of  them  is  the  conclusion  of  the  life  of  Isaac;  and  the 
other,  which  is  contained  in  the  thirty-sixth  chapter,  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
family  and  temporal  prosperity  of  Esau.  If  the  former  of  these  events  had 
been  introduced  in  the  order  of  time,  it  would  have  fallen  in  the  midst  of 
the  history  of  Joseph ;  for  it  occurred  about  twelve  or  thirteen  years  after 
his  being  sold  into  Egypt.  There  are  not  many  particulars  concerning  it. 
Jacob  seems  to  have  been  sent  for  just  in  time  to  witness  his  father's  decease. 
By  the  years  of  his  life,  namely,  a  hundred  and  fourscore^  it  appears  that 
he  must  have  lived  fifty-seven  years  in  a  state  of  blindness  and  inactivity. 
This  is  one  of  the  mysteries  of  Providence  which  often  strikes  us :  an  aged 
and  afflicted  person,  whose  usefulness  appears  to  us  at  an  end,  shall  have  his 
life  prolonged,  while  a  hundred  active  young  people  around  him  shall  be 
cut  off.  We  know  not  the  reason  of  these  things  in  the  present  state;  but 
we  may  know  it  hereafter. 

Chap,  xxxvi.  With  respect  to  Esau,  he  and  his  brother  had  been  together 
at  their  father's  funeral,  and,  for  aught  that  appears,  were  on  brotherly  terms. 
In  the  course  of  this  chapter  we  find  them  separated ;  not  however  from  any 


JOSEPH  HATED  BY  HIS  BRETHREN.  145 

difference  arising  between  them,  but  on  account  of  their  great  prosperity. 
Their  riches  are  said  to  have  been  "  more  than  that  they  might  dwell  to- 
gether; and  the  land  wherein  they  were  strangers  could  not  bear  them, 
because  of  their  cattle." 

The  account  which  is  here  given  of  him  and  his  posterity  is,  however,  a 
kind  of  leave  taken  of  them  ;  we  shall  hear  no  more  of  Esau,  nor  of  his 
descendants,  but  as  enemies  to  the  people  of  God.  It  is  remarkable  that 
three  times  in  this  chapter  when  Esau  is  spoken  of  we  meet  with  the  phrase 
"  This  is  Edom ;"  and  twice,  "  He  is  Esau,  the  father  of  the  Edomites," 
verses  1,  8,  9,  19,  43.  We  have  seen  that  the  name  of  Edom  was  given  him 
on  account  of  his  sangxdnnry  disposition  (chap.  xxv.  24-34) ;  and  as  this 
was  notoriously  the  character  of  the  Edomites,  especially  towards  Israel,  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  Holy  Spirit  would  have  it  well  remembered  that  the 
bitterest  enemies  of  the  church  of  God  descended  from  this  man.  He  seems 
to  be  marked  as  the  father  of  persecutors,  in  some  such  manner  as  Ahaz  is 
marked  by  his  wickedness  of  another  kind,  "  This  is  that  king  Aliaz,"  2 
Chron.  xxviii.  22. 

Finally,  It  is  remarkable  that  Esau,  though  he  had  despised  and  lost  his 
birthright,  yet  was  prospered  in  his  lifetime,  and  for  several  generations, 
more  than  his  brother.  While  the  latter  was  a  servant  at  Padan-aram,  he 
established  his  dominion  in  Mount  Seir;  and  while  the  descendants  of  the 
one  were  groaning  under  Egyptian  bondage,  those  of  the  other  were  formed 
into  an  independent  kingdom,  and  had  eight  kings  in  succession,  before 
there  reigned  any  king  over  the  children  of  Israel.  In  this  manner  did  God 
order  things,  to  show,  it  may  be,  that  the  most  valuable  blessings  require  the 
greatest  exercise  of  faith  and  patience. 


DISCOURSE  XLV. 

JOSEPH    SOLD    FOR    A    SLAVE. 

Gen.  xxxviJ5r 


We  now  enter  on  the  very  interesting  history  of  Joseph,  a  history  in  which 
I  feel  not  pleasure  only,  but  a  portion  of  dismay ;  and  this  because  I  have 
but  little  hope  of  doing  justice  to  it.  It  is  a  history,  perhaps,  unequalled 
for  displaying  the  various  workings  of  the  human  mind,  both  good  and  bad, 
and  the  singular  providence  of  God  in  making  use  of  them  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  purposes. 

Ver.  1.  Jacob  is  represented  as  "  dwelling  in  the  land  wherein  his  father 
was  a  stranger."  The  character  of  sojourners  was  common  to  the  patriarchs  : 
it  is  that  which  Jacob  afterwards  confessed  before  Pharaoh ;  on  which  the 
apostle  remarks,  that  "  they  who  say  such  things  declare  plainly  that  they 
seek  a  country," 

Ver.  2.  The  "generations  of  Jacob"  seem  here  to  mean  his  family  his- 
tory :  so  the  word  is  used  of  Adam,  chap.  v.  1.  And  Joseph  being,  as  we 
should  say,  the  chief  hero  of  the  tale,  it  begins  with  him.  It  was  the 
design  of  the  sacred  writer,  in  the  course  of  his  narration,  to  tell  of  all  the 
great  events  of  that  family ;  as  of  their  going  down  into  Egypt,  remaining 
there  for  a  number  of  years,  and  at  last  being  brought  out  by  the  mighty 
hand  of  God  ;  at  present  his  object  is  to  lead  us  to  the  origin  of  these  events, 

Vol.  III.— 19  N 


146  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

as  to  the  spring-head  of  a  great  river,  or  to  describe  the  minute  circum- 
stances by  which  they  were  brought  about. 

Joseph  was  distinguished  by  his  early  piety.  His  brethren  were  most,  if 
not  all  of  them,  very  wicked ;  and  l:^e,  being  frequently  with  them  in  the 
field,  saw  and  heard  such  things  as  greatly  affected  him.  We  are  not  told 
what  they  were :  the  oracles  of  God  have  thrown  a  veil  over  them  till  the 
judgment  day.  Suffice  it  for  us  to  know  that  the  mind  of  this  godly  youth 
was  hurt  by  their  conversation  and  behaviour,  and  that  he  could  not  be  easy 
without  disclosing  particulars  to  his  father.  In  this  he  was  to  be  com- 
mended ;  for  though  a  child  should  not  indulge,  nor  be  indulged  by  his 
parents,  in  reporting  every  trivial  tale  to  the  disadvantage  of  his  brothers  or 
sisters;  3fet,  where  wickedness  is  acted,  it  ought  not  to  be  concealed.  The 
parents  should  know  it,  that  they  may  correct  it ;  or  if  that  cannot  be,  that 
they  may  be  enabled  to  counteract  its  effects.  But  that  which  was  commend- 
able in  him  produced  hatred  in  them.  They  would  perceive  that  he  did 
not  join  them  when  in  company,  and  perhaps  the  carriage  of  their  father 
would  lead  them  to  suspect  that  this  his  favourite  son  had  been  their  accuser. 
In  this,  the  outset  of  Joseph's  story,  we  perceive  a  striking  resemblance 
between  him  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whom  "  the  world  hated,  because 
he  testified  of  it  that  the  works  thereof  were  evil." 

Here,  therefore,  before  I  proceed  any  further,  I  would  offer  a  few  words 
on  the  question  whether  Joseph  is  to  be  considered  as  a  type  of  Christ.  I 
am  far  from  thinking  that  every  point  of  analogy  which  may  be  traced  by  a 
lively  imagination  was  designed  as  such  by  the  Holy  Spirit;  yet  neither  do 
I  think  that  we  are  warranted  in  rejecting  the  idea.  We  have  already  seen 
that  God  prepared  the  way  for  the  coming  of  his  Son  by  a  variety  of  things, 
in  which  the  great  principles  of  his  vindertaking  were  prefigured,  and  so 
rendered  familar  to  the  minds  of  men ;  (see  on  chap.  vi.  18 ;  xvii.  4 ;)  and 
he  pursued  the  same  object  by  a  variety  of  persons,  in  whom  the  life  and 
character  of  Christ  were  in  some  degree  previously  manifest.  Thus  Mel- 
chizedek  prefigured  him  as  a  priest,  Moses  as  a  prophet,  and  David  as  a 
king;  and  I  cannot  but  think  that  in  the  history  of  Joseph  there  is  a  portion 
of  designed  analogy  between  them.     But  to  return — 

Ver.  3,  4.  The  hatred  of  Joseph's  brethren  on  account  of  his  reports  was 
not  diminished,  but  heightened,  by  his  father's  partiality  towards  him.  It  is 
much  less  difficult  to  account  for  this  partiality  than  to  justify  it,  or  at  least 
the  method  of  expressing  it.  He  was  the  son  of  the  beloved  Rachel ;  and 
though  Benjamin  was  in  this  respect  equal  to  him,  yet  he  was  but  a  child, 
and  had  as  yet  developed  nothing  as  to  character :  he  therefore  would  be  out 
of  the  question.  Joseph  seems  to  have  been  the  only  one  in  the  family  who 
had  hitherto  discovered  either  the  fear  of  God,  or  the  duty  of  a  child.  From 
these  considerations  his  father  night  be  allowed  to  love  him  with  a  peculiar 
affection ;  but  his  clothing  him  with  "  a  coat  of  many  colours"  was  a  weak- 
ness calculated  only  to  excite  envy  and  ill-will  in  his  brethren.  If  he  had 
studied  to  provoke  these  dispositions,  he  could  scarcely  have  done  it  more 
eflfectually.  The  event  was,  that  the  hatred  of  the  brothers  could  no  longer 
be  concealed,  nor  could  they  speak  in  the  usual  strain  of  civility  to  Joseph. 

Ver.  5-11.  Another  circumstance  occurred  which  tended  still  more  to 
heighten  the  enmity,  namely,  certain  dreams  which  Joseph  had  at  this  time, 
and  which  he  in  the  simplicity  of  his  heart  related  to  his  brethren.  These 
were  Divine  intimations  of  his  future  advancement,  and  were  remarkably 
fulfilled  in  Egypt  about  twenty-three  years  afterwards.  But  at  present  they 
inflamed  a  resentment  already  too  strong ;  and  even  his  father  thought  it 
necessary  to  chide  what  seemed  a  little  presumptuous  in  his  son.  Yet  as 
Jacob  felt  a  check  on  this  occasion,  and  observed  the  saying,  suspecting,  it 


JOSEPH  HATED  BY  HIS  BRETHREN.  147 

should  seem,  that  there  might  be  more  in  it  than  he  was  at  present  aware 
of,  so  I  apprehend  his  sons  had  a  secret  persuasion  that  these  dreams  were 
prophetic ;  but  that  which  softened  the  father  only  hardened  and  inflamed 
the  sons.  Tlieir  hatred  had  originated  in  religion  ;  and  the  thought  of  God 
having  determined  to  honour  him  provoked  them  the  more.  Such  were  the 
operations  of  malice  in  Cain  towards  Abel,  in  Esau  towards  Jacob,  in  Saul 
towards  David,  and  in  the  scribes  and  Pharisees  towards  the  Lord  of  glory. 

Ver.  12-17.  Things  now  approach  fist  to  a  crisis.  It  seems  as  if  the  vale 
of  Hebron,  where  Jacob  now  was,  did  not  contain  sufficient  pasturage  for 
his  flocks:  the  young  men  therefore  take  them  to  Shechem,  a  distance  it  is 
said  of  about  sixty  miles,  and  the  place  where  they  lived  for  the  first  seven 
years  after  their  return  from  Padan-arani.  Jacob,  feeling  anxious  about 
them  and  the  cattle,  (as  well  he  might,  considering  the  part  they  had  acted 
there,)  proposes  to  Joseph  that  he  should  go  and  inquire,  and  bring  him 
word  of  their  welfare;  to  which  the  latter  with  cheerful  obedience  consents. 
Arriving  at  Shechem,  he  finds  they  had  left  it  with  the  flocks;  and  being 
informed  by  a  stranger  that  they  were  gone  to  Dothan,  a  distance  of  about 
eight  miles,  he  proceeds  thither 

Ver.  18-22.  The  sight  of  Joseph,  while  he  was  yet  afar  off,  rekindles  all 
the  foul  passions  of  his  brethren,  and  excites  a  conspiracy  against  him. 
"Behold,"  say  they,  with  malignant  scorn,  "  this  dreamer  cometh !  Come 
now,  let  us  slay  him !"  In  some  cases  sin  begins  upon  a  small  scale,  and 
increases  as  it  advances  ;  but  the  very  first  proposal  in  this  case  is  murder ! 
This  shows  the  height  to  which  their  hatred  had  been  previously  wrought 
up,  and  which,  now  that  opportunity  offered,  raged  like  fire  with  uncontrol- 
lable fury.  But  have  they  no  apprehensions  as  to  consequences?  What  tale 
are  they  to  carry  home  to  their  father?  O,  they  are  at  no  loss  for  this. 
Malice  has  two  intimate  friends  always  at  hand  to  conceal  its  dark  deeds; 
namely,  artifice  and  falsehood.  "  We  will  cast  him  into  some  pit,"  say  they, 
"  and  we  will  say.  Some  evil  beast  hath  devoured  him :  and  we  shall  see 
what  will  become  of  his  dreams  1"  Who  will  say  that  the  workers  of  ini- 
quity have  no  knowledge?  They  have  all  the  cunning  as  well  as  the  cruelty 
of  the  old  serpent.  See  how  they  wrap  it  up.  But  what  do  they  mean  by 
that  sarcastic  saying,  "We  shall  see  what  will  become  of  his  dreams?"  If 
they  had  considered  them  as  feigned  through  ambition,  they  would  not  have 
felt  half  the  resentment.  No,  they  would  have  winked  at  it  as  a  clever  piece 
of  deceit,  and  have  had  a  fellow  feeling  for  him.  I  doubt  not  but  they  con- 
sidered these  dreams  as  the  intimations  of  Heaven,  and  their  language 
included  nothing  less  than  a  challenge  of  the  Almighty!  But  is  it  possible, 
you  may  say,  that  they  could  think  of  thwarting  the  Divine  counsels?  It  is 
possible,  and  certain,  that  men  have  been  so  infatuated  by  sin  as  to  attempt 
to  do  so.  Witness  Pharaoh's  pursuit  of  Israel,  after  all  that  he  had  seen  and 
felt  of  the  Divine  judgments ;  Saul's  attempts  on  David's  life ;  Herod's  mur- 
der of  the  children  of  Bethlehem ;  and  the  conspiracy  of  the  Jews  against 
Christ,  who,  as  many  of  them  knew,  had  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  and 
done  many  miracles.  Yes,  we  will  kill  him,  say  they,  and  then  let  God 
advance  him  to  honour  if  he  can  1  But  they  shall  see  what  will  become  of 
his  dreams.  Yes,  they  shall  see  them  accomplished,  and  that  by  the  very 
means  they  are  concerting  to  overthrow  them.  Thus,  though  "  the  kings 
of  the  earth  take  counsel  together  against  the  Lord,  and  against  his  Anointed, 
saying.  Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder,  and  cast  away  their  cords  from 
us;"  yet  "  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall  laugh  at  them,  the  Lord  shall 
have  them  in  derision."  Joseph's  brethren,  like  the  sheaves  in  the  dream, 
shall  make  obeisance  to  him :  and  "  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall 


148  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

bow,  and  every  tongue  confess  that  he  is  Lord,  unto  the  glory  of  God  the 
Father." 

In  this  bloody  council  there  was  one  dissentient.  God  put  it  into  the 
heart  of  Reuben,  though  in  other  respects  none  of  the  best  of  characters,  to 
oppose  their  measures;  and,  being  the  elder  brother,  his  opinion  must  have 
somewhat  the  greater  weight.  He  appears  to  have  utterly  disapproved  of 
their  intention,  and  wished  earnestly  to  get  the  lad  safe  out  of  their  hands, 
that  he  might  deliver  him  to  his  father;  though  perhaps  through  fear  of  his 
own  life  he  made  only  a  partial  opposition.  His  counsel,  however,  saved 
his  life,  and  he  was  doubtless  raised  up  on  this  occasion  for  the  very  pur- 
pose; for  Joseph's  time  was  not  yet  come. 

Ver.  22-24.  All  that  had  hitherto  taken  place  was  during  the  time  that 
Joseph  was  absent.  Glad  to  have  caught  the  sight  of  them,  he  was  walking 
towards  them  in  the  simplicity  of  his  heart,  while  they  were  taking  counsel 
to  destroy  him !  He  arrives.  Like  beasts  of  prey,  they  immediately  seize 
him,  and  tear  off  the  envied  "  coat  of  many  colours."  It  was  not  enough  to 
injure  him:  they  must  also  insult  him.  Thus  Jesus  was  stripped  and 
degraded  before  he  suffered.  Now  it  was,  as  they  aftervv'ards  confessed  one 
to  another  in  the  Egyptian  prison,  that  they  "saw  the  anguish  of  his  soul, 
when  he  besought  them,  and  they  would  not  hear ;"  now  it  was  that  Reuben 
interceded  on  his  behalf,  saying,  "  Do  not  sin  against  the  child ;  but  they 
would  not  hear,"  chap.  xlii.  21,  22.  No,  they  would  not  hear:  "they  took 
and  cast  him  into  a  pit;"  probably  a  hole  in  the  earth,  both  dark  and  deep; 
for  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  able  to  get  out  again.  It  was  however 
empty,  or  without  water.  Whether  they  knew  of  this  circumstance  or  not, 
God  knew  it ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  known  to  Reuben  when  he  made 
the  proposal  of  his  being  cast  into  it,  seeing  he  hoped  by  this  means  to  save 
his  life. 

Ver.  25-2S.  Having  thus  far  gratified  their  revenge,  they  retire,  and  with 
hardened  unconcern  "  sit  down  to  eat  bread."  It  is  probable  that  they  both 
ate  and  drank,  and  made  merry;  and  it  may  be  partly  in  allusion  to  this  that 
certain  characters,  in  the  times  of  the  prophet  Amos,  are  described  as  drink- 
ing wine  in  bowls,  and  anointing  themselves  with  the  chief  ointments,  but 
were  "  not  grieved  for  the  affliction  of  Joseph." 

At  this  juncture  appeared  a  company  of  merchants,  who  were  going  down 
to  Egypt.  They  are  called  Ishmaelites,  and  also  Midianites ;  they  were  it 
seems  a  mixed  people,  composed  of  both.  On  the  sight  of  them  a  thought 
occurs  to  the  mind  of  Judah,  that  they  had  better  sell  their  brother  for  a 
slave  than  murder  him,  which  he  proposes  to  the  rest.  His  proposal  con- 
tains words  of  mercy,  but  it  was  mercy  mixed  with  covetousness.  I  am  not 
sure  that  Judah  felt  any  tenderness  towards  Joseph,  as  being  his  "  brother, 
and  of  his  flesh,"  any  more  than  his  namesake  did  in  selling  Christ:  it  is 
not  unusual  for  covetous  men  to  urge  their  objects  under  a  show  of  genero- 
sity and  kindness.  But  if  he  did,  it  was  the  profit  that  wrought  upon  the 
company.  The  love  of  money  induced  them  to  sell  their  brother  for  a 
slave ;  and  the  same  principle  carries  on  the  same  cruel  traffic  to  this  day. 
So  they  sold  Joseph  for  "  twenty  pieces  of  silver,"  the  value  of  which  was 
about  twenty  shillings  of  our  money,  ten  shillings  less  than  the  price  of  a 
slave,  Exod.  xxi.  32.  A  goodly  price  at  which  they  valued  him !  But  let 
not  Joseph  complain,  seemg  a  greater  than  he  was  sold  by  Judas  Iscariot 
for  but  a  little  more. 

Ver.  29,  30.  During  this  iniquitous  transaction  Reuben  was  absent.  I 
suppose,  while  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  he  stole  away  from  their  com- 
pany, with  the  intention  of  going  by  himself  to  the  pit  and  delivering  Joseph; 
and  to  the  pit  he  went:  but  taking  a  circuitous  course,  it  may  be  to  prevent 


JOSEPH  HATED  BY  HIS  BRETHREN.  149 

suspicion,  he  was  too  late !  At  this  he  is  greatly  affected,  rends  his  gar- 
ments, returns  to  the  company,  and  exclaims,  "  The  child  is  not :  and  I, 
whither  shall  I  go!"  But  though  he  spoke  like  a  brother,  and  an  elder 
brother,  who  was  obliged  to  give  account  to  his  father,  yet  it  appears  to  have 
made  no  impression  on  them.  Like  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  they  were 
ready  to  answer,  "  See  thou  to  that !" 

Ver.  31-3G.  They  feel  not  for  Joseph,  nor  for  Reuben;  but  have  some 
concern  about  themselves,  and  immediately  fall  upon  a  stratagem  wherewith 
to  deceive  their  father.  A  kid  is  slain,  and  the  coat  of  Joseph  is  dipped  in 
its  blood.  This  is  to  be  carried  home,  and  shown  to  Jacob,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  a  lie,  saying,  they  had  "  found"  it;  and  thus  the  poor  old  man  was 
to  be  persuaded  that  some  evil  beast  had  devoured  him.  Who  will  say  that 
the  workers  of  iniquity  have  no  knowledge?  Yet  one  cannot  but  remark 
the  difficulty  of  supporting  a  feigned  character.  To  have  done  it  completely, 
they  should  first  have  seen  their  father  without  the  coat,  broke  it  to  him  by 
degrees,  affected  to  grieve  with  him  for  the  loss,  and  at  last  have  presented 
the  coat  with  apparent  reluctance,  as  that  which  must  harrow  up  his  feelings. 
Instead  of  this,  the  whole  is  done  in  the  most  unfeeling  and  undutiful  man- 
ner that  it  could  be :  "  This  have  we  found,"  say  they,  "  know  now  whether 
it  be  thy  son's  coat,  or  no!"  They  could  not  deny  themselves  the  brutal 
pleasure  of  thus  insulting  their  father,  even  in  the  hour  of  his  distress,  for 
his  former  partiality.  Wicked  dispositions  often  make  men  act  like  fools : 
hence  it  is  that  murderers  commonly  betray  themselves.  The  disguise  of 
hypocrisy  is  generally  very  thin  :  truth  only  is  throughout  consistent.  This 
disguise,  however,  thin  as  it  was,  seemed  at  present  to  answer  the  end. 
Jacob  knew  the  bloody  garment,  and  said,  "  it  is  my  son's  coat ;  an  evil 
beast  hath  devoured  him :  Joseph  is  without  doubt  rent  in  pieces."  No,  it 
is  no  evil  beast,  but  men  more  cruel  than  tigers,  that  have  done  towards  him 
what  is  done  :  but  thus  Jacob  thought,  and  thus  he  mourned.  We  are  ready 
to  wonder  how  Reuben  could  keep  his  counsel,  yet  with  all  his  grief  he  did 
so:  perhaps  he  might  be  afraid  for  his  own  life.  Whatever  was  the  cause, 
however,  of  Jacob's  being  thus  imposed  upon,  it  was  wisely  ordered  that  he 
should  be  so.  The  present  concealment  of  many  things  contributes  not  a 
little  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  Divine  counsels,  and  to  the  augmentation 
of  future  joy. 

Jacob's  mourning  is  deep  and  durable :  when,  after  a  time,  his  sons  and 
his  sons'  wives  rose  up  to  comfort  him,  he  refused  to  be  comforted ;  resolving 
to  die  a  mourner,  and  to  welcome  the  grave,  which,  though  a  land  of  dark- 
ness, should  be  dear  to  him,  because  his  beloved  Joseph  was  there !  "  Thus 
his  father  wept  for  him." 

From  the  whole,  one  sees  already  with  admiration  the  astonishing  ma- 
chinery of  providence.  The  malignant  brothers  seem  to  have  obtained  their 
ends ;  the  mercenary  merchants,  who  care  not  what  they  deal  in  so  that  they 
get  gain,  have  also  obtained  theirs;  and  Potiphar,  having  got  a  fine  young 
slave,  has  obtained  his.  But,  what  is  of  greater  importance,  God's  designs 
are  by  these  means  all  in  train  for  execution.  This  event  shall  issue  in 
Israel's  going  down  to  Egypt;  that  in  their  deliverance  by  Moses;  that  in 
the  setting  up  of  the  true  religion  in  the  world ;  and  that  in  the  spread  of  it 
among  all  nations  by  the  gospel.  "  The  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  the  Lord, 
and  the  remainder  thereof  will  he  restrain." 


n2 


150  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

DISCOURSE  XLVI. 

THE    CONDUCT    OF    JUDAH. JOSEPn's    PROMOTION    AND    TEMPTATION. 

Gen.  xxsviii.,  xxxix. 

If  we  turn  -aside  with  the  sacred  writer  for  a  few  minutes,  and  notice  the 
conduct  of  Judah  about  this  time,  we  shall  perceive  new  sources  of  sorrow 
for  the  poor  old  patriarch.  This  young  man,  whatever  was  the  cause,  must 
needs  leave  his  father's  family;  and,  wandering  towards  the  south,  he  entered 
into  the  house  of  one  Hirah,  an  inhabitant  of  Adullam,  with  whom  he 
formed  an  intimate  acquaintance.  If  all  the  brethren  had  dispersed  and 
mingled  among  the  heathen,  if  we  consider  only  their  state  of  mind,  there 
had  been  nothing  surprising  in  it.  While  tarrying  here,  he  saw  a  young 
female,  whose  father's  name  was  Shuah ;  and  though  he  had  joined  in 
objecting  to  his  sister's  marriage  with  Shechem,  yet  he  makes  no  scruple  of 
taking  this  Canaanitish  woman  to  be  his  wife;  and  that  without  at  all  con- 
sulting his  father.  The  children  which  he  had  by  this  marriage  were  such 
as  might  be  expected ;  and  the  loose  life  which  he  himself  led,  aided  in  it 
as  he  was  by  his  friend  the  Adullamite,  was  that  of  a  man  who,  weary  of 
the  restraints  of  religion,  had  given  himself  up  to  his  evil  propensities. 

Yet  it  is  observable  how  he  keeps  up  the  customs  of  his  father's  family, 
by  directing  his  younger  son  to  take  the  widow  of  the  eldest,  that  he  might 
raise  up  seed  unto  his  brother  ;  and  though  he  himself  indulged  in  licentious- 
ness, yet  he  can  feel  indignation  and  even  talk  of  burning  his  daughter-in- 
law  for  the  same  thing.  Thus  we  have  often  seen  men  tenacious  of  cere- 
monies while  living  in  the  grossest  immorality,  and  quick  to  censure  the 
faults  of  others  while  blinded  to  their  own. 

The  odious  wickedness  committed  in  this  family  might  not  have  been 
recorded  but  for  the  purpose  of  chronology,  and  to  show  what  human  nature 
is  till  it  is  renewed  by  the  grace  of  God.  How  this  connexion  between 
Judah  and  his  friend  the  Adullamite  came  to  be  broken  we  know  not;  but, 
finding  him  afterwards  in  his  father's  house,  we  hope  it  was  so.  Even 
while  he  continued  on  that  side  of  the  country  he  had  some  remorse  of 
conscience,  particularly  when  he  discovered  the  supposed  harlot  to  be  his 
daughter  Tamar.     "  She  hath  been,"  said  he,  "  more  righteous  than  I " 

But  we  return  to  the  history  of  Joseph — 

Chap,  xxxix.  We  left  him  in  Egypt,  sold  to  Potiphar,  a  captain  of  the 
guard  ;  and  here  we  find  him.  He  was  sent  beforehand  as  a  saviour :  and, 
like  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  was  not  sent  in  state,  but  in  the  form  of  a 
servant. 

Nothing  is  said  of  the  grief  of  mind  which  he  felt  on  the  occasion,  but 
this  must  needs  have  been  great.  A  youth  of  seventeen,  torn  from  his 
father,  enslaved,  to  all  appearance,  for  life,  and  that  among  idolaters,  where 
the  true  God  was  utterly  unknown!  If  the  day  of  Jacob's  departure  from 
his  father's  house  was  "  the  day  of  his  distress,"  chap.  xxxv.  3,  what  must 
Joseph's  have  been  1  The  archers  may  well  be  said  to  have  "  sorely  grieved 
him!" 

Ver.  2,  3.  But  here  is  a  remedy  equal  to  this  or  any  other  disease;  "the 
Lord  was  with  Joseph!"  God  can  make  up  any  loss,  sustain  under  any 
load,  and  render  us  blessed  in  any  place.  To  this  Moses  alludes  in  his 
dying  blessing  upon  the  tribe  of  Joseph :  "  Blessed  of  the  Lord  be  his  land. 


GOD  BLESSES  JOSEPH  IN  HIS  CAPTIVITr.  151 

for  the  precious  things  of  heaven — for  the  precious  things  of  the  earth" — 
and  for  the  "  good-will  of  him  that  dwelt  in  the  bush :  let  the  blessing  come 
upon  the  head  of  Joseph,  and  upon  the  top  of  the  head  of  him  that  was 
separated  from  his  brethren !"  If  we  be  but  in  the  path  of  duty,  we  have 
nothing  to  fear.  Whatever  wrongs  we  suffer,  if  we  be  but  kept  from  doing 
wrong,  we  shall  enjoy  the  peace  of  God  in  our  hearts,  and  all  will  come  to 
>  a  good  issue.  What  a  difference  is  there  between  the  cases  of  Joseph  and 
Jonah!  They  were  both  in  trouble,  both  absent  from  God's  people,  both 
among  the  heathen ;  but  the  sufferings  of  the  one  were  for  righteousness' 
sake,  while  those  of  the  other  were  of  his  own  procuring. 

God  makes  Joseph  ijrosperous.  He  must  then  have  submitted  with  cheer- 
fulness to  his  lot,  studied  to  make  himself  agreeable  and  useful  to  his  master, 
and  applied  attentively  to  business.  Herein  he  was  an  example  of  resigna- 
tion to  the  will  of  God  in  afflictive  circumstances.  Fretful ness  greatly 
aggravates  the  ills  of  life,  while  a  cheerful  submission  to  the  will  of  God 
alleviates  them.  The  prosperity  attending  Joseph  was  manifest;  his  master 
sees  it,  and  sees  that  "  Jehovah  is  with  him,"  and  that  it  is  his  hand  which 
blesses  all  he  does.  This  is  a  circumstance  not  a  little  to  Joseph's  honour ; 
for  it  implies  that  he  made  no  secret  of  his  religion.  He  must  have  refused 
to  join  in  Egyptian  idolatry,  and  have  avowed  himself  a  worshipper  of 
Jehovah,  the  only  true  God.  In  many  cases,  for  a  poor  unprotected  slave 
to  have  done  this,  would  have  cost  him  his  life;  but  the  Lord  was  with 
Joseph,  and  had  all  hearts  in  his  hand.  Potiphar,  observing  that  the  religion 
of  the  young  man  turned  to  his  account,  like  many  irreligious  masters  in  the 
present  day,  makes  no  objection  to  it.  This  holds  up  a  most  encouraging 
example  to  religious  servants  to  recommend  the  gospel  by  their  fidelity  and 
diligence ;  and  to  all  Christians  to  be  faithful  to  God,  even  when  there  are 
no  religious  friends  about  them  to  watch  over  them.  This  is  walking  with 
God. 

Ver.  4.  The  effect  of  this  is,  Joseph  comes  into  favour,  and  is  promoted 
over  all  the  other  servants.  From  a  slave  he  is  made  a  steward ;  a  steward 
not  only  of  the  household,  but  over  all  his  master's  affairs,  and  this  though 
but  a  youth. 

Ver.  5.  And  now,  as  Potiphar  favours  the  Lord's  servant,  the  Lord  will 
not  be  behindhand  with  him,  but  will  favour  him.  From  this  time  forward 
every  thing  is  blessed  and  prospered  "  for  Joseph's  sake."  We  see  here  that 
it  is  good  to  be  connected  with  them  that  fear  God,  but  much  better  to  cast 
in  our  lot  with  them.  In  that  case  we  shall  not  only  gain  by  them  for  this 
life,  but,  as  Moses  told  Hobab,  whatever  good  thing  the  Lord  doth  to  them 
shall  be  done  to  us.  Here  also  we  see  the  promise  to  Abraham  fulfilled  in 
his  posterity:  he  not  only  blesses  them,  but  "  makes  them  a  blessing."  Such 
was  Jacob  to  Laban ;  such  is  Joseph  to  Potiphar,  and  afterward-s  to  all 
Egypt;  and  such  has  Israel  been  to  the  world,  who  from  them  derive  a 
Saviour,  and  all  that  they  possess  of  true  religion.  Even  the  casting  away 
of  them  has  proved  the  reconciling  of  the  world,  and  how  much  more  shall 
the  receiving  of  them  at  a  future  day  be  as  life  from  the  dead!  It  might 
also  be  the  design  of  God,  by  this  as  well  as  other  of  his  proceedings,  to  set 
forth  under  a  figure  the  method  in  which  he  would  bless  the  world ;  namely, 
"  for  the  sake  of  another  that  was  dear  unto  him."  Potiphar  was  not  blessed 
for  his  own  sake,  or  on  account  of  any  of  his  good  deeds ;  but  for  the  sake 
of  Joseph.  Even  his  receiving  Joseph  into  favour  was  not  that  on  account 
of  icliich  he  was  blessed,  though  that  was  necessary  to  it;  it  was  Joseph  to 
whom  the  eye  of  the  Lord  was  directed :  he  looked  on  him,  and  blessed 
Potiphar.  So  that  for  the  sake  of  which  we  are  accepted  and  saved  is  not 
any  work  of  righteousness  which  we  have  done,  nor  even  our  believing  in 


152  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Christ,  though  this  is  necessary  to  it;  but  the  name  and  righteousness  ol 
Jesus.  Thus,  in  both  cases,  grace  is  displayed,  and  boasting  excluded. 
Finally,  It  was  a  proverb  in  Israel,  that  "  when  it  goeth  well  with  the  righte- 
ous, the  city  rejoiceth."  This  was  singularly  exemplified  in  the  prosperity 
of  Joseph,  and  still  more  in  the  exaltation  of  Christ.  From  the  day  that  he  , 
was  made  head  over  all  principalities  and  powers,  from  that  time  forward  the 
Lord  hath  blessed  the  world  for  his  sake. 

Ver.  G.  So  great  was  the  confidence  which  Joseph's  fidelity  inspired  in 
his  master,  that  all  his  concerns  were  left  in  his  hands ;  and  for  his  own 
part,  he  did  nothing  but  enjoy  the  prosperity  which  was  thus  bestowed  upon 
him.  This  circumstance  might  be  wisely  ordered  to  prepare  this  lovely 
youth  for  his  future  station.  He  was  now  brought  into  business,  and  inured 
to  management:  had  he  been  raised  to  his  last  post  first,  he  might  have  been 
less  qualified  to  fill  it.     Sudden  advancements  are  seldom  safe. 

Under  all  this  prosperity,  what  may  we  suppose  to  be  the  state  of  Joseph's 
mind?  No  doubt  his  thoughts  would  sometimes  glance  to  the  vale  of 
Hebron,  and  he  would  ask  himself,  How  does  my  father  bear  the  rending 
stroke;  and  what  is  become  of  my  poor  wicked  brethren?  But  as  to  him- 
self, so  far  as  it  was  possible  to  be  happy  in  a  strange  land,  happy  he  must 
have  been.  >  God  was  with  him,  every  thing  he  did  prospered,  and  every 
thing  he  met  with  was  extremely  flattering.  Indeed  there  are  few  characters 
who,  at  his  period  of  life  especially,  could  bear  such  a  tide  of  success.  We 
see  in  him  nothing  assuming  or  overbearing  towards  his  fellow  servants,  nor 
forgetful  of  his  God.  If,  however,  any  thing  of  this  kind  should  have  been 
at  work  in  his  heart,  he  will  soon  meet  with  that  which  shall  recall  him  to  a 
right  mind.  A  sharp  temptation  approaches,  in  which  his  virtue  and  patience 
shall  be  put  to  the  proof  After  a  day  of  prosperity,  let  us  expect  a  day  of 
adversity;  for  "God  hath  set  the  one  over  against  the  other,"  even  in  the  lot 
of  his  most  favoured  servants. 

Ver.  7-9.  Joseph's  goodly  and  well-Hivoured  countenance  excites  the  law- 
less desires  of  a  faithless  woman,  who,  in  violation  of  her  marriage  vows, 
and  of  all  the  modesty  and  decency  which  should  distinguish  her  sex,  tries 
to  seduce  him.  In  such  a  situation,  how  many  young  men  would  have  been 
carried  away !  Nay,  how  many  are  so  where  the  temptation  is  far  less 
powerful !  His  conduct  on  this  occasion  is  a  proof  of  great  grace,  and 
exhibits  to  all  posterity  an  example  of  what  may  be  done  by  closely  walking 
with  God. 

The  first  attack  upon  him  is  repelled  with  a  modest  but  severe  remon- 
strance, exactly  suited  to  his  situation.  Let  us  examine  it  minutely.  There 
are  four  things  in  it  worthy  of  admiration.  L  He  is  silent  with  respect  to 
the  wickedness  of  the  tempter.  He  might  have  reproached  her  for  the  in- 
delicacy, the  infidelity,  and  the  baseness  of  her  proposal ;  but  he  confines 
himself  to  what  respected  liis  own  obligation,  and  what  would  be  his  oivn  sin. 
In  the  hour  of  temptation  it  is  enough  for  us  to  look  to  ourselves.  It  is 
remarkable  that  all  our  Lord's  answers  to  the  tempter,  as  recorded  in  the 
fourth  chapter  of  Matthew,  are  in  this  way.  He  could  have  accused  him 
of  insolence  and  outrage ;  but  he  barely  refuses  to  follow  his  counsels, 
because  thus  and  thus  it  was  lorittcn.  2.  Joseph  considers  his  obligation 
as  rising  in  proportion  to  his  station:  "There  is  none  greater  in  this  house 
than  I."  Some  young  men  would  have  drawn  a  contrary  conclusion  from 
the  same  premises,  and  on  this  ground  have  thought  themselves  entitled  to 
take  the  greater  liberties;  but  this  is  the  true  use  to  be  made  of  power,  and 
riches,  and  every  kind  of  trust.  3.  He  considers  it  as  heightened  by  the 
generosity  and  kindness  of  his  master,  who  withheld  nothing  else  from  him. 
Eve  reasoned  at  first  on  this  principle,  chap.  iii.  2;  and  had  she  kept  to  it 


GOD  BLESSES  JOSEPH  IN  HIS  CAPTIVITY.  153 

she  had  been  safe.  When  we  are  tempted  to  covet  what  God  has  forbidden, 
It  were  well  to  think  of  the  many  things  which  he  has  not  forbidden,  but 
freely  given  us.  4.  He  rises  from  created  to  uncreated  authority:  It  would 
not  only  be  treachery  to  my  master,  but  "  wickedness,"  "  great  wickedness, 
and  sin  against  God."  In  the  hour  of  temptation  it  is  of  infinite  importance 
what  view  we  take  of  the  evil  to  which  we  are  tempted.  If  we  suffer  our 
thoughts  to  dwell  on  its  agrceableness,  as  Eve  did  concerning  the  forbidden 
fruit,  its  sinfulness  will  insensibly  diminish  in  our  sight,  a  number  of  excuses 
will  present  themselves,  and  we  shall  inevitably  be  carried  away  by  it;  but 
if  we  keep  our  eye  steadfastly  on  the  holy  will  of  God,  and  the  strong  obli- 
gations we  are  under  to  him,  that  which  would  otherwise  appear  a  little  thing 
will  be  accounted  what  it  is,  a  great  wickedness,  and  we  shall  revolt  at  the 
idea  of  sinning  against  him.  This  is  the  armour  of  God,  wherewith  we 
shall  stand  in  the  evil  day. 

Ver.  10.  This  remonstrance,  however,  strong  as  it  was,  has  no  lasting 
effect  upon  the  woman;  for  sin,  and  this  sin  in  particular,  is  outrageous  iu 
its  operations.  Joseph  therefore  finds  it  necessary  to  shun  her  company, 
carefully  avoiding,  as  much  as  possible,  to  be  with  her  any  where  alone. 
This  showed,  First,  gixat  sincerity;  for  if  we  throw  ourselves  in  the  way  of 
temptation,  or  be  not  careful  to  shun  it  when  occasions  offer,  in  vain  do  we 
talk  against  sin.  Secondly,  great  wisdom ;  for  though  he  had  been  kept 
hitherto,  he  was  not  sure  that  he  should  be  so  in  future.  Thirdly,  great 
resolution  and  perseverance ;  for  it  is  not  every  one  who  withstands  a  tempta- 
tion in  the  first  instance  that  holds  out  to  the  end.  Eve  repelled  the  tempter 
on  his  first  onset,  but  was  carried  away  by  the  second.  Job  endured  a  series 
of  trials,  and  sinned  not;  yet  afterwards  spake  things  which  he  ought  not. 
Finally,  great  grace.  "Can  a  man  go  on  hot  coals,  and  his  feet  not  be 
burned  ?"  No ;  if  we  voluntarily  go  into  temptation,  we  shall  assuredly  be 
hurt,  if  not  ruined  by  it;  but  when  God  by  his  providence  leads  us  into  it, 
for  the  trial  of  our  graces,  we  may  hope  to  be  kept  in  it,  and  brought  victo- 
rious out  of  it. 

Ver.  11-21).  If  we  were  told  of  a  young  man  in  Joseph's  situation,  we 
should  probably  advise  his  leaving  the  family;  but,  circumstanced  as  he  was, 
that  might  be  impossible.  He  was  a  bought  servant,  however  exalted,  and 
therefore  was  not  at  liberty  to  leave.  Nor  could  he  speak  on  the  subject  to 
his  master  without  ruining  his  peace  for  ever  He  therefore  kept  it  to  him- 
self, and  went  on  as  well  as  he  could,  watching  and  praying,  no  doubt,  lest 
he  should  enter  into  temptation.  One  day,  being  under  the  necessity  of 
going  into  the  house  about  business,  his  mistress  renewed  her  solicitations; 
on  which  he  fled  from  her  presence  as  before ;  but,  as  he  was  escaping,  she 
caught  a  piece  of  his  garment,  and  kept  it  by  her  Wantonness  being  dis- 
appointed, and  pride  wounded,  the  whole  is  now  turned  into  hatred  and 
revenge.  She  will  work  his  overthrow,  that  she  will!  Mark  how  the  cun- 
ning of  the  old  serpent  operates.  The  servants  are  called  in  to  witness  how 
she  had  been  mocked,  or,  as  we  should  say,  insulted  by  this  Hebrew.  If 
they  knew  nothing  from  other  quarters,  it  was  very  natural  they  should  think 
it  was  so;  and  thus  they  were  every  thing  but  eye-witnesses  of  Joseph's  guilt. 
Presumptive  evidence  is  certainly  very  strong  against  him.  Yet,  with  all  this 
cunning,  like  other  hypocrites,  she  does  not  do  it  completely  She  should 
have  pretended  how  much  she  felt  for  the  insult  offered  to  her  husband,  as 
well  as  to  herself;  but  the  truth  will  come  out,  after  all  the  pains  taken  to 
conceal  it.  How  disrespectfully  she  speaks  of  him  to  the  servants,  half 
attributing  the  pretended  insult  to  him!  "See,"  saith  she,  "he  hath  brought 
an  Hebrew  unto  us,  to  mock  us  1"  Such  language  not  only  betrayed  the 
alienation  of  her  heart  from  her  husband,  but  tended  to  set  the  servants 

Vol.  HI.— 20 


154  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

against  him.  Nothing  but  truth  is  consistent  throughout.  If  these  servants 
possessed  only  a  moderate  share  of  good  sense,  they  must  have  seen 
through  this  thin  disguise,  whether  they  chose  to  speak  their  minds  or  not. 

The  scheme  however  took.  Potiphar  tliought  the  story  so  plausible  that 
there  could  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  true.  His  wrath  therefore  was  kindled, 
and  without  farther  ceremony  he  took  Joseph.,  and  committed  him  to  prison. 
Being  fired  with  anger,  he  had  no  ear  to  hear  what  could  be  said  on  the 
other  side;  and  perhaps  Joseph  might  think  that  nothing  he  could  say  would 
be  regarded;  or  if  it  were,  it  must  ruin  his  master's  peace  of  mind;  he  would 
therefore  go  in  silence  to  prison,  trusting  in  God  to  vindicate  his  injured 
character. 

But  what  an  affecting  reverse  of  condition  !  Poor  young  man!  a  stranger 
in  a  strange  land,  without  a  friend  to  speak  for  him  or  to  care  about  him. 
Behold  him  confined  in  the  dungeon,  and  think  what  must  have  been  his 
reflections. — Oh,  if  my  fiither  knew  of  this,  what  would  he  feel  on  my 
account!  How  mysterious  are  the  ways  of  Providence,  that,  by  an  inflexible 
adherence  to  righteousness,  I  should  be  brought  into  this  horrid  place! — He 
was  not  only  confined  in  a  dungeon,  but,  as  we  are  told  in  the  lOoth  Psalm, 
"  his  feet  were  hurt  with  fetters,  being  laid  in  iron."  The  last  phrase  is  very 
emphatic.  Calvin  renders  it,  "  The  iron  entered  into  his  soul."*  Not  only 
were  his  feet  galled,  but  his  heart  was  grieved;  and  probably  he  expected 
nothing  but  death. 

Ver.  21-23.  But  as  under  his  former  affliction,  so  under  this,  "  the  Lord 
was  with  Joseph."  What  was  once  said  to  Abraham  might  now  be  said  to 
him  ;  "  I  am  God  all-sufficient :  walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect."  All 
will  be  right  at  last.  Where  providence  leads  us  into  difficulties  and  hard- 
ships, grace  can  sustain  us  under  them ;  and  if  we  suffer  for  righteousness' 
sake,  as  Joseph  did,  we  may  be  assured  it  will  be  so.  Nothing  shall  event- 
ually harm  us,  if  we  be  followers  of  that  which  is  good.  In  a  little  time, 
Joseph  obtains  favour  in  the  eyes  of  the  keeper  of  the  prison,  as  he  had  done 
before  in  those  of  Potiphar.  And  now  he  has  an  opportunity  of  showing 
the  power  of  true  religion  in  the  prison,  by  his  fidelity,  bis  tenderness,  and 
his  worship  of  the  only  true  God.  It  might  be  wisely  ordered,  too,  that  he 
should  go  into  his  high  station  by  way  of  a  prison;  he  might  not  otherwise 
have  been  so  well  qualified  to  feel  for  his  brethren,  and  for  other  prisoners. 
Nor  would  he  have  been  in  the  way  of  his  future  advancement;  if  he  had 
not  been  there.  "  Before  honour  is  humility."  The  Lord  of  glory  himself 
obtained  not  the  crown  but  by  first  enduring  the  cross. 


DISCOURSE  XLVIL 

JOSEPH    IN   PRISON. 

Gen.  xl. 


We  left  Joseph  in  prison ;  but,  by  the  good  hand  of  God  upon  him,  its 
hardships  are  greatly  mitigated.  At  first  he  is  thrown  into  a  dungeon,  and 
laid  in  irons ;  but  now  he  is  made  a  kind  of  steward,  or  overseer  of  the  other 
prisoners.  Yet  it  is  a  prison  still,  and  he  desires  to  be  free;  but  he  must 
wait  awhile.  God  will  deliver  him  in  his  own  time  and  way.  This  chapter 
contains  the  story  of  the  means  by  which  his  deliverance  was  effected. 


JOSEPH  IN  PRISON.  155 

Ver.  1,  2.  Two  of  Pharaoh's  officers  offend  their  lord,  for  which  Ihey  are 
committed  to  prison — the  chief  butler  and  the  chief  baker.  Whether  they 
suffered  jnstly  for  having  attempted  to  poison  the  king,  which  was  often 
done  in  heathen  countries,  or  merely  on  account  of  unfounded  suspicion; 
whether,  if  there  were  any  thing  actually  attempted,  it  was  their  doing,  or 
that  some  of  the  under  butlers  and  bakers,  for  whose  conduct  they  might  be 
responsible;  we  know  not:  but  imprisoned  they  were. 

Ver.  3,  4.  The  prison  into  which  they  were  sent  is  called  the  house  of 
"  the  captain  of  the  guard."  This  tide  is  more  than  once  before  given  to 
Potiphar,  chap,  xxxvii.  36:  xxxix.  1.  It  is  probable  that  he  had  the  chief 
oversight  of  the  prison,  and  that  the  keeper  was  a  person  employed  under 
him.  If  so,  it  seems  likely  that  Potiphar  was  reconciled  to  Joseph.  There 
is  little  reason  to  think  that  his  wife  would  long  conceal  her  character;  and 
that  being  known  would  operate  in  Joseph's  favour;  and  though  he  might 
not  wish  to  release  him  out  of  prison,  for  his  own  credit,  yet  he  might  be 
induced  to  connive  at  the  keeper's  kindness  to  him.  It  is  remarkable  that 
the  prison  to  which  these  persons  were  sent  should  be  the  same  as  that 
wherein  Joseph  was  confined.  In  this  we  see  the  hand  of  God  ordering  all 
events.  They  might  have  been  sent  to  another  place  of  confinement,  but 
then  the  chain  had  been  broken.  On  how  many  little  incidents,  of  which 
the  parties  at  the  time  think  nothing,  do  some  of  the  greatest  events  depend! 
If  they  had  gone  to  another  prison,  Joseph  might  have  died  where  he  was, 
and  no  provision  have  been  made  for  the  seven  years  of  famine;  and  Jacob 
and  his  family,  with  millions  of  others,  have  perished  for  want;  and  so  all 
the  promises  of  their  becoming  a  great  nation,  and  of  the  Messiah  springing 
from  among  them,  and  all  nations  being  blessed  in  him,  would  have  been 
frustrated.  But  he  that  appoints  the  end  appoints  all  the  means  that  shall 
lead  to  it;  and  not  one  of  them,  however  small  or  incidental,  shall  be  dis- 
pensed with.  In  this  prison  Joseph  is  said  to  have  served  the  chief  butler 
and  the  chief  baker ;  that  is,  he  carried  them  their  daily  provisions,  and  so 
was  in  the  habit  of  seeing  them  every  day,  and  conversing  with  them. 

Ver.  5-8.  One  morning,  when  he  went  to  carry  them  their  usual  food,  he 
finds  them  more  than  ordinarily  dejected,  and  kindly  inquires  into  the  reason 
of  it.  It  appears  hence  that  Joseph  was  not  a  hard-hearted  overseer.  Un- 
like many  petty  officers,  whose  overbearing  conduct  towards  their  inferiors 
is  most  intolerable,  he  sympathizes  with  the  sorrowful,  and  makes  free  with 
them.  The  fear  of  God  produces  tenderness  of  heart,  and  compassion 
towards  men,  especially  to  the  poor  and  the  afflicted.  On  inquiry,  he  found 
that  they  had  each  had  a  dream,  which,  by  the  circumstances  attending  it, 
they  considered  as  extraordinary.  Both  of  them  dreamed,  and  both  in  one 
night;  both  their  dreams  related  to  their  past  employments,  and  seemed 
therefore  to  be  ominous  of  their  future  destiny ;  yet  they  knew  not  what  to 
make  of  them,  and  had  no  interpreter  at  hand  who  could  instruct  them.  Such 
was  the  cause  of  their  dejection  Though  the  greater  part  of  dreams  be 
vanity,  yet  in  all  ages  and  places  God  has  sometimes  impressed  the  mind  of 
man  by  these  means :  and  especially,  it  would  seem,  in  countries  which  have 
been  destitute  of  Divine  revelation.  We  have  many  instances  of  this  in  the 
book  of  Daniel,  and  by  which,  as  in  this  case,  the  servants  of  God  came  into 
request,  and  the  glory  of  God  eclipsed  the  powers  of  idolatry. 

But  what  kind  of  interpreters  did  these  men  wish  for?  Such,  no  doubt,  as 
Pharaoh,  on  his  having  dreamed,  called  for;  namely,  the  magicians  and  the 
wise  men  of  Egypt ;  and  because  they  had  no  hopes  of  obtaining  them  in 
their  present  situation,  therefore  they  were  sad.  Here  lies  the  force  of  Jo- 
seph's question;  "Do  not  interpretations  belong  to  God?"  which  was  a 


156  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

reproof  to  them  for  looking  to  their  magicians  instead  of  to  him:  hence  also 
he  oftered  himself,  as  the  servant  of  God,  to  be  their  interpreter. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  what  Joseph's  interpretation  was  to  the  dreams 
of  the  butler  and  the  baker,  that  the  oracles  of  God  are  to  the  notices  and 
impressions  on  the  human  mind  by  the  light  of  nature  and  conscience.  Man 
in  every  age  and  country  has  felt  in  himself  a  consciousness  of  his  being 
what  he  ought  not  to  be,  a  fearfulness  of  having  in  another  state  to  give  an 
account,  with  many  other  things  of  the  kind;  but  all  is  uncertainty.  He  only 
knows  enough,  if  he  regard  it  not,  to  render  him  inexcusable ;  and  if  he 
regard  it,  to  make  him  miserable.  It  is  only  in  the  Scriptures  that  the  mind 
of  God  is  revealed 

Ver.  9-15.  The  butler  first  tells  his  dream,  which  Joseph  interprets  of  his 
deliverance  and  restoration  to  office;  and  having  told  him  this  good  news, 
he  very  naturally  throws  in  a  request  on  behalf  of  himself  There  is  no 
proof  or  symptom  of  impatience  in  this ;  but  patience  itself  may  consist  with 
the  use  of  all  lawful  means  to  obtain  deliverance.  The  terms  in  which  this 
request  is  made  are  modest,  and  exceedingly  impressive:  "Think  on  me 
when  it  shall  be  well  with  thee,  and  show  kindness,  I  pray  thee,  unto  me, 
and  make  mention  of  me  unto  Pharaoh,  and  bring  me  out  of  this  house." 
He  might  have  asked  for  a  place  under  the  chief  butler,  or  some  other  post 
of  honour  or  profit:  but  he  requests  only  to  be  delivered  from  "  this  house." 
He  might  have  reminded  the  butler  how  much  he  owed  to  his  sympathetic 
and  kind  treatment ;  but  he  left  these  things  to  speak  for  themselves,  using 
no  other  language  than  that  of  humble  entreaty;  "I  pray  thee  show  kindness 
unto  me !"  In  pleading  the  exalted  situation  in  which  the  chief  butler  was 
about  to  be  reinstated,  he  gently  intimates  the  obligations  which  people  in 
prosperous  circumstances  are  under  to  think  of  the  poor  and  the  afflicted  ; 
and  Christians  may  still  further  improve  the  principle,  not  to  be  unmindful 
of  such  cases  in  their  approaches  to  the  King  of  kings.  This  plea  may  also 
direct  us  to  make  use  of  His  name  and  interest  who  is  exalted  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  It  was  on  this  principle  that  the  dying  thief 
presented  his  petition ;  "  Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy 
kingdom."  A  petition  which  the  Lord  of  glory  did  neither  refuse  nor  for- 
get ;  and  still  he  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us. 

Joseph,  in  order  to  make  a  deeper  impression  upon  the  butler's  mind,  tells 
him  a  few  of  the  outlines  of  his  history:  "  I  was  stolen,"  says  he,  "  from  the 
land  of  the  Hebrews."  But  was  this  a  just  account?  Did  not  the  Ishmael- 
ites  buy  him?  They  did;  but  it  was  of  them  who  had  no  right  to  sell  him, 
and  therefore  it  was  in  reality  stealing  him.  Such,  you  know,  would  be  the 
purchase  of  a  child  by  a  kidnapper  of  an  unprincipled  nurse;  and  such  is 
the  purchase  of  slaves  to  this  day  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  The  account  was 
not  only  just,  hni  generous.  In  making  use  of  the  term  stolen,  without  any 
mention  of  particulars,  he  seems  to  have  intended  to  throw  a  veil  over  the 
cruelty  of  his  brethren,  whom  he  did  not  wish  to  reproach  to  a  stranger; 
and  the  same  generous  spirit  is  discovered  in  what  he  says  of  his  treatment 
in  Egypt.  We  have  seen  in  a  former  discourse  how  this  great  and  good 
man  refused  to  reproach  his  tempter,  confining  himself  to  what  was  his  own 
duty;  and  now,  when  he  had  suffered  so  much  through  her  base  and  false 
treatment,  and  when  it  might  have  been  thought  necessary  to  expose  her  in 
order  to  justify  himself,  he  contents  himself  with  asserting  his  own  inno- 
cence: "And  here  also  have  I  done  nothing  that  they  should  put  me  into 
the  dungeon."  What  an  example  is  here  afforded  us  of  temperateness  and 
forbearance,  under  the  foulest  and  most  injurious  treatment!  Such  was  Jo- 
seph's request,  and  such  his  pleas  to  enforce  it.     If  there  had  been  any 


JOSEPH  IN  PRISON.  157 

gratitude,  any  bowels  of  mercy,  or  any  justice  in  the  butler's  heart,  surely  he 
must  have  thouglit  of  these  things. 

Ver.  16-19.  But,  before  telling  us  the  issue  of  the  above,  the  sacred 
writer  informs  us  of  the  request  of  the  baker.  Observing  the  success  of  his 
companion,  he  is  encouraged  to  tell  his  dream  also ;  but  here  is  a  sad  re- 
verse. In  three  days  his  life  will  be  taken  from  him!  Whether  he  would 
suffer  justly  or  unjustly  we  know  not;  but  as  his  death  was  so  near,  it  was 
an  advantage  for  him  to  know  it;  and  if  he  had  been  properly  affected,  he 
had  now  an  opportunity  of  inquiring  at  the  hand  of  a  servant  of  God  con- 
cerning his  eternal  salvation. 

Ver.  20-23.  The  third  day  after  these  things,  being  Pharaoh's  birth-day, 
both  these  prisoners  were  brought  forth.  Whether  they  were  put  to  a  formal 
trial,  or  whether  their  fate  was  determined  by  the  mere  will  of  the  king,  we 
are  not  informed ;  but  the  chief  butler  was  reinstated  in  his  office,  and  the 
chief  baker  hanged,  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord  by  his  servant  Joseph. 

We  should  now  have  expected  to  read  of  the  chief  butler's  intercession  to 
the  king  in  behalf  of  an  amiable  and  injured  young  Hebrew,  whom  he  had 
met  with  in  prison.  But  instead  of  this  we  are  told,  "Yet  did  not  the  chief 
butler  remember  Joseph,  but  forgat  him !"  Alas,  what  a  selfish  creature  is 
man  !  How  strangely  does  prosperity  intoxicate  and  drown  the  mind  !  How 
common  is  it  for  people  in  high  life  to  forget  the  poor,  even  those  to  whom 
they  have  been  under  the  greatest  obligations!  Well,  be  it  so;  Joseph's  God 
did  not  forget  him ;  and  we,  amidst  all  the  neglects  of  creatures,  may  take 
comfort  in  this,  Jesus  does  not  neglect  us.  Though  exalted  far  above  all 
principalities  and  powers,  he  is  not  elated  with  his  glory,  so  as  to  forget  his 
poor  suffering  people  upon  earth.  Only  let  us  be  concerned  not  to  forget 
him.  He  who  needs  not  our  esteem,  as  we  do  his,  hath  yet  in  love  conde- 
scended to  ask  us  to  do  thus  and  thus  in  remembrajice  of  him  ! 


DISCOURSE  XLVIII. 

Joseph's  advancement. 

Gen.  xli. 


Ver.  1-14.  "  Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick."     It  is  not  the  in- 

tenseness  of  our  trials,  but  the  duration  of  them,  that  is  the  greatest  test  of 
patience.  "Two  full  years"  longer  must  Joseph  remain  in  prison.  How 
long  he  was  at  the  house  of  Potiphar,  before  he  was  sent  to  this  dismal 
place,  I  do  not  recollect  that  we  are  informed ;  but  we  learn  that  it  was 
thirteen  years  in  the  whole;  for  when  he  came  out  of  Canaan  he  was  but 
seventeen,  and  he  was  thirty  when  he  stood  before  Pharaoh.  God  seldom 
makes  haste  to  accomplish  his  designs.  His  movements,  like  those  of  a 
comet,  fetch  a  large  compass,  but  all  comes  right  at  last.  The  time  is  now 
come  for  Joseph's  advancement,  and  God  makes  way  for  it  by  causing  Pha- 
raoh himself  to  dream.  Abraham  made  a  point  of  not  laying  himself  under 
obligation  to  the  king  of  Sodom  ;  and  though  Joseph  in  the  grief  of  his  soul 
would  gladly  have  been  obliged  to  both  Pharaoh  and  the  butler  for  his  de- 
liverance, yet  God  will  so  order  it  that  he  shall  be  obliged  to  neither  of  them. 
Pharaoh  shall  send  for  him ;  but  it  shall  be  for  ?iis  own  sake.  Though  a 
poor  friendless  young  man  himself,  yet  he  is  a  servant  of  the  great  King,  and 
must  maintain  the  honour  of  his  Lord.     It  might  be  for  this  that  God  suf- 

O 


158  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

fered  the  butler  to  forget  him,  that  he  might  not  take  from  a  thread  to  a 
shoe-latchet  what  was  theirs,  and  that  the  kmg  of  Egypt  might  not  have  to 
say,  I  have  made  Israel  rich.  Abraham  and  his  posterity  were  made  to  im- 
part blessedness  to  mankind  rather  than  to  receive  it  from  them.  If  it  be 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,  theirs  it  is  to  be  thus  blessed  and  thus 
honoured.  Oh  the  depth  of  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God,  not  only  in 
giving,  but  in  withholding  his  gifts  till  the  time  when  they  shall  best  sub- 
serve the  ends  for  which  they  are  conferred! 

And  now  that  the  set  time  to  favour  Joseph  is  come,  events  rise  in  quick 
succession.  Pharaoh's  mind  is  impressed  with  an  extraordinary  dream — the 
same  is  repeated  in  another  form — each  appears  to  portend  something  of  im- 
portance— his  spirit  is  troubled — he  sends  for  his  magicians  and  wise  men, 
but  their  wisdom  fails  them — all  are  nonplused — what  is  to  be  done? — Just 
now  it  occurs  to  the  butler  that  this  had  once  been  his  own  case — Oh,  and 
I  have  forgotten  my  kind  and  worthy  friend!  Stupid  creature!  That  is  the 
man  for  the  king. — Obtaining  an  audience,  he  confesses  the  whole  truth, 
and  ingenuously  acknowledges  his  faults. — Joseph  is  now  sent  for  in  haste. 
He  shaves  himself,  changes  his  raiment,  and  obeys  the  summons.  Thus,  in 
a  few  hours,  he  is  delivered  from  the  dungeon,  and  introduced  to  the  court 
of  what  was  then  perhaps  the  first  nation  upon  earth.  Were  we  unacquainted 
with  the  event,  with  what  anxious  solicitude  should  we  follow  hira  !  and  even 
as  it  is,  we  cannot  wholly  divest  ourselves  of  these  feelings. 

Ver.  15-24.  Being  introduced  to  the  king,  he  is  told  for  what  cause  he 
is  sent  for.  "  I  have,"  said  Pharaoh,  "  dreamed  a  dream,  and  there  is  none 
that  can  interpret  it :  and  I  have  heard  say  of  thee  that  thou  canst  understand 
a  dream,  to  interpret  it."  The  meaning  of  this  was,  that  he  had  a  case  in 
hand  which  bafHed  all  the  wise  men  of  Egypt,  but  that,  from  what  he  had 
heard  of  Joseph,  he  supposed  he  might  be  a  wiser  man,  or  more  deeply 
skilled  in  occult  science,  than  any  of  them.  Such  a  compliment  from  a  king 
would  have  been  too  much  for  a  vain  mind :  if  he  had  affected  to  disclaim 
superior  wisdom,  it  would  have  been  done  in  a  manner  which  betrayed  what 
lurked  within.  But  Joseph  feared  God;  and  is  the  same  man  in  a  palace 
as  in  a  prison  :  "  It  is  not  in  me,"  said  he;  "  God  shall  give  Pharaoh  an  an- 
swer of  peace."  In  this  brief  answer  we  see  a  spirit  of  genuine  humility, 
disclaiming  all  that  kind  of  wisdom  for  which  Pharaoh  seemed  very  willing 
to  give  him  credit,  or  indeed  any  other,  but  what  God  gave  him.  We  see 
also  a  disinterested  concern  to  glorify  the  true  God,  in  the  face  of  the 
mightiest  votaries  of  idolatry,  who  had  power  to  do  what  they  pleased  with 
him.  It  is  observable,  he  does  not  say  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  or  Jacob, 
or  the  God  of  the  Hebrews.  Such  language  might  have  been  understood 
by  Pharaoh  and  his  courtiers  as  setting  up  one  titular  Deity  in  opposition  to 
others,  the  God  of  his  country  against  the  gods  of  Egypt:  but  he  simply  says 
God;  a  term  which  would  lead  their  thoughts  to  the  One  great  Supreme, 
before  whom  all  idols  would  fall  to  the  ground.  Thus,  with  great  wisdom, 
modesty,  and  firmness,  he  states  truth,  and  leaves  error  to  fall  of  its  own  ac- 
cord. In  assuring  Pharaoh  that  God  would  give  him  an  answer  of  peace,  he 
would  remove  all  fear  from  his  mind  of  an  unfavourable  interpretation,  which, 
from  the  butler's  report,  he  might  have  some  reason  to  apprehend  ;  inasmuch 
as  though  he  had  foretold  his  restoration  to  ofiice,  yet  he  had  prophetically 
hanged  the  chief  baker, 

Pharaoh's  mind  being  thus  relieved  and  encouraged,  he  without  further 
hesitation  proceeds  to  tell  his  dreams  of  the  fat  and  lean-fleshed  kine,  and 
of  the  rank  and  withered  ears  of  corn. 

Ver.  25-31.  The  answer  of  Joseph  is  worthy  of  the  man  of  God.  You 
perceive  no  shuffling  to  gain  time,  no  juggling,  no  peeping  and  muttering, 


Joseph's  advancement.  159 

no  words  of  dark  or  doubtful  meaning:  all  is  clear  as  light,  and  explicit  as 
the  day. — The  dreams  are  one;  and  they  were  sent  of  God  to  forewarn  the 
king  of  what  he  would  shortly  bring  to  pass.  The  seven  good  kine,  and 
the  seven  ears,  are  seven  years  of  plenty;  and  the  seven  evil  kine,  and  thin 
ears,  are  seven  years  of  famine.  And  the  reason  of  the  dream  being  doubled 
is  to  express  its  certainty,  and  the  near  approach  of  the  events  signified  by  it. 

Ver.  3"2-36.  Having  made  the  matter  plain,  and  so  relieved  the  king's 
mind,  he  does  not  conclude  without  offering  a  word  of  counsel;  the  sub- 
stance of  which  was  to  provide,  from  the  surplus  of  the  seven  good  years, 
for  the  supply  of  the  seven  succeeding  ones.  If  he  had  only  interpreted 
Pharaoh's  dreams,  he  might  have  gratified  his  curiosity,  but  that  had  been 
all.  Knowledge  is  of  but  little  use,  any  further  than  as  it  is  converted  into 
practice. 

With  respect  to  the  advice  itself,  it  carried  with  it  its  own  recommenda- 
tion. It  was  no  more  than  what  common  prudence  woul-d  have  dictated  to 
any  people.  If  they  had  doubted  Joseph's  interpretation  of  the  dreams,  and 
whether  any  such  years  of  plenty  and  of  scarcity  would  follow,  yet  they  could 
not,  even  upon  this  supposition,  object  to  his  counsel ;  for  nothing  was  to  be 
expended,  nor  done,  but  upon  the  actual  occurrence  of  the  plenteous  years; 
which,  as  they  were  to  come  first,  afforded  an  opportunity  of  which  wisdom 
would  have  availed  itself,  if  there  had  been  no  dreams  in  the  case,  to  pro- 
vide for  a  time  of  want.  Nor  is  there  any  reason,  from  what  we  know  of 
Joseph's  character,  to  suspect  him  of  interested  designs,  like  those  of  Haman, 
who  wished  to  recommend  himself  He  appears  to  have  had  no  end  in 
view  but  the  good  of  the  country  where  God,  had  caused  him  to  sojourn. 

Ver.  37,  38.  Happily  for  Egypt,  Pharaoh  and  his  ministry  saw  the  propriety 
of  what  was  offered,  and  readily  came  into  it.  It  is  a  sign  that  God  has 
mercy  in  store  for  that  people  whose  rulers  are  open  to  receive  good  counsel, 
and  know  how  to  appreciate  the  worth  of  good  men.  As  Joseph  had  recom- 
mended a  wise  man  to  be  employed  in  the  business,  Pharaoh  without  further 
hesitation  appeals  to  his  courtiers,  whether  any  man  in  Egypt  was  so  fit  for 
the  work  as  himself, — a  man  who  had  not  only  proved  himself  wise  in 
counsel,  but  had  also  intercourse  with  God,  and  was  inspired  of  him  to 
reveal  the  secrets  of  futurity.  Such  language  proves  that  Joseph's  mention- 
ing the  true  God  to  Pharaoh  had  not  been  without  effect.  To  this,  however, 
the  courtiers  make  no  answer.  If  they  felt  a  little  jealous  of  this  young 
foreigner,  it  were  not  to  be  wondered  at.  Such  were  the  feelings  of  the 
Babylonish  nobles  towards  Daniel.  It  were  easier  to  see  the  goodness  of 
the  counsel  which  left  a  hope  to  each  man  of  a  new  office,  than  to  see  that 
Joseph  was  the  only  man  in  the  land  that  could  execute  it.  They  knew 
very  well  that  they  had  not,  like  him,  "  the  Spirit  of  God;"  but  might  think 
themselves  capable,  nevertheless,  of  managing  this  business.  However, 
they  silently  acquiesce ;  and  Pharaoh  proceeds  without  delay  to  carry  his 
purpose  into  effect. 

Ver.  39-4-5.  And  now  all  power,  except  that  which  is  supreme,  is  put 
into  his  hands,  over  the  house  and  over  the  nation ;  and,  as  the  courtiers 
had  probably  discovered  a  secret  reluctance,  Pharaoh  repeats  his  determina- 
tion the  more  earnestly,  that  as  the  dream  had  been  repeated  to  him,  the 
thing  might  be  established,  and  immediately  put  in  execution.  To  words 
were  added  signs,  which  tended  to  fix  his  authority  in  the  minds  of  the 
people.  The  king  took  his  ring  from  his  hand,  and  put  it  upon  the  hand 
of  Joseph,  clothed  him  in  fine  linen,  and  put  a  gold  chain  about  his  neck. 
Nor  was  this  all :  he  caused  him  to  ride  in  the  second  chariot  through  the 
streets  of  the  city,  and  that  it  should  be  proclaimed  before  him,  "Bow  the 
knee,"  or  "  Tender  father."     The  Chaldee  translates  it,  as  Ainsworth  ob- 


160  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

serves,  "The  father  of  the  king,  master  in  wisdom,  and  tender  in  years;" — 
as  who  should  say,  Though  a  youth  in  age,  yet  a  father  in  character.  In 
addition  to  this,  Pharaoh  uses  a  very  solemn  form  of  speech,  such  as  thai 
which  is  prefixed  or  affixed  to  many  of  the  Divine  commands:  "I  am  Pha- 
raoh, and  without  thee  shall  no  man  lift  up  his  hand  or  foot  in  all  the  land 
of  Egypt !"  See  Lev.  xix.  Finally,  to  crown  him  with  respect,  he  gave  him  a 
new  name,  the  meaning  of  which  was,  a  reveohr  of  secrets;  and  the  daughter 
of  a  priest,  or  prince,  to  be  his  wife.  Pause  a  moment,  my  brethren,  and  re- 
flect ....  Who,  in  reading  the  preceding  sufferings  and  present  advancement 
of  Joseph,  can  forbear  thinking  of  Him  who,  "  for  tlie  suffering  of  death, 
was  crowned  with  glory  and  honour — whom  God  hath  highly  exalted,  giving 
him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name;  that  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under 
the  earth;  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father?"  Surely  it  was  the  design  of  God,  by  these 
sweet  analogies,  to  lead  the  minds  of  believers  imperceptibly  on,  that  when 
the  Messiah  should  come,  they  might  see  him  in  perfection,  in  their 
Josephs,  and  Joshuas,  and  Davids,  as  well  as  in  their  sacrifices,  their  cities 
of  refuge,  and  their  jubilees. 

Ver.  46-49.  Joseph,  being  thirty  years  old  when  he  stood  before  Pharaoh, 
was  just  suited  for  active  life.  At  such  a  period,  however,  and  raised  from 
such  a  situation,  many  would  have  been  lifted  up  to  their  hurt;  but  he  who 
enabled  him  to  repel  temptation,  and  endure  aflliction,  enabled  him  also  to 
bear  the  glory  that  was  conferred  upon  him  with  humility.  It  is  observable, 
that,  on  going  out  from  the  presence  of  Pharaoh,  he  did  not  go  hither  and 
thither  to  show  his  greatness;  but  immediately  betook  himself  to  business. 
New  honours,  in  his  account,  conferred  new  obligations.  The  first  thing 
necessary  for  the  execution  of  his  trust  was  a  general  survey  of  the  country ; 
which  having  taken,  he  proceeded  to  execute  his  plan,  laying  up  grain 
during  the  seven  plentiful  years  beyond  all  calculation. 

Ver.  50-52.  During  these  years  of  plenty,  Joseph  had  two  sons  by  his 
wife  Asenath,  both  which  are  significantly  named,  and  express  the  state  of 
his  mind  in  his  present  situation.  The  first  he  called  Manassch,  that  is, 
forgetting ;  "  for  God,"  said  he,  "  hath  made  me  to  forget  all  my  toil,  and 
all  my.  father's  house."  A  change  from  the  extremes  of  either  joy  to  sorrow 
or  sorrow  to  joy  is  expressed  by  the  term  forgetfuhiess ;  and  a  very  expressive 
term  it  is.  "  Thou  hast  removed  my  soul  far  off  from  peace :  I  forgot  pros- 
perity.— A  woman  when  she  is  in  travail  hath  sorrow,  because  her  hour  is 
come;  but,  as  soon  as  she  is  delivered,  she  rcmcmbcrctli  no  more  the  anguish, 
for  joy  that  a  man  is  born  into  the  world."  But  what,  had  Joseph  forgotten 
his  father's  house?  Yes,  so  far  as  it  had  been  an  aflliction  to  him;  that  is, 
he  had  forgotten  the  cruel  treatment  of  his  brethren,  so  as  no  longer  to  lay 
it  to  heart.  His  second  son  he  called  Ephraim,  that  is,  made  fruitful;  "for 
God,"  said  he,  "hath  caused  me  to  be  fruitful  in  the  land  of  my  affliction!" 
In  both  he  eyes  the  hand  of  God  in  doing  every  thing  for  him,  and  gives  the 
glory  to  him  only. 

Ver.  53-57.  But  now  the  day  of  prosperity  to  Egypt  is  at  an  end,  and  the 
day  of  adversity  cometh :  "  God  hath  set  the  one  over  against  the  other,"  to 
sweep  away  its  fulness,  that  man  should  find  nothing  after  him.  And  now 
the  people,  being  famished  for  want  of  bread,  resorted  to  Pharaoh.  Had 
not  Pharaoh  been  warned  of  this  evil  beforehand,  he  might  have  replied  as 
Jehorara  did  to  her  that  cried,  "Help,  my  lord,  O  king — If  the  Lord  do  not 
help  thee,  whence  shall  I  help  thee?  Out  of  the  barn-floor,  or  out  of  the 
wine-press?"  But  provision  was  made  for  this  time  of  need;  and  the  people 
are  all  directed  to  "  go  to  Joseph."     And  here,  I  may  say  again,  who  can 


Joseph's  first  interview  with  his  brethren.  161 

forbear  thinking  of  Him  in  whom  in  whom  it  hath  pleased  the  Father  that 
all  fulness  should  dwell,  and  to  whom  those  who  are  ready  to  perish  are 
directed  for  relief? 

This  sore  famine  was  not  confined  to  Egypt,  but  extended  to  the  surround- 
ing countries:  and  it  was  wisely  ordered  that  it  should  be  so;  since  the  great 
end  for  which  God  is  represented  as  calling  for  it  (Psal.  cv.  IG)  was  to 
bring  Jacob's  sons,  and  eventually  his  whole  family,  into  Egypt;  which  end 
would  not  otherwise  have  been  answered. 

Joseph  is  now  filling  up  his  generation  work  in  useful  and  important 
labours;  and,  like  a  true  son  of  Abraham,  he  is  blessed  and  made  a  blessing. 
Yet  it  was  in  the  midst  of  this  career  of  activity  that  his  father  Jacob  said, 
with  a  deep  sigh,  "Joseph  is  not!"  What  a  large  portion  of  our  troubles 
would  subside,  if  we  knew  but  the  whole  truth ! 


DISCOURSE  XLIX. 


THE    FIRST    INTERVIEW    BETWEEN    JOSEPH   AND    HIS    BRETHREN. 
Gen.  xlii. 

Things  now  approach  fast  to  a  crisis.  We  hear  but  little  more  of  the 
famine,  but  as  it  relates  to  Jacob's  family,  on  whose  account  it  was  sent.  It 
is  remarkable  that  all  the  three  patriarchs,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
experienced  a  famine  while  sojourning  in  the  Land  of  Promise ;  a  circum- 
stance sufficient  to  try  their  faith.  Had  they  been  of  the  disposition  of  the 
spies  in  the  time  of  Moses,  they  would  have  concluded  it  to  be  a  land  which 
ate  up  the  inhabitants,  and  therefore  not  worth  accepting ;  but  they  believed 
God,  and  thought  well  of  whatever  he  did 

Ver.  1,  2.  Jacob  and  his  family  have  well  nigh  exhausted  their  provision, 
and  have  no  prospect  of  recruiting  it.  They  had  money,  but  corn  was  not 
to  be  had  for  money  in  their  own  country.  They  could  do  nothing,  there- 
fore, but  look  one  at  another  in  sad  despair.  But  Jacob,  hearing  that  there 
was  corn  in  Egypt,  rouses  them  from  their  torpor.  His  words  resemble 
those  of  the  four  lepers:  "Why  sit  we  here  until  we  die?"  It  is  a  dictate 
of  nature  not  to  despair  while  there  is  a  door  of  hope;  and  the  principle 
will  hold  good  in  things  of  everlasting  moment.  Why  sit  we  here,  poring 
over  our  guilt  and  misery,  when  we  have  heard  that  with  the  Lord  there  is 
mercy,  and  with  him  there  is  plenteous  redemption?  How  long  shall  we 
take  counsel  in  our  soul,  having  sorrow  in  our  hearts  daily  ?  Let  us  trust 
in  his  mercy,  and  our  hearts  shall  rejoice  in  his  salvation. 

Ver.  3,  4.  The  ten  brethren  immediately  betake  themselves  to  their 
journey.  They  are  called  "Joseph's  brethren,"  and  not  Jacob's  sons, 
because  Joseph  is  at  present  the  principal  character  in  the  story.  But 
when  Benjamin  is  called  "  his  brother,"  there  is  more  meant  than  in  the 
other  case.  It  would  seem  to  be  assigned  as  the  reason  why  Jacob  is  un- 
willing to  part  with  him,  that  he  was  the  only  surviving  child  of  Rachel, 
and  brother  of  him  that  was  not !  As  mischief  had  befallen  him,  he  was 
afraid  the  same  should  befall  his  brother,  and  therefore  wished  the  young 
men  to  go  without  him.  Jacob  does  not  say,  "  Lest  you  should  do  him 
mischief,  as  I  fear  you  did  his  brother ;"  but  I  suspect  there  was  something 
of  this  at  the  bottom,  which,  when  afterwards  urged  by  a  kind  of  necessity 
to  part  with  Benjamin,  came  out:  "Me  ye  he  have  bereaved Joseph 

Vol.  III.— 21  o  3 


J62  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

is  not !"  ver.  36.  At  first  he  appears  to  have  thought  that  some  evil  beast  had 
devoured  hira ;  but,  upon  more  mature  observation  and  reflection,  he  miorht 
see  reason  to  suspect,  at  least,  whether  it  was  not  by  some  foul  dealing  on 
their  part  that  he  had  come  to  his  end.  As  nothing,  however,  could  be 
proved,  he  at  present  kept  his  suspicions  to  himself;  and  the  matter  passed, 
as  it  had  done  from  the  first,  that  mischief  in  some  unknown  way  had  be- 
fallen him. 

Ver.  5.  Nothing  is  said  of  their  journey,  except  that  a  number  of  their 
countrymen  went  with  them  on  the  same  errand;  for  the  famine  was  in  the 
land  of  Canaan.  Such  a  number  of  applicants  might  possibly  excite  fears 
in  their  minds  lest  there  should  not  be  enough  for  them  all.  Such  fears, 
however,  if  they  existed  in  this  case,  were  unnecessary;  and  must  always  be 
unnecessary,  where  there  is  enough  and  to  spare. 

Ver.  6.  Now,  Joseph  being  governor  of  the  land,  they  find  him  on  their 
arrival  fully  employed  in  serving  the  Egyptians.  He  had  assistants;  but  his 
eye  pervaded  every  thing.  As  soon  as  they  could  get  access  to  the  governor, 
they,  according  to  the  Eastern  custom,  bow  themselves  before  him,  with  their 
faces  to  the  earth. 

Ver.  7.  We  may  wonder  that  Joseph  could  live  all  this  time  in  Egypt, 
without  going  to  see  his  father  or  his  brethren.  We  might  indeed  allege, 
that  while  with  Potiphar  he  had  probably  neither  opportunity  nor  inclina- 
tion; when  in  prison,  he  was  not  allowed  to  go  beyond  its  walls;  and  when 
advanced  under  Pharaoh,  his  hands  were  so  fully  employed  that  he  could 
not  be  spared.  We  know  that  when  his  father  was  to  come  down  to  him  he 
could  only  send  for  him ;  and  when  he  went  to  bury  him,  there  was  great 
formality  required  to  attend  his  movements,  a  number  of  the  Egyptians  going 
with  him.  But  it  was  doubtless  ordered  of  God  that  he  should  not  go,  but 
that  his  brethren  should  come  to  him;  for  on  this  depended  the  whole  issue 
of  the  affair.  And  now  comes  on  the  delicate  part  of  the  story:  "Joseph 
saw  his  brethren,  and  knew  them."  What  must  have  been  his  feelings! 
The  remembrance  of  the  manner  in  which  he  parted  from  them  two-and- 
twenty  years  ago,  the  events  which  had  since  befallen  him,  their  prostration 
before  him,  and  the  absence  of  Benjamin,  from  which  he  might  be  appre- 
hensive that  they  had  also  made  away  with  him — all  together,  must  have 
been  a  great  shock  to  his  sensibility.  Let  him  beware,  or  his  countenance 
will  betray  him.  He  feels  the  danger  of  this,  and  therefore  immediately 
puts  on  a  stern  look,  speaks  roughly  to  them,  and  affects  to  take  them  for 
spies.  By  this  innocent  piece  of  artifice,  he  could  interrogate  them,  and  get 
out  of  them  all  the  particulars  that  he  wished,  without  betraying  himself, 
which  he  could  not  have  done  by  any  other  means.  The  manner  in  which 
he  asked  them,  "Whence  come  ye?"  would  convey  to  them  an  idea  of  sus- 
picion as  to  their  designs.  It  was  like  saying,  Who  and  what  are  you?  I 
do  not  like  your  looks.  Their  answer  is  humble  and  proper,  stating  the 
simple  truth  ....  they  came  from  Canaan,  and  had  no  other  design  in  view 
than  to  buy  food. 

Ver.  8.  "  Joseph  knew  his  brethren,"  and  felt  for  them,  notwithstanding 
his  apparent  severity;  "but  they  knew  not  him!"  It  was  wisely  ordered 
that  it  should  be  so,  and  is  easily  accounted  for.  When  they  last  saw  each 
other,  they  were  grown  to  man's  estate,  but  he  was  a  lad ;  they  were  probably 
in  much  the  same  dress,  but  he  was  clothed  in  vestures  of  fine  linen,  with  a 
golden  chain  about  his  neck ;  and  they  had  only  one  face  to  judge  by, 
whereas  he  had  ten,  the  knowledge  of  any  one  of  which  would  lead  to  the 
knowledge  of  all.  Now  Joseph  sees,  without  being  seen;  and  now  he 
remembers  his  dreams  of  the  sheaves,  and  of  the  stars. 

Ver.  9-14.  Determined  to  continue  at  present  unknown,  and  yet  wishing 


Joseph's  first  interview  with  his  brethren.  163 

to  know  more  of  them,  and  of  matters  in  Canaan,  Joseph  still  speaks  under 
an  assumed  character,  and  affects  to  be  dissatisfied  with  their  answer.  "Ye 
are  spies,"  saith  he,  "to  see  the  nakedness  of  the  land  are  ye  come."  They 
modestly  and  respectfully  disown  the  charge,  and  repeat  the  true  and  only 
object  of  their  coming;  adding,  what  is  very  much  in  point,  "We  are  all  one 
man's  sons."  This  was  saying.  Ours  is  not  a  political,  but  a  domestic 
errand ;  we  are  not  sent  hither  by  a  king,  but  by  a  father,  and  merely  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  family.  Still  he  affects  to  disbelieve  them ;  for  he 
does  not  know  enough  yet.  He  therefore  repeats  his  suspicions,  in  order  to 
provoke  them  to  be  more  particular;  as  if  he  should  say,  I  will  know  all 
about  you  before  I  sell  you  corn,  or  send  you  away.  This  had  the  desired 
effect.  "Thy  servants,"  say  they,  "are  [or  were]  twelve  brethren,  the  sons 
of  one  man  in  the  land  of  Canaan ;  and,  behold,  the  youngest  is  this  day 
with  our  father,  and  one  is  not."  This  is  deeply  interesting,  and  exquisitely 
affecting  to  Joseph.  By  this  he  learns  that  his  father  was  yet  alive,  and  his 
brother  too.  O  these  are  joyful  tidings!  This  was  the  drift  of  his  questions, 
as  they  afterwards  tell  their  father  Jacob :  "  The  man  asked  us  straitly  of  our 
state,  and  of  our  kindred,  saying.  Is  your  father  yet  alive?  Have  ye  another 
brother?  And  we  told  him  according  to  the  tenor  of  these  words,"  chap,  xliii. 
7.  But  what  must  have  been  his  sensations  at  the  mention  of  the  last  words, 
"One  is  not!"  ....  Well,  he  conceals  his  feelings,  and  affects  to  turn  their 
account  of  matters  against  them.  They  had  not  told  all  the  truth  at  first. 
It  seems  at  first  there  were  only  ten  of  them,  and  now  there  were  eleven : 
"That  is  it  that  I  spake  unto  you,  saying.  Ye  are  spies." 

Ver.  15,  16.  He  now  proposes  to  prove  them.  "  By  the  life  of  Pharaoh," 
saith  he,  "  you  shall  not  go  hence,  except  your  youngest  brother  come 
hither.  Send  one  of  you  and  fetch  him,  that  your  words  may  be  proved, 
whether  there  be  any  truth  in  you ;  or  else,  by  the  life  of  Pharaoh,  surely  ye 
are  spies."  Some  suppose  that  Joseph  had  learned  the  manner  of  the 
Egyptians  by  living  among  them,  or  that  he  would  not  thus  have  sworn  by 
the  life  of  Pharaoh  ;  but  I  see  no  ground  for  any  such  thing.  We  might  as 
well  say  that  he  had  learned  to  speak  untruth,  because  he  really  had  no  such 
suspicions  as  he  feigned ;  or  that  he  had  learned  magic,  seeing  he  after- 
wards talked  of  "  divining;"  or  that  our  Saviour  had  learned  the  proud  and 
haughty  spirit  of  the  Jews,  who  treated  the  Gentiles  as  dogs,  because,  for 
the  sake  of  trying  the  woman  of  Canaan,  he  made  use  of  that  kind  of  lan- 
guage. The  truth  is,  Joseph  acted  under  an  assumed  character.  He  wished 
to  be  taken  for  an  Egyptian  nobleman,  with  whom  it  was  as  common  to 
swear  by  the  life  of  Pharaoh  as  it  was  afterwards  for  a  Roman  to  swear  by 
the  fortune  of  Cssar. 

But  wherefore  does  Joseph  thus  keep  up  the  deception?  and  why  propose 
such  methods  of  proving  his  brethren  ?  I  suppose  at  present  his  wish  is  to 
detain  them.  Yes,  they  must  not  leave  Egypt  thus:  had  they  done  this,  he 
might  have  seen  them  no  more;  yet  he  had  no  other  cause  to  assign  but 
this,  without  betraying  the  truth,  which  it  was  not  a  fit  time  to  do  at  present. 

Ver.  17,  18.  Take  these  men  up,  said  Joseph  to  his  oflicers,  and  put  them 
into  a  place  of  safe  custody  :  it  is  not  proper  they  should  be  at  large.  Here 
they  lie  three  days ;  a  period  which  afforded  him  time  to  think  what  to  do, 
and  them  to  reflect  on  what  they  had  done.  On  the  third  day  he  paid  them 
a  visit,  and  that  in  a  temper  of  more  apparent  mildness.  He  assures  them 
that  he  has  no  designs  upon  their  life,  nor  any  wish  to  hurt  their  family; 
and  ventures  to  give  a  reason  for  it,  which  must  to  them  appear  no  less  sur- 
prising than  satisfying:  "  I  fear  God."  What,  an  Egyptian  nobleman  know 
and  fear  the  true  God!  If  so,  they  have  no  injustice  to  fear  at  his  hands; 
nor  can  he  withhold  food  from  a  starving  family.     The  fear  of  God  will  ever 


1G4  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

be  connected  with  justice  and  humanity  to  man.  But  how  mysterious  an 
affair!  If  he  be  a  good  man,  how  is  it  that  he  should  treat  us  so  roughly? 
How  is  it  that  God  should  suffer  him  so  to  mistake  our  designs?  Severity 
from  the  hand  of  goodness  is  doubly  severe.  Their  hearts  must  surely  by 
this  time  have  been  full.  Such  were  the  methods  which  this  wise  man  made 
use  of  to  agitate  their  minds,  and  to  touch  every  spring  of  sensibility  within 
them ;  and  such  were  the  means  which  God  by  him  made  use  of  to  bring 
them  to  repentance.  This  indeed  is  his  ordinary  method  of  dealing  with 
sinners :  now  their  fears  are  awakened  by  threatenings,  or  adverse  provi- 
dences, in  which  death  sometimes  stares  them  in  the  face;  and  now  a  little 
gleam  of  hope  arises,  just  sufficient  to  keep  the  mind  from  sinking;  yet  all 
is  covered  with  doubt  and  mystery.  It  is  thus,  as  by  alternate  frost  and  rain 
and  sunshine  upon  the  earth,  that  he  humbleth  the  mind,  and  maketh  soft 
the  heart  of  man. 

Ver.  19-24.  Joseph,  still  under  a  disguise,  though  he  consents  that  nine 
out  of  the  ten  should  go  home  with  provision  for  the  relief  of  the  family,  yet, 
that  he  may  have  some  pledge  for  their  return,  insists  on  one  being  detained 
as  a  hostage  till  they  should  prove  themselves  true  men,  by  bringing  their 
younger  brother ;  and  his  will  at  present  must  be  their  law.  Having  thus 
determined  their  cause,  he  withdraws  from  their  immediate  company  to  a 
little  distance,  where  perhaps  he  might  stand  conversing  with  some  other 
persons,  but  stili  within  hearing  of  what  passed  among  them.  As  he  had 
all  along  spoken  to  them  by  an  interpreter,  they  had  no  suspicion  that  he 
understood  Hebrew,  and  therefore  began  talking  to  one  another  in  that  lan- 
guage with  the  greatest  freedom,  and,  as  they  thought,  without  danger  of 
being  understood.  Their  full  hearts  now  began  to  utter  themselves.  Per- 
haps their  being  obliged  to  speak  of  Joseph  as  "  not"  might  serve  to  bring 
him  to  their  remembrance.  Whatever  it  was,  the  same  thoughts  had  been 
in  all  their  minds,  which  probably  they  could  read  in  each  other's  looks.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  one  of  them  broke  silence,  the  rest  immediately  joined  in 
ascribing  all  this  evil  which  had  befallen  them  to  this  cause.  "  They  said 
one  to  another.  We  are  verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother,  in  that  we  saw 
the  anguish  of  his  soul,  when  he  besought  us,  and  we  would  not  hear; 
therefore  is  this  distress  come  upon  us !"  God,  in  dealing  with  sinners, 
usually  adapts  the  punishment  to  the  sin,  so  as  to  cause  them  to  read  the 
one  in  the  other.  Hence  adverse  providences  call  our  sin  to  remembrance; 
our  own  wickedness  corrects  us,  and  our  backslidings  reprove  us.  They 
would  not  hear  Joseph  in  his  distress,  and  now  they  could  not  be  heard ; 
they  had  thrown  him  into  a  pit,  and  are  themselves  now  thrown  into  prison! 
These  convictions  are  heightened  by  the  reproaches  of  Reuben,  who  gives 
them  to  expect  blood  for  blood.  Reuben  was  that,  methinks,  to  his  brethren 
which  conscience  is  to  a  sinner ;  remonstrating  at  the  outset,  and,  when 
judgment  overtakes  him,  reproaching  him,  and  foreboding  the  worst  of  con- 
sequences. His  words  are  sharp  as  a  two-edged  sword  :  "  Spake  I  not  unto 
you,  saying,  Do  not  sin  against  the  child  ;  and  ye  would  not  hear?  There- 
fore behold,  also,  his  blood  is  required !"  But,  that  which  is  still  more 
affecting,  Joseph  hears  all,  and  understands  it,  and  this  without  their  sus- 
pecting it.  Such  words  however  were  too  much  for  the  heart  of  man,  at 
least  such  a  man  as  he  was,  to  bear :  it  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  he 
"  turned  himself  about  from  them,  and  wept!"  But  having  recovered  him- 
self, he  returned  to  them,  and  with  an  austere  countenance  took  Simeon, 
and  bound  him  before  their  eyes.  This  must  be  cutting  work  on  both  sides. 
On  the  part  of  Joseph,  it  must  be  a  great  force  put  upon  his  feelings;  and 
on  theirs,  it  would  seem  a  prelude  to  greater  evils.  There  might  be  a  fit- 
ness in  taking  Simeon  rather  than  any  other.     He  had  proved  himself  a 


Joseph's  first  interview  with  his  brethren.  165 

ferocious  character  by  his  conduct  towards  the  Shechemites ;  and  therefore 
it  is  not  unlikely  he  was  one  of  the  foremost  in  the  cruelty  practised  towards 
Joseph.  Perhaps  he  was  the  man  who  tore  off  his  coat  of  many  colours, 
and  threw  him  into  the  pit.  If  so,  it  would  tend  to  humble  him,  and  heighten 
all  their  fears,  as  beholding  in  it  the  righteous  judgment  of  God. 

Ver.  25-28.  This  done,  their  sacks  are  ordered  to  be  filled,  and  their 
money  restored ;  not  by  giving  it  into  their  hands  however,  but  by  putting 
it  into  the  mouths  of  their  sacks.  But  why  all  this  mysterious  conduct? 
was  it  love?  It  was,  at  the  bottom ;  but  love  operating  at  present  in  a  way 
tending  to  perplex,  confound,  and  dismay  them.  It  could  not  appear  to 
them  in  any  other  light  than  as  either  an  oversight,  or  a  design  to  insnare 
and  find  occasion  against  them.  It  was  certain  to  fill  their  minds  with  con- 
sternation and  fear;  and  such  appears  to  have  been  the  intention  of  Joseph 
from  the  first.  It  accords  with  the  wisdom  of  God,  when  he  means  to  bring 
a  sinner  to  a  right  mind,  to  lead  him  into  dark  and  intricate  situations,  of 
which  he  shall  be  utterly  unable  to  perceive  the  design ;  to  awaken  by  turns 
his  fears  and  his  hopes ;  bring  his  sin  to  remembrance ;  and  cause  him  to 
feel  his  littleness,  his  danger,  and  his  utter  insufficiency  to  deliver  his  soul : 
and  such,  in  measure,  appears  to  have  been  the  design  of  Joseph,  according 
to  the  wisdom  that  was  imparted  to  him  on  this  singular  occasion  If  his 
brethren  had  known  all,  they  would  not  have  felt  as  they  did ;  but  neither 
would  they  have  been  brought  to  so  right  a  state  of  mind,  nor  have  been 
prepared,  as  they  were,  for  that  which  followed.  And  if  we  knew  all,  with 
respect  to  the  mysterious  dispensations  of  God,  we  should  have  less  pain ; 
but  then  we  should  be  less  humbled,  and  less  fitted  to  receive  the  mercy 
which  is  prepared  for  us. 

It  is  remarkable  how  this  circumstance  operates  on  their  minds.  They 
construe  it  to  mean  something  against  them ;  but  in  what  way  they  know 
not.  They  do  not  reproach  the  man,  the  lord  of  the  land,  though  it  is  likely 
from  his  treatment  of  them  that  they  would  suspect  some  ill  design  against 
them ;  but,  overlooking  second  causes,  they  ask,  "  What  is  this  that  God 
hath  done  to  us !"  To  his  righteous  judgment  they  attributed  what  they 
had  already  met  with,  ver.  21,  22 ;  and  now  it  seems  to  them  that  he  is  still 
pursuing  them  in  a  mysterious  way,  and  with  a  design  to  require  their  bro- 
ther's blood  at  their  hand.  Such  a  construction,  though  painful  for  the  pre- 
sent, was  the  most  useful  to  them  of  any  that  could  have  been  put  upon  it. 

Ver.  29-35.  Arriving  at  their  father's  house,  they  tell  him  of  all  that  had 
befallen  tliem  in  Egypt,  that  they  may  account  for  their  coming  home  with- 
out Simeon,  and  their  being  required  when  they  went  again  to  take  Ben- 
jamin with  them.  But  the  mysterious  circumstance  of  the  money  being 
found  by  the  way  in  their  sacks  they  appear  to  have  concealed.  Mention  is 
made  of  only  one  of  the  sacks  being  opened ;  yet,  by  what  they  afterwards 
said  to  the  steward,  chap,  xliii.  21,  it  appears  that  they  opened  them  all,  and 
found  every  man's  money  in  his  sack's  mouth.  But  they  might  think  their 
father  would  have  blamed  them  for  not  returning  with  it  when  they  were 
only  a  day's  journey  from  Egypt,  and  therefore  agreed  to  say  nothing  to  him 
about  it,  but  leave  him  to  find  it  out.  Hence  it  is  that  they  are  represented, 
on  opening  their  sacks,  as  discovering  the  money  in  a  manner  as  if  they  knew 
nothing  of  it  before ;  not  only  participating  with  their  father  in  his  appre- 
hensions, but  seeming  also  to  join  with  him  in  his  surprise. 

Ver.  36-38.  If  the  discovery  of  the  money  affected  Jacob,  much  more 
the  requirement  of  his  darling  son.  This  touches  him  to  the  quick.  He 
cannot  help  thinking  of  the  end  that  Joseph  had  come  to.  The  reasons  he 
had  to  suspect  some  foul  dealing,  in  that  affair,  had  probably  made  him 
resolve  long  ago  that  Benjamin  should  never  be  trusted  in  their  hands ! 


166  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Yet  things  are  now  so  circumstanced  that  he  must  go  with  them.  It  was  a 
distressing  case.  Jacob  speaks,  as  well  he  might,  in  great  anguish  ;  having 
in  a  manner  lost  all  his  earthly  hopes,  save  one ;  and  of  that  he  is  now  in 
danger  of  being  deprived.  His  words  have  too  much  peevish  sorrow  about 
them ;  they  certainly  reflect  upon  his  sons ;  and  the  last  sentence  would 
almost  seem  to  contain  a  reflection  upon  Providence.  The  words  "  all  these 
things  are  against  me"  must  have  some  reference  to  the  promise,  "  I  will 
surely  do  thee  good;"  and  if  so,  they  were  like  saying.  Is  this  the  way? 
Surely  not! — Yet  so  it  was.  The  conduct  of  God  towards  Jacob  is  covered 
with  as  great  a  mystery  as  that  of  Joseph  towards  his  brethren ;  but  all  will 
be  right  at  last.  Much  present  trouble  arises  from  our  not  knowing  the 
whole  truth. 

In  mentioning  the  name  of  Joseph,  Jacob  had  touched  a  tender  place : 
an  old  wound,  which  Providence  too  had  been  lately  probing.  On  this  oc- 
casion, all  that  were  guilty,  you  will  perceive,  are  silent.  Reuben  is  the 
only  one  that  speaks,  and  he  dares  not  touch  that  subject :  but  with  strong 
and  passionate  language  seems  to  aim  to  divert  his  mind  from  it,  and  to  fix 
it  upon  Benjamin  only :  "  Slay  my  two  sons,  if  I  bring  him  not  to  thee." 
This  language  so  far  answers  the  end,  as  that  no  more  is  said  of  their  hav- 
ing "  bereaved"  him  of  Joseph;  but  he  still  dwells  upon  his  being  "  dead," 
nor  can  he  at  present  be  persuaded  to  part  with  his  brother.  "  If  mischief," 
saith  he,  "  befall  him  in  the  way  in  which  ye  go,  then  shall  ye  bring  down 
my  grey  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave." 


DISCOURSE  L. 


THE    SECOND    INTERVIEW    BETWEEN    JOSEPH   AND    HIS    BRETHREN. 

Gen.  xliii. 

Ver.  1,  2.  The  relief  obtained  by  the  first  journey  to  Egypt  is  soon  ex- 
hausted ;  for  "  the  famine  was  sore  in  the  land,"  and  therefore  nothing  of 
its  native  productions  could  be  added  to  the  other  to  make  it  last  the  longer. 
♦'  Go,"  said  Jacob  to  his  sons,  "  and  buy  us  a  little  food."  Avarice  and  dis- 
trust would  have  wished  for  much,  and  have  been  for  hoarding  it  in  such  a 
time  as  this ;  but  Jacob  is  contented  with  a  little,  desirous  that  others  should 
have  a  part  as  well  as  himself;  and,  with  respect  to  futurity,  he  puts  his 
trust  in  God. 

Ver.  3-5.  But  here  the  former  difficulty  recurs,  they  cannot,  must  not, 
will  not,  go  without  their  younger  brother.  This  is  trying.  Nature  struggles 
with  nature ;  the  affection  of  the  father  with  the  calls  of  hunger ;  but  the 
former  must  yield.  Jacob  does  not  appear,  however,  at  present,  to  be  entirely 
willing ;  wherefore  Judah,  considering  it  as  a  fit  opportunity,  urges  the  mat- 
ter, alleging  the  peremptory  language  of  the  man,  the  lord  of  the  land,  on 
the  subject. 

Ver.  G,  7.  This  brings  forth  one  more  feeble  objection,  or  rather  com- 
plaint, and  which  must  be  the  last ;  "  Wherefore  dealt  ye  so  ill  with  me  as 
to  tell  the  man  whether  ye  had  yet  a  brother  V  To  which  they  very  pro- 
perly answer  that  they  could  not  do  otherwise,  being  so  straitly  examined ; 
nor  was  it  possible  for  them  to  know  the  use  that  would  be  made  of  it. 

Ver.  8-10.  While  matters  were  thus  hanging  in  suspense,  Judah  very 
seasonably  and  kindly  attempts  to  smooth  the  difficulty  to  his  father,  by  offer- 


Joseph's  second  interview  with  his  brethren.         167 

ing  in  the  most  solemn  manner  to  be  surety  for  the  lad,  and  to  bear  the 
blame  for  ever  if  he  did  not  bring  him  back  and  set  him  before  him.  In 
addition  to  this,  he  alleges  that  the  life  of  the  whole  family  depended  upon 
his  father's  acquiescence,  and  that  they  had  been  too  long  detained  already. 

Ver.  11-14.  And  now  Jacob  must  yield — must  yield  up  his  beloved  Ben- 
jamin, though  not  without  a  mixture  of  painful  reluctance;  but  imperious 
necessity  demands  it.  He  who  a  k\v  weeks  before  had  said,  "  My  son  shall 
not  go  down  with  you,"  is  now  upon  the  whole  constrained  to  part  with  him. 
Thus  have  we  often  seen  the  tender  relative,  who  in  the  first  stages  of  an 
affliction  thought  it  impossible  to  sustain  the  loss  of  a  beloved  object,  gra- 
dually reconciled,  and  at  length  witnessing  the  pangs  of  wasting  disease, 
almost  desirous  of  the  removal.  Thus  it  is  that  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God  are  seen  in  our  bereavements :  the  burden  which  at  first  threatens  to 
crush  us  into  the  grave,  being  let  down  gradually  upon  our  shoulders,  be- 
comes not  only  tolerable,  but  almost  desirable. 

But  mark  the  manner  in  which  the  patriarch  acquiesces;  his  is  not  the 
sullen  consent  of  one  who  yields  to  fate,  but  in  his  heart  rebels  against  God. 
No,  he  yields  in  a  manner  worthy  of  a  man  of  God ;  proposing  first  that 
every  possible  means  should  be  used  to  conciliate  the  man,  the  lord  of  the 
land,  and  then  committing  the  issue  of  the  whole  to  God.  Just  thus  he  had 
acted  when  his  brother  Esau  was  coming  against  him  with  four  hundred 
men,  chap,  xxxii.  C-12.  "  Take  of  the  best  of  the  fruits  of  the  land  in  your 
vessels,  and  carry  down  the  man  at  present — take  double  money  in  your 
hands,  and  the  money  that  was  brought  again  in  the  mouth  of  your  sacks — 
take  also  your  brother — and  God  Almighty  give  you  mercy  before  the  man, 
that  he  may  send  away  your  other  brother,  and  Benjamin.  If  I  be  bereaved, 
I  am  bereaved  1"  The  fruits  of  Canaan,  especially  in  a  time  of  famine, 
would  be  a  great  token  of  respect ;  the  double  money  might  be  necessary, 
as  the  continuance  of  the  famine  might  enhance  the  price  of  corn;  and  the 
restoration  of  that  which  was  returned  would  prove  their  integrity. 

But  we  must  not  pass  over  the  concluding  part  without  noticing  two  or 
three  things  in  particular.  1.  The  character  under  which  the  Lord  is  ad- 
dressed :  "  God  Almighty,"  or  God  all-sufficient.  This  was  the  name  under 
which  Abraham  was  blessed  :  "  I  am  God  Almighty ;"  and  which  was  used 
by  Isaac  in  his  blessing  Jacob;  "God  Almighty  bless  thee,  and  give  thee 
the  blessing  of  Abraham."  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  Jacob,  in  putting 
up  this  prayer,  thought  of  these  covenant  promises  and  blessings,  and  that 
it  was  the  prayer  o^  faith.  2.  The  mistake  on  which  the  prayer  is  founded, 
which  yet  was  acceptable  to  God.  He  prayed  for  the  turning  of  the  man's 
heart  in  a  way  of  mercy ;  but  the  man's  heart  did  not  need  turning.  Yet 
Jacob  thought  it  did,  and  had  no  means  of  knowing  otherwise.  The  truth 
of  things  may  in  some  cases  be  concealed  from  us,  to  render  us  more  im- 
portunate; and  this  importunity,  though  it  may  appear  at  last  to  have  been 
unnecessary,  yet,  being  right  according  as  circumstances  appeared  at  the 
time,  God  will  approve  of  it,  and  we  shall  find  our  account  in  it.  3.  The 
resignation  with  which  he  concludes;  "If  I  be  bereaved,  I  am  bereaved!" 
It  is  God's  usual  way,  in  trying  those  whom  he  loves,  to  touch  them  in  the 
tenderest  part.  Herein  the  trial  consists.  If  there  be  one  object  round 
which  the  heart  has  entwined  more  than  all  others,  that  is  it  which  is  likely 
to  be  God's  rival,  and  of  that  we  must  be  deprived.  Yet  if,  when  it  goes,  we 
humbly  resign  it  up  into  God's  hands,  it  is  not  unusual  for  him  to  restore  it 
to  us,  and  that  with  more  than  double  interest.  Thus  Abraham,  on  giving 
up  Isaac,  received  him  again ;  and  David,  on  giving  up  hitnself  to  God  to 
do  with  him  as  seemed  good  in  his  sight,  was  preserved  in  the  midst  of  peril. 


168  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Ver.  15,  IG.  Jacob's  sons  now  betake  themselves  to  their  second  journey, 
and  do  as  their  father  had  directed  them.  On  arriving  in  Egypt,  tliey  are 
introduced  to  Joseph.  Joseph,  looking  upon  them,  beholds  his  brother 
Benjamin.  It  is  likely  that  his  eyes  would  here  be  in  some  danger  of  be- 
traying his  heart;  and  that,  being  conscious  of  this,  he  instantly  gives  orders 
to  his  steward  to  take  these  men  home  to  his  house,  and  prepare  a  dinner, 
for  that  they  must  dine  with  him  at  noon.  By  this  means  he  would  be  able 
to  compose  hiniself,.and  to  form  a  plan  how  to  conduct  and  in  what  manner 
to  discover  himself  to  them,  which  it  appears  by  the  sequel  it  was  his  design 
at  this  time  to  have  accomplished.  See  how  fruitful  love  is  of  kind  con- 
trivance, seeking  and  finding  opportunities  to  gratify  itself  by  closer  and 
closer  interviews.  Thus  when  two  of  John's  disciples  were  kindly  asked, 
"What  seek  ye?"  they  answered,  "Master,  where  (liveliest  thou?"  As  who 
should  say,  We  want  to  be  better  acquainted  with  thee,  and  to  say  more 
than  could  be  said  in  this  public  place.  And  thus  when  Jesus  himself 
would  commune  with  his  disciples,  he  saith  unto  them,  "  Children,  come 
and  dine !" 

Ver.  17,  18  But  to  Joseph's  brethren  things  still  wear  a  mysterious  and 
confounding  aspect;  that  which  he  meant  in  love,  they  construed  as  a  de- 
sign to  insnare  and  enslave  them.  The  mind,  while  in  a  state  of  dark  sus- 
pense, is  apt  to  view  every  thing  through  a  discouraging  medium.  It  will 
misconstrue  even  goodness  itself,  and  find  fear  where  no  fear  is.  Thus  it  is 
that  souls  depressed  under  God's  hand  often  misinterpret  his  providences,  and 
draw  dismal  conclusions  from  the  same  things  which  in  another  state  of 
mind  would  afford  them  relief  When  the  soul  is  in  such  a  frame  as  to 
"  refuse  to  be  comforted,"  it  will  "  remember  God,  and  be  troubled,"  Psal. 
Ixxvii.  2,  3. 

Ver.  19-33.  Being  introduced  into  the  house  of  Joseph,  however,  though 
it  excited  their  fears,  yet  it  afforded  an  opportunity  during  his  absence  of 
speaking  to  the  steward  concerning  the  money  found  in  their  sacks,  which 
was  the  circumstance  that  at  present  most  alarmed  them.  It  was  wise  in 
them  to  be  first  in  mentioning  this  matter,  that  if  any  thing  were  afterwards 
said  by  Joseph  about  it,  they  might  appeal  to  the  steward,  and  he  could  de- 
clare on  their  behalf  that,  without  any  accusation,  they  had  of  their  own 
accord  mentioned  the  whole  business  to  him,  and  returned  the  money.  But 
the  answer  of  the  steward  is  surprising.  He  could  scarcely  have  spoken 
more  suitably,  if  he  had  been  in  the  secret.  I  do  not  suppose  he  knew  that 
these  were  Joseph's  brethren ;  but  he  would  know  that  they  were  his  coun- 
trymen ;  and  perceiving  the  interest  which  he  took  in  them,  and  the  air  of 
mystery  which  attended  his  conduct  towards  them,  he  would  be  at  no  loss 
to  conclude  that  there  was  no  ill  design  against  them.  It  is  likely  he  knew 
of  the  money  being  returned  by  Joseph's  order ;  and  he  knew  his  master  too 
well  to  suppose  that,  whatever  might  be  his  design  in  it,  he  would  hurt  the 
poor  men  for  what  had  been  done  by  his  own  order.  Moreover,  this  steward, 
whoever  he  was,  appears  to  have  learnt  something  by  being  with  Joseph 
concerning  the  true  God,  the  God  of  the  Hebrews.  His  answer  is  kind, 
and  wise,  and  religious.  "Peace  be  unto  you,  fear  not;  your  God,  and  the 
God  of  your  father,  hath  given  you  treasure  in  your  sacks ;  I  had  your 
money."  q.  d.  Let  your  hearts  be  at  rest ;  I  will  be  answerable  that  you 
paid  what  was  due;  inquire  no  further  about  it;  providence  brought  it,  and 
let  that  satisfy  you.  To  render  them  still  more  at  ease,  Simeon  is  brought 
out  of  his  confinement,  and  introduced  to  them;  which,  being  done  by  the 
order  of  Joseph,  was  a  proof  of  his  being  satisfied.  The  deliverance  of  the 
hostage  was  an  evidence  that  all  was  well.    Thus  the  "  bringing  again  from 


Joseph's  second  interview  with  his  brethren.  169 

the  dead  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,"  was  to  us  a 
token  for  good,  and  therefore  is  ascribed  to  God,  as  the  God  of  peace,  Heb. 
xiii.  20. 

Ver.  24,  25.  While  Joseph  is  busy  about  his  concerns,  and  thinking  how 
he  shall  conduct  himself  towards  his  brethren,  they  are  busy  in  washing  and 
dressing  themselves  to  appear  before  him,  and  in  preparing  the  present  which 
they  had  brought  for  him.  What  was  done  required  to  be  done  in  a  hand- 
some manner,  and  they  are  disposed  to  do  their  best. 

Ver.  26,  27.  And  now,  the  business  of  the  morning  being  over,  Joseph 
enters.  They  immediately  request  his  acceptance  of  the  spices  and  sweet- 
meats of  Palestine,  sent  as  a  present  by  their  father,  bowing  down  their  faces 
to  the  earth,  as  they  had  done  before.  Thus  Joseph's  dream,  which  was 
repeated  to  him,  is  repeated  in  its  fulfilment.  There  is  nothing  said  of  his 
manner  of  receiving  it;  but  doubtless  it  was  kind  and  affable.  And  as  they 
would  present  it  in  the  name  of  their  father,  this  would  furnish  a  fair  oppor- 
tunity to  inquire  particularly  respecting  him  ;  a  subject  on  which  his  feelings 
would  be  all  alive.  It  is  charming  to  see  how  he  supports  the  character 
which  he  had  assumed,  that  of  an  Egyptian  nobleman,  who  remembered 
what  they  had  said  about  a  venerable  old  man,  of  whose  welfare  he  very  po- 
litely inquires.  "Is  your  father  well,  the  old  man  of  whom  ye  spake?  Is 
he  yet  alive?" 

Ver.  28.  They  answer  very  properly,  and  call  father  his  servant,  and  again 
make  obeisance.  Thus,  in  them,  Jacob  himself  bowed  down  to  Joseph  ;  and 
thereby  that  part  of  his  dream  was  also  fulfilled. 

Ver.  29.  When  Joseph  first  saw  his  brethren,  his  eyes,  perhaps  without 
his  being  aware  of  it,  were  fixed  on  Benjamin,  ver.  16.  But  having  detected 
himself  in  that  instance,  he  appears  to  be  more  on  his  guard  in  this.  He 
receives  the  present,  and  converses  with  them  about  their  father's  welfare, 
without  once  turning  his  eyes  towards  his  brother.  But  having  done  this,  he 
thinks  he  may  venture  a  look  at  him.  He  "  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  saw  his 
brother  Benjamin,  his  mother's  son,  and  said"  to  the  others,  but  still  under 
the  same  disguise,  "  Is  this  your  younger  brother,  of  whom  ye  spake  unto 
me?"  If  he  could  have  waited  for  an  answer,  they  would  doubtless  have  told 
him  it  was;  but  his  heart  is  too  full.  No  sooner  is  the  question  out  of  his 
lips  than  (it  may  be  with  his  hand  upon  his  head)  he  adds,  "  God  be  gracious 
unto  thee,  my  son!"  O  Joseph,  on  what  tender  ground  dost  thou  presume 
to  walk!  This  benediction,  though  under  the  disguise  of  a  good  wish  from 
a  stranger,  was  in  reality  an  effusion  of  a  full  heart,  which  in  this  manner 
sought  for  ease.     Genuine  love  longs  to  express  itself 

Ver.  30.  This  little  indulgence  of  affection,  however,  had  well  nigh  be- 
trayed him.  Ardent  desires  will  always  plead  hard  to  go  a  little  way,  and 
presume  not  to  go  too  far;  but  to  indulge  them  a  little  is  like  letting  air  into 
a  room  on  fire.  Joseph  is  so  affected  by  what  has  passed  that  he  is  obliged 
to  quit  the  company,  and  retire  into  his  chamber  to  weep  there. 

Ver.  31.  Having  recovered  himself,  and  washed  his  face,  that  they  might 
not  discover  his  tears,  he  re-enters,  and  behaves  with  much  hospitality  and 
attention. 

Ver.  32-34.  And  now  I  apprehend  it  was  Joseph's  wish  to  discover  him- 
self to  his  brethren,  or  rather  to  enable  them  to  discover  him.  There  are 
three  things  in  particular,  while  they  were  at  dinner,  each  tending  to  this 
end,  and,  as  I  conceive,  designed  for  it.  1.  The  order  of  the  tables.  One 
for  himself,  one  for  the  strangers,  and  one  for  the  Egyptians.  The  design 
of  this  was  to  set  them  a  thinking  of  him,  and  who  he  was,  or  could  be. 
That  the  Egyptians  and  Hebrews  should  eat  apart,  they  could  easily  account 
for:  but  who  or  what  is  this  man?   Is  he  not  an  Egyptian?   Yet  if  he  be, 

Vol.  III.— 22  '       P 


170  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

why  eat  by  himself?  Surely  he  must  be  a  foreigner.  2.  The  order  in  which 
they  themselves  were  seated:  it  was  "  before  him,"  so  that  they  had  full  op- 
portunity of  looking  at  him ;  and,  what  was  astonishing  to  them,  every  man 
was  placed  "according  to  his  age."  But  who  can  this  be,  that  is  acquainted 
with  their  ages  so  as  to  be  able  to  adjust  things  in  this  order?  Surely  it  must 
be  some  one  who  knows  us,  though  we  know  not  him.  Or  is  he  a  diviner? 
Who  or  what  can  he  be?  They  are  said  to  have  "  marvelled  one  at  another," 
and  well  they  might.  It  is  marvellous  that  they  did  not  hence  suspect  who 
he  was.  3.  The  peculiar  favour  which  he  expressed  to  Benjamin,  in  send- 
ing him  a  mess  five  times  more  than  the  rest.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  Benjamin  ate  more  than  the  rest ;  but  this  was  the  manner  of  showing 
special  favour  in  those  times. — See  chap.  xlv.  22,  23.  It  was  therefore  saying, 
in  effect,  I  not  only  know  all  your  ages,  but  towards  that  young  man  I  have 
more  than  a  common  regard  ....  Look  at  all  this,  and  look  at  me  ...  .  Look 
at  me,  my  brother  Benjamin.  Dost  thou  not  know  me? — But  all  was  hid  from 
them.  Their  eyes,  like  those  of  the  disciples  towards  their  Lord,  seem  to  have 
been  holden,  that  they  should  not  know  him.  Their  minds,  however,  are  eased 
from  all  apprehensions,  and  they  drank  and  were  cheerful  in  his  company. 


DISCOURSE  LI. 

THE    CUP    IN    benjamin's    SACK. 
Gen.  xliv.  1-17. 


Ver.  1,2.  As  every  measure  which  Joseph  had  yet  taken  to  lead  his 
brethren  to  discover  who  he  was  had  failed,  he  must  now  have  recourse  to 
another  expedient  to  detain  them.  Their  sacks  are  ordered  to  be  filled,  and 
their  beasts  laden  with  as  much  corn  as  they  can  carry,  their  money  restored 
as  before,  and  a  silver  cup  put  into  the  sack's  mouth  of  the  youngest.  All 
this  is  love;  but  it  is  love  still  working  in  a  mysterious  way.  The  object 
seems  to  be  to  dttain  Benjamin,  and  to  fry  the  rest. 

Ver.  3-6.  Having  stopped  over  the  night,  next  morning  at  break  of  day 
they  are  dismissed,  and  set  off  for  home.  After  the  treatment  which  they 
received,  we  may  suppose  they  were  now  all  very  happy.  Simeon  is  restored, 
Benjamin  is  safe,  and  they  are  well  laden  with  provisions  for  the  family. 
They  would  now  be  ready  to  anticipate  the  pleasure  of  seeing  their  father, 
and  easing  his  anxious  heart.  But,  lo!  another  dark  cloud  presently  over- 
spreads their  sky.  They  had  scarcely  got  out  of  the  city  before  the  steward 
overtakes  them,  and  charges  them  with  the  heinous  crime  of  having  stolen 
his  lord's  cup;  a  crime  which  would  have  been  highly  offensive  at  any  time, 
but  much  more  so  after  the  generous  treatment  which  they  had  received. 
And,  to  perplex  them  the  more,  he  intimates  as  if  his  lord  was  a  diviner, 
and  must  needs  be  able  to  find  out  stolen  property!  Such  we  see  was 
heathenism  in  those  early  ages;  and  such  heathenism  is  found  even  in 
Christian  countries  to  this  day. 

Ver.  7-9.  At  this  they  are  all  thunderstruck  with  surprise;  yet,  conscious 
of  their  innocence,  they  disown  the  charge,  and  express  the  utmost  abhor- 
rence at  such  a  conduct.  They  appeal  also  to  a  fiict  with  which  the  steward 
was  well  acquainted ;  namely,  their  having  brought  again  the  money  which 
they  had  found  in  their  sacks.  Did  this  conduct  comport  with  the  character 
of  thieves?    Can  it  be  supposed  after  this,  say  they,  that  we  should  steal  out 


THE  CUP  IN  benjamin's  SACK.  171 

of  my  lord's  house  either  silver  or  gold?  Search  us  throughout.  On  whom- 
soever it  be  found,  let  him  die,  and  we  will  all  consent  to  become  slaves! — 
Such  was  their  confidence  that  the  charge  was  unfounded ;  and  their  invok- 
ing so  severe  a  penalty  would  be  a  presumptive  evidence  that  it  was  so. 

Ver.  10,  11.  The  steward,  who  is  well  aware  of  some  profound  design  on 
the  part  of  his  master,  though  he  knew  not  the  whole  of  it,  humours  the 
thing  with  much  address.  He  accedes  to  the  mode  of  trial,  but  softens  the 
penalty,  proposing  that  none  but  the  guilty  should  suffer,  and  he  nothing 
more  than  the  loss  of  his  liberty.  With  this  they  readily  acquiesce ;  and 
being  stung  with  reproach,  they,  with  indignant  sensations,  hastily  unlade 
every  man  his  beast,  in  order  to  disprove  the  charge.  How  willing  is  con- 
scious innocence  that  things  should  be  searched  to  the  bottom ;  and  how 
confident  of  an  honourable  acquittal  1 

Ver.  12.  And  now  search  is  made  from  the  eldest  to  the  youngest.  Ten 
out  of  eleven  are  clear,  and  enjoy  the  triumph  of  a  good  conscience;  but, 
lo,  in  the  sack  of  the  youngest  the  cup  is  found !  Every  thing  seems  con- 
trived to  give  an  edge  to  their  sorrow.  It  was  when  they  were  leaving  Egypt, 
in  high  spirits,  that  they  were  stopped;  and  now  when  they  have  dis- 
proved the  charge,  except  in  one  instance,  lo,  that  instance  fails  them !  To 
have  their  hopes  raised  within  one  step  of  an  acquittal,  and  then  be  at  once 
disappointed,  was  very  affecting.  "  Thou  hast  lifted  me  up  and  cast  me  down." 
But  what  a  confounding  event!  Could  they  really  think  for  a  moment 
that  Benjamin  had  been  guilty  of  the  mean  and  wicked  action  which  seems 
to  be  proved  upon  him  ?  I  do  not  suppose  they  could.  They  must  remember 
having  found  the  money  in  their  sacks'  mouths,  when,  nevertheless,  they 
knew  themselves  to  be  innocent.  Nay,  and  in  searching  for  the  cup,  though 
nothing  is  now  said  of  the  money,  yet  they  must  have  found  it  there  a  second 
time.  All  this  would  acquit  Benjamin  in  their  account.  Yet  what  can  they 
allege  in  his  favour,  without  reflecting  upon  his  accusers?  The  article  is 
found  upon  him;  which  is  a  species  of  proof  that  seems  to  admit  of  no  an- 
swer. A  deep  and  dismal  silence  therefore  pervades  the  company.  In  very 
agony  they  rend  their  clothes,  reload  their  beasts,  and  return  into  the  city. 
As  they  walk  along,  their  thoughts  turn  upon  another  event — an  event  which 
had  more  than  once  occurred  to  their  remembrance  already.  It  is  the  Lord! 
We  are  murderers;  and  though  we  have  escaped  human  detection,  yet 
Divine  vengeance  will  not  suffer  us  to  live.  There,  though  guilty,  we  were 
acquitted ;  here,  though  innocent,  we  shall  be  condemned  ! 

Ver.  13-17.  Arriving  at  Joseph's  house,  where  he  still  was,  no  doubt  ex- 
pecting their  return,  Judah  and  his  brethren  fell  prostrate  before  him.  Judah 
is  particularly  mentioned,  as  having  a  special  interest  at  stake  on  account  of 
his  suretiship ;  but  neither  he  nor  his  bretiiren  can  utter  a  word,  but  wait  in 
this  humble  posture  to  hear  what  is  said  to  them. 

Joseph,  having  carried  matters  to  this  height,  once  more  assumes  the  tone 
of  a  great  man,  highly  offended ;  suggesting,  withal,  that  they  ought  to  have 
known  that  such  a  man  as  he  could  certainly  divine,  and  that  therefore  it 
would  be  in  vain  to  think  of  escaping  with  his  property  undetected. 

As  Judah  appeared  foremost  on  their  entrance,  Joseph's  words  would 
probably  be  directed  to  him  for  an  answer.  But  what  answer  can  be  given? 
The  surety  and  the  advocate  is  here  dumb ;  for  he  had  been  a  party  in  guilt; 
not  indeed  in  the  present  instance,  but  in  another.  He  can  therefore  only 
exclaim,  "  What  shall  we  say  unto  my  lord?  What  shall  we  speak,  or  how  shall 
we  clear  ourselves?  God  hathfoiind  out  the  iniquity  of  his  servants  !  Behold, 
we  are  my  lord's  servants ;  both  we,  and  he  also  with  whom  the  cup  is  found ! " 
He  did  not  mean  by  this  to  plead  guilty  to  the  charge;  but  neither  dare  he 
plead  innocent,  for  that  would  have  been  accusing  the  offended  party  of  having 


172  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

insnared  them,  and  so  have  made  the  case  still  worse ;  neither  was  he  able  to 
confront  the  evidence  which  appeared  against  his  younger  brother.  What  can 
he  say  or  do?  He  can  only  suggest  that  it  is  a  mysterious  providence,  in  which 
it  appears  to  be  the  design  of  God  to  punish  them  for  their  former  crimes. 
This  answer,  which  was  manifestly  dictated  by  what  lay  uppermost  in  all 
their  minds,  was  at  the  same  time  the  most  delicate  and  modest  manner  in 
which  he  could  possibly  have  insinuated  a  denial  of  the  charge.  While  it 
implied  their  innocence  in  the  present  instance,  it  contained  no  reflection 
upon  others,  but  an  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine  justice,  and  a  willingness 
to  bear  the  punishment  that  might  be  inflicted  upon  them,  as  coming  from 
above.  If  Joseph  had  really  been  the  character  which  he  appeared  to  be, 
such  an  answer  must  have  gone  far  towards  disarming  him  of  resentment. 
How  forcible  are  right  words !  The  simple  and  genuine  utterance  of  the 
heart  is  the  most  irresistible  of  all  eloquence. 

Joseph,  in  answer,  disclaims  every  thing  that  might  wear  the  appearance 
of  cruelty.  No,  he  will  not  make  bond-men  of  them,  but  merely  of  him  on 
whom  the  cup  was  found.  Such  is  the  sentence.  They  may  go  about  their 
business;  but  Benjamin  must  be  detained  in  slavery.  Alas!  and  is  this 
sentence  irrevocable.  Better  all  be  detained  than  he;  for  it  will  be  the 
death  of  his  father!  What  can  be  said,  or  done?  The  surety  now  becomes 
the  advocate,  and  that  to  purpose.  Such  an  intercession  as  that  which  fol- 
lows we  shall  no  where  find,  unless  it  be  in  His  whom  the  Father  "  heareth 
always."  But  I  shall  here  close  the  present  discourse,  with  only  a  reflection 
or  two  on  the  subject. 

1.  We  see  a  striking  analogy  between  the  conduct  of  Joseph  towards  his 
brother  Benjamin,  and  that  of  Jesus  towards  his  people.  "Whom  I  love,  I 
rebuke  and  chasten."  Benjamin  must  have  thought  himself  peculiarly  un- 
happy to  be  one  day  marked  out  as  a  favourite,  and  the  next  convicted  as  a 
criminal ;  and  yet  in  neither  instance  able  to  account  for  it.  It  might  teach 
him  however,  when  the  mystery  came  to  be  unravelled,  not  to  draw  hasty 
conclusions  from  uncertain  premises ;  but  to  wait  and  see  the  issue  of  things, 
before  he  decided  upon  them.  Such  a  lesson  it  will  be  well  for  us  to  learn 
from  it.  The  Lord  often  brings  us  into  difficulties  that  he  may  detain  us, 
as  I  may  say,  from  leaving  him.  Were  it  not  for  these,  he  would  have 
fewer  importunate  applications  at  a  throne  of  grace  than  he  has.  He  does 
not  "  afflict  willingly,"  or  from  his  heart ;  but  from  necessity,  and  that  he 
may  bring  us  nearer  to  him. 

2.  We  see  also  a  striking  analogy  between  Joseph's  conduct  towards  his 
brethren,  and  that  of  the  Lord  towards  us.  In  all  he  did,  I  suppose,  it  was 
his  design  to  try  them.  His  putting  the  cup  into  Benjamin's  sack,  and  con- 
victing him  of  the  supposed  guilt,  would  try  their  love  to  him,  and  to  their 
aged  father.  Had  they  been  of  the  same  disposition  as  when  they  sold 
Joseph,  they  would  not  have  cared  for  him.  Their  language  would  have 
been  somewhat  to  this  effect : — Let  this  young  favourite  go,  and  be  a  slave 
in  Egypt.  If  he  have  stolen  the  cup,  let  him  suffer  for  it.  We  have  a  good 
riddance  of  him  ;  and  without  being  under  the  necessity  of  dealing  with  him 
as  we  did  with  his  brother.  And  as  to  the  old  man,  if  he  will  indulge  in 
such  partial  fondness,  let  him  take  the  consequence. — But,  happily,  they  are 
now  of  another  mind.  God  appears  to  have  made  use  of  this  mysterious 
providence,  and  of  Joseph's  behaviour,  among  other  things,  to  bring  them 
to  repentance.  And  the  cup  being  found  in  Benjamin's  sack  would  give 
them  occasion  to  manifest  it.  It  must  have  afforded  the  most  heartfelt 
satisfaction  to  Joseph,  amidst  all  the  pain  which  it  cost  him,  to  witness  their 
tender  concern  for  Benjamin,  and  for  the  life  of  their  aged  father.  This  of 
itself  was  sufficient  to  excite,  on  his  part,  the  fullest  forgiveness.    Thus  God 


judah's  intercession.  173 

is  represented  as  "looking  upon  a  contrite  spirit,"  and  even  overlooking 
heaven  and  earlh  for  it,  Isa.  Ixvi.  1,  2.  Next  to  the  gift  of  his  Son,  he  ac- 
counts it  the  greatest  blessing  he  can  bestow  upon  a  sinful  creature.  Now 
that  on  which  he  sets  so  high  a  value  he  may  be  expected  to  produce,  even 
though  it  may  be  at  the  expense  of  our  present  peace.  Nor  have  we  any 
cause  of  complaint,  but  the  contrary.  What  were  the  suspense,  the  anxiety, 
and  the  distress  of  Joseph's  brethren,  in  comparison  of  that  which  followed? 
And  what  are  the  suspense,  the  anxiety,  and  the  distress  of  an  awakened  sin- 
ner, or  a  tried  believer,  in  comparison  of  the  joy  of  faith,  or  the  grace  that 
shall  be  revealed  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ?  It  will  then  be  found 
that  our  light  affliction,  which  was  but  for  a  moment,  has  been  working  for 
us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory. 


DISCOURSE  LIT. 
judah's  intercession. 

Gen.  xliv.  18-34. 


Joseph,  in  the  character  of  a  judge,  has  sternly  decided  the  cause,  that 
Benjamin,  the  supposed  offender,  should  be  detained  a  bond-man,  and  the 
rest  may  go  in  peace.  But  Judah,  the  surety,  wounded  to  the  heart  with 
this  decision,  presumes  as  an  advocate  to  plead,  not  that  the  sentence  may 
be  annulled,  but  that  it  may  be  changed  with  respect  to  its  object.  It  was  a 
difficult  and  delicate  undertaking;  for  when  a  judge  has  once  decided  a 
cause,  his  honour  is  pledged  to  abide  by  it.  He  must,  therefore,  have  felt 
the  danger  of  incurring  his  displeasure,  by  attempting  to  induce  him  in  that 
stage  of  the  business  to  alter  his  purpose.  But  love  to  his  father,  and  to  his 
brother,  with  a  recollection  of  his  own  engagement,  impose  upon  him  the 
most  imperious  necessity. 

Ver.  18.  Prompted  by  these  sentiments,  he  approaches  the  judge.  His 
first  attempt  is  to  conciliate  him:  "O  my  lord,  let  thy  servant,  I  pray  thee, 
speak  a  word  in  my  lord's  ears,  and  let  not  thine  anger  burn  against  thy 
servant;  for  thou  art  even  as  Pharaoh."  This  brief  introduction  was  admi- 
rably calculated  to  soften  resentment,  and  obtain  a  patient  hearing.  The 
respectful  title  given  him,  My  lord — the  entreaty  for  permission  to  speak — 
the  intimation  that  it,  should  be  but  as  it  were  a  word — the  deprecation  of 
his  anger,  as  being  in  a  manner  equal  to  that  of  Pharaoh — and  all  this  pre- 
faced with  an  interjection  of  sorrow,  as  though  nothing  but  the  deepest  dis- 
tress should  have  induced  him  to  presume  to  speak  on  such  a  subject, — 
showed  him  to  be  well  qualified  for  his  undertaking. 

Ver.  19.  And  now,  perceiving  in  his  judge  a  willingness  to  hear,  he  pro- 
ceeds, not  by  passionate  declamations  and  appeals  to  his  generosity,  but  by 
narrating  a  simple  tale,  and  then  grounding  a  plea  upon  it.  Truth  is  the 
best  weapon  wherewith  to  assail  the  heart:  only  let  truth  be  represented  in 
an  affecting  light.  His  object,  remember,  is  to  persuade  the  judge  so  far  to 
reverse  the  doom  as  to  accept  of  him,  the  surety,  for  a  bond-man,  instead 
of  the  supposed  offender.  Mark  how  every  thing  he  says  leads  to  this  issue. 
'My  lord  asked  his  servants,  saying,  Have  ye  a  father,  or  a  brother?"  Here 
the  judge  is  gently  reminded  that  the  occasion  of  this  unhappy  young  man 
coming  at  all  into  Egypt  was  what  he  himself  had  said.  He  does  not  mean 
to  reflect  upon  him  for  it ;  but  he  might  hope  that  merely  this  circumstance 

p2 


174  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

would  have  some  weight  in  softening  his  resentment  against  him.  It  ia 
observable,  however,  that  in  repeating  the  questions  of  Joseph,  or  their  own 
former  answers  to  him,  he  does  not  confine  himself  to  terms.     Joseph  did 

not  say,  in  so  many  words.  Have  ye  a  father,  &c nor  did  they  make 

answer  in  the  exact  form  as  is  here  repeated;  but  he  pretends  only  to  repeat 
the  tenor  of  what  passed,  of  the  justness  of  which  the  judge  himself  would 
be  well  acquainted.  Nor  is  this  verbal  deviation  to  be  attributed  merely  to 
the  failure  of  memory;  for  he  avails  himself  of  it  to  introduce  every  affecting 
circumstance  that  could  possibly  touch  the  heart,  which  if  he  had  adhered  to 
a  mere  verbal  rehearsal,  would  have  been  lost.  Of  this  the  following  words 
are  a  remarkable  instance. 

Ver.  20.  "And  we  said  unto  my  lord,  We  have  a  father,  an  old  man,  and 
a  child  of  his  old  age,  a  little  one;  and  his  brother  is  dead,  and  he  alone  is 
left  of  his  mother,  and  his  father  loveth  him."  All  these  things  were  said, 
I  believe,  either  expressly  or  by  implication,  but  not  in  this  oi'der.  As  they 
were  said  before,  they  were  merely  rays  of  light  diffused  in  the  air;  but  here 
they  are  reduced  to  a  focus,  which  burns  every  thing  before  it.  I  need  not 
repeat  hov/  every  word  in  this  inimitable  passage  tells ;  how  it  touches  every 
principle  of  compassion  in  the  human  mind ;  in  short,  how  it  rises,  like  a 
swelling  wave,  till  it  overcomes  resistance,  and  in  a  manner  compels  tha 
judge  to  say,  in  his  own  mind,  "  Well,  whatever  this  young  man  has  done, 
he  must  not  be  detained !" 

Ver.  21-29.  Having  already  intimated  that  the  coming  of  the  lad  was 
occasioned  by  the  inquiries  concerning  the  family,  and  made  a  proper  use 
of  that,  the  advocate  proceeds  another  step,  and  reminds  his  judge  that  it 
was  in  obedience  to  Jiis  command:  "Thou  saidst.  Bring  him  down  unto  me, 
that  I  may  set  mine  eyes  upon  him."  This  circumstance,  though  it  con- 
veyed no  reflection,  any  more  than  the  former,  yet  would  work  upon  a 
generous  mind,  not  to  distress  an  aged  father  by  taking  advantage  of  an 
affair  which  had  occurred  merely  from  a  willingness  to  oblige  him.  To  this 
he  adds,  that  they  discovered  at  the  time  a  reluctance,  on  their  father's 
account,  to  comply  with  this  part  of  his  request;  but  he  would  have  no 
denial,  protesting^  that,  except  their  younger  brother  came  with  them,  they 
should  see  his  face  no  more.  Nor  was  this  all :  not  only  did  they  feel  reluc- 
tant on  their  father's  account,  but  he,  when  told  of  it  on  their  return,  felt  a 
still  greater  reluctance.  The  manner  in  which  he  introduces  his  father's 
objection,  repeating  it  in  his  own  words,  or  rather  in  his  own  words  at  dif- 
ferent times  reduced  as  to  a  focus,  is  amazing.  We  repeated,  q.  d.,  the 
words  of  my  lord  to  our  father;  and  when,  feeling  the  imperious  calls  of 
nature,  he  requested  us  to  go  again,  and  buy  a  little  food,  we  answered  him 
that  we  could  not  go  without  our  younger  brother,  for  we  could  gain  no 
admittance  except  he  were  with  us.  On  this  painful  occasion  thy  servant, 
our  father,  addressed  us  as  follows: — "Ye  know  that  my  wife  bare  me  two 
sons.  And  the  one  went  out  from  me,  and  I  said.  Surely  he  is  torn  in 
pieces :  and  I  saw  him  not  since.  And  if  ye  take  this  also  from  me,  and 
mischief  befall  him,  ye  shall  bring  down  my  grey  hairs  with  sorrow  to  the 
grave !" 

To  point  out  the  force  of  this  overwhelming  argument  requires  a  view  of 
the  human  mind,  when,  like  a  complicate  machine  in  motion,  the  various 
powers  and  passions  of  it  are  at  work.  The  whole  calamity  of  the  family 
arising  from  obedience  to  the  judge's  own  command;  an  obedience  yielded 
to  on  their  own  part  with  great  reluctance,  because  of  the  situation  of  their 
aged  father;  and  on  his  part  with  still  greater,  because  his  brother  was  as  he 
supposed  torn  in  pieces,  and  he  the  only  surviving  child  of  a  beloved  wife; 
and  the  declaration  of  a  venerable,  grey-headed  man,  that  if  he  lose  him  it 


judah's  intercession.  175 

will  be  his  death  ....  was  enough  to  melt  the  heart  of  any  one  possessed 
of  human  feelings.  If  Joseph  had  really  been  what  he  appeared,  an  Egyp- 
tian nobleman,  he  must  have  yielded  the  point.  To  have  withstood  it, 
would  have  proved  him  not  a  man,  much  less  a  man  who  "  feared  God,"  as 
he  had  professed  to  be.  But  if  such  would  have  been  his  feelings  even  on 
that  supposition,  what  must  they  have  been  to  know  what  he  knew?  What 
impression  must  it  have  made  upon  his  mind  to  be  told  of  Jacob's  words ; 
"My  wife  bare  me  two  sons;  and  the  one  went  out  from  me,  and  I  said. 
Surely  he  is  torn  in  pieces!" 

It  is  also  observable  with  what  singular  adroitness  Judah  avoids  making 
mention  of  this  elder  brother  of  the  lad,  in  any  other  than  his  father's  words. 
He  did  not  say  he  was  torn  in  pieces.  No;  he  knew  it  was  not  so!  *  But 
his  father  had  once  used  that  language ;  and  though  he  had  lately  spoken  in 
a  manner  which  bore  hard  on  him  and  his  brethren,  yet  this  is  passed  over, 
and  nothing  hinted  but  what  will  turn  to  account. 

Ver.  30,  31.  The  inference  of  what  effect  the  detention  of  Benjamin 
would  have  on  the  aged  parent  might  have  been  left  for  the  judge  to  make; 
but  it  is  a  part  of  the  subject  which  will  bear  a  little  enlargement,  and  that 
to  a  very  good  purpose.  Thus  therefore  he  proceeds :  "  When  I  come  to  thy 
servant  my  father,  and  the  lad  be  not  with  us,  (seeing  that  his  life  is  bound 
up  in  the  lad's  life,)  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  he  seeth  that  the  lad  is  not 
with  us,  he  will  die;  and  thy  servants  shall  bring  down  the  grey  hairs  of  thy 
servant  our  father  with  sorrow  to  the  grave !"  The  whole  of  this  intercession 
taken  together  is  not  a  twentieth  part  the  length  of  what  our  best  advocates 
would  have  made  of  it  in  a  court  of  justice;  yet  the  speaker  finds  room  to 
expatiate  upon  those  parts  which  are  the  most  tender,  and  on  which  a 
minute  description  will  heighten  the  general  effect.  We  are  surprised, 
delighted,  and  melted  with  his  charming  parenthesis:  "Seeing  that  his  life 
is  bound  up  in  the  lad's  life."  It  is  true  it  does  not  seem  to  inform  us  of 
any  thing  which  we  might  not  have  known  without  it;  but  it  represents 
what  was  before  stated  in  a  more  affecting  light.  It  is  also  remarkable  how 
he  repeats  things  which  are  the  most  tender;  as,  "  When  I  come,  and  the  lad 
be  not  with  us."  "  It  shall  come  to  pass,  when  he  seeth  that  the  lad  is  not 
with  us."  So  also  in  describing  the  effect  this  would  produce:  "When  he 
seeth  that  the  lad  is  not  with  us,  he  will  die;  and  we  shall  bring  down  the 
grey  hairs  of  thy  servant  my  father  loith  sorrow  to  the  grave."  This  last  sen- 
tence, also,  not  only  repeals  the  death  of  the  aged  parent  in  a  more  affecting 
manner  than  the  first,  but  contains  a  plea  for  Benjamin's  release,  founded  on 
the  cruel  situation  of  their  being  otherwise  forced  in  a  manner  to  become 
paricides ! 

Ver.  32-34.  One  plea  more  remains,  which  will  at  once  contain  an 
apology  for  his  importunity,  and  make  way  for  what,  with  humble  submis- 
sion, he  means  to  propose.  This  is,  "Thy  servant  became  surety  for  the  lad 
unto  my  father."  And,  that  he  may  make  the  deeper  impression,  he  repeats 
the  terms  of  it:  "If  I  bring  him  not  unto  thee,  let  me  bear  the  blame  for 
ever."  And  now,  having  stated  his  peculiar  situation,  he  presumes  to  ex- 
press hi's  petition.  But  why  did  he  not  mention  that  at  first,  and  allege  what 
he  has  alleged  in  support  of  it?  Such  might  have  been  the  process  of  a  less 
skilful  advocate;  but  Judah's  feelings  taught  him  better.  His  withholding 
that  till  the  last  was  holding  the  mind  of  his  judge  in  a  state  of  affecting 
suspense,  and  preventing  the  objections  which  an  abrupt  introduction  of  it 
at  the  beginning  might  have  created.  He  might  in  that  case  have  cut  him 
short,  as  he  had  done  before,  saying,  "God  forbid  that  I  should  do  so:  the 
man  in  whose  hand  the  cup  is  found,  he  shall  be  my  servant."  But  he  could 
not  refuse  to  hear  his  tale ;  and  by  that  he  was  prepared  to  hear  his  petition. 


176  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Thus  Esther,  when  presenting  her  petition  to  Ahasuerus,  kept  it  back  till 
she  had,  by  holding  him  in  suspense,  raised  his  desire  to  the  utmost  height 
to  know  what  it  was,  and  induced  in  him  a  predisposition  to  grant  it. 

But  what  is  Judah's  petition?  That  the  crime  may  be  passed  over,  and 
that  they  may  all  return  home  to  their  father?  No :  "  Let  thy  servant,  I  pray 
thee,  abide  instead  of  the  lad  a  bond-man  to  my  lord,  and  let  the  lad  go  up 
with  his  brethren!"  If  we  except  the  grace  of  another  and  greater  Substi- 
tute, never  surely  was  there  a  more  generous  proposal !  And  when  to  this 
is  added  the  filial  regard  from  which  it  proceeds,  "  for  how  shall  I  go  up  to 
my  father,  and  the  lad  be  not  with  me;  lest  peradventure  I  see  the  evil  that 
shall  come  on  my  father!"  this  in  itself,  distinct  from  all  which  had  gone 
before  it,  was  enough  to  overcome  every  objection. 


DISCOURSE  LIII. 

JOSEPH    MAICES    HIMSELF    KNOWN    TO    HIS    BRETHREN. 

Gen.  xlv. 

Ver.  1-3.  The  close  of  Judah's  speech  must  have  been  succeeded  by  a 
solemn  pause.  Every  heart  is  full;  but  every  tongue  is  silent.  The  audience, 
if  they  understood  the  language,  would  be  all  in  tears.  The  ten  brethren, 
viewing  the  whole  as  the  righteous  judgment  of  God  upon  them,  would  be 
full  of  fearful  amazement  as  to  the  issue.  Benjamin  would  feel  both  for  his 
dear  father  and  his  beloved  brother  who  had  offered  to  give  himself  for  him ! 
But  what  saith  the  judge?  How  does  he  stand  affected?  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  he  must  have  covered  his  face  during  the  greater  part  of  the  time 
in  which  Judah  had  been  pleading ;  and  now  this  will  not  suffice.  The  fire 
burns  within  him,  and  it  must  have  vent.  "Cause  every  man,"  said  he,  "to 
depart  from  me!"  And  then  he  breaks  out  in  a  loud  weeping,  so  that  the 
Egyptians  from  without  heard  him.  Their  minds  no  doubt  must  be  filled 
with  amazement,  and  desire  to  know  the  cause  of  this  strange  affair;  while 
the  parties  within  would  be  still  more  confounded,  to  witness  such  a  burst 
of  sorrow  from  him,  who,  but  awhile  before,  was  all  sternness  and  severity. 
But  now  the  mystery  is  at  once  revealed,  and  that  in  a  few  words — I  AM 
JOSEPH  ! ! !  Doth  my  father  yet  live!  If  they  had  been  struck  by  an 
electrical  shock,  or  the  most  tremendous  peal  of  thunder  had  instantly  been 
heard  over  their  heads,  its  effect  had  been  nothing  in  comparison  of  that 
which  these  words  must  have  produced.  They  are  all  struck  dumb,  and  as 
it  were  petrified  with  terror.  If  he  had  been  actually  dead,  and  had  risen 
and  appeared  to  them,  they  could  not  have  felt  greatly  different.  The  flood 
of  thoughts  which  would  at  once  rush  in  upon  their  minds  is  past  descrip- 
tion. No  words  could  better  express  the  general  effect  than  those  which  are 
used:  "They  could  not  answer  him;  for  they  were  troubled  at  his  presence!" 

Ver.  4-8.  A  little  mind,  amidst  all  its  sympathy,  might  have  enjoyed  the 
triumph  which  Joseph  now  had  over  them  who  once  hated  him,  and  have 
been  willing  to  make  them  feel  it;  but  he  has  made  them  feel  sufficiently 
already;  and  having  forgiven  them  in  his  heart,  he  remembers  their  sin  no 
more,  but  is  full  of  tender  solicitude  to  heal  their  wounded  spirits.  "  Come 
near  unto  me,"  saith  he,  "  I  pray  you.  And  they  came  near.  And  he  said, 
I  am  Joseph  your  brother,  whom  ye  sold  into  Egypt."  This  painful  event 
he  does  not  seem  to  have  mentioned  but  for  the  sake  of  convincing  them 


JOSEPH  MADE  KNOWN  TO  HIS  BRETHREN.  177 

that  it  was  he  himself,  even  their  brother  Joseph,  and  not  another ;  and  lest  the 
mention  of  it  should  be  taken  as  a  reflection,  and  so  add  to  their  distress,  he 
immediately  follows  it  up  with  a  dissuasive  from  overmuch  sorrow :  "  Now 
therefore  be  not  grieved,  nor  angry  with  yourselves,  that  ye  sold  me  hither: 
for  God  did  send  me  before  you  to  preserve  life.  For  these  two  years  hath 
the  famine  been  in  the  land  :  and  yet  there  are  five  years,  in  the  which  there 
shall  be  neither  earing  nor  harvest.  And  God  sent  me  before  you,  to 
preserve  you  a  posterity  in  the  earth,  and  to  save  your  lives  by  a  great 
deliverance.  So  now  it  was  not  you  that  sent  me  hither,  but  God :  and  he 
hath  made  me  a  father  to  Pharaoh,"  &c. 

In  this  soothing  and  tender  strain  did  this  excellent  man  pour  balm  into 
their  wounded  hearts.  A  less  delicate  mind  would  have  talked  of  forgiving 
them ;  but  he  entreats  them  to  forgive  themselves,  as  though  the  other  was 
out  of  the  question.  Nor  did  he  mean  that  they  should  abuse  the  doctrine 
of  providence  to  the  making  light  of  sin;  but  merely  that  they  should  eye 
the  hand  of  God  in  all,  so  as  to  be  reconciled  to  the  event,  though  they 
might  weep  in  secret  for  the  part  which  they  had  acted.  And  it  is  his  desire 
that  they  should  for  the  present,  at  least,  view  the  subject  much  in  that  point 
of  light,  which  would  arm  them  against  despondency  and  a  being  swallowed 
up  of  overmuch  sorrow.  Their  viewing  things  in  this  light  would  not  abate 
their  godly  sorrow,  but  rather  increase  it :  it  would  tend  only  to  expel  the 
sorrow  of  the  world,  which  worketh  death.  The  analogy  between  all  this, 
and  the  case  of  a  sinner  on  Christ's  first  manifesting  himself  to  his  soul,  is 
very  striking.  I  cannot  enlarge  on  particulars ;  suffice  it  to  say,  the  more 
he  views  the  doctrine  of  the  cross,  in  which  God  hath  glorified  himself,  and 
saved  a  lost  world  by  those  very  means  which  were  intended  for  evil  by  his 
murderers,  the  better  it  will  be  with  him.  He  shall  not  be  able  to  think  sin 
on  this  account  a  less,  but  a  greater,  evil ;  and  yet  he  shall  be  so  armed 
against  despondency  as  even  to  rejoice  in  what  God  hath  wrought,  while  he 
trembles  in  thinking  of  the  evils  from  which  he  has  escaped. 

Ver.  9-11.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  Joseph's  brethren  to  talk  at  present; 
he  therefore  talks  to  them.  And  to  divert  their  minds  from  terror,  and  gra- 
dually remove  the  effects  of  the  shock,  he  goes  on  to  tell  them  they  must 
make  haste  home  to  his  father,  and  say  thus  and  thus  to  him  in  his  name ; 
and  invite  him  and  all  his  family  to  come  down  forthwith  into  Egypt,  where 
he  and  they  shall  be  well  provided  for  during  the  five  years'  famine  yet  to 
come,  and  where  he  shall  be  near  unto  him. 

Ver.  12-15.  While  he  is  thus  talking  with  his  brethren,  they  would  be 
apt  to  suspect  whether  all  could  be  true,  and  whether  they  were  not  in  a 
dream,  or  imposed  upon  in  some  supernatural  way.  To  obviate  these  mis- 
givings of  mind,  he  adds,  "And  behold,  your  eyes  see,  and  the  eyes  of  my 
brother  Benjamin,  that  it  is  my  mouth  which  speaketh  unto  you,  and  you 
shall  tell  my  father  of  all  my  glory  in  Egypt."  The  former  part  of  this 
speech  must  needs  have  produced  in  him  a  fresh  flood  of  tears.  As  to  them, 
I  know  not  whether  they  could  weep  at  present.  Nothing  is  said  of  the 
kind ;  and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  they  had  too  much  fear  as  yet  mingled 
with  their  sorrow  to  admit  of  its  being  vented  in  this  manner.  He  however, 
having  made  mention  of  Benjamin,  cannot  forbear  falling  upon  his  neck 
and  weeping  over  him ;  and  Benjamin,  not  feeling  that  petrifying  guilty 
shock  which  must  have  confounded  them,  fell  upon  his  neck,  and  wept  with 
him. 

Joseph  had  said  nothing  to  his  brethren  of  forgiving  them ;  but  he  would 
now  express  as  much,  and  more,  by  his  actions;  giving  an  affectionate  kiss 
to  every  one  of  them,  accompanied  with  tears  of  tenderness.     This  appears 

Vol.  III.— 23 


1/Q  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

more  than  any  thing  to  have  removed  their  terror,  so  that  now  they  are  suf- 
ficiently composed  to  talk  icilh  him,  if  not  to  mingle  their  tears  with  his. 

Ver.  lG-24.  The  secret,  being  once  disclosed  within  doors,  soon  got  out ; 
and  the  news  of  Joseph's  brethren  being  come  flies  through  the  city,  and 
reaches  the  palace.  Pharaoh  and  his  court  too  are  well  pleased  with  it ;  or 
if  there  were  any  who  might  envy  Joseph's  high  honour,  they  would  not 
dare  to  express  it. 

In  other  cases,  Pharaoh  had  left  every  thing  to  Joseph  ;  and  Joseph  know- 
ing what  he  had  done,  and  the  confidence  which  he  possessed,  had  given 
orders  in  this  case;  yet,  to  save  his  feelings  in  having  to  invite  his  own 
relations  as  it  were  to  another  man's  house,  as  well  as  to  express  the  grati- 
tude of  the  nation  to  so  great  a  benefactor,  the  king  in  this  instance  comes 
forward,  and  gives  orders  himself  His  orders  too  were  more  liberal  than 
those  of  Joseph :  he  had  desired  them  to  bring  with  them  all  the  property 
they  had ;  but  Pharaoh  bids  them  to  disregard  their  stuff',  for  that  the  good 
of  all  the  land  of  Egypt  was  theirs.  Joseph  had  said  nothing  about  the 
mode  of  conveyance;  but  Pharaoh  gives  orders  for  wagons,  or  chariots,  as 
the  word  is  sometimes  rendered,  to  be  sent  to  fetch  them. 

Joseph,  however,  in  executing  these  orders,  gives  fresh  testimonies  of 
affection,  not  only  in  furnishing  them  with  "provisions  by  the  way,"  but  to 
each  man  changes  of  raiment,  and  to  Benjamin  his  brother  three  hundred 
pieces  of  silver,  and  five  changes  of  raiment.  And  to  his  honoured  father, 
though  he  could  not  on  account  of  business  go  and  fetch  him,  yet  he  sends 
the  richest  present ;  namely,  ten  asses  laden  with  the  good  things  of  Egypt, 
and  ten  she  asses  laden  with  corn  and  bread  and  meat  for  him  by  the  way. 
These  things  might  not  be  all  necessary;  Jacob  would  need  no  more  for 
himself  than  any  other  individual  of  the  family;  but,  as  we  saw  in  the  mess 
which  was  sent  to  Benjamin,  this  was  the  mode  at  that  time  of  expressing 
peculiar  aflfection.  To  all  this  kindness  he  added  a  word  of  counsel :  "  See 
that  ye  fall  not  out  by  the  way."  Joseph  had  already  heard  from  Reuben 
some  severe  reflections  on  his  brethren  (chap.  xlii.  22) ;  and  might  suppose 
that  such  things  would  be  repeated  when  they  were  alone.  One  might  be 
accused  of  this,  and  another  of  that,  till  all  their  minds  would  be  grieved  and 
wounded.  But  he  that  could  find  in  his  heart  to  love  them  after  all  their 
unworthy  conduct,  gives  them,  as  I  may  say,  "a  new  commandment,  that 
they  should  love  one  another !" 

Ver.  25-28.  And  now  the  young  people  betake  themselves  to  their  jour- 
ney, and  in  a  little  time  arrive  at  their  fiither's  house.  Jacob  had  doubtless 
been  looking  and  longing  for  their  return,  and  that  with  many  fears  and 
misgivings  of  mind.  If  the  matter  was  announced  as  suddenly  as  it  is  here 
related,  it  is  not  surprising  that  "  Jacob's  heart  fainted,  and  that  he  believed 
them  not !"  It  must  appear  too  much  to  be  true.  The  suddenness  of  the 
transition  would  produce  an  effect  like  that  of  fire  and  water  coming  in  con- 
tact ;  and  though  he  had  suspected  that  Joseph  had  not  been  fairly  treated 
by  his  brethren,  yet  he  never  seems  to  have  doubted  that  he  was  dead.  It 
would  appear  therefore,  at  first,  as  if  they  meant  to  tantalize  him.  Perhaps, 
too,  we  may  partly  account  for  this  incredulity  from  the  aptness  there  is  in 
a  dejected  mind  to  believe  what  is.  against  him  rather  than  what  is  for  him. 
When  they  brought  the  bloody  garment,  he  readily  believed,  saying,  "  Joseph 
is.  without  doubt  rent  in  pieces  I"  But  when  good  news  is  told  him,  it 
seems  too  good  to  be  true ! 

They  went  on,  however,  and  told  him  of  all  the  words  of  Joseph  ;  that  is, 
of  the  invitations  which  he  sent  by  them ;  and,  as  a  proof,  pointed  to  the 
wagons  which  were  come  to  take  him  down.  The  sight  of  these  overcomes 
the  incredulity  of  the  patriarch,  and  revives  his  spirit.     "  It  is  enough,"  said 


Jacob's  going  down  into  egtpt,  179 

he:  "Joseph  my  son  is  yet  alive,  I  will  go  and  see  him  before  I  die!" 
Yes,  this  was  enough,  not  only  to  remove  his  doubts,  but  to  heal  his  wounded 
heart,  to  set  all  right,  to  solve  all  mysteries,  and  to  satisfy  his  soul.  He  had 
no  more  wishes  on  this  side  the  grave.  No  mention  is  made  of  how  he 
received  the  gifts,  or  what  he  said  of  his  son's  glory :  it  was  enough  for  him 
that  he  was  alive.  The  less  must  give  way  to  the  greater.  He  seems  to 
have  considered  death  as  near  at  hand,  and  as  though  he  had  nothing  to  do 
but  to  go  and  see  him,  and,  like  old  Simeon  by  the  Saviour,  depart  in  peace, 
chap.  xlvi.  30.  But  he  must  live  a  few  years  longer,  and  reflect  upon  the 
wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  in  all  these  mysterious  events. 


DISCOURSE  LIV. 

Jacob's  going  down  into  egypt. 
Gen.  xlvi. 

The  patriarch,  having  resolved  to  go  and  see  his  beloved  Joseph,  soon 
gets  ready  for  his  journey,  and  takes  with  him  "  all  that  he  had."  It  was 
generous  in  Pharaoh  to  propose  his  leaving  the  stuff  behind  him,  but  Jacob 
was  not  elated  with  the  riches  of  Egypt,  and  might  wish  to  put  his  friends 
to  as  little  expense  as  possible.  Those  things  which  Pharaoh  would  call 
stuff  might  also  have  a  peculiar  value  in  his  esteem,  as  having  been  given 
him  in  answer  to  prayer,  chap,  xxviii.  20.  What  is  given  by  our  best  Friend 
should  not  be  set  at  naught. 

But  does  not  Jacob  acknowledge  God  in  this  undertaking.  It  is  a  very 
important  one  to  him  and  to  his  posterity.  Surely  he  does  not  "  use  light- 
ness" in  such  an  affair;  and  "  the  thing  which  he  purposeth  is  not  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh."  No,  he  will  solemnly  invoke  the  Divine  blessing,  but  not 
till  he  has  gone  one  day's  journey.  He  has  doubdess  privately  committed 
his  way  to  God,  and  we  hope  was  satisfied  as  to  the  path  of  duty ;  but  he 
might  have  a  special  reason  for  deferring  his  public  devotions  till  he  should 
arrive  at  Beersheba.  This  was  a  distinguished  spot :  what  had  there  taken 
place  would  tend  to  assist  him  in  his  approaches  to  God.  It  was  there  that 
Abraham,  after  many  changes  and  trials,  "  called  on  the  name  of  the  ever- 
lasting God;"  and  there  that  Isaac  had  the  promise  renewed  to  him,  "  built 
an  altar,  and  called  also  upon  the  name  of  Jehovah."  This  therefore  shall 
be  the  place  where  Jacob  will  offer  a  solemn  sacrifice,  and  invoke  the  Divine 
blessing  on  himself  and  his  children. 

Arriving  at  the  appointed  place  towards  evening,  he  and  all  his  company 
stop;  and  having  reared  an  altar,  or  repaired  that  which  had  been  built 
aforetime,  "offered  sacrifices  to  the  God  of  his  father  Isaac."  Jacob,  in  his 
approaches  to  God,  did  not  forget  to  avail  himself  of  the  covenant  made 
with  his  forefathers,  and  of  the  promises  already  on  record.  His  coming  to 
this  place  seems  to  have  been  with  the  very  design  that  his  eyes,  in  behold- 
ing the  surrounding  objects,  might  assist  his  mind  and  affect  his  heart  in  the 
recollection.  Nor  must  we  in  ours  forget  to  avail  ourselves  of  the  covenant 
of  God  in  Christ,  in  which  is  all  our  salvation.  The  remembrance  of  the 
godliness  of  our  predecessors  also,  in  like  circumstances  with  ourselves,  may 
have  a  happy  influence  on  our  devotions.  It  is  sweet  to  a  holy  mind  to  be 
able  to  say,  "  He  is  my  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him  :  my  father's  God,  and  I 
will  build  him  a  habitation !" 


180  EXPOSITION  OP  GENESIS. 

Ver.  2-4.  Jacob,  having  closed  the  day  by  a  solemn  act  of  worship,  retires 
to  rest;  and,  as  in  a  former  instance,  God  appeared  and  spake  to  him  in 
visions  of  the  night ;  calling  him  twice  by  name,  "  Jacob,  Jacob !"  To 
which  the  patriarch  answers,  "  Here  am  I,"  ready  to  hear  what  God  the 
Lord  will  speak  unto  his  servant.  And  he  said,  "  I  am  God."  To  one  so 
well  acquainted  with  the  Divine  character  as  Jacob  was,  this  would  be  cheer- 
ing ;  especially  as  it  would  indicate  his  acceptance  of  the  sacrifice,  and  his 
being  with  him  in  the  way  he  went.  It  would  seem  enough  for  a  godly 
mind  to  know  that  God  is  with  him.  But,  in  compassion  to  Jacob,  it  is 
added,  "  the  God  of  thy  father."  As  such  he  had  sought  him,  and  as  such 
he  found  him.  This  language  amounted  to  a  renewal  of  the  covenant  of 
Abraham,  that  "  God  would  bless,  and  make  him  a  blessing ;  and  that  iu 
him,  and  his  seed,  all  the  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed."  And, 
lest  this  should  be  thought  too  general,  it  is  added,  "  Fear  not  to  go  down 
into  Egypt ;  for  I  will  there  make  of  thee  a  great  nation.  I  will  go  down 
with  thee  into  Egypt ;  and  I  will  also  surely  bring  thee  up  again,  and  Joseph 
shall  put  his  hand  upon  thine  eyes."  Though  Jacob's  affection  to  Joseph 
made  him  resolve  at  first  to  go  and  see  him,  yet  it  is  likely  he  had  after- 
wards some  misgivings  of  mind  upon  the  subject.  Abraham  went  once  into 
Egypt;  but  he  left  it  under  a  cloud,  and  never  went  again.  Isaac  in  a  time 
of  famine  was  forbidden  to  go,  chap.  xxvi.  2.  And  though  Jacob  had  sent 
his  sons  to  buy  corn,  yet  it  did  not  seem  to  be  the  place  for  him.  But  God 
removes  his  fears,  and  intimates  that  Egypt  is  designed  to  be  the  cradle  of 
that  great  nation  which  should  descend  from  his  loins.  They  were  idolaters, 
and  should  prove  in  the  end  oppressors;  but  the  promise  of  God  to^o  with 
him  was  enough.  Neither  temptation  nor  persecution  need  dismay  us,  when 
we  are  led  into  it  by  the  Lord:  if  he  lead  us  into  it,  we  may  hope  that  he 
will  keep  us  in  it.  The  Lord,  in  promising  Jacob  that  he  would  surely 
bring  him  up  again,  did  not  mean  that  he  himself  should  come  back  again 
alive ;  but  that  his  posterity  should,  after  becoming  a  great  nation.  With 
respect  to  himself,  he  was  given  to  expect  that  his  beloved  Joseph  should 
survive  him,  and  be  present  at  his  death  to  close  his  eyes.  But  his  descend- 
ants should  be  brought  back  with  a  high  hand ;  and  as  what  was  spoken  of 
bringing  him  up  again  respected  them,  so  that  of  going  down  with  him 
extended  to  them  also. 

Ver.  5-7.  After  so  signal  an  instance  of  mercy,  Jacob  can  leave  Beersheba 
with  a  cheerful  heart.  He  is  now  so  far  advanced  in  life,  however,  as  to  be 
glad  of  a  carriage  to  convey  him,  and  of  all  the  kind  and  dutiful  assistance 
of  his  sons  to  accommodate  him.  Time  was  when  he  wanted  no  accom- 
modation of  this  sort ;  but  set  off  on  a  much  longer  journey  with  only  a 
stajf;  but  sixty  years'  toil  and  trouble,  added  to  the  seventy  which  had  gone 
before,  have  reduced  him  to  a  state  of  feebleness  and  debility.  Nature  is 
ordained  to  decay ;  but  if  grace  do  but  thrive,  it  need  not  be  regretted.  It 
is  wisely  and  mercifully  ordered  that  the  strong  should  bear  the  infirmities 
of  the  weak,  and  that  those  who  in  infancy  and  childhood  have  been  borne 
by  their  parents  should  return  the  kindness  due  to  them  under  the  imbecility 
of  age. 

In  taking  all  his  substance,  as  well  as  all  his  kindred,  he  would  cut  off 
occasion  from  those  who  might  be  disposed,  at  least  in  after-tiines,  to  reproach 
the  family  with  having  come  into  Egypt  empty-handed,  and  thrown  them- 
selves upon  the  bounty  of  the  country. 

Ver.  8-27.  The  name  of  Jacob's  descendants  who  came  with  him  into 
Egypt  are  here  particularly  recorded.  Compared  with  the  families  of  Abra- 
ham and  Isaac,  they  appear  to  be  numerous,  and  afford  a  prospect  of  a  great 
nation;  yet,  compared  with  those  of  Ishmael  and  Esau,  they  are  but  few. 


JACOB  IN  EGYPT.  181 

Three-and-twenty  years  ago  there  was  "  a  company  of  Ishmaelites,"  who 
bought  Joseph :  and  as  to  Esau,  he  seems  to  have  become  a  nation  in  a  little 
time.  We  see  hence  that  the  most  valuable  blessings  are  often  the  longest 
ere  they  reach  us.     "  The  just  shall  live  by  faith." 

There  seems  to  be  some  difference  between  the  account  of  Moses  and 
that  of  Stephen  in  Acts  vii.  14.  Moses  says,  "All  the  souls  that  came  with 
Jacob  into  Egypt,  which  came  out  of  his  loins,  besides  his  sons'  wives,  were 
threescore  and  six,  ver.  26.  And  all  the  souls  of  the  sons  of  Jacob  which 
came  into  Egypt,"  that  is,  first  and  last,  including  Jacob  himself,  his  son 
Joseph,  and  his  two  sons,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  who  came  in  his  loins, 
"  were  threescore  and  ten,"  ver.  27.  But  Stephen  says,  "  Joseph  called  his 
father  Jacob  to  him,  and  all  his  kindred,  threescore  and  fifteen  souls."  Moses 
speaks  of  him  and  those  who  "  descended  from  his  loins,"  to  the  exclusion 
of  "  his  sons'  wives;"  bat  Stephen  of  his  kindred  in  general,  which  would 
include  them. 

Ver.  23.  Drawing  nigh  to  Egypt,  Judah  is  sent  before  to  apprise  Joseph 
of  his  father's  arrival.  Judah  had  acquitted  himself  well  in  a  former  case 
of  great  delicacy,  and  this  might  recommend  him  in  the  present  instance. 
He  who  could  plead  so  well  for  his  father  shall  have  the  honour  of  intro- 
ducing him.  It  is  fitting,  too,  that  the  father  of  the  royal  tribe,  and  of  the 
Messiah  himself,  should  not  be  the  last  in  works  of  honour  and  usefulness, 
but  rather  that  he  should  have  the  pre-eminence.  When  inquiry  was  made 
in  the  times  of  the  judges,  "  Who  shall  go  up  for  us  against  the  Canaanites 
first  to  fight  against  them?  The  Lord  said,  Judah  shall  go  up." 

Ver.  29.  Joseph,  on  receiving  the  intelligence,  makes  ready  his  chariot  to 
go  and  meet  his  father ;  for  being  in  high  office,  he  must  act  accordingly ; 
else  another  kind  of  carriage,  or  perhaps  a  staff  only,  would  have  satisfied 
him  as  well  as  his  father:  but  situations  in  life  often  impose  that  upon  hum- 
ble minds  which  they  would  not  covet  of  their  own  accord.  The  interview 
is,  as  might  be  expected,  tender  and  affecting.  The  account  is  short  but 
appropriate.  He  presents  himself  to  his  venerable  father;  but,  unable  to 
speak,  "  fell  upon  his  neck,  and  wept  a  good  while !"  And  who  that  reflect?. 
on  the  occasion  can  forbear  to  weep  with  him? 

Ver.  30.  As  to  the  good  old  man,  he  feels  so  happy  that  he  thinks  of 
nothing  but  dying.  Perhaps  he  thought  he  should  die  soon;  having  enjoyed 
as  much  as  he  could  desire  in  this  world,  it  was  natural  now  to  wish  to  go 
to  another.  Having  seen  all  things  brought  to  so  blessed  an  issue,  both  in 
his  circumstances  and  in  the  character  of  his  children,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  he  should  now  desire  to  quit  the  stage.  "  Lord,  now  let  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation !"  Yet  Jacob  did  nol 
die  for  seventeen  years ;  a  proof  this  that  our  feelings  are  no  certain  rule  of 
what  shall  befall  us. 

Ver.  31-34.  As  soon  as  the  tenderness  of  the  interview  would  permit. 
Joseph  kindly  intimates  to  his  father  and  his  brethren  what  was  proper  to  be 
done,  as  to  their  being  introduced  to  the  king ;  and,  that  they  might  be  pre- 
pared for  that  piece  of  necessary  formality,  he  gives  them  some  general 
instructions  what  to  answer.  And  here  it  is  observable  how  careful  he  is  to 
keep  them  clear  of  the  snares  of  Egypt.  A  high-minded  young  man  would 
have  been  for  introducing  his  relations  into  posts  of  honour  and  profit,  lest 
they  should  disgrace  him.  But  Joseph  is  more  concerned  for  their  purity 
than  their  outward  dignity.  "  I  will  go  before  you,"  says  he,  "  and  tell  the 
king  that  you  are  shepherds,"  and  have  been  so  all  your  lives,  and  your 
fathers  before  you.  This  will  prevent  his  making  any  proposals  for  raising 
you  to  posts  of  honour  in  the  state ;  and  he  will  at  once  feel  the  propriety 
of  assigning  you  a  part  of  tlie  country  which  is  suited  to  the  sustenance  of 

a 


182  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

your  flocks  and  herds,  and  where  you  may  live  by  yourselves  uncontaminated 
by  Egyptian  customs.  And  when  you  come  belbre  the  king,  and  he  shall 
ask  you  of  your  occupation,  then  do  you  confirm  what  I  have  said  of  you ; 
and  as  the  employment  of  a  shepherd  is  meanly  accounted  of  in  Egypt,  and 
those  that  follow  it  are  despised  and  reckoned  unfit  for  the  higher  offices  of 
the  state,  this  will  determine  the  king  to  say  nothing  to  you  on  that  subject, 
but  to  grant  you  a  place  in  Goshen. 

Thus,  while  men  in  general  are  pressing  after  the  highest  stations  in  life, 
and  sacrificing  every  thing  to  obtain  them,  we  see  a  man  who  had  for  nine 
years  occupied  one  of  these  posts,  and  felt  both  its  advantages  and  its  disad- 
vantages, carefully  directing  his  dearest  friends  and  relations  into  another 
track ;  acting  up  to  Agur's  prayer ;  "  Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches ; 
but  give  me  food  convenient."  The  cool  and  sequestered  path  of  life  is  the 
safest,  happiest,  and  most  friendly  to  true  religion.  If  we  wish  to  destroy 
our  souls,  or  the  souls  of  our  children,  let  us  seek,  for  ourselves  and  them, 
great  things ;  but  if  not,  it  becomes  us,  having  food  and  raiment,  therewith 
to  be  content.  A  rage  for  amassing  wealth,  or  rising  to  eminence,  is  a 
whirlpool  in  which  millions  have  perished. 


DISCOURSE  LV 


JOSEPH  S    CONDUCT    IN   THE    SETTLEMENT    OF   HIS    BRETHREN,   AND    IN    THE 
AFFAIRS    OF    EGYPT. 

Gen.  xlvii. 

Ver.  1, 2.  Joseph  having  adjusted  matters  with  his  father  and  his  brethren, 
with  respect  to  their  appearance  before  the  king,  takes  with  him  five  of  the 
latter,  and  introduces  them.  His  object  is  not  merely  a  compliance  with 
the  rules  of  respect  which  were  proper  on  such  an  occasion,  but  to  obtain 
for  them  a  residence  in  Goshen,  where  they  might  pursue  their  usual  avoca- 
tions, and  be  near  unto  him.  To  this  end  he  mentions  that  they  were  then 
in  that  part  of  the  country  with  their  flocks  and  their  herds;  hoping  that 
this  might  induce  the  king  to  consent  to  their  continuance  there. 

Ver.  3,  4.  The  young  men  appearing  before  Pharaoh,  he  asks  them,  as 
Joseph  supposed  he  would,  what  was  their  occupation.  A  very  proper  ques- 
tion to  be  put  by  a  magistrate  to  young  men  at  any  time ;  but  the  object  in 
this  case  seems  to  have  been  to  ascertain  what  posts  in  the  state  they  were 
qualified  to  fill.  He  took  it  for  granted  that  they  were  of  some  lawful  call- 
ing ;  and  every  government  has  a  right  to  require  that  those  who  enjoy  its 
protection  should  not  be  mere  vagrants,  but  by  their  industry  contribute  in 
some  way  to  the  public  good.  'I'heir  answer  accords  with  their  previous 
instructions  ;  they  were  "  shepherds,  both  they  and  their  fathers."  To  this 
they  added  what  was  their  wish,  if  it  might  please  the  king,  which  was,  not 
to  be  naturalized,  but  merely  to  sojourn  for  a  season  in  the  country,  with 
their  flocks  and  their  herds,  which  were  starved  out  by  the  severity  of  the 
famine  in  tlieir  own  land.  This  language  implies  their  faith  in  the  Divine 
promises;  for  they  that  say  such  things  declare  plainly  that  they  seek  another 
country.  It  would  also  tend  to  second  the  endeavours  of  Joseph,  in  remov- 
ing from  the  king's  mind  all  thoughts  of  promoting  them  to  places  of 
honour,  and  obtaining  for  them  a  residence  in  Goshen.  Their  answer  con- 
cludes with  an  express  petition  for  this  object. 


Joseph's  settle3ient  op  his  brethren.  183 

Ver.  5,  G.  Pharaoh,  turning  himself  to  Joseph,  with  much  politeness  and 
frankness,  thus  addressed  him :  Thy  father  and  thy  brethren  are  come  unto 
thee;  the  land  of  Egypt  is  before  thee.  In  the  best  of  the  land,  in  the  land 
of  Goshen,  seeing  they  prefer  it,  let  them  dwell.  And  as  to  promoting  them, 
it  does  not  seem  to  suit  their  calling  or  their  inclinations  to  be  raised  in  the 
manner  which  I  might  have  proposed  on  their  behalf;  I  will  therefore  leave 
it  to  you  to  make  them  happy  in  their  own  way.  If  there  be  one  or  more 
of  them  better  qualified  for  business  than  the  rest,  let  them  be  appointed 
chief  of  my  herdsmen. 

Ver.  7-10.  The  grand  object  being  accomplished,  all  hearts  are  at  rest, 
and  now  Joseph  introduces  to  the  king  his  aged  father;  not  upon  business, 
but  merely  in  a  way  of  respect.  When  the  young  men  were  presented,  they 
stood  before  him ;  but  Jacob,  in  honour  of  his  years,  and  in  compassion  to 
his  infirmities,  is  placed  upon  a  seat.  The  first  object  that  meets  his  eyes  is 
Pharaoh,  sitting  in  his  royal  robes  before  him.  The  sight  of  a  prince  who 
had  shown  such  kindness  to  him  and  his,  in  a  time  of  distress,  calls  forth 
the  most  lively  sensations  of  gratitude,  which  he  is  prompted  to  express  by 
a  solemn  blessing!  How  befitting  and  how  aflfecting  is  this!  It  was  reck- 
oned by  the  apostle  as  a  truth  "  beyond  all  contradiction,  that  the  less  is 
blessed  of  the  better,"  or  greater.  In  one  respect  Pharaoh  was  greater  than 
Jacob;  but,  in  another,  Jacob  was  greater  than  he;  and  Jacob  knew  it,  and 
thought  it  no  presumption  to  act  upon  such  a  principle.  He  was  a  son  of 
Abraham,  whose  peculiar  honour  it  was  that  he  and  his  posterity  should  be 
blessings  to  mankind:  "  I  will  bless  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  a  blessing."  He 
was  also  himself  a  man  who,  "  as  a  prince,  had  power  with  God  and  men, 
and  prevailed."  The  blessing  of  such  a  mail  was  of  no  small  account;  for 
God  suflfered  not  the  words  of  his  servants  to  fall  to  the  ground. 

It  would  seem  at  first  sight  as  if  Pharaoh  was  not  struck  with  the  bless- 
ing, but  merely  with  the  venerable  aspect  of  the  man,  and  therefore  pro- 
ceeded to  inquire  his  age :  but  I  incline  to  think  he  was  chiefly  struck  with 
the  former.  He  must  have  perceived  a  wide  difference  between  this  and  any 
thing  he  had  ever  met  with  from  the  Egyptian  sages,  something  heavenly 
and  Divine :  and  as  the  steward  appeared  to  be  well  acquainted  with  the 
religion  of  the  family,  telling  the  brethren  that  "  their  God,  and  the  God  of 
their  father,  had  given  them  the  treasure  in  their  sacks"  (chap,  xliii.  23);  so 
we  may  suppose  was  Pharaoh  himself.  He  would  see,  also,  in  this  solemn 
blessing,  in  which  Jacob  no  doubt  made  use  of  the  name  of  the  Lord,  some- 
thing perfectly  correspondent  with  what  might  have  been  expected  from  the 
father  of  "  a  man  in  whom  was  the  Spirit  of  God."  If  he  felt  the  force  of 
these  things,  it  would  overcome  him,  and  render  him  scarcely  able  to  speak ; 
and  hence  it  would  be  natural,  in  order  to  recover  himself,  to  turn  the  con- 
versation upon  a  less  affecting  topic,  inquiring,  "  How  old  art  thou?"  The 
answer  to  this  question  is  very  pathetic  and  impressive:  "The  days  of  the 
years  of  my  pilgrimage  are  a  hundred  and  thirty  years;  few  and  evil  have 
the  days  of  the  years  of  my  life  been,  and  have  not  attained  unto  the  days 
of  the  years  of  the  life  of  my  fathers  in  the  days  of  their  pilgrimage."  We 
have  a  comment  upon  this  answer  in  Heb.  xi.  13,  14,  where  it  is  called  a 
confession,  and  its  implication  is  insisted  on :  "  They  that  say  such  things 
declare  plainly  that  they  seek  a  country."  We  may  see  in  it  a  charming 
example  of  spirituality,  and  how  such  a  state  of  mind  will  find  a  way  of 
introducing  religion,  even  in  answer  to  the  most  simple  and  common  ques- 
tions. W^e  go  into  the  company  of  a  great  man,  and  come  away  without 
once  thinking  of  introducing  religion;  nay,  it  would  seem  to  us  almost  rude 
to  attempt  it.  But  wherefore?  Because  of  our  want  of  spiritual-minded- 
ness.     If  our  spirits  were  imbued  with  a  sense  of  Divine  things,  we  should 


184  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

think  of  the  most  common  concerns  of  life  in  a  religious  way ;  and,  so 
thinking  of  them,  it  would  be  natural  to  speak  of  them.  Jacob,  in  answer 
to  this  simple  question,  introduces  several  important  truths,  and  that  without 
any  force  or  awkwardness.  He  insinuates  to  Pharaoh  that  he  and  his  fathers 
before  him  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  upon  the  earth ;  that  their  portion 
was  not  in  this  world,  but  in  another;  that  the  life  of  man,  though  it  ex- 
tended to  a  hundred  and  thirty  years,  was  but  a  few  days;  that  those  few 
days  were  mixed  with  evil ;  all  which,  if  the  king  properly  reflected  on  it, 
would  lead  him  to  set  light  by  the  earthly  glory  with  which  he  was  loaded, 
and  to  seek  a  crown  which  fadeth  not  away.  It  is  admirable  to  see  how  all 
these  sentiments  could  be  suggested  in  so  prudent,  so  modest,  so  natural, 
and  so  inoffensive  a  manner.  If  Pharaoh  was  affected  with  Jacob's  blessing 
him,  and  wished  by  his  question  to  turn  the  conversation  to  something  less 
tender,  he  would  be  in  a  manner  disappointed.  He  is  now  in  company  with 
a  man  who,  talk  on  what  he  will,  will  make  him  feel :  and  yet  it  shall  be  in 
a  way  that  cannot  hurt  him,  for  he  says  nothing  about  him,  but  speaks  merely 
of  himself. 

Having  thus  made  a  suitable  confession,  the  patriarch,  whose  heart  was 
full,  could  not  take  leave  of  the  king  without  repeating  his  solemn  blessing 
Whether  Pharaoh  ever  saw  him  again  we  are  not  told  ;  but  if  what  was  then 
said  had  a  proper  effect,  he  would  remember  this  interview  as  one  of  the 
most  interesting  events  of  his  life. 

Ver.  II,  12.  Joseph,  having  obtained  the  consent  of  the  king,  places  his 
father  and  his  brethren  in  the  situation  he  intended,  and  there  continues  to 
nourish  and  cherish  them,  "  as  a  little  child  is  nourished."  And  thus  he  is 
made,  more  than  at  the  birth  of  Manasseh,  to  forget  all  his  toil  and  all  the 
distresses  which  he  had  met  with  in  his  father's  house. 

Ver.  13-26.  The  sacred  writer  informs  us,  as  a  matter  by  the  by,  of  the 
state  of  things  in  Egypt  during  the  remaining  five  years  of  famine,  under 
Joseph's  administration.  The  famine  was  so  sore  in  the  land,  that,  to  pur- 
chase the  necessaries  of  life,  the  inhabitants  first  parted  with  all  their  money; 
and  not  only  they,  but  the  countries  adjacent ;  so  that  the  king's  treasury 
became  greatly  enriched.  And  when  money  failed,  their  cattle  were  re- 
quired; and  last  of  all  their  lands,  and  their  persons,  save  only  that  of  the 
lands  of  their  priests,  or  princes,  were  not  sold ;  for  being,  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  country,  considered  as  a  part  of  the  royal  household,  they  were 
not  under  the  necessity  of  selling  their  estates,  but  were  participants  of  all 
the  advantages  which  Pharaoh  derived  by  Joseph. 

This  part  of  Joseph's  conduct  has  been  thought  by  some  very  exception- 
able, as  tending  to  reduce  a  nation  to  poverty  and  slavery.  I  am  not  sure 
that  it  was  entirely  right,  though  the  parties  concerned  appear  to  have  cast 
no  reflection  upon  him.  If  it  were  not,  it  only  proves  that  Joseph,  though 
a  good  and  great  man,  yet  was  not  perfect.  But  difference  of  time  and  cir- 
cumstances may  render  us  incompetent  to  judge  of  his  conduct  with  accu- 
racy. The  following  remarks,  if  they  do  not  wholly  exculpate  him,  may  at 
least  serve  greatly  to  extenuate  the  evil  of  his  conduct.  1.  He  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  employed  by  the  country,  but  by  the  king  only,  and  that 
for  himself  He  did  not  buy  up  corn  during  the  plentiful  years  at  the  pub- 
lic expense,  but  at  that  of  the  king,  paying  the  people  the  full  price  for  their 
commodities,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  out  of  the  king's  private  purse.  2.  If 
the  Egyptians  had  believed  the  word  of  God,  as  the  king  did,  they  had  the 
same  opportunity,  and  might  have  laid  by  grain  enough,  each  family  for 
itself,  during  the  seven  plentiful  years,  fully  to  have  supplied  their  own  wants 
during  the  years  of  famine.  But  it  seems  they  paid  no  regard  to  the  dreams 
nor  to  the  interpretation,  any  more  than  the  antediluvians  did  to  the  prepa- 


Joseph's  interview  with  his  dying  father.  185 

rations  of  Noah.  All  the  plenty  which  had  been  poured  upon  them,  accord- 
ing as  Joseph  had  foretold,  did  not  convince  them :  the  only  use  they  made 
of  it  was  to  waste  it  in  luxury  as  it  came.  It  was  just,  therefore,  that  they 
should  now  feel  some  of  the  consequences.  3.  In  supplying  their  wants,  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  to  distribute  the  provisions  not  hy gift,  but  by  sale; 
and  that  according  to  what  we  should  call  the  market  price :  otherwise  the 
whole  would  have  been  consumed  in  half  the  time,  and  the  country  have 
perished.  4.  The  slavery  to  which  they  were  reduced  was  merely  that  of 
being  tenants  to  the  king,  who  accepted  of  one-fifth  of  the  produce  for  his 
rent.  Indeed  it  was  scarcely  possible  for  a  whole  nation  to  be  greatly  op- 
pressed, without  being  driven  to  redress  themselves;  and  probably  what  they 
paid  in  after-times  as  a  rent  was  much  the  same  thing  as  we  pay  in  taxes, 
enabling  the  king  to  maintain  his  state  and  support  his  government,  without 
any  other  burdens.  There  is  no  mention,  I  believe,  in  history,  of  this  event 
producing  any  ill  effects  upon  the  country.  Finally,  Whatever  he  did,  it  was 
not  for  himself,  or  his  kindred,  but  for  the  king  by  whom  he  was  employed. 
The  utmost,  therefore,  that  can  be  made  of  it  to  his  disadvantage  does  not 
affect  the  disinterestedness  of  his  character. 

Ver.  27,  28.  The  sacred  historian,  now  returning  to  Israel,  informs  us 
that  they  "  dwelt  in  Goshen,  and  had  possessions,  and  grew  and  multiplied 
exceedingly ;"  and  this  during  the  lifetime  of  Jacob,  who  lived  seventeen 
years  in  Egypt.  The  vision  which  he  had  at  Beersheba  contained  an  inti- 
mation that  he  should  die  in  that  country,  else  we  may  suppose  he  would 
have  been  for  returning  as  soon  as  the  famine  had  subsided ;  but  Jacob  is 
directed  by  the  will  of  Heaven,  as  his  descendants  were  by  the  cloud  in  the 
wilderness. 

Ver.  29-31.  And  now,  the  time  drawing  nigh  that  Israel  should  die,  he 
sends  for  his  son  Joseph,  and  engages  him  by  a  solemn  oath  to  bury  him, 
not  in  Egypt,  but  in  the  sepulchre  of  his  fathers.  This  request  was  not 
merely  the  effect  of  natural  affection,  but  of  faith.  As  it  was  by  faith  that 
Joseph  gave  commandment  concerning  his  bones,  doubtless  this  arose  from  the 
same  principle.  The  patriarch,  relying  on  the  covenant  made  with  his 
fathers,  and  believing  that  his  posterity  would  hereafter  possess  the  land, 
wished  to  lie  among  them,  and  to  have  his  body  carried  up,  to  take  a  kind 
of  previous  possession  on  their  behalf  To  this  request  of  his  father  Joseph 
readily  consents.  The  venerable  man,  however,  is  not  yet  at  the  point  of 
death,  but  is  desirous  of  setting  things  in  order,  that  when  he  comes  to  die, 
he  may  have  nothing  else  to  thmk  about. 


DISCOURSE  LVI. 


JOSEPH  S    INTERVIEW  WITH    HIS    DYING    FATHER,  WITH    THE   BLESSING    OF 

HIS    SONS. 

Gen.  xlviii. 

Ver.  1.  Jacob  did  not  die  immediately  after  having  sent  for  his  son  Joseph  ; 
3ut  he  seems  at  that  time  to  have  been  confined  to  his  "  bed,"  and  probably 
it  was  by  the  same  affliction  which  issued  in  his  death.  Joseph,  as  soon  as 
he  was  told  of  his  father  being  sick,  without  waiting  to  be  sent  for  another 
time,  proceeded  to  the  place,  and  took  his  two  sons  to  obtain  his  dying  bene- 
diction. 

Vol.  III.— 24  q2 


186-  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Ver.  2.  On  entering  the  house  his  name  is  announced ;  the  mention  of 
which  gives  the  venerable  patriarch  a  portion  of  new  life.  He  "  strength- 
ened himself, and  sat  upon  the  bed."  And  now  we  may  expect  to  hear  some- 
thing worthy  of  attention.  The  words  of  dying  men  to  their  children  are, 
or  should  be,  interesting,  especially  of  good  men,  and  still  jnore  of  men  in- 
spired of  God. 

Ver.  3.  The  man  of  God  has  neither  time  nor  strength  to  lose  in  cere- 
mony ;  he  comes  therefore  immediately  to  the  point.  "  God  Almighty," 
said  he,  "appeared  unto  me  at  Luz,  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  blessed  me, 
and  said  unto  me,  Behold,  I  will  make  thee  fruitful,  and  multiply  thee;  and 
I  will  make  of  thee  a  multitude  of  people,  and  will  give  this  land  to  thy 
seed  after  thee,  for  an  everlasting  possession."  Observe,  1.  The  appearance 
at  Luz,  or  Beth-el,  chap,  xxviii.  If  it  was  not  the  first  time  in  which  God 
made  himself  known  to  Jacob,  it  was  certainly  the  most  remarkable  epoch 
in  his  life ;  and  almost  all  that  had  gone  before  it  was  nothing,  or  worse  than 
nothing.  2.  Though  the  mention  of  Luz,  or  Beth-el,  must  ever  be  sweet 
to  Jacob,  and  though  he  could  have  told  what  a  support  the  promise  there 
made  had  been  to  him  through  the  pilgrimage  of  life,  yet  he  confines  him- 
self at  present  to  the  aspect  which  it  bore  to  his  posterity,  whom  he  was  now 
about  to  bless.  The  promise  made  to  Abraham's  seed  involved  all  the  good- 
ness intended  for  the  world  in  after-ages ;  and  this  occupies  the  chief  atten- 
tion of  Jacob.  The  dying  words  of  David  dwell  upon  the  same  thing ;  the 
everlasting  covenant,  which  contained  "  all  his  salvation  and  all  his  desire," 
was  that  in  which  God  had  promised  of  his  seed  to  raise  up  the  Messiah, 
whose  kingdom  should  endure  to  all  generations.  To  "  see  the  good  of  his 
chosen,  to  rejoice  in  the  gladness  of  his  nation,  and  to  glory  with  his  inheri- 
tance," is  enough  for  a  servant  of  God;  and  for  an  aged  parent,  after  seeing 
much  evil  in  his  family,  to  be  able  to  take  leave  of  them  in  the  full  expecta- 
tion of  the  Divine  blessing  attending  them,  is  a  death  which  better  charac- 
ters than  Balaam  might  wish  to  die.  3.  The  mention  of  Canaan  to  Joseph 
was  designed  to  draw  off  his  attention  from  a  permanent  settlement  in  Egypt, 
and  to  fix  his  faith  upon  the  promise ;  that,  like  his  fathers  before  him,  he 
might  pass  his  life  as  a  pilgrim  till  it  should  be  accomplished. 

Ver.  4-7.  And  now,  having  given  this  general  intimation  to  Joseph,  he 
solemnly  adopts  his  two  sons,  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  as  his  own,  consti- 
tuting them  two  tribes  in  Israel.  Thus  Joseph  had  a  double  portion,  the 
first  birthright  being  taken  from  Reuben,  and  given  to  him,  1  Chron.  v.  1, 
2.  And  thus  his  sons,  as  well  as  himself,  were  taught  to  fix  their  faith  and 
hope,  not  in  Egypt,  whatever  might  be  their  expectations  as  the  descendants 
of  Joseph  by  an  Egyptian  princess,  but  in  Canaan,  or  rather  in  the  promise 
of  the  God  of  Israel.  The  mention  of  the  death  and  burial  of  Rachel 
might  be  partly  to  furnish  Joseph  with  another  motive  of  attachment  to  Ca- 
naan ;  and  partly  to  account  for  this  double  portion  being  conferred  upon 
him,  she  being  in  the  most  proper  sense  his  wife,  and  he  in  a  sense  his  first- 
born son. 

Ver.  8-11.  Jacob  had  made  mention  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  before, 
but  he  had  not  seen  them.  Lifting  up  his  eyes,  he  perceives  two  young 
men  standing  by  the  side  of  his  beloved  Joseph,  and  inquires  who  they  are. 
"  They  are  my  sons,"  said  Joseph,  "  whom  God  hath  given  me  in  this  place." 
On  this  he  requests  them  to  be  brought  unto  him,  that  he  might  bless  them. 
He  could  scarcely  see  them,  for  his  eyes  were  dim  of  age ;  but  his  heart  was 
full  of  tenderness  towards  them,  for  their  father's  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of 
the  hope  of  which  they  were  heirs ;  therefore  he  kissed  and  embraced  them. 
And  being  full  of  holy  affection,  he  looks  back  upon  his  past  sorrows,  and 
admires  the  grace  of  God  towards  him  and  his.     "  I  had  not  thought,"  said 


Joseph's  interview  with  his  dying  father.  187 

he  to  Joseph,  "  to  see  thy  face;  and,  lo,  God  hath  showed  me  also  thy  seed." 
How  much  better  is  God  to  us  than  our  fears !  Only  let  us  wait  with  faith 
and  patience,  and  our  desponding  thoughts  will  be  turned  into  songs  ot 
praise. 

Ver.  12-14.  After  this  affectionate  embrace,  Joseph  brought  forth  the 
two  young  men  from  between  his  father's  knees,  and  bowed  himself  with 
his  face  to  the  earth,  in  token  of  thankfulness  for  the  kindness  conferred 
upon  himself  and  his  sons,  and  in  expectation  of  a  further  blessing.  And 
having  probably  observed  the  order  in  which  his  father  had  spoken  of  them, 
putting  Ephraim  before  Manasseh,  ver.  5,  he  wished  to  correct  it  as  a  mis- 
take,'and  therefore  placed  the  young  men  according  to  their  age,  Ephraim 
towards  Israel's  left  hand,  and  Manasseh  towards  his  right  hand,  and  in  this 
manner  presented  them  before  him.  But  the  conduct  of  the  patriarch  was 
not  thus  to  be  corrected.  God,  from  whom  the  blessing  proceeded,  directed 
him  in  this  case  to  cross  hands.  Nor  is  this  the  only  instance  in  which  the 
order  of  nature  is  made  to  give  way  to  that  of  grace;  for  of  this  Jacob  him- 
self had  been  an  example. 

Ver.  15,  16.  In  this  attitude  Jacob  proceeds  to  bless  the  lads.  "  And  he 
blessed  Joseph,  and  said,  God,  before  whom  my  fathers  Abraham  and  Isaac 
did  walk,  the  God  which  fed  me  all  my  life  long  unto  this  day,  the  Angel 
which  redeemed  me  from  all  evil,  bless  the  lads!  And  let  my  name  be 
named  on  them,  and  the  name  of  my  fathers,  Abraham  and  Isaac;  and  let 
them  grow  into  a  multitude  in  the  midst  of  the  earth."  Observe,  1.  Though 
Ephraim  and  Manasseh  were  both  constituted  heads  of  tribes,  yet  they  were 
blessed  in  the  person  of  their  father  Joseph:  He  blessed  Joseph,  &c.  In 
this,  as  in  many  other  instances,  God  would  exemplify  the  great  principle  on 
which  he  designed  to  act  in  blessing  mankind  in  the  name  and  for  the  sake 
of  another.  2.  Jacob,  though  now  among  the  Egyptians,  and  kindly  treated 
by  them,  yet  makes  no  mention  of  their  gods,  but  holds  up  to  his  posterity 
"  the  living  and  true  God."  In  proportion  as  Egypt  was  kind  to  the  young 
people,  such  would  be  their  danger  of  being  seduced ;  but  let  them  remem- 
ber the  dying  words  of  their  venerable  ancestor,  and  know  whence  their 
blessedness  cometh.  3.  The  God  whose  blessing  was  bestowed  upon  them 
was  not  only  the  true  God,  but  "  the  God  of  their  fathers ;"  a  God  in  cove- 
nant with  the  family,  who  loved  them,  and  was  loved  and  served  by  them. 
"  God,  before  whom  my  fathers,  Abraham  and  Isaac,  did  walk."  How  sweet 
and  endearing  the  character !  and  what  a  recommendation  of  these  holy 
patterns  to  the  young  people !  Nor  was  he  merely  the  God  of  Abraham 
and  Isaac,  but  Jacob  himself  also  could  speak  well  of  his  name;  adding, 
"  The  God  who  fed  me  all  my  life  long  unto  this  day!"  Sweet  and  solemn 
are  the  recommendations  of  aged  piety.  "  Speak  reproachfully  of  Christ," 
said  the  persecutors  to  Polycarp,  when  leading  him  to  the  stake.  "  Eighty- 
six  years  I  have  served  him,"  answered  the  venerable  man,  "  during  all 
which  time  he  never  did  me  any  injury  :  how  then  can  I  blaspheme  him  who 
is  my  King  and  my  Saviour?"  Hearken,  O  young  people,  to  this  affecting 
language!  It  is  a  principle  dictated  by  common  prudence,  "Thine  own 
friend,  and  thy  father's  friend,  forsake  not;"  and  how  much  more  forcibly 
does  it  apply  to  the  God  of  your  fathers !  4.  This  God  is  called  "  the  Angel 
who  redeemed  him  from  all  evil."  Who  this  was  it  is  not  difficult  to  decide. 
It  was  the  Angel,  no  doubt,  with  whom  Jacob  wrestled  and  prevailed,  and 
concerning  whom  he  said,  "  I  have  seen  God  face  to  hce,  and  my  life  is 
preserved,"  chap,  xxxii.  24-30  ;  Hos.  xii.  2.  5.  The  blessing  of  God,  under 
all  these  endearing  characters,  is  invoked  upon  the  lads,  their  forefathers' 
names  put  upon  them,  and  abundant  increase  promised  to  them.     Surely  it 


188  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

is  good  to  be  connected  with  them  that  fear  God ;  yet  those  only  who  are  of 
faith  will  ultimately  be  blessed  with  their  faithful  predecessors. 

Ver.  17-20.  Joseph's  enjoyment  of  this  sweet  and  solemn  blessing  was 
sadly  interrupted  by  the  unpleasant  circumstance  of  his  father's  crossing  his 
hands,  and  he  could  not  refrain  from  respectfully  remonstrating.  Thus  our 
frail  minds  are  liable  to  be  ruffled  by  some  trivial  event,  even  on  the  most 
solemn  occasions,  and  so  to  lose  the  advantage  of  some  of  the  happiest 
opportunities.  Jacob,  however,  is  not  to  be  dissuaded.  He  had  been 
guided  by  an  unseen  hand;  and,  like  Isaac  after  having  blessed  him,  he 
could  not  repent.  "I  know  it,  my  son,"  said  he,  "I  know  it — He  shall  be 
great ;  but  truly  his  younger  brother  shall  be  greater  than  he."  God  is  as 
immutable  as  he  is  sovereign.  It  does  not  become  us  to  contend  with  him; 
and  it  is  to  the  honour  of  Joseph,  that  as  soon  as  he  perceived  his  father 
knew  what  he  did,  believing  him  to  be  directed  from  above,  he  acquiesced. 
Hence  the  patriarch  went  on  without  further  interruption,  saying,  "  In  thee 
shall  Israel  bless,  saying,  God  make  thee  as  Ephraim,  and  as  Manasseh!" 

Ver.  21.  A  word  or  two  more  to  Joseph,  and  the  present  interview  is 
closed.  "I  die,"  said  Israel;  "but  God  shall  be  with  you,  and  bring  you 
again  unto  the  land  of  your  fathers."  All  that  he  had  said  before  tended  to 
break  off  their  attachment  to  Egypt,  and  to  fix  their  faith  in  the  Divine  pro- 
mise :  such  also  was  the  design  of  these  words.  How  satisfactory  is  it  to  a 
dying  saint  to  consider  that  God  lives,  and  will  carry  on  his  cause  without 
him  as  well  as  with  him.  The  great  John  Owen,  two  days  before  he  died, 
(which  was  in  1G83,  a  time  when  popery  and  arbitrary  power  threatened  to 
overspread  the  land,)  thus  wrote  in  a  letter  to  a  friend: — "I  am  leaving  the 
ship  of  the  church  in  a  storm ;  but  whilst  the  great  Pilot  is  in  it,  the  loss  of 
a  poor  under-rower  will  be  inconsiderable." 

Ver.  22.  One  more  special  token  of  love  is  added  to  Joseph's  portion ; 
namely,  a  parcel  of  ground  which  had  been  originally  bought  of  the  sons  of 
Hamor ;  but,  as  it  would  seem,  being  seized  by  some  of  their  descendants, 
Jacob  was  necessitated  to  recover  it  by  force  of  arms,  chap,  xxxiii.  18-20. 
This  portion  he  gave  to  Joseph,  and  the  tribe  of  Ephraim  afterwards  pos- 
sessed it,  John  iv.  5,  The  hazard  at  which  this  portion  was  obtained  would 
no  doubt  endear  it  to  Joseph ;  for  we  prize  those  things  which  they  who 
were  dear  to  us  acquired  at  a  great  expense.  On  this  principle  we  have 
often  been  admonished  to  hold  fast  our  civil  liberties.  On  this  principle 
especially  it  becomes  us  to  value  our  religious  advantages,  for  which  so  much 
blood  has  been  shed.  And  on  this  principle  we  are  called  to  prize,  more 
than  any  other  thing,  the  hope  of  the  gospel,  to  obtain  which  our  Saviour 
laid  down  his  life ! 


DISCOURSE  LVII. 
Jacob's  blessing  on  the  tribes. 

Geo.  xlix. 


Ver.  1,  2.  Jacob  having  blessed  Joseph's  sons,  and  feeling  that  he  drew 
near  his  end,  sent  for  the  rest  of  his  children,  that  he  might  in  the  same  pro- 
phetic style  declare  to  them  what  should  befall  them,  and  their  posterity  after 
them.  The  solemn  manner  in  which  he  called  them  together  and  bespoke 
their  attention  shows  that,  being  under  a  Divine  inspiration,  he  would  deliver 


REUBEN,  SIMEON  AND  LEVI.  1S9 

things  of  great  importance,  and  such  as,  corresponding  in  many  instances 
not  only  with  the  meaning  of  their  names,  but  with  their  personal  conduct, 
would  furnish  matter  for  reflection  and  encouragement. 

Ver.  3,  4.  Reuben,  being  his  first-born  son,  is  first  addressed.  He  is 
reminded  of  his  superior  advantages.  He  was  the  first  effect  of  "  his  might," 
or  "  the  beginning  of  his  strength ;"  and  to  him  as  such  naturally  belonged 
"the  excellence  of  dignity,  and  the  excellence  of  power."  But  as  Esau  and 
others  forfeited  the  birth-right,  so  did  Reuben.  His  character  did  not 
answer  to  the  dignity  of  his  situation.  He  is  charged  with  being  "  unstable 
as  water."  The  word  is  used  I  believe  in  only  three  other  places  in  the  Old 
Testament  (Judg.  ix.  4;  Jer.  xxiii.  32;  Zeph.  iii.  4) ;  and  in  them  it  is  ren- 
dered light,  or  lightness ;  denoting  not  only  a  readiness  to  turn  aside  for 
want  of  solid  principles,  but  that  species  of  levity  in  particular  which  belongs 
to  a  lascivious  mind,  and  which  is  ordinarily  denominated  looseness,  or  lewd' 
ness.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  Reuben,  or  he  could  not  have  acted  as  he  did 
towards  Bilhah,  his  father's  wife,  chap.  xxxv.  22.  The  manner  in  which  the 
patriarch  expatiates  upon  this  crime  shows  how  heinous  it  was  in  his  eyes. 
"Thou  wentest  up  to  thy  father's  bed;  then  defiledst  thou  it."  And,  to 
show  his  abhorrence,  he  turns  away  from  him,  and  addresses  his  other  sons, 
as  it  were  by  way  of  appeal :  "  He  went  up  to  my  couch !"  For  this  lewd 
behaviour  he  is  told  he  shall  not  excel.  It  is  a  brief  mode  of  expression, 
alluding  to  the  excellence  of  dignity  and  of  power  which  pertained  to  him 
as  the  first-born ;  and  denotes  that  all  his  advantages  were  reversed  by  his 
base  conduct,  and  that  which  would  otherwise  have  been  a  blessing  was 
turned  into  a  curse.  The  double  portion  was  taken  from  him,  and  given, 
as  we  have  seen,  to  Joseph,  (chap,  xlviii.  5-7,)  the  kingdom  to  Judah,  and 
the  priesthood  to  Levi ;  and  thus  the  excellence  of  dignity,  and  the  excel- 
lence of  power,  were  separated  from  his  tribe,  which  never  sustained  any 
conspicuous  character  in  Israel. 

From  what  is  said  of  Reuben  we  may  learn  the  offensive,  the  debasing, 
and  the  dangerous  nature  of  that  light-mindedness  which  indulges  in  filthi- 
ness  and  foolish  talking,  jesting,  and  lewd  behaviour.  Such  appears  to  have 
been  the  spirit  of  the  false  prophets  in  the  times  of  Jeremiah,  whose  "  lies 
and  lightness"  caused  God's  people  to  err,  Jer.  xxiii.  32.  And  such,  alas! 
is  the  character  of  too  many  who  sustain  the  name  of  Christians,  and  even 
of  Christian  ministers,  at  this  day.  Assuredly  they  shall  not  excel ;  and, 
without  repentance,  woe  unto  them  when  God  shall  call  them  to  account! 

Ver.  5-7.  The  next  in  order  of  years  are  Simeon  and  Levi,  who  also  in 
their  posterity  shall  reap  the  bitter  fruits  of  their  early  sins;  and  having  not 
only  descended  from  the  same  parents,  but  been  associates  in  iniquity,  they, 
according  to  the  meaning  of  the  name  of  the  l^er,  are  joined  together  in 
receiving  the  reward  of  it.  At  the  time  when  these  young  men,  with  equal 
treachery  and  cruelty,  took  each  his  sword  and  slew  the  Shechemites,  Jacob 
expressed  his  disapprobation  of  the  deed ;  but  now  he  censures  it  in  the 
strongest  terms.  "Instruments  of  cruelty  are  in  their  habitations;"  which 
is  saying  that  they  were  bloody  men.  Ainsworth  renders  it,  "  sojourning 
habitations,"  which  hightens  the  sin,  as  being  committed  in  a  place  where 
they  had  no  residence  but  by  the  courtesy  of  the  country.  "  O  my  soul, 
come  not  thou  into  their  secret ;  unto  their  assembly,  mine  honour,  be  not 
thou  united!"  What  we  cannot  prevent,  we  must  be  contented  to  disavow, 
having  "  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness."  These  young 
men  took  counsel  together :  they  were  very  careful  to  conceal  their  design 
from  Jacob  their  father,  knowing  beforehand  that  he  would  be  certain  to 
oppose  their  schemes ;  and  now  Jacob  is  no  less  careful  to  disavow  all  con- 
nexion with  thera  in  the  horrid  deed.     Such  a  disavowal,  though  it  must 


190  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

give  the  most  acute  pain  to  the  sons,  yet  was  worthy  of  the  father.  A  great 
deal  of  evil  had  been  wrought  in  his  family ;  but  be  it  known  to  all  ihe 
world,  by  the  dying  testimony  which  he  bears  against  it,  that  it  was  alto- 
gether contrary  to  his  mind.  And  let  young  people  hear  and  know  that  the 
crimes  of  youth  will  some  time  find  them  out.  If  they  repent  and  obtain 
mercy,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe  these  young  men  did,  yet  they  shall  reap 
the  bitter  fruits  of  their  sin  in  the  present  life;  and  if  they  remain  impeni- 
tent, tribulation  and  anguish  will  overtake  them  in  the  next. 

The  crime  of  these  brethren  is  thus  described  :  "  In  their  anger  they  slew 
a  man,"  even  Hamor,  king  of  the  country,  as  well  as  Shechem  his  son  ;  and 
that  not  in  the  open  field  of  contest,  but  by  assassination  1  Anger  in  general 
is  outrageous ;  but  in  young  men,  whose  immature  judgment  and  slender 
experience  afford  but  little  check  to  it,  it  is  commonly  the  most  mischievous. 
"  In  their  self-will  they  digged  down  a  wall,"  or,  as  some  render  it,  "  they 
houghed  the  oxen."*  The  former  would  express  their  breaking  into  houses 
to  murder  the  inhabitants,  and  the  latter  their  cruelty  extending  even  to  the 
dumb  animals.  Anger,  when  accompanied  with  self-will,  rages  like  fire 
before  the  wind.  How  important  is  the  government  of  one's  own  spirit ! 
and,  considering  what  human  nature  is,  what  a  mercy  it  is  that  the  wrath  of 
man  is  under  the  Divine  control !  If  Simeon  and  Levi  had  not  repented  of 
this  sin,  it  is  likely  that  the  curse,  like  that  of  Noah  on  Canaan,  would  have 
fallen  upon  their  persons ;  but,  as  it  was,  it  alights  only  upon  their  disposi- 
tions and  actions :  "  Cursed  be  their  anger,  for  it  was  fierce ;  and  their 
wrath,  for  it  was  cruel !"  God  in  mercy  forgave  them,  but  took  vengeance 
of  their  inventions.  And,  with  respect  to  the  tribes  of  which  they  were  the 
heads,  they  were  to  be  "  divided  and  scattered  in  Israel."  "  The  Levites," 
says  Mr.  Henry,  "  were  scattered  throughout  all  the  tribes,  and  Simeon's  lot 
lay  not  together,  and  was  so  strait  that  many  of  that  tribe  were  forced  to 
disperse  themselves  in  quest  of  settlements  and  subsistence.  This  curse 
was  afterwards  turned  into  a  blessing  to  the  Levites ;  but  the  Simeonites, 
for  Zirari's  sin,  had  it  bound  on,  Numb.  xxv.  Shameful  divisions  are  the 
just  punishment  of  sinful  unions  and  confederacies." 

Ver.  S-I2.  From  what  was  said  of  the  first  three  sons,  the  rest  might 
begin  to  tremble,  lest  the  whole  should  be  a  succession  of  curses  instead  of 
blessings.  But  in  what  respects  Judah  we  see  a  glorious  reverse.  The 
blessedness  of  this  tribe  principally  consists  in  that  blessing  which  was  in  it, 
the  Lord  Messiah.  "  Judah,"  saith  the  patriarch,  "  thou  art  he  whom  thy 
brethren  shall  praise ;  thy  hand  shall  be  in  the  neck  of  thine  enemies :  thy 
father's  children  shall  bow  down  before  thee."  In  the  first  sentence  allusion 
is  had  to  his  name,  which  signifies  praise:  and  the  meaning  of  the  whole  is, 
that  this  tribe  should  be  (fPstinguished,  first  by  its  victories  over  the  Canaan- 
ites,  and  afterwards  by  its  being  the  tribe  which  God  would  choose  to  bear 
rule  in  Israel.  Hence  also  it  is  represented,  in  verse  9,  by  a  lion,  the  most 
majestic  of  animals,  and  the  proper  emblem,  of  royalty.  Much  of  this  pro- 
phecy was  doubtless  fulfilled  in  David  and  his  successors ;  but  all  was  pre- 
figurative  of  the  Messiah,  who,  in  allusion  to  this  passage,  is  called  "  the 
Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah."  In  him  all  that  is  said  of  Judah  is  eminently 
fulfilled.  He  is  indeed  the  object  of  praise,  his  hand  has  been  in  the  neck 
of  his  enemies,  and  before  him  his  brethren  have  bowed  down.  Grappling 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  we  see  him  as  a  lion  tearing  the  prey;  ascend- 
ing above  all  heavens,  as  a  lion  going  up  from  the  prey ;  and  seated  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  as  a  lion  couchant,  or  at  rest  after  his  toils,  where  it  is 
at  the  peril  of  the  greatest  monarchs  to  rouse  him  up,  Psal.  ii.  10-12. 

•  'EvevpoK6iTricav  ravpov. — LXX.    But  rather,  "  They  exterminated  a  prince." 


THE  BLESSING  OF  JUDAH.  191 

That  which  before  is  represented  under  strong  figures  is  in  verse  10  de- 
clared plainly,  viz.  that  Judah  should  be  the  governing  tribe,  and  that  its 
chief  glory  should  consist  in  the  Messiah,  who  should  descend  from  it;  yea, 
the  very  time  of  his  coming  is  marked  out.  The  sceptre,  or  government, 
should  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  until 
Shiloh  came.  The  government  departed  from  ten  tribes,  out  of  the  twelve, 
during  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  and  has  never  been  restored ;  but  Judah  con- 
tinued to  rule  with  God.  At  length  they  also  were  carried  into  captivity ; 
yet  God's  eye  was  upon  them,  and  in  seventy  years  they  were  restored.  And 
notwithstanding  the  many  overturnings  of  the  diadem  by  the  successive 
monarchies  of  Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  yet  it  continued  till  the  coming 
of  Christ.  The  theocracy  then  being  dissolved,  and  the  power  given  to  him 
whose  right  it  was,  Judah  in  a  few  years  ceased  to  be  a  body  politic,  or  to 
have  any  government  of  its  own.  If  there  be  such  a  thing  as  an  irrefraga- 
ble proof,  surely  this  is  one,  that  Shiloh,  the  peaceable,  the  prosperous,  the 
Saviour,  is  come;  and  it  is  a  mark  of  judicial  blindness  and  hardness  of 
heart  in  the  Jews  that  they  continue  to  disbelieve  it. 

Of  Shiloh  it  is  added,  "  To  him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be." 
As  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  gathered  together,  and  anointed  David  king  in 
Hebron;  so  all  the  tribes  of  man  shall  sooner  or  later  submit  to  the  kingdom 
of  Christ.  During  his  ministry,  his  enemies,  touched  with  fear  and  envy, 
were  ready  to  say,  Behold,  the  world  is  gone  after  him !  And  no  sooner 
was  he  lifted  up  upon  the  cross  than  he  began  to  draw  all  men  unto  him. 
Multitudes  of  his  own  countrymen,  who  had  before  seen  no  form  or  comeli- 
ness in  him,  now  believed  on  him.  Now  also  began  to  be  fulfilled  all  the 
prophecies  which  had  gone  before,  of  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles.  For  such 
was  the  value  of  his  sacrifice  and  mediation,  that  it  was  considered  as  a 
light  thing  for  him  merely  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob :  he  must  be  a 
light  to  the  Gentiles,  and  God's  salvation  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Nor  has 
this  promise  yet  spent  its  force :  probably  the  greater  part  of  it  is  yet  to  be 
fulfilled.  What  is  foretold  to  the  church  in  the  GOth  of  Isaiah,  of  multitudes 
of  all  nations  gathering  together  unto  her,  will  be  the  accomplishment  of 
this  promise  concerning  Christ;  for  those  that  are  gathered  to  her  are  first 
gathered  to  him. 

The  llth  and  12th  verses  are  expressive  of  the  great  plenty  of  wine  and 
milk  which  the  tribe  of  Judah  should  possess.  Vines,  even  the  most  choice, 
should  be  so  common  that  you  might  have  tied  your  beasts  to  them,  as  you 
would  here  tie  them  to  an  elm  or  ash ;  or  so  abundantly  productive,  that  it 
should  be  the  ordinary  practice  to  bind  a  colt  to  the  vine,  and  load  it  with 
its  fruits.  Wine  with  them  should  be  so  plentiful  that  you  might  have 
washed  your  garments  in  it.  The  inhabitants,  even  the  common  people, 
might  drink  of  it  till  their  eyes  were  red;  and  such  an  abundance  should 
there  be  of  the  milk  of  kine,  that  their  teeth  might  be  white  with  it.*  This 
plenty  of  milk  and  wine  may  have  a  further  reference,  however,  to  the  plenty 
of  evangelical  blessings  under  the  reign  of  the  Messiah,  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  dominion  ascribed  to  Judah  has  an  ultimate  reference  to  his  domi- 
nion. The  language  used  by  Isaiah,  "  Come,  buy  wine  and  milk,  without 
money  and  without  price,"  certainly  refers  to  the  great  plenty  of  those  arti- 
cles in  the  Land  of  Promise,  and  seems  to  allude  to  the  very  words  of  Jacob, 
in  this  prophecy. 

Ver.  13.  The  blessing  of  Zebulun  predicts  the  situation  of  that  tribe  in 
the  Promised  Land.     They  should  be  a  maritime  people,  bordering  upon 

*  Or  it  may  be  rendered. 

His  eyes  shall  be  more  sparkling  than  wine, 
And  his  teeth  whiter  than  milk.    See  LXX. 


193  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

the  sea  of  Galilee  eastward,  and  upon  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west.  Its 
"border  reaching  unto  Zklon"  does  not  mean  the  city,  but  the  country  ot" 
that  name,  that  is,  Phoenicia.  If  the  future  settlement  of  the  tribes  had  been 
of  clioice,  it  might  have  been  said  that  they  contrived  to  fulfil  these  predic- 
tions; but  being  fey  let,  the  hand  of  God  is  seen,  both  in  them  and  their 
accomplishment.  There  seems  to  be  a  distinction  made  between  Zebulun 
being  "  at  the  haven  of  the  sea,"  and  his  being  "for  a  haven  of  ships." 
The  former  may  denote  his  advantages;  and  the  latter,  the  benevolent  use 
he  should  make  of  them,  opening  his  harbours  for  the  reception  of  distressed 
mariners.  We  have  all  our  situations  and  advantages  according  to  the  will 
of  God,  and  should  be  concerned  to  employ  them  to  a  good  purpose.  This 
tribe  had  also  its  disadvantages ;  being  far  from  the  seat  of  Divine  instruc- 
tion, its  inhabitants  are  described  as  "  sitting  in  darkness."  Upon  them, 
however,  the  light  of  the  gospel,  by  the  personal  ministry  of  our  Lord, 
sprung  up. 

Ver.  14,  15.  Next  follows  the  blessing  of  Issachar.  The  character  given 
to  this  tribe  intimates  that  it  should  be  addicted  to  husbandry,  as  Zebulua 
was  to  the  dangers  and  perils  of  the  sea.  He  is  compared  to  a  "  strong  ass, 
couching  down  between  two  burdens ;"  not  on  account  of  any  thing  mean 
in  him,  but  for  his  industrious,  patient,  and  peaceable  disposition.  This 
situation  would  neither  require  the  heroic  qualities  of  Judah,  nor  the  enter- 
prising ones  of  Zebulun ;  and  his  disposition  should  coincide  with  it,  pre- 
ferring the  fruits  of  peace  and  industry,  though  obliged  to  pay  tribute  for 
them,  to  the  more  splendid  fortunes  of  commerce,  or  triumphs  of  war.  Some 
men  would  pronounce  Issachar,  and  those  of  his  mind,  mean  spirits  ;  but  let 
not  this  part  of  the  community  be  thought  light  of  If  it  be  less  brilliant,  it 
is  not  less  useful  than  the  others.  The  king  is  served  by  the  field.  No 
condition  of  life  has  fewer  temptations,  nor  is  any  more  friendly  to  true  reli- 
gion. Though  the  people  of  this  tribe  were  still  and  peaceable,  yet  there 
were  among  them  "  men  who  had  understanding  of  the  times,  and  who 
knew  what  Israel  ought  to  do :"  nor  was  it  any  disparagement  to  their 
"  brethren  to  be  at  their  commandment,"  1  Chron.  xii.  32. 

Ver.  16,  17.  The  blessing  of  Dan  alludes  to  the  meaning  of  his  name, 
that  is,  judging,  and  signifies  that  he  should  maintain  his  authority ;  not 
only  in  respect  of  his  rank  among  the  tribes,  but  in  the  preservation  of  order 
in  ins  own  territory.  His  being  compared  to  "a  serpent  by  the  way,  aa 
adder  in  the  path,  that  biteth  the  horse-heels,  so  that  his  rider  shall  fall  back- 
ward," would  seem  to  intimate,  however,  that  the  Danites  would  be  a  subtle 
and  mischievous  people,  carrying  on  their  wars  more  by  stratagem  and  artful 
surprise  than  by  conflict  in  the  open  field.  Such  were  the  wars  of  Samson, 
who  was  of  this  tribe,  against  the  Philistines. 

Ver.  18.  Here  the  man  of  God  seems  to  have  paused,  perhaps  on  account 
of  bodily  weakness ;  and  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  said,  "  I  have  waited 
for  thy  salvation,  O  Lord."  Had  these  words  followed  the  blessing  of  Judah, 
we  might  have  supposed  that  the  salvation  he  referred  to  was  the  coming 
Messiah ;  but  standing  where  it  does,  it  appears  to  have  been  merely  a  sud- 
den ejaculation,  sent  up  at  the  close  of  his  pilgrimage,  in  a  view  of  being 
delivered  from  all  its  evils.  It  serves  to  show  the  state  of  the  patriarch's 
mind ;  and  that  while  pronouncing  blessings  on  his  posterity,  in  respect  to 
their  settlement  in  the  earthly  Canaan,  he  was  himself  going  to  a  better 
country,  even  a  heavenly  one.  When  he  thought  that  Joseph  was  dead,  he 
talked  of  "  going  down  into  his  grave  mourning ;"  and  afterwards,  when  he 
found  him  alive,  he  seems  as  if  he  could  have  descended  into  it  rejoicing 
(chap,  xxxvii.  35 ;  xlvi.  30) ;  but  it  was  not  for  him  to  determine  the  time  of 
his  departure,  but  to  wait  his  appointed  time.     Old  age  is  the  time  lor  the 


GAD,  ASHER,  NAPHTALI,  AND  JOSEPH.  193 

patience  of  hope  to  bear  its  richest  fruits;  and  a  pleasant  thing  it  is  to  see 
this  and  other  graces  in  full  bloom,  while  the  powers  of  nature  are  falling 
into  decay. 

Ver.  19.  The  patriarch,  resuming  his  subject,  proceeds  to  bless  the  tribe 
of  Gad.  His  name  signified  a  troop,  and  it  is  intimated  that  they  should 
be  a  warlike  people.  Their  situation  was  east  of  Jordan,  where  they  were 
exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  neighbouring  nations;  particularly  those  of 
the  Moabites,  the  Ammonites,  and  the  Syrians.  But  it  is  predicted  that, 
however  they  might  for  a  time  be  overcome,  yet  they  should  overcome  at 
last;  and  this  exactly  accords  with  their  history,  Judg.  x.,  xi.,  xii. ;  1  Chron. 
V.  18-22.  In  this  blessing  we  see  not  only  an  example  of  the  life  of  every 
believer,  but  the  wisdom  of  God  in  so  ordering  it,  as  an  antidote  to  presump- 
tion and  despair.  Present  defeats  have  a  tendency  to  preserve  us  from  the 
one,  and  the  promise  of  being  finally  victorious  from  the  other. 

Ver.  20.  Next  follows  Aiher,  whose  name  signifies  the  happy,  or  the 
hlessed,  or  making  happy;  and  with  his  name  corresponds  his  blessing.  The 
meaning  is,  that  his  lot  should  be  a  rich  one ;  yielding  not  only  necessaries, 
but  dainties,  even  royal  dainties.  Such  is  the  lot  of  a  few  in  this  world,  and 
it  is  well  that  it  is  but  a  few;  for  while  men  are  what  they  are,  great  fulness 
would  soon  render  them  like  Sodom  and  Gomorrah. 

Ver.  21.  Naphtali  is  described  by  "a  hind  let  loose,"  and  is  said  to  "give 
goodly  words."  The  description  would  seem  to  hold  up,  not  a  warlike  tribe, 
nor  a  tribe  noted  for  its  industry;  but  rather  a  people  distinguished  by  their 
vivacity,  timidity,  and  softness  of  manners.  The  diversity  of  natural  dispo- 
sitions contributes  upon  the  whole  to  human  happiness.  Men  have  their 
partialities,  some  to  this,  and  others  to  that;  and  if  their  wishes  could  be 
gratified,  would  commonly  shape  all  others  by  their  own  favourite  model ; 
but,  after  all,  variety  is  the  best.  As  the  delicate  could  not  subsist  without 
the  laborious  and  the  resolute,  so  many  a  rugged  spirit,  both  in  the  world 
and  in  the  church,  would  be  worse  than  useless,  but  for  its  union  with  others 
more  gentle  and  affectionate. 

Ver.  22-26.  We  next  come  to  the  blessing  of  Joseph,  and  on  this  the 
patriarch  delights  to  dwell.  His  emblem,  taken  from  the  meaning  of  his 
name,  is  that  of  "  a  fruitful  bough,"  situated  by  a  well,  by  which  its  roots 
were  watered,  and  its  branches  caused  to  run  over  the  wall.  The  meaning 
is,  that  his  posterity  should  be  distinguished  by  their  extraordinary  increase. 
But  now  the  imagery  is  dropped,  or  rather  changed,  and  his  personal  history 
reviewed.  He  was  attacked  at  an  early  period,  as  by  a  band  of  archers,  who 
"  sorely  grieved  him,  shot  at  him,  and  hated  him."  There  is  a  delicacy  in 
his  speaking  of  the  brethren  (who  were  standing  by)  in  the  third  person 
rather  than  the  second,  and  that  under  a  figure ;  let  him  express  it,  however, 
in  what  form  he  will,  they  must  feel  it.  He  adds,  "But  his  bow  abode  in 
strength,  and  the  arms  of  his  hands  were  made  strong  by  the  mighty  God  of 
Jacob ;  from  thence  is  the  shepherd,  the  stone  of  Israel."  As  his  brethren 
were  a  band  of  archers,  he  is  described  under  the  same  character,  but  as  one 
only  against  many.  Their  arrows  were  those  of  hatred;  but  his  of  love, 
overcoming  evil  with  good.  They  strengthened  one  another  in  an  evil 
cause;  but  he  was  strengthened  by  "  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob."  In  these 
particulars,  surely,  he  was  a  type  of  Christ ;  and  still  more  in  being,  by  the 
blessing  of  the  God  of  Jacob,  "  the  shepherd  and  stone  of  Israel;"  providing 
for  their  wants,  and  supporting  their  interests. 

In  blessing  Joseph,  Jacob  feels  his  heart  enlarged;  pouring  upon  him  the 
blessings  of  Almighty  God,  the  God  of  his  father ;  blessings  of  heaven  above, 
blessings  of  the  deep  that  lieth  under,  blessings  of  the  breasts,  and  of  the 
womb ;  intimating  also  that  his  power  of  blessing  when  terminating  on  hiin 

Vol.  III.— 25  R 


/ 

/ 


194  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

exceeded  that  of  his  fathers,  extending  not  only  to  the  land  in  general,  but 
to  the  very  mountains,  on  which  his  children  should  reside.  And  that 
which  drew  upon  his  head  all  these  blessings  was  the  painful,  but  endearing, 
circumstance,  of  his  having  been  "  separated  from  his  brethren." 

Joseph  considered  his  separation  as  ordered  of  God  for  the  good  of  others 
(chap.  xlv.  7,  8) ;  and  he  seems  all  along  to  have  acted  upon  this  principle; 
but  a  life  so  spent  shall  lose  nothing  by  it  in  the  end.  God  will  take  care 
of  that  man,  and  pour  the  richest  blessings  upon  his  head,  whose  great  con- 
cern it  is  to  glorify  him,  and  do  good  in  his  generation.  Jacob  felt  much 
for  Joseph's  separation.  The  spirit  of  his  benediction  was.  By  how  much 
he  was  afflicted  for  the  sake  of  others,  by  so  much  let  him  be  blessed  and 
honoured,  and  that  to  the  latest  posterity ! — And  such  is  the  mind  of  God, 
and  all  his  true  friends,  concerning  a  greater  than  Joseph.  "  For  the  suffer- 
ing of  death,  he  is  crowned  with  glory  and  honour. — And  I  heard  the  voice 
of  many  angels  round  about  the  throne,  and  the  living  creatures,  and  the 
elders ;  and  the  number  of  them  was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and 
thousands  of  thousands ;  saying.  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  re- 
ceive power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory, 
and  blessing ! — Unto  Him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his 
own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father; 
to  Him  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

Ver.  27.  The  last  blessing  is  that  of  Benjamin.  Of  him  it  is  said,  "  He 
shall  raven  as  a  wolf:  in  the  morning  he  shall  devour  the  prey,  and  at  night 
he  shall  divide  the  spoil."  In  this  we  see  that  it  should  be  a  warlike  tribe; 
and  this  it  was,  or  it  could  not  have  resisted  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  in  the 
manner  it  did,  as  recorded  in  the  last  chapters  of  Judges.  But  this  is  saying 
no  more  than  might  have  been  said  of  many  of  the  heathen  nations.  If  Jacob 
had  been  influenced  by  natural  affection,  there  had  doubtless  been  something 
tender  in  the  blessing  of  Benjamin,  as  well  as  in  that  of  Joseph;  but  he  was 
guided  by  a  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  therefore  foretold  the  thing  as  it  was. 

Ver.  28.  Such  were  the  tribes  of  Israel,  and  such  "  the  blessings  where- 
with their  father  blessed  them."  But  how  blessed  them?  It  might  be 
thought  that  the  first  three  at  least  were  cursed,  rather  than  blessed.  No, 
they  were  rebuked,  but  not  cursed,  nor  cast  off,  like  Esau ;  they  still  con- 
tinued among  the  tribes  of  Israel.  It  must  have  been  very  affecting  for  these 
brethren  thus  to  stand  by  and  hear,  as  from  the  mouth  of  God,  what  would 
be  the  consequences  of  their  early  conduct  on  their  distant  posterity ;  and 
as  their  minds  were  now  tender,  it  may  be  supposed  to  have  wrought  in  them 
renewed  repentance,  or  gratitude,  as  the  subject  required. 

Ver,  29-33.  The  patriarch  now  gives  directions  concerning  his  burial. 
He  desires  to  be  interred,  not  in  Egypt,  but  in  the  burying-place  at  Mamre, 
where  lay  Abraham  and  Sarah,  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  and  Leah.  If  he  had 
been  governed  by  natural  affection,  he  might  have  chosen  to  lie  by  the  side 
of  his"  beloved  Rachel ;  but  he  "  died  in  faith,"  and  therefore  requests  to 
mingle  dust  with  his  fathers,  who  had  been  heirs  with  him  of  the  same  pro- 
mise. Having  said  all  he  had  to  say,  he  cheerfully  resigned  his  soul  into 
the  hands  of  him  that  gave  it,  and  was  numbered  with  his  departed  ancestors. 
Thus  died  Jacob ;  a  man  whose  conduct  on  some  occasions  was  cen- 
surable, whose  life  was  filled  up  with  numerous  changes,  but  whose  end  was 
such  as  his  worst  enemies  might  envy. 


FEARS  OP  Joseph's  brethren.  195 


DISCOURSE  LVIII. 

THE  BURIAL    OP    JACOB. JOSEPH    REMOVES  THE   FEARS  OF    HIS    BRETHREN. 

THE    DEATH    OF    JOSEPH. 

Gen.  1. 

Ver.  1.  We  have  seen  the  venerable  patriarch  yielding  up  the  ghost;  and 
now  we  see  the  expressions  of  affection  toward  him  by  the  survivors.  Let 
the  memory  of  the  just  be  blessed.  It  was  revealed  to  Jacob  in  his  lifetime 
that  Joseph  should  "  put  his  hand  upon  his  eyes ;"  and  Joseph  not  only  did 
this,  but,  in  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  "  fell  upon  his  face  after  he  was  dead, 
and  wept  upon  him,  and  kissed  him."  This  is  all  that  we  can  do  towards 
the  most  beloved  objects,  when  death  has  performed  his  office.  The  mind 
is  gone;  the  body  only  remains;  and  of  this  we  must  take  a  long  farewell. 
Faith,  however,  looks  forward  to  a  joyful  resurrection,  and  teaches  us  not  to 
sorrow  as  those  that  have  no  hope. 

Ver.  2.  Joseph  next  proceeds  to  have  the  dead  body  embalmed  with 
sweet  spices.  This  was  an  art  carried  to  great  perfection  in  Egypt :  the 
effects  of  it  are  not  totally  extinct  even  to  this  day.  It  was  suitably  applied 
in  the  present  instance,  not  only  as  an  honour  done  to  a  great  and  good 
man,  but  as  a  means  of  preserving  the  body  from  putrefaction,  during  its 
removal  to  Canaan. 

Ver.  3.  Nor  was  this  the  only  honour  that  was  paid  to  him.  The  family 
no  doubt  mourned  very  sincerely  for  him ;  and,  to  express  their  respect  for 
Joseph,  the  Egyptians,  probably  the  court  and  the  gentry,  went  into  mourn- 
ing ;  and  not  merely  forty  days,  which  was  customary  it  seems  for  every  one 
who  had  the  honour  of  being  embalmed,  but,  in  this  instance,  another  month 
was  added.  The  customs  of  polite  nations,  though  often  consisting  of  mere 
forms,  yet  serve  in  some  instances  to  show  what  should  be.  They  express, 
in  this  case,  a  respect  for  departed  worth,  and  a  sympathy  with  afflicted  sur- 
vivors, weeping  with  them  that  weep. 

Ver.  4-6.  The  days  of  formal  mourning  being  ended,  Joseph  next  pro- 
ceeds to  the  burial  of  his  father.  But  for  this  he  must  first  obtain  leave  of 
absence  from  the  king;  and,  desirous  of  conducting  the  business  with  pro- 
priety, he  applies  to  some  of  the  royal  household  to  make  the  request  for 
him ;  not,  as  some  have  supposed,  because  it  was  improper  for  him  to  appear 
before  the  king  in  mourning  apparel ;  for  "  the  days  of  his  mourning  were 
past;"  but  with  a  view  of  honouring  the  sovereign,  and  cultivating  the 
esteem  of  those  about  him.  A  modest  behaviour  is  said  to  be  rarely  found 
in  royal  favourites;  but  by  the  grace  of  God  it  was  found  in  Joseph.  The 
plea  he  urged  was  nothing  less  than  his  being  under  a  solemn  oath,  imposed 
upon  him  by  the  dying  request  of  his  father;  a  plea  to  which  Pharaoh  could 
make  no  objection,  especially  as  it  was  accompanied  with  a  promise  of  a 
return. 

Ver.  7-11.  We  now  behold  the  funeral  procession.  The  whole  family 
(except  their  little  ones,  who,  with  their  cattle,  were  left  behind)  were,  as  we 
should  say,  the  first  followers ;  but  all  the  elders  of  respectability,  of  the 
court,  and  of  the  country,  with  both  chariots  and  horsemen,  were  in  the  train. 
It  was  "  a  very  great  company,"  not  only  in  number,  but  in  quality.  For 
grandeur  and  magnificence  it  is  said  to  be  without  a  parallel  in  history. 
This  great  honour  was  not  in  consequence  of  any  wish  on  the  part  of  Jacob: 


19G  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

all  he  desired  was,  to  be  carried  by  his  sons,  and  buried  in  the  Land  oi 
Promise.  His  desire  was  that  of  faith,  not  of  ambition.  But,  as  in  the  case  of 
Solomon,  seeing  he  asked  for  that  which  God  approved,  he  should  have  his 
desire  in  that,  and  the  other  should  be  added  to  it.  Thus  God  delights  to 
honour  those  who  honour  him.  And  as  it  was  principally  for  Joseph's  sake 
that  this  great  honour  was  conferred  on  his  father,  it  shows  in  what  high 
esteem  he  was  held  in  Egypt,  and  serves  to  prove,  that  whatever  modern 
adversaries  may  say  of  his  conduct,  he  was  considered  at  the  time  as  one  of 
the  greatest  benefactors  to  the  country. 

Nothing  remarkable  occurred  in  the  procession  till  they  came  to  the 
threshing-floor  of  Atad,  which  was  within  the  land  of  Canaan,  near  to 
Jericho,  and  not  many  miles  from  the  place  of  interment.  Here  they 
stopped,  it  would  seem,  for  seven  days,  performing  funeral  obsequies,  or 
"  mourning  with  a  great  and  sore  lamentation."  So  great  was  it  that  it  drew 
the  attention  of  the  Canaanites,  who,  on  seeing  and  hearing  what  passed, 
observed  one  to  another,  "This  is  a  grievous  mourning  to  the  Egyptians;" 
(for  such  they  considered  them,  seeing  they  came  from  Egypt;)  wheretbre 
the  name  of  the  place  was  afterwards  called  Abd-3Iizraim — "the  mourning 
of  the  Egyptians." 

Ver.  12-21.  Joseph  and  his  brethren,  having  buried  their  father  in  the 
place  where  he  requested  to  lie,  return  to  Egypt,  with  the  company  which 
went  with  them.  The  pomp  and  hurry  of  the  funeral,  while  it  lasted,  would 
occupy  their  attention ;  but,  this  having  subsided,  the  thoughts  of  the  ten 
brethren  were  directed  to  other  things.  The  death  of  great  characters  being 
often  followed  by  great  changes,  conscious  guilt  being  always  alive  to  fear, 
and  the  chasm  which  succeeds  a  funeral  inviting  a  flood  of  foreboding  appre- 
hensions, they  find  out  a  new  source  of  trouble:  Peradventure,  all  the  kind- 
ness hitherto  shown  us  has  been  only  for  our  father's  sake  ....  Peradven- 
ture, Joseph,  after  all,  never  forgave  us  in  his  heart  ....  and  now  our  father 
is  dead,  so  as  not  to  be  grieved  by  it,  peradventure  he  will  feel  that  hatred 
to  us  which  we  once  felt  to  him ;  and  if  so,  he  will  certainly  requite  the  evil 
which  we  have  done  unto  him.  O  jealousy!  is  it  not  rightly  said  of  thee, 
Thou  art  cruel  as  the  grave? 

But  how  can  they  disclose  their  suspicions?  To  have  done  it  personally 
would  have  been  too  much  for  either  him  or  them  to  bear,  let  him  take  it  as 
he  might.  So  they  "  sent  messengers  unto  him,"  to  sound  him.  We  know 
not  who  they  were;  but  if  Benjamin  was  one  of  them,  it  is  no  more  than 
might  be  expected.  Mark  the  delicacy  and  exquisite  tenderness  of  the 
message.  Nothing  is  said  of  their  suspicions,  only  that  the  petition  implies 
them;  yet  it  is  expressed  in  such  a  manner  as  cannot  offend,  but  must  needs 
melt  the  heart  of  Joseph,  even  though  he  had  been  possessed  of  less  affec- 
tion than  he  was.  1.  They  introduce  themselves  as  acting  under  the  direc- 
tion of  a  mediator,  and  this  mediator  was  none  other  than  their  deceased 
father.  He  commanded  us,  say  they,  before  he  died,  that  we  should  say 
thus  and  thus.  And  was  it  possible  for  Joseph  to  be  offended  with  them 
for  obepng  Ms  orders?  But  stop  a  moment — May  not  we  make  a  similar 
use  of  what  our  Saviour  said  to  us  before  he  died?  He  commanded  us  to 
Bay,  "Our  Father — forgive  us  our  debts."  Can  we  not  make  the  same  use 
of  this  as  Jacob's  sons  did  of  their  father's  commandment  ?  2.  They  pre- 
sent the  petition  as  coming  frot/t  their  father:  "Forgive,!  pray  thee,  the 
trespass  of  thy  brethren,  and  their  sin ;  for  they  did  unto  thee  evil."  And 
was  it  possible  to  refuse  complying  with  his  father's  desire?  The  inter- 
cessor, it  is  to  be  observed,  does  not  go  about  to  extenuate  the  sin  of  the 
offenders;  but  frankly  acknowledges  it,  and  that,  if  justice  were  to  take  its 
course,  they  must  be  punished.     Neither  does  he  plead  their  subsequent 


FEARS  OF  Joseph's  brethren.  197 

repentance  as  the  ground  of  pardon ;  but  requests  that  it  may  be  done  for 
Jiis  sake,  or  on  account  of  the  love  which  the  offended  bore  to  him.  3. 
They  unite  their  own  confession  and  petition  to  that  of  their  father.  It 
was  certainly  proper  that  they  should  do  so;  for  though  they  no  more  plead 
their  own  repentance  as  the  ground  of  forgiveness  than  the  mediator  had 
done,  yet  it  was  fit  they  should  repent,  and  acknowledge  their  transgressions, 
ere  they  obtained  mercy.  Moreover,  though  they  must  make  no  merit  of 
any  thing  pertaining  to  themselves ;  yet  if  there  be  a  character  which  the 
offended  party  is  known  to  esteem  above  all  others,  and  they  be  conscious 
of  sustaining  that  character,  it  will  be  no  presumption  to  make  mention  of  it. 
And  this  is  what  they  do,  and  that  in  a  manner  which  must  make  a  deep 
impression  upon  a  heart  like  that  of  Joseph.  "And  now,  we  pray  thee,  for- 
give the  trespass  of  the  servants  of  the  God  of  thy  father!"  It  were  sufficient 
to  have  gained  their  point,  even  though  Joseph  had  been  reluctant,  to  have 
pleaded  their  being  children  of  the  same  father,  and  that  father  making  it, 
as  it  were,  his  dying  request ;  but  the  consideration  of  their  being  the  servants 
of  his  father's  God  was  overcoming.  Were  we  to  look  back  to  some  former 
periods  of  their  history,  we  could  not  have  considered  them  as  entitled  to 
this  character;  but  since  that  time  God  had  brought  them  through  a  series 
of  trials,  by  means  of  which  he  had  turned  them  to  himself  And  though 
they  are  far  from  considering  their  present  state  of  mind  as  obliterating  the 
guilt  of  their  former  crimes,  yet,  knowing  that  Joseph  was  himself  a  servant 
of  God,  they  knew  that  this  consideration  would  make  a  deep  impression 
upon  him.  It  is  no  wonder  that,  at  the  close  of  this  part  of  the  story,  it 
should  be  added,  "And  Joseph  wept  when  they  spake  unto  him!" 

But  this  is  not  all;  they  go  in  person,  and  "fall  before  his  face,"  and  offer 
to  be  his  servants.  This  extreme  abasement  on  their  part  seems  to  have 
given  a  kind  of  gentle  indignancy  to  Joseph's  feelings.  Ilis  mind  revolted 
at  it.  It  seemed  to  him  too  much.  "  Fear  not,"  saith  he:  "  for  am  I  in  the 
place  of  God  ?"  As  if  he  should  say.  It  may  belong  to  God  to  take  ven- 
geance; but  for  a  sinful  worm  of  the  dust,  who  himself  needs  forgiveness, 
to  do  so,  were  highly  presumptuous;  you  have  therefore  nothing  to  fear  from 
me.     What  further  forgiveness  you  need,  seek  it  of  him. 

Ver.  20,  21.  There  was  a  delicacy  in  the  situation  of  the  ten  brethren,  in 
respect  to  this  application  to  Joseph,  as  it  would  imply  a  doubt  of  his  former 
sincerity.  They  were  aware  of  this,  and  therefore  in  every  thing  they  say, 
whether  by  messengers  or  in  personal  interview,  are  careful  to  avoid  touch- 
ing upon  that  subject.  Nor  is  there  less  delicacy  in  Joseph's  answer.  He 
does  not  complain  of  this  implication,  nor  so  much  as  mention  it;  but  his 
answering  them  nearly  in  the  same  words  as  he  had  done  seventeen  years 
before,  "  Ye  thought  evil  against  me,  but  God  meant  it  unto  good,  to  bring 
to  pass  as  it  is  this  day,  to  save  much  people  alive ;"  I  say,  his  answering 
them  in  this  language  was  saying,  in  effect.  Your  suspicions  are  unfounded; 
what  I  told  you  seventeen  years  ago  I  meant ;  and  the  considerations  which 
then  induced  me  to  pass  over  it  induce  me  still  to  do  the  same.  "  Now, 
therefore,  fear  ye  not;  I  will  nourish  you  and  your  little  ones."  I  will  not 
be  your  master,  but  your  brother,  and,  as  it  were,  your  father.  In  this  man- 
ner did  he  "  comfort  them,  and  spake  kindly  unto  them." 

Ver.  22,  23.  Joseph  was  about  fifty-six  years  old  when  his  father  died  ;  he 
must  therefore  have  lived  fifty-four  years  afterwards;  during  which  period  he 
saw  Ephraim's  children,  of  the  third  generation ;  and  the  grandsons  of  Ma- 
nasseh  were  brought  up,  as  it  were,  upon  his  knees. 

Ver.  24-20.  And  now  the  time  draws  near  that  Joseph  also  must  die; 
and,  like  his  worthy  ancestors,  he  dies  in  faith.  1.  He  is  persuaded  of  the 
truth  of  God  to  his  covenant  promises.     "  I  die,"  saith  he;  "  and  God  shall 

r2 


198  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

surely  visit  you,  and  bring  you  out  of  this  land  unto  the  land  which  he  sware 
to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob."  2.  Under  the  influence  of  this  per- 
suasion he  takes  "  an  oath  of  the  children  of  Israel,"  that  when  they  should 
depart  from  Egypt  they  would  take  his  "  bones  with  them."  Such  a  desire 
might  have  arisen  merely  from  a  wish  to  mingle  dust  with  his  forefathers; 
but  we  are  directed  to  attribute  it  to  a  higher  motive.  It  is  in  reference  to 
this  exercise  of  faith  that  his  name  is  enrolled  in  the  catalogue  of  believing 
worthies,  Heb.  xi.  22.  Having  said  all  he  wished  to  say,  "  he  died,  being 
a  hundred  and  ten  years  old ;  and  they  embalmed  him,  and  he  was  put  in  a 
coflin  in  Egypt."  As  the  burial  of  Jacob  in  Canaan  would  attract  the  minds 
of  Israel  to  that  country,  so  the  depositing  of  Joseph  in  a  moveable  chest, 
together  with  his  dying  word,  would  serve  as  a  memento  that  Egypt  was  not 
their  home. 


CONCLUSION. 


I  HAVE  endeavoured  to  intersperse  reflections  on  the  various  subjects  as 
they  have  occurred ;  but  there  are  a  few  others  which  arise  from  a  review 
of  the  whole,  and  with  these  I  shall  conclude. 

First,  Tke  truth  of  revelation,  and  its  leading  doctrines.  That  which  ac- 
counts for  things  as  they  are,  or  as  they  actually  exist  in  the  world,  and  that 
in  such  a  manner  as  nothing  else  does,  carries  in  it  its  own  evidence.  Look 
at  things  as  they  are,  and  look  at  this,  and  you  will  find  that  as  face  an- 
swereth  to  face  in  water,  so  doth  the  one  answer  to  the  other. 

Look  at  the  material  creation  around  you,  and  ask  the  philosophers  of  all 
ages  how  it  came  into  being.  One  ascribes  it  to  a  fortuitous  assemblage  of 
atoms ;  another  conceives  matter  to  have  been  eternal ;  another  imagines 
God  himself  a  material  being.  But  revelation,  like  the  light  shining  upon 
chaos,  dissipates  in  a  few  words  all  this  darkness,  informing  us  that,  "  In  the 
beginning,  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth." 

Look  at  human  nature  as  it  now  is;  depraved,  miserable,  and  subject  to 
death.  Ask  philosophy  to  account  for  this.  This  task  will  be  found  to 
surpass  its  powers.  None  can  deny  the  fact  that  men  are  what  they  ought 
not  to  be ;  but  how  they  came  to  be  so  cannot  be  told.  To  say,  as  many 
do,  that  the  stock  is  good,  but  that  it  gets  corrupt  in  rearing,  is  to  reason  in 
a  manner  that  no  one  would  have  the  face  to  do  in  any  other  case.  If  a 
tree  were  found  which  in  every  climate,  every  age,  every  soil,  and  under 
every  kind  of  cultivation,  brought  forth  the  fruits  of  death,  nobody  would  hesi- 
tate to  pronounce  it  o(  a  poisonous  nature.  Such  is  the  account  given  us  by 
revelation,  and  this  book  informs  us  how  it  became  so.  It  is  true  it  does 
not  answer  curious  questions  on  this  awful  subject.  It  traces  the  origin  of 
evil  as  far  as  sobriety  and  humility  would  wish  to  inquire.  It  states  the  fact, 
that  God  hath  "  made  man  upright,"  and  that  he  "  hath  sought  out  many  in- 
ventions;" but  there  it  leaves  it.  If  men  will  object  to  the  equity  of  the 
Divine  proceedings,  and  allege  that  what  is  in  consequence  of  their  first 
father's  trangression  is  on  their  part  guiltless,  they  must  go  on  to  object. 
Every  man's  conscience  tells  him  he  is  accountable  for  all  he  does  from 
choice,  let  that  choice  have  been  influenced  by  what  it  may ;  and  no  man 
thinks  of  excusing  his  neighbour  in  his  ill  conduct  towards  him  because  he 
is  a  son  of  Adam.  Out  of  their  own  mouth,  therefore,  will  such  objectors  be 
judged.  But  if  the  doctrine  of  the  fall,  as  narrated  in  this  book,  be  admitted, 
that  of  salvation  by  free  grace,  through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  will  follow 


CONCLUSION.  199 

of  course.  I  do  not  say  that  redemption  by  Christ  could  be  inferred  from 
the  fall  itself;  but  being  revealed  in  the  same  sacred  book,  we  cannot  believe 
the  one  without  feeling  the  necessity  of  the  other. 

Look  at  the  page  of  history,  and  you  will  find  yourselves  in  a  world  of  the 
existence  of  which  you  can  find  no  traces  till  within  about  four  thousand 
years.  All  beyond  is  darkness ;  and  all  pretensions  to  earlier  records  carry 
in  them  self-evident  marks  of  fable.  These  things  are  accounted  for  in 
this  book.  If  the  world  was  destroyed  by  a  flood,  there  could  no  nations 
have  existed  till  a  little  before  the  times  of  Abraham.  Nay,  this  book  gives 
us  the  origin  of  all  the  nations,  and  calls  many  of  them  by  the  names  which 
they  sustain  to  this  day. 

Finally,  Look  at  the  antipathy  which  is  every  where  to  be  seen  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  between  them  that  fear  God  and  them  that 
fear  him  not.  All  the  narratives  which  have  passed  under  our  review,  as 
those  of  Cain  and  Abel,  Enoch  and  his  contemporaries,  Isaac  and  Ishmael, 
Jacob  and  Esau,  are  pictures  of  originals  which  the  world  continues  in  every 
age  to  exhibit.  But  this  book  traces  this  antipathy  to  its  source,  and  gives 
us  reason  to  expect  its  continuance  till  Satan  and  his  cause  shall  be  bruised 
under  our  feet. 

Secondly,  The  peculiar  characters  of  sacred  history.  It  is  the  most  con- 
cise, and  yet  comprehensive,  of  any  record  that  has  ever  yet  appeared  in  the 
world.  In  the  Book  of  Genesis  only  we  have  gone  over  the  history  of  two 
thousand,  three  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years.  A  common  historian  might 
have  used  more  words  in  giving  us  an  account  of  one  of  Nimrod's  expedi- 
tions. Yet  it  is  not  like  the  abridged  histories  of  human  writers,  which  often 
contain  a  string  of  unconnected  facts,  which  leave  no  impression,  and  are 
nearly  void  of  useful  information.  You  see  human  nature,  as  created,  as 
depraved,  and  as  renewed  by  the  grace  of  God  ;  you  see  the  motives  of  men, 
and  the  reason  of  things,  so  as  to  enable  you  to  draw  from  every  story  some 
important  lesson,  some  warning,  caution,  counsel,  encouragement,  or  in- 
struction in  righteousness. 

The  reason  of  so  much  being  included  in  so  small  a  compass  is,  it  is 
select.  It  is  not  a  history  of  the  world,  but  of  persons  and  things  which  the 
world  overlooks.  It  keeps  one  great  object  always  in  view,  namely,  the 
progress  of  the  church  of  God,  and  touches  other  societies  and  their  con- 
cerns only  incidentally,  and  as  they  are  connected  with  it.  The  things 
which  are  here  recorded  are  such  as  would  have  been  mostly  overlooked  by 
common  historians,  just  as  things  of  the  same  kind  are  overlooked  to  this 
day.  If  you  read  many  of  even  our  Church  Histories,  you  will  perceive  but 
little  of  the  history  of  true  religion  in  them.  There  are  more  of  the  genuine 
exercises  of  grace  in  a  page  of  the  life  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  or  Jacob,  than 
you  will  frequently  find  here  in  a  volume.  If  the  world  overlooks  God  and 
his  cause,  God,  in  return,  overlooks  them  and  theirs.  His  history  holds  up 
an  Enoch,  and  preserves  a  Noah,  while  a  world  lying  in  wickedness  is 
destroyed  by  an  overwhelming  flood.  It  follows  an  Abraham,  an  Isaac,  a 
Jacob,  and  a  Joseph,  through  all  their  vicissitudes,  narrating  the  trials  and 
triumphs  of  faith  in  these  holy  men ;  while  the  Ishmaels,  the  Esaus,  and  all 
who  apostatized  from  the  true  God,  are  given  up,  and  lost  in  the  great  world. 
It  traces  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  God  to  its  smallest  beginnings,  and  follows 
it  through  its  various  obstructions;  while  the  wars,  conquests,  and  intrigues 
of  the  great  nations  of  antiquity  are  passed  over  as  unworthy  of  notice.  In 
all  this  we  see  that  the  things  which  are  highly  esteemed  among  men  are 
but  lightly  accounted  of  by  the  Lord ;  and  that  He  who  hath  heaven  for  his 
throne,  and  earth  for  his  footstool,  overlooks  both,  in  comparison  of  a  poor 
and  contrite  spirit. 


/ 


200  EXPOSITION  OF  GENESIS. 

Lastly,  TJie  slow  hut  certain  progress  of  the  Divine  designs.  God  pro- 
mised Abraham  a  son  when  he  was  seventy-five  years  old;  but  he  was  not 
born  till  he  was  a  hundred.  And  when  lie  is  born,  he  lives  forty  years 
unmarried ;  and  when  married,  under  an  expectation  of  great  fruitfulness,  it 
is  twenty  years  more  ere  Rebecca  bears  children  ;  and  then  it  is  not  without 
earnest  prayer.  And  now  that  he  has  two  sons  born,  Jacob,  in  whom  the 
promise  is  to  be  fulfilled,  lives  seventy-five  years  single,  and  his  life  is  a  kind 
of  blank:  and  when  he  goes  to  Padan-aram  for  a  wife,  he  must  wait  seven 
years  longer  ere  he  obtains  her:  and  when  he  has  a  family  of  children,  they 
prove  some  of  the  worst  of  characters.  The  only  one  that  is  any  way  hope- 
ful is  taken  away,  he  knows  not  how  ;  and  a  long  series  of  afflictions  follow, 
one  upon  another,  ere  any  thing  like  hope  makes  its  appearance.  Yet  all 
this  while  the  Lord  had  promised,  "I  will  surely  do  thee  good;"  and  in  the 
end  the  good  is  done.  God's  ways  fetch  an  astonishing  compass.  His 
heart  is  large,  and  all  his  plans  are  great.  He  does  not  make  haste  to  fulfil 
his  counsels :  but  waits,  and  causes  us  to  wait,  the  clue  time.  But  at  that 
time  they  are  all  fulfilled. 

We  may  observe  a  difference,  however,  as  to  the  time  taken  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  difl^erent  promises.  Those  which  were  made  to  Abraham's  other 
children,  and  which  had  no  immediate  relation  to  God's  spiritual  kingdom, 
as  has  been  remarked  in  the  course  of  the  work,  were  very  soon  accom- 
plished, in  comparison  of  that  which  was  confined  to  Isaac.  Small  legacies 
are  often  received  and  spent  before  the  heir  comes  to  the  full  possession  of 
his  inheritance.  And  even  those  which  are  made  to  the  church  of  God,  and 
have  respect  to  his  spiritual  kingdom,  vary  in  some  proportion  to  their  magni- 
tude. "  God  made  promise  of  a  son  to  Abraham :  Jive-and-tioenty  years 
elapse  ere  this  is  accomplished.  He  also  promised  the  land  of  Canaan  for 
a  possession  to  his  posterity :  there  the  performance  required  a  period  of 
ncarli/  Jive  hundred  years.  At  the  same  time  Abraham  was  assured  that 
the  Messiah  should  descend  from  his  loins,  and  that  in  him  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  should  be  blessed:  this  promise  was  nearly  two  thousand  years 
ere  it  came  to  pass.  These  events  resemble  the  oval  streaks  in  the  trunk  of 
a  tree,  which  mark  its  annual  growth  :  each  describes  a  larger  compass  than 
that  which  precedes  it,  and  all  which  precede  it  are  preparatory  to  that  which 
follows.  The  establishment  of  Abraham's  posterity  in  Canaan  was  a  greater 
event  than  the  birth  of  Isaac,  and  greater  preparations  were  made  for  it.  But 
it  was  less  than  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  required  less  time  and  labour  to 
precede  it." 

From  this  ordinary  ratio,  if  I  may  so  speak,  in  the  Divine  administration, 
we  are  furnished  with  motives  to  patience,  while  waiting  for  the  fulfilment 
of  promises  to  the  church  in  the  latter  days.  The  things  promised  are  here 
so  great  and  so  glorious  that  they  may  well  be  supposed  to  fetch  a  large 
compass,  and  to  require  a  period  of  long  and  painful  suspense  ere  they  are 
accomplished.  The  night  may  be  expected  to  bear  some  proportion  to  the 
day  that  succeeds  it.  It  is  a  consolation,  however,  that  the  night  with  us  is 
far  spent,  and  the  day  is  at  hand.  The  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years  of 
antichrist's  dominion,  and  of  the  church's  affliction,  must  needs  be  drawing 
towards  a  close ;  and  a  season  so  dark,  and  so  long,  augurs  glorious  times 
before  us.  We  may  have  our  seasons  of  despondency,  like  the  patriarchs; 
but  there  will  come  a  time,  and  that  probably  not  very  distant,  when  what  is 
said  of  Israel  in  the  times  of  Joshua  shall  be  fulfilled  on  a  larger  scale .  "And 
the  Lord  gave  them  rest  round  about,  according  to  all  that  he  sware  unto 
their  fathers. — There  failed  not  aught  of  any  good  thing  which  the  Lord 
had  spoken  unto  the  house  of  Israel ;  all  came  to  pass." 


EXPOSITORY    DISCOURSES 

ON 

THE    APOCALYPSE. 


TO  THE 

BAPTIST  CHURCH  OF  CHRIST  AT  KETTERING. 

Dear  Brethren, 

It  is  at  your  request  that  these  Discourses  appear  in  print.  When  in  the 
course  of  exposition  I  first  entered  on  them,  it  was  not  from  an  idea  that  I 
at  that  time  sufficiently  understood  the  prophecy,  but  from  a  hope  that  by 
this  means  I  might  understand  it  better.  And  now  that  I  have  ventured  to 
publish,  it  is  not  because  T  am  fully  satisfied  of  having  given  the  true  mean- 
ing in  every  instance.  There  are  parts  in  which  I  can  only  say,  I  have  done 
the  best  I  could.  If,  however,  I  had  not  been  satisfied  as  to  the  general 
meaning  of  the  prophecy,  or  had  been  conscious  of  having  thrown  no  new 
light  upon  it,  I  should  have  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  withhold  my  papers  from 
the  public  eye. 

Observing  the  blessing  pronounced  on  "him  that  readeth,  and  on  them 
that  hear,  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep  those  things  which  are  writ- 
ten therein,"  I  had  a  desire  to  enter  upon  it,  accompanied,  I  think,  with 
some  sense  of  my  dependence  upon  the  enlightening  influences  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  reason  also  assigned  why  we  should  study  this  part  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  particular, — that  "  the  time  is  at  hand,"  seemed  to  have  greater 
force  after  a  lapse  of  above  seventeen  hundred  years  than  it  could  have  at 
the  time  of  its  being  written.  I  conceived  also  that  the  events  of  the  pre- 
sent times,  though  we  should  beware  of  illusive  hypotheses  founded  upon 
them,  yet  called  for  a  special  attention  to  prophecy.  They  might  also  be 
expected  to  throw  some  light  upon  it.  Some  late  writers  upon  the  subject 
appear  to  understand  many  things  which  earlier  ones  did  not;  and  there  is 
reason  to  expect  that  prophecy  will  be  understood  much  better  in  years  to 
come  than  it  is  at  present. 

The  method  I  pursued  was,  first  to  read  it  carefully  over,  and,  as  I  went 
on,  to  note  down  what  first  struck  me  as  the  meaning.  After  reducing  these 
notes  into  something  like  a  scheme  of  the  prophecy,  I  examined  the  best 
expositors  I  could  procure,  and,  comparing  my  own  first  thoughts  with  theirs, 
was  better  able  to  judge  of  their  justness.  Some  of  them  were  confirmed, 
some  corrected,  and  many  added  to  them. 

I  have  dealt  but  little  in  quotations,  refusing  nothing,  however,  from  any 
writer,  which  appeared  to  me  to  be  just.     And  as  to  what  appeared  other- 

VoL.  III.— 26  301 


'Jir. 


202  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALfPSE. 

wise,  I  have  generally  passed  it  over  without  attempting  to  refute  it,  as  being 
rather  desirous  of  giving  the  true  meaning  than  of  proving  that  other  men's 
opinions  were  founded  in  mistake. 

The  exposition  of  a  prophecy,  delivered  in  symbolical  language,  must  be 
liable  to  many  mistakes.  A  style  so  highly  figurative  furnishes  great  scope 
for  the  imagination,  which,  unless  it  be  accompanied  with  a  sober  and  just 
judgment,  will  lead  us  into  labyrinths  of  error.  How  far  I  have  been  enabled 
to  avoid  them,  and  to  succeed  in  throwing  light  upon  any  part  of  the  pro- 
phecy, it  is  not  for  me  to  decide.  This  I  know,  my  object  has  been  to 
obtain  its  true  meaning,  and  to  communicate  it  in  a  manner  suited,  not  to 
the  curious,  but  to  the  Christian  reader. 

The  manuscript  has  lain  by  me  between  four  and  five  years,  during  which 
I  have  frequently  re-examined  its  contents,  and  availed  myself  of  any  further 
light  which  by  reading  or  reflection  has  appeared  on  the  subject.  During 
this  period  several  of  our  most  highly  esteemed  friends,  who  joined  in  the 
request,  are  gone  the  way  of  all  the  earth.  We  shall  soon  follow  them.  We 
have  seen  enough,  amidst  all  the  troubles  of  our  times,  to  gladden  our  hearts  ; 
and  trust  that  our  children  will  see  greater  things  than  these. 

I  am  your  affectionate  Pastor, 
Kettering,  March  21,  1815.  ANDREW  FULLER. 


SCHEME    OF   THE    PROPHECY. 

The  addresses  to  the  seven  churches  are  applicable  to  all  other  churches 
in  similar  circumstances  in  all  ages,  but  not  prophetic. — The  things  which 
the  apostle  was  commanded  to  write  being  those  which  he  had  seen,  those 
which  were,  and  those  which  should  be  hereafter,  prove  that  the  prophecy 
commences,  not  from  the  time  of  the  vision,  but  probably  from  the  ascen- 
sion of  Christ,  in  like  manner  as  the  four  monarchies  of  Daniel  com- 
menced from  the  rising  up  of  the  Babylonish  empire,  many  years  before 
the  time  of  the  vision. — Chapters  i. — iii. 

The  book  of  seven  seals  contains  the  whole  of  the  prophecy,  the  trum- 
pets being  only  a  subdivision  of  the  seventh  seal,  and  the  vials  of  the  seventh 
trumpet. — Chapters  iv.,  v. 

The  opening  of  the  first  seal, — on  which  appeared  "  a  white  horse,  and 
he  that  sat  on  him  had  a  bow ;  and  a  crown  was  given  unto  him :  and  he 
went  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer,"  represents  the  great  progress  of  the 
gospel  in  the  apostolic  age. — Chapter  vi.  1,  2. 

The  opening  of  the  second  seal, — on  which  there  appeared  "  a  red  horse, 
and  power  was  given  to  him  that  sat  thereon  to  take  peace  from  the  earth, 
and  that  they  should  kill  one  another," — signifies  the  wars  between  the  Jews 
and  the  Romans,  who  had  united  in  persecuting  Christ  and  his  followers. — 
Chap.  vi.  3,  4. 

The  opening  of  the  third  seal, — on  which  there  appeared  a  "  black  horse, 
and  he  that  sat  on  him  had  a  pair  of  balances  in  his  hand,"  &c., — denotes 
a  famine,  or  scarcity  approaching  to  famine,  in  which  the  necessaries  of  life 
would  be  required  to  be  weighed  out  with  the  utmost  care,  and  which  was 
fulfilled  during  the  reigns  of  the  Antonines. — Chap.  vi.  5,  6. 


SCHEME  OF  THE  PROPHECY.  203 

The  opening  of  the  fourth  seal, — on  which  there  appeared  "  a  pale  horse, 
and  his  name  that  sat  on  him  was  Death,  and  hell  followed," — signifies  great 
mortality,  owing  to  the  intrigues  and  intestine  wars  in  the  empire,  between 
the  years  193  and  270,  which  produced  Himine  and  pestilence,  and  by  di- 
minishing the  number  of  men,  gave  ascendency  to  the  beasts  of  prey. — 
Chap.  vi.  7,  8. 

The  Jifth  seal  was  opened,  on  which  were  seen  "  under  the  altar  the  souls  of 
them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they 
held :  and  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and 
true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth?  And  white  robes  were  given  unto  every  one  of  them,  and  it  was 
said  unlo  them  that  they  should  rest  [or  wait]  yet  for  a  little  season,  until 
their  fellow  servants  also,  and  their  brethren  that  should  be  killed  as  they 
were,  should  be  fulfilled."  This  seal  represents  the  state  of  the  church  about 
the  year  270,  when  it  had  endured  nine  out  of  the  ten  heathen  persecutions, 
and  was  about  to  endure  the  tenth,  under  Dioclesian  and  Maximian,  after 
which  God  would  avenge  their  cause,  by  an  utter  overthrow  of  their  perse- 
cutors.— Chap.  vi.  9-1 1 . 

The  opening  of  the  sixth  seal, — on  which  appeared  "  an  earthquake," 
and  as  it  were  a  day  of  judgment, — signified  the  revolution  of  Constantine, 
when  the  pagan  empire  was  overthrown,  and  the  prayers  of  the  souls  under 
the  altar  were  answered. — Chap.  vi.  12-17. 

The  "sealing  of  the  servants  of  God  in  their  foreheads"  portends  danger 
to  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  church  from  its  outward  prosperity,  and  dis- 
tinguishes the  faithful  from  the  crowd  of  nominal  Christians  that  would  now 
be  pressing  into  it. — Chap.  vii.  1-8. 

This  chapter  concludes  with  a  vision  of  the  martyrs  who  had  overcome, 
serving  to  strengthen  the  servants  of  God  to  encounter  new  trials. — Chap, 
vii.  9-17. 

The  seventh  seal  is  opened. — A  solemn  pause  ensues. — It  is  then  subdi- 
vided into  seven  trumpets,  which  are  put  into  the  hands  of  seven  angels ; 
and  the  sounding  of  them  is  prefaced  by  "  another  angel's  offering  up  the 
prayers  of  the  saints  with  much  incense,  filling  his  censer  with  fire,  and  cast- 
ing it  into  the  earth,"  denoting  that  the  judgments  to  be  brought  by  the 
trumpets  would  be  in  answer  to  their  prayers. — Chap.  viii.  1-5. 

The  sounding  oi  i\\e  first  four  trumpets,  which  affect  "  the  earth,  the  sea, 
the  fountains  of  waters,  and  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,"  denote  the  judg- 
ments on  the  continental,  the  maritime,  and  the  mountainous  parts  of  the 
empire,  by  the  invasion  of  the  northern  nations,  the  issue  of  which  was  the 
eclipse  of  the  government  supreme  and  subordinate.  As  the  seals  overthrew 
the  pagan  empire,  these  overthrow  the  Christian. — Chap.  viii.  6-12. 

The  sounding  of  the  fifth,  or  first  woe-trumpet,  on  which  followed  "  smoke 
from  the  bottomless  pit,  and  locusts,"  represents  popery  as  filling  the  world 
with  infernal  darkness,  and  thus  preparing  the  way  for  JVlahomedan  delusion 
and  depredation. — Chap.  ix.  1-12. 

The  sixth,  or  second  woe-trumpet,  is  complex,  relating  partly  to  the  "  loos- 
ing of  the  four  angels  in  Euphrates,"  followed  by  "  an  army  of  horsemen," 
and  partly  to  the  conduct  of  "  the  rest  of  the  men,  who  were  not  killed  by 
these  plagues," — the  former  denoting  the  rise  and  ravages  of  the  Turks,  by 
whom  the  eastern  empire,  and  with  it  the  Greek  church,  were  overthrown; 
and  the  latter,  the  idolatries  and  cruelties  of  the  members  of  the  western 
church,  who,  instead  of  taking  warning  from  the  fate  of  the  eastern,  re- 
pented not,  but  persisted  in  corrupting  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  in 
persecuting  his  witnesses. — Chap.  ix.  13-21,  to  chap.  xi.  14. 

The  vision  of  the  angel  with  "  a  little  book  open,"  whose  cry  was  fol- 


/  ' 


204  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

lowed  by  "  seven  thunders,"  refers  to  the  western  or  papal  church,  which 
the  prophecy  now  goes  some  ages  back  to  take  up,  and  which  occupies  the 
whole  of  what  follows  till  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are  taken,  or  down 
to  the  times  of  the  Millennium. — The  "  thunders"  may  probably  refer  to  the 
same  things,  in  the  form  of  a  general  threatening,  which  are  afterwards  par- 
ticularly disclosed  under  the  vials ;  for  it  appears  to  be  of  their  execution 
that  the  angel  swears  by  Him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever  that  there  shall 
be  no  delay :  but  that  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when 
he  shall  begin  to  sound,  (that  is,  in  the  times  of  the  pouring  out  of  the  vials,) 
the  mystery  of  God  should  be  finished.  This  accounts  for  the  command 
*'  not  to  write  them,"  as  they  would  be  particularized  under  the  vials.— 
Chap.  X. 

The  eleventh  and  three  following  chapters  are  considered  as  three  general 
descriptions  of  the  false  church,  chiefly  under  the  1260  years  of  anlichristian 
usurpation,  together  with  the  state  of  the  true  church  during  the  same  pe- 
riod. These  general  descriptions  of  course  are  not  confined  to  the  times  ot 
this  or  that  trumpet,  but  comprehend  those  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
trumpets. 

The  first  general  description,  contained  in  the  eleventh  chapter,  denomi- 
nates the  false  church  "Gentiles,"  and  the  true  church  "witnesses,"  who 
bear  testimony  against  them.  It  leaves  out  of  "  the  temple  of  God"  the 
place  occupied  by  the  former.  It  represents,  by  the  "  slaughter  of  the  wit- 
nesses," the  prevalence  of  the  antichristian  party ;  by  their  "  resurrection 
and  ascension  to  heaven,"  the  protestant  Reformation  ;  and  by  the  "  earth- 
quake," in  which  a  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell,  (and  which,  by  the  way,  marks 
the  termination  of  the  sixth,  or  second  woe-trumpet,)  the  revolution  in 
France.  By  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  angel,  a  signal  is  given  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel.  And,  by  the  song  of  the  heavenly  choir,  are  intimated 
the  judgments  which  should  be  inflicted  on  the  anlichristian  party,  and  the 
Millennial  glory  that  should  follow. — Chap.  xi. 

The  second  general  description,  contained  in  the  twelfth  chapter,  repre- 
sents the  true  church,  prior  to  the  introduction  of  antichristian  corruptions, 
as  "  clothed  with  the  sun,  having  the  moon  under  her  feet,  and  upon  her 
head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars."  These  corruptions  originate  in  a  third  part 
of  the  stars  of  heaven  being  drawn  from  their  orbits  by  the  tail  of  the  dra- 
gon, and  cast  upon  the  earth ;  or  by  the  rulers  of  the  church  being  seduced 
by  the  riches  and  honours  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  dragon,  having  thus 
prevailed  over  a  part  of  the  Christian  church,  aims  to  devour  the  other.  The 
true  church  fleeth  into  the  wilderness,  where  she  exists  without  legal  protec- 
tion or  toleration  till  the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  Michael 
fights  her  battles,  and  the  dragon  is  cast  down.  Succeeding  persecutions  are 
the  effect  of  his  defeat. — Chap.  xii. 

The  third  general  description,  contained  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
chapters,  represents  a  "  beast  rising  out  of  the  sea,  with  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns,  and  upon  his  horns  ten  crowns,  tSic,  signifying  that  secular  govern- 
ment by  which  the  false  church  has  been  all  along  supported,  namely,  the 
Roman  empire  under  its  last  head,  after  it  had  been  divided  into  ten  inde- 
pendent kingdoms,  each  of  which  was  a  horn  of  the  beast.  When  pagan- 
ism was  overthrown,  the  beast  in  one  of  its  heads  was  "  as  it  were  wounded 
to  death ;"  but,  when  Christianity  became  so  corrupted  as  to  be  paganized, 
"  the  deadly  wound  was  healed." — Chap.  xiii.  1-10. 

Another  beast  "rose  out  of  the  earth,  with  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  but 
who  spake  as  a  dragon," — denoting  the  hierarchy,  or  false  church  itself, 
which  is  contemporary,  and  all  along  acts  in  concert,  with  the  first  or  secu- 
lar beast. — Chap.  xiii.  11-18. 


SCHEME  OF  THE  PROPHECY.  205 

During  the  ravages  of  these  beasts,  and  in  opposition  to  them  and  their 
followers,  appears  "  a  Lamb  standing  upon  Mount  Zion,  and  with  him 
144,000,  having  his  Father's  name  written  in  their  foreheads."  Their  victory 
over  antichristian  error  and  corruption  at  the  Reformation  is  signified  by 
"  the  voice  of  many  waters,  like  thunder,  and  of  harpers  harping  with  their 
harps."  The  spirit  lately  excited  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  is 
thought  to  be  denoted  by  the  evangelical  "  angel."  The  diminution  and 
approaching  dissolution  of  the  antichristian  power  is  represented  by  "  another 
angel  following,  and  saying,  Babylon  is  fallen,  is  fallen!"  And  the  danger 
of  symbolizing  and  tampering  with  antichristianism  is  suggested  by  the 
solemn  warnings  of  a  "  third  angel."  Then  follows  that  of  which  the  signal 
only  had  been  given  in  the  cry  of  the  second  angel — namely,  the  overthrow 
of  Babylon,  which  is  denoted  by  a  harvest  and  a  vintage. — Chap.  xiv. 

Three  general  descriptions  having  been  given,  each  of  which  carried  us  to 
the  end  of  the  1260  years,  the  series  of  the  prophecy,  from  the  time  of  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh,  or  third  woe-trumpet,  is  now  resumed.  This 
trumpet  wears  a  twofold  aspect;  it  is  partly  a  woe-trumpet,  and  partly  what 
may  be  called  a  jubilee-trumpet.  In  the  former  view  the  seven  vials  are  a 
subdivision  of  it — in  the  latter  it  comprehends  the  Millennium,  and  all  that 
follows  to  the  end  of  the  prophecy. — Chap.  xv. 

The  sounding  of  the  seventh  angel  is  the  signal  for  the  commencement 
of  the  pouring  out  of  the  vials,  and  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  within 
the  last  five-and-twenty  years.  The  vials  are  interpreted  on  the  principle  of 
their  resemblance  to  the  trumpets : — namely,  the  first,  poured  out  on  the 
"  earth,"  is  supposed  to  denote  the  late  wars  on  the  continent,  between 
France  and  the  other  continental  powers;  the  second,  poured  upon  the 
"  sea,"  the  wars  carrying  on  in  the  maritime  nations  of  Spain  and  Portugal ; 
the  third,  poured  upon  the  "  rivers  and  fountains  of  waters,"  the  wars  which, 
if  the  principle  here  adopted  be  just,  will  ere  long  befall  Italy  and  Savoy, 
the  countries  where  was  shed  in  shocking  profusion  the  blood  of  the  Wal- 
denses;  the  fourth,  poured  upon  the  "  sun,"  the  oppression  of  the  supreme 
government  to  which  the  antichristian  church  will  be  subjected  at  the  time ; 
the  fifth,  poured  on  the  "  seat  of  the  beast,"  such  judgments  as  will  either 
drive  him  from  his  den,  or  render  him  very  miserable  in  it;  the  sixth,  poured 
on  "  Euphrates,"  and  producing  the  battle  of  "  Armageddon,"  partly  the 
overthrow  of  the  Turkish  empire,  and  partly  the  temporal  ruin  of  the  adhe- 
rents of  popery ;  the  ^tvetith,  poured  into  the  "  air,"  the  overthrow  of  the 
spiritual  power  of  popery,  and  of  every  other  species  of  false  religion. — 
Chap.  xvi. 

The  three  following  chapters  are  considered  as  Notes  of  Illustration,  con- 
taining more  particular  accounts  of  several  subjects  which  have  been  already 
introduced.  In  the  first  of  them  (chap,  xvii.)  the  false  church  is  described 
under  the  opprobrious  name  of  "  the  great  whore,"  and  the  powers  which 
support  her  under  that  of  "  a  beast  with  seven  heads  and  ten  horns."  This 
beast,  namely,  the  Roman  empire,  "  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is."  When  it 
was  pagan,  it  existed  with  all  its  beastly  properties;  when  it  became  Chris- 
tian, it  was  supposed  to  have  lost  them,  and  to  be  a  beast  no  longer ;  but  by 
the  corruptions  introduced  into  Christianity,  and  which  were  supported  by 
it,  the  beast  still  continued. 

The  "  seven  heads"  of  the  beast  have  a  twofold  application. — First,  they 
are  said  to  be  "  seven  mountains,  on  which  the  woman  sitteth ;"  referring  to 
the  seven  hills  on  which  Rome,  when  in  its  full  extent,  is  well  known  to 
have  stood,  and  so  pointing  out  the  seat  of  the  hierarchy. — They  are  also 
said  to  be  "  seven  kings,"  that  is,  governments,  under  which  the  empire  had 
subsisted,  did  subsist,  or  would  subsist  hereafter.     The  forms  under  which 

S 


206  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

it  had  subsisted,  but  which  were  passed  away  at  the  time  of  the  commence- 
ment of  the  prophecy,  were  kings,  consuls,  dictators,  decemvirs,  and  viilitary 
tribunes ;  the  form  under  which  it  then  subsisted  was  that  of  emperors ;  and 
that  which  was  "yet  to  come,  and  to  continue  a  short  space,"  was  the  gov- 
ernment which  succeeded  the  overthrow  of  the  emperors,  and  continued 
under  various  changes  for  about  300  years,  till  the  days  of  Charlemagne; 
when  a  government  was  established  which  combined  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  in  support  of  the  antichristian  hierarchy.  This  short-lived  interme- 
diate power  might,  on  some  accounts,  be  considered  as  the  "seventh"  head 
of  the  beast,  and  as  such  be  distinguished  from  its  last  head,  which,  in  this 
view,  would  be  the  "  eighth ;"  but  upon  the  whole  it  was  ratlier  to  be  consi- 
dered as  belonging  to  that  in  which  it  terminated,  and  which  in  this  view 
would  be  "  of  the  seven." 

The  "  ten  horns"  are  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  which,  till  the  Reforma- 
tion, all  united  with  the  empire  in  supporting  the  harlot;  but  which  have 
already  begun  and  will  go  on  to  hate  her,  to  eat  her  flesh,  and  to  burn  her 
with  fire. — Chap.  xvii. 

The  second  of  these  Notes  of  Illustration  (contained  in  the  18th  chapter 
and  the  first  eight  verses  of  the  19th)  is  a  sacred  ode,  sent,  as  it  were,  from 
heaven,  to  be  sung  at  the  overthrow  of  the  antichristian  church,  in  which 
are  celebrated  not  only  the  "  fall  of  Babylon,"  but  "  the  marriage  of  the 
Lamb ;"  that  is,  not  only  the  termination  of  the  reign  of  the  beast,  but  the 
introduction  of  the  Millennial  reign  of  Christ,  which  shall  follow  upon  it. — 
Chap,  xviii. ;  xix.  1-8. 

The  third  and  last  of  these  Notes  (which  begins  at  the  ninth  verse  of  the 
19th  chapter)  describes  the  actual  accomplishment  of  the  fall  of  Babylon, 
which  the  foregoing  ode  had  anticipated  He  whose  name  is  the  Word  of 
God  goes  forth  "  riding  upon  a  white  horse,"  (the  appropriate  symbol  for  the 
success  of  the  gospel,)  joined  by  his  faithful  followers.  This  provokes  the 
adherents  of  the  beast  and  of  the  false  prophet,  who,  gathering  together 
their  forces  to  oppose  them,  perish  in  the  attempt. — Chap.  xix.  9-21. 

As  the  overthrow  of  the  antichristian  hierarchy  was  celebrated  in  the 
preceding  ode,  under  the  symbol  of  "  the  fall  of  Babylon,"  prior  to  its  actual 
accomplishment ;  so  was  the  Millennium  under  that  of  "  the  marriage  sup- 
per of  the  Lamb."  This  glorious  period  is  now  introduced  as  actually 
talcing  place.  The  "  beast  and  the  false  prophet,"  or  the  secular  and  eccle- 
siastical powers,  being  fallen,  the  dragon  himself  is  next  seized  and  thrust 
into  a  state  of  confinement. — "Thrones"  may  denote  stations  of  importance 
both  in  the  world  and  in  the  church,  which  will  now  be  filled  by  righteous 
men  ;  thus  "  the  kingdom  is  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High ;"  and  as  the  public  mind  will  favour  it,  righteousness  will  every  where 
prevail ;  corruptions,  oppressions,  wars,  tumults,  and  rebellions,  will  cease 
from  the  earth,  and  all  nations  feel  towards  each  other  as  children  of  the 
same  family. — Now  "judgment"  is  given  to  the  martyrs,  inasmuch  as  the 
cause  for  which  they  were  slain  is  vindicated,  and  their  memory  honoured; 
while  "  the  rest,"  or  the  remnant  of  the  antichristian  party,  who  escaped 
from  the  battle  in  which  their  leaders  were  "  taken,"  will  be  as  dead  men 
till  the  thousand  years  are  ended.  To  them  this  glorious  period  will  be  a 
burial,  but  to  the  other  a  "  resurrection." 

After  the  Millennium,  Satan  is  loosed  for  a  little  season,  and  makes  one 
more  desperate  effort  to  corrupt  the  world,  and  to  destroy  the  church. — This 
brings  on  the  general  conflagration — the  resurrection  of  the  dead — and  the 
last  judgment. — Chap.  xx. 

After  this  appear  "  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,"  spoken  of  by 
Peter,  "  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness."    The  world,  purified  from  sin  and 


INTRODUCTION.  207 

its  effects,  becomes  the  everlasting  abode  of  the  righteous,  who,  having  been 
raised  from  the  dead,  are  immortal. — The  whole  animate  and  inanimate  cre- 
ation, in  so  far  as  it  has  been  "  made  subject  to  the  vanity"  of  subserving 
the  cause  of  evil,  is  emancipated,  and  possesses  that  for  which  it  has  "  tra- 
vailed in  pain,"  from  the  fall  of  man  until  now. — No  more  shall  the  earth 
be  polluted  and  desolated  by  a  succession  of  beasts;  but  lo,  "  the  tabernacle 
of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  peo- 
ple, and  God  himself  will  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God !" 

Conclusion. — The  present  the  period  of  the  vials;  or  that  space  of  time 
which  begins  with  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  and  ends  in  the 
Millennium. — The  termination  of  the  12G0  years  probably  uncertain.  A 
time  of  persecution  to  be  previously  expected. — Great  success  will  attend 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  before  the  Millennium. — Aspect  of  the  present 
times. — The  Millennial  glory. — Concluding  reflections  on  the  recent  changes 
in  Europe. 


DISCOURSE  I. 

THE  INTRODUCTION  AND  PREPARATORY  VISION. 
Revelation  i. 

1  HAVE  lately  expressed  a  wish  to  enter  upon  this  difficult  part  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures ;  not  because  I  conceive  myself  at  present  equal  to  the  under- 
taking, but  because  I  think  I  understand  something  of  it,  and  hope,  by 
going  through  it  in  the  way  of  exposition,  to  understand  more.  I  enter  on 
it  with  fear ;  but  as  I  shall  not  attempt  lo  explain  that  which  appears  to  me 
of  doubtful  import,  I  hope  it  may  not  be  presumptuous,  but  a  profitable  un- 
dertaking.* 

Ver.  1-3.  The  book  takes  its  title,  it  seems,  from  the  first  verse.  All 
Scripture  is  a  revelation,  in  some  sense,  but  this  is  a  disclosure  of  things  to 
come. 

Christ  is  the  great  Prophet  of  the  church.  He  it  was,  as  we  shall  see, 
that  was  found  worthy  to  open  the  sealed  book.  It  is  necessary  to  distin- 
guish between  the  knowledge  of  Christ  as  a  Divine  person,  and  that  which 
he  possesses  as  the  Prophet  of  his  church.  As  Divine  he  knows  all  things; 
all  things  are  naked  to  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do ;  but  as 
a  Prophet  he  receives  his  messages  from  the  Father,  and  makes  them  known 
to  us.  In  this  sense  he  knew  not  the  day  of  judgment;  that  is,  it  was  no 
part  of  the  revelation  which  God  gave  to  him  to  make  known  to  men.  As 
Christ  in  the  character  of  a  Prophet  has  these  things  revealed  to  him,  so,  in 
communicating  them  after  his  ascension,  he  made  use  of  an  angel.  It  might 
have  been  too  much  for  a  mortal  man  to  be  admitted  directly  to  converse 
with  him  in  his  glorified  state. 

The  writer  introduces  himself  to  the  churches  in  the  character  of  a  wit- 
ness, declaring  that  the  things  which  he  was  about  to  communicate  were 
from  above — they  were  "  the  word  of  God,"  and  therefore  might  be  de- 
pended upon — "the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ,"  on  the  fulfilment  of  which 
he  rested  the  tiuth  of  the  gospel,  and  which  he  himself  in  vision  plainly 
"  saw." 

*  These  Discourses  were  delivered  in  the  years  1809  and  ISIO.  drawn  out  in  1811,  and 
have  Iain  by  from  that  time  to  the  present  (1815). 


208  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

To  induce  us  to  give  the  most  serious  attention  to  the  subject,  a  blessing 
is  pronounced  on  those  who  "read,  and  hear,  and  keep"  the  words  of  this 
prophecy,  especially  as  the  time  of  its  fulfilment  was  at  hand.  I  recollect 
no  other  part  of  Scripture  that  is  prefaced  with  such  an  inducement  to  read 
and  understand  and  practically  regard  it.  The  prophecy  must  be  of  imme- 
diate concern  to  the  church  of  Christ,  and  requires  to  be  rend  and  heard, 
not  for  the  gratifying  of  curiosity,  but  for  the  obedience  of  faith.  We  must 
"keep"  it,  as  one  engaged  in  a  voyage  through  dangerous  seas  keeps  his 
chart,  and  consults  it  on  all  necessary  occasions.  It  is  that  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament church  which  the  pillar  of  the  cloud  was  to  the  church  in  the  wilder- 
ness, guiding  it  through  the  labyrinths  of  antichristian  errors  and  corruptions. 
It  must  not  be  neglected  under  a  notion  of  its  being  hard  to  be  understood. 
As  well  might  the  mariner  amidst  the  rocks  neglect  his  friendly  chart  under 
an  idea  of  its  being  difficult  to  understand  and  apply  it. 

It  would  seem,  too,  from  this  promise,  that  the  successful  study  of  the  pro- 
phecy depends  not  merely  on  literary  attainments,  but  on  a  practical  regard 
to  the  things  contained  in  it.  Whatever  advantages  attach  to  the  former, 
and  these  are  many  and  great,  they  will  not  succeed  nor  obtain  the  blessing 
without  the  latter. 

Ver.  4-7.  The  proconsular  Asia  had  probably  been  the  chief  seat  of  the 
writer's  labours  since  the  death  of  the  apostle  Paul.  To  the  churches  in 
this  province,  therefore,  he  was  directed  to  address  the  prophecy.  The 
benediction  is  affectionate  and  appropriate.  The  peri'phrasis  used  of  God 
the  Father,  "  Who  is,  and  who  was,  and  who  is  to  come,"  is  singularly 
appropriate  as  an  introduction  to  a  prophecy  concerning  the  mutability  of 
creatures.  The  "  seven  Spirits"  are  the  abundant  gifts  and  graces  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  or  the  Holy  Spirit  in  respect  of  his  abundant  gifts  and  graces. 
The  number  seven  is  not  only  a  well-known  symbol  of  perfection,  but  cor- 
responds with  the  number  of  the  churches;  and  as  they  represent  the  whole 
church,  so  these  describe  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  rich  and  abundant  influ- 
ences. 

To  the  blessing  from  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit  he  adds,  "And  from 
Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  faithful  witness,  the  first  begotten  of  the  dead,  and 
the  prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth."  By  the  first  of  these  appellations  our 
Lord  accredits  the  prophecy  as  being  his  testimony ;  and  by  the  last  two 
cheers  his  suffering  followers,  by  reminding  them  of  his  having  emerged 
from  death  and  obtained  a  complete  ascendency  over  all  his  and  their 
enemies. 

And  now,  having  mentioned  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  cannot  leave 
it  without  adding  a  sweet  doxology  on  his  dying  love,  and  its  interesting 
effects — "  Unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own 
blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his  Father;  to  him 
be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen."  Nor  has  he  yet  taken 
leave  of  this  subject;  Christ's  suffering  people  must  be  directed  to  his  second 
coming,  when  the  persecuting  Jews  who  pierced  him  in  his  person,  and  the 
persecuting  Gentiles  who  were  now  piercing  him  in  his  members,  will  be 
called  to  account.  To  their  just  punishment,  dreadful  as  it  will  be,  the  ser- 
vants of  God  will  add  their  "Amen." 

Ver.  8.  The  apostle,  after  expatiating  on  the  glory  of  Christ  in  his  saluta- 
tion, now  introduces  him  as  speaking  himself  That  these  are  his  words, 
and  not  those  of  the  Father,  will  appear  from  comparing  them  with  chap.  i. 
1,  and  xxii.  6-16.  It  was  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  the  Father,  who  communi- 
cated, through  the  angel,  with  his  servant  John.  The  Father  is  sometimes 
referred  to  in  the  prophecy ;  but,  if  I  mistake  not,  it  is  in  the  third  person 
only ;  not  as  speaking,  but  as  spoken  of     Jesus  Christ  therefore  is  "  the 


INTRODUCTION.  209 

Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  ending,  who  is,  and  who  was, 
and  who  is  to  come,  the  Almighty ;"  and  consequently  is  able  to  preserve 
his  church,  and  to  execute  the  punishments  denounced  in  this  prophecy 
against  her  enemies. 

Ver.  9-20.  It  was  usual  for  the  most  eminent  prophets  to  be  introduced  to 
their  work  by  an  extraordinary  vision.  Such  was  the  introduction  of  Isaiah, 
(chap,  vi.,)  of  Jeremiah,  and  of  Ezekiel ;  and  such  is  that  of  John.  Having 
been  banished  to  the  Isle  of  Patmos  by  Domitian  for  preaching  Christ,  the 
Spirit  of  prophecy  came  upon  him  on  the  Lord's  day,  when  he  heard  from 
behind  him  a  great  voice  as  of  a  trumpet,  saying,  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega, 
the  first  and  the  last,  and  what  thou  seest  write  in  a  book,  and  send  it  unto 
the  seven  churches  which  are  in  Asia.  Turning  to  see  whence  the  voice 
proceeded,  he  saw  "  seven  golden  candlesticks,  and  in  the  midst  of  them 
one  like  unto  the  Son  of  Man."  It  was  from  him  therefore  that  the  great 
voice  proceeded.  In  short,  he  saw  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  as  to  his 
human  nature  had  lived  and  died  on  earth,  but  who  as  to  his  Divine  person 
was  "  the  first  and  the  last,"  standing,  as  the  great  High  Priest  over  the 
house  of  God,  in  the  midst  of  his  churches,  clothed  with  ineffable  glory. 

The  effect  of  such  a  vision  was  more  than  a  frail  mortal  could  sustain. 
He  who  when  his  Lord  was  upon  earth  leaned  familiarly  on  his  bosom,  now 
"  fell  at  his  feet  as  dead."  But,  laying  his  right  hand  upon  him,  he  said, 
"Fear  not,  I  am  the  first  and  the  last:  I  am  he  that  liveth,  and  was  dead; 
and,  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore,  Amen ;  and  have  (he  keys  of  hell  and 
of  death."  This  impressive  vision  would  not  only  excite  in  his  mind  a  deep 
interest  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  so  prepare  him  for  what  he  was  to 
see,  and  hear,  and  write ;  but  must  have  tended  greatly  to  relieve  him  from 
his  anxieties  for  his  brethren  and  companions  in  tribulation  from  whom  he 
had  been  separated.  All  the  apostles  were  dead:  he  only  was  left,  and  the 
heathen  rulers  had  banished  him.  Hell  and  death  threatened  to  swallow 
up  the  church.  In  this  situation  he  is  told  not  to  fear,  for  that  his  Lord 
lived,  and  had  the  control  of  both  the  invisible  and  visible  world. 

Being  commanded  to  write  "  the  things  which  he  had  seen,  the  things  that 
ivcre,  and  the  things  that  should  be  hci-eafter,"  we  may  conclude  that  what 
he  wrote  respected  not  only  the  future  state  of  the  church  from  the  time  of 
the  vision,  but  the  whole  gospel  dispensation,  from  the  ascension  of  Christ 
to  the  end  of  the  world. 

What  is  said  of  (he  "seven  stars  and  seven  golden  candlesticks"  would 
tend  gready  to  encourage  both  the  ministers  and  the  churches  of  Christ. 
There  was  a  golden  candlestick  in  the  tabernacle,  and  in  the  second  temple, 
Exod.  XXV.  31-40 ;  Zech.  iv.  2.  That  was  but  one  candlestick,  though  it 
had  seven  branches;  but  these  are  seven  candlesticks;  agreeing  with  the 
different  constitutions  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  church,  the  former 
being  national,  and  the  latter  congregational. 


Vol.  III.— 27 


210  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


DISCOURSE  II. 

THE    EPISTLES    TO    THE    CHURCHES. 
Rev.  ii.  1-17. 

Before  we  enter  on  these  epistles  distinctly,  it  is  proper  to  make  a  few 
general  remarks. 

First,  Some  have  considered  these  chuiches  as  propheticalli/  representing 
the  different  states  of  the  church  at  large  under  the  gospel  dispensation. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  analogies  may  be  found  between  them;  but  it  appears 
to  me  that  the  hypothesis  is  unfounded.  The  church  of  Ephesus,  if  designed 
to  represent  the  whole  Christian  church  in  the  age  of  the  apostles,  might  be 
expected  to  sustain  as  high  a  character  at  least  as  any  that  follovv ;  whereas 
Smyrna,  in  respect  of  its  purity,  is  manifestly  superior  to  it.  Every  thing 
addressed  to  the  latter  is  in  its  praise;  which  is  not  the  case  with  the  former. 
But  surely  it  is  not  true  that  any  age  of  the  church  since  that  of  the  apostles 
is  to  be  compared  with  it,  much  less  that  it  has  excelled  it  in  evangelical 
purity. 

•  Others,  doubting  the  justness  of  this  hypothesis,  have  considered  the  epis- 
tles to  the  churches  as  referring  to  the  then  present  state  of  the  church,  and 
the  sealed  book  to  that  which  was  future.  And  this  they  consider  as  agree- 
ing with  the  division  of  the  book  into  "  things  which  the  writer  had  seen, 
things  wiiich  were,  and  things  which  should  be  hereafter,"  chap.  i.  19.  This 
is  Mr.  Lowman's  view  of  it.  When  I  entered  upon  these  Discourses  from 
the  pulpit  I  adopted  this  opinion ;  but  before  I  had  proceeded  far  in  the 
work  1  was  compelled  to  give  it  up;  the  reasons  for  which  will  appear  when 
we  enter  on  the  opening  of  the  seals,  in  chap,  vi.,  under  the  fifth  general 
remark  in  Discourse  VI. 

Instead  of  considering  the  epistles  to  the  seven  churches  either  as  pro- 
phetic, or  as  descriptive  of  the  state  of  the  church  at  large  as  it  then  teas, 
I  should  rather  consider  them  as  descriptive  of  the  state  of  those  seven 
churches  as  they  then  were,  and  as  designed  to  furnish  encouragements, 
reproofs,  warnings,  and  counsels  to  all  other  churches  and  Christians,  in  all 
future  ages,  as  their  cases  are  fou?id  to  resemble  theirs  The  application 
ought  not  to  be  confined  to  one  age  more  than  to  another,  nor  even  to  col- 
lective bodies :  every  one,  in  every  age,  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear^  is  called  to 
"  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 

In  applying  them  to  ourselves,  we  should  consider  the  great  Head  of  the 
church  as  watching  over  us,  and  closely  observing  the  state  of  our  hearts 
towards  him,  with  all  our  proceedings,  whether  good  or  evil ;  and  inquire 
what  would  be  his  address  to  us  were  he  to  commission  an  angel  or  an  apos- 
tle to  write  to  us. 

Secondly,  By  the  epistles  being  addressed  to  the  angels,  we  are  not  to 
understand  them  as  concerning  the  pastors  only,  in  distinction  from  the 
churches,  but  to  consider  them  as  their  representatives.  That  which  the 
Spirit  saith  in  these  epistles  is  "  to  the  churches." 

Thirdly,  In  every  address  to  the  churches  Christ  assumes  a  distinct  cho' 
racter,  taken  from  some  one  part  of  the  description  given  of  him  in  the  pre- 
ceding vision ;  each  of  which,  if  we  rightly  understand  it,  will  be  found  to 
be  appropriate  to  the  character  or  circumstances  of  the  chuich  addressed. 


THE  EPISTLES  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  211 

Fourthly,  Every  address  begins  with  commendation,  provided  there  be  any 
thing  to  commend.  This  shows  that  Christ  knows  all,  and  notices  that 
which  is  good  amongst  us  as  well  as  that  which  is  evil ;  nay,  that  he  takes 
more  pleasure  in  noticing  the  good  than  in  complaining  of  the  evil — an 
example  worthy  of  our  imitation  in  dealing  with  one  another.  If  we  wish 
to  reclaim  our  brethren  who  have  fallen  into  sin,  we  must  begin  by  appre- 
ciating the  good  in  them,  and  by  candidly  commending  it,  before  we  reprove 
them  for  their  faults.  Such  was  the  conduct  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians, 
when  about  to  censure  them  for  their  abuse  of  the  Lord's  supper — "  Now  I 
praise  you,  brethren,  that  ye  remember  me  in  all  things,  and  keep  the  ordi- 
nances as  I  delivered  them  unto  you." 

Fiftlili/,  Most  of  the  churches  have  somewhat  on  account  of  which  they 
are  censured  and  admonished.  This  is  a  humbling  truth,  even  of  the  first 
and  purest  churches;  how  much  more  of  those  in  our  times!  If  the  Son 
of  God,  whose  eyes  are  as  a  flaming  fire,  were  to  pronounce  our  character, 
would  there  not  be  "somewhat  against  us?"  We  can  see  each  other's 
errors  and  defects ;  but  it  were  to  much  more  advantage  if  we  could  detect 
our  own. 

Finally,  Every  epistle  concludes  with  a  promise  to  him  that  overcometh, 
and  an  exhortation  to  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches.  Profess- 
ing Christians  in  this  world  are  soldiers  enlisted  under  the  banner  of  Christ. 
Some  have  proved  deserters ;  many  have  been  partially  overcome ;  the  Cap- 
tain of  the  Lord's  host  here  addresses  them,  holding  forth  the  glory  which 
awaits  them  who  are  finally  victorious. 

Ver.  1-7.  Ephesus  was  the  metropolis  of  the  Proconsular  Asia;  and  it  is 
probable  that  all  these  churches  were  planted  by  the  labours  of  the  apostle 
Paul,  during  his  two  years'  residence  at  Ephesus,  when  "  all  they  who  dwelt 
in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,"  Acts 
xix.  10. 

The  Ephesians  appear  to  have  been  in  a  good  state  when  the  apostle  Paul 
took  leave  of  their  elders  at  Miletus ;  but  he  then  gave  them  to  expect  a 
time  of  trial  after  his  departure,  and  which  by  this  time  seems  to  have  come 
upon  them. 

The  character  which  our  Lord  here  assumes  is  taken  from  chap.  i.  16,  20, 
and  seems  to  contain  both  encouragement  and  warning ;  which  fitly  applies 
to  their  character,  as  partly  commendable  and  partly  blamable.  They  had 
been  distinguished  by  their  exertions  in  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ,  and 
their  sufferings  on  account  of  it.  They  "  worked,"  yea,  they  "  laboured" 
for  Christ,  and,  when  called  to  encounter  persecution,  bore  it  with  "  pa- 
tience." They  were  zealous  also  in  the  exercise  of  a  strict  and  holy  disci- 
pline, not  suffering  evil  characters  and  impostors  to  remain  amongst  them  ; 
and  in  this  course  of  obedience  they  had  "  not  fainted."  Altogether,  this  is 
a  high  character.  Yet  even  here  is  something  amiss;  they  had  "left  their 
first  love."  We  see  here  that  the  Lord  looketh  at  the  heart.  We  may  retain 
our  character  and  respectability  among  the  churches,  while  yet,  as  to  the 
state  of  our  minds,  Christ  hath  somewhat  against  us.  To  leave  our  first 
love  IS  a  very  common  case,  so  much  so  that  some  will  give  young  Chris- 
tians to  expect  it  as  a  matter  of  course ;  but  Christ  treats  it  as  a  sin,  and 
calls  on  the  parties  to  "repent"  of  it,  yea,  and  threatens  to  "remove  their 
candlestick  out  of  its  place  except  they  repented."  To  decline  in  our 
attachment  to  Christ,  his  gospel,  his  ordinances,  his  people,  and  his  cause, 
is  practically  reproaching  him ;  it  is  saying  to  those  around  us.  We  have  not 
found  that  in  his  religion  which  we  once  expected  to  find.  "  O  my  people, 
what  have  I  done  unto  thee,  and  wherein  have  I  wearied  thee?  Testify 
acrainst  me !" 


212  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

A  declension  in  love  is  followed  by  a  degeneracy  in  good  works.  If  this 
had  not  been  the  case,  they  would  not  have  been  admonished  to  do  their 
"  first  works."  Either  they  were  neglected,  or  attended  to  in  a  half-hearted 
manner,  different  from  what  they  were  at  the  beginning. 

The  Lord,  to  show  that  he  did  not  find  fault  with  them  with  pleasure, 
again  commends  them  as  far  as  they  were  commendable :  they  hated  the 
doctrine  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  which  he  also  hated.  Clemens  of  Alexandria, 
as  quoted  by  Eusebius,  speaks  of  these  as  a  people  who  practised  a  commu- 
nity of  wives,  living  in  fornication  and  adultery.  It  is  thought,  and  with 
some  probability,  that  they  were  the  people  to  whom  Peter  and  Jude  refer — 
the  Antiaomians  of  the  primitive  church. 

If  we  have  an  ear  to  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  this  church,  we  shall 
learn  from  it,  among  other  things, — that  works  are  the  chief  test  of  character 
— that  in  serving  the  Lord  in  this  world  there  is  great  occasion  for  patience 
under  sufferings,  and  discrimination  of  characters — and  that,  while  justly 
censuring  others,  we  may  decline  in  spirituality  ourselves. 

The  promise  to  him  that  overcometh  is,  that  he  shall  "  eat  of  the  tree  of 
life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God."  That  which  grew  in  the 
earthly  paradise  became  inaccessible  by  sin ;  but  no  flaming  sword  nor 
cherubim  prevent  access  to  this. 

Ver.  8-11.  Of  the  church  of  Smyrna,  as  well  as  several  others,  no  men- 
tion is  made  except  in  these  epistles. — Polycarp,  the  disciple  of  John,  was 
pastor  of  it,  and  suffered  martyrdom.  Whether  he  was  the  angel  here  ad- 
dressed is  uncertain ;  but  when  he  suffered,  which  was  about  the  year  162, 
he  speaks  of  himself  as  having  served  Christ  eighty-six  years,  and  Irena;us 
speaks  of  him  as  having  been  ordained  bishop  of  Smyrna  by  the  apostles. 
This  church  seems  distinguished  by  its  perstcutions;  all  that  is  said  has 
respect  to  them. 

The  character  under  which  Christ  addresses  them  is  taken  from  chap,  i, 
11,  18:  "These  things  saith  the  first  and  the  last,  who  was  dead,  and  is 
alive."  The  former  is  expressive  of  his  Godhead,  and  suggests  how  vain  it 
is  for  the  enemies  of  the  gospel  to  oppose  him.  In  the  latter  he  holds  up 
himself  as  an  example  of  persecution  before  them,  and  as  an  earnest  of 
deliverance  from  it. 

The  commendation  of  their  "works"  in  the  midst  of  tribulation  and 
poverty  (poverty,  it  is  likely,  arising  from  their  persecutions)  is  much  to 
their  honour.  We  see  here  of  what  little  account  worldly  wealth  is  in  the 
estimation  of  Christ.  We  hear  much  of  respectable  congregations  and 
churches,  when  little  else  is  meant  but  that  they  are  numerous  or  opulent ; 
but  the  estimation  of  Christ  goes  on  quite  another  principle.  What  a  con- 
trast there  is  between  this  church  and  that  at  Laodicea!  They  were  rich  in 
this  world's  goods,  but  poor  towards  God ;  these  were  poor  in  this  world,  but 
rich  towards  God. 

It  is  intimated  that  they  had  not  only  to  contend  with  heathens,  but  Jeics, 
who  had  a  synagogue  in  this  city;  and  it  is  remarkable  that,  in  the  account 
of  the  martyrdom  of  Polycarp,  the  Jews  are  spoken  of  as  being  very  active 
in  it,  and  as  joining  the  heathens  in  kindling  the  fire.  We  see  here  to  what 
a  state  of  mind  that  people  were  left  after  having  rejected  Christ :  they  had 
been  the  people  of  God,  but  were  now  no  longer  such,  but  blasphemers : 
their  synagogues  had  been  places  where  God  had  been  worshipped ;  there 
our  Lord  himself  attended,  and  to  them  the  friends  of  God  in  heathen  coun- 
tries had  been  used  to  resort ;  but  hence  they  became  the  synagogues  of 
Satan! 

They  are  given  to  expect  more  persecutions,  but  are  encouraged  to  meet 
them  with  fortitude.     The  devil  would  stir  up  his  agents  to  imprison  some 


THE  EPISTLES  TO  THE   CHURCHES.  213 

of  them  for  a  season,  and  some  of  them  might  expect  to  die  for  the  name  of 
Christ;  but  if  faithful  unto  death,  they  are  promised  a  crown  of  life 

It  was  about  sixty-seven  years  after  this  that  Polycarp,  and  other  members 
of  this  church,  suffered  martyrdom ;  the  account  of  which  is  given  by  Euse- 
bius  in  a  letter  from  the  church  of  Smyrna.  When  Polycarp  was  appre- 
hended by  his  persecutors,  they  set  him  on  an  ass,  and  brought  him  to  the 
place  of  judgment.  He  was  met  by  some  of  the  magistrates,  who  took  him 
into  their  carriage,  and  tried  to  persuade  him  to  deny  Christ  and  save  his 
life,  but  which  he  resisted.  On  his  approaching  the  place  of  execution,  the 
proconsul,  ashamed  of  putting  so  aged  and  venerable  a  man  to  death,  urged 
him  to  blaspheme  Christ.  It  was  then  that  he  answered,  "Eighty-six  years 
I  have  served  him,  during  all  which  time  he  never  did  me  injury;  how  then 
can  I  blaspheme  my  King  and  my  Saviour?"  When  further  urged,  his  an- 
swer was,  "lama  Christian."  When  threatened  with  wild  beasts,  he  said, 
"  Bring  them  forth."  When  with  fire,  he  reminded  them  of  the  eternal  fire 
that  awaited  the  ungodly.  His  last  address  to  God  had  more  of  praise  in  it 
than  of  prayer. 

It  is  a  high  honour  to  this  persecuted  people,  that  nothing  is  said  to  them 
in  a  way  of  reproof  To  be  "  blameless  and  harmless,  the  sons  of  God, 
without  rebuke,  in  an  evil  generation,"  is  great,  even  in  respect  of  our  fellow 
creatures;  but  to  be  without  rebuke  from  Christ  himself  is  much  greater. 

To  this  suffering  church  Christ  saith,  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I 
will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life.  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the 
second  death."  Let  every  one  that  hath  an  ear  hear  this  language,  and  be 
armed  by  it  against  the  fear  of  man. 

Ver.  12-17.  Pergamos  was  a  city  of  Mysia,  not  far  from  Troas.  We  find 
the  apostle  Paul  at  this  latter  city  more  than  once ;  and  "  a  door  was  here 
opened  to  him  of  the  Lord,  to  preach  Christ's  gospel,"  2  Cor.  ii.  12.  Here 
it  was  that  he  afterwards  commemorated  the  Lord's  death  with  the  disciples: 
and  as  he  had  to  wait  seven  days  for  their  coming  together,  it  would  seem 
as  if  they  had  to  come  from  some  great  distance.  The  church  at  Pergamos 
might  therefore  be  planted  about  the  same  time. 

The  character  under  which  our  Lord  addresses  them  is  taken  from  chap. 
i.  16, — "He  that  hath  the  sharp  sword  Avith  two  edges" — and  wears  a  terri- 
ble aspect  towards  a  corrupt  party  amongst  tliem,  against  whom  he  threatens 
to  wage  war. 

Kind  and  encouraging  things  however  are  addressed  to  the  body  of  them. 
Christ  knew  their  "  works,"  and  their  firm  adherence  to  him  under  great 
trials  and  persecutions,  in  which  one  of  their  number  in  particular,  and  pro- 
bably their  pastor,  had  suffered  martyrdom.  Pergamos  was  a  city  said  to  be 
"sacred  to  the  gods:"  here  therefore  we  might  expect  to  find  the  head- 
quarters of  idolatry  and  persecutions ;  and  their  standing  firm  in  such  a 
place,  and  at  such  times,  was  much  to  their  honour. 

But  there  were  "a  few  things"  amongst  them  which  displeased  Christ. 
Some  of  the  members  tampered  with  idolatry  and  its  ordinary  attendant, 
fornication ;  and  the  rest  connived  at  it.  This  is  called  "  the  doctrine  of 
Balaam,"  because  it  was  in  this  way  that  that  wicked  prophet  drew  Israel 
into  sin.  They  had  also  some  of  the  "Nicolaitanes"  amongst  them,  whose 
principles  and  practices  the  Lord  abhorred. 

They  are  called  upon  to  repent  on  pain  of  Christ's  displeasure,  who 
threatens,  except  they  repent,  to  come  unto  them  quickly,  and  to  execute 
the  judgments  of  his  word  against  them,  even  against  the  transgressors 
themselves,  and  all  who  favoured  them. 

These  warnings  and  threatenings  require  our  attention,  and  that  of  all  who 
are  guilty  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  the  same  evils ;  nor  do  the  encourage- 


214  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

ments  to  them  that  overcome  require  it  less.  The  "  hidden  manna,"  the 
"  white  stone,"  and  the  '*  new  name,"  being  promised  as  the  reward  of  them 
that  overcome,  seems  to  refer  to  the  blessedness  and  honour  of  a  future 
state,  rather  than  of  the  present;  though  Christians  doubtless  have  a  foretaste 
of  them  even  in  this  life.  The  "hidden  manna"  refers  to  those  who  should 
deny  themselves  of  "  eating  things  sacrificed  to  idols,"  and  other  carnal 
enjoyments,  for  Christ's  sake ;  and  denotes  that  there  is  a  feast  in  reserve  for 
them,  which  shall  infinitely  exceed  the  pleasures  of  flesh  and  sense.  The 
Romans  in  judgment  are  said  to  have  given  their  suffrage  for  condemnation 
by  casting  black  stones  into  an  urn,  and,  for  absolution,  by  casting  in  white 
stones.  White  stones  are  also  said  to  have  been  given  by  the  Greeks  to  the 
conquerors  in  the  Olympic  games,  with  their  names  upon  them,  and  the 
value  of  the  prize  they  won.     The  application  of  this  is  easy. 


DISCOURSE  III. 

THE    EPISTLES    TO    THE    CHURCHES    CONTINUED. 
Rev.  ii.  18-29;  iii. 

The  character  under  which  our  Lord  addresses  the  church  of  TJiyatira 
is  taken  from  chap.  i.  13-15,  with  this  variation:  there  he  is  described  as 
"  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man ;"  but  here  he  is  called  "  The  Son  of  God  ;" 
as  denoting  his  Divine  personality.  With  this  agrees  what  is  said  of  him, 
that  "  his  eyes  were  like  unto  a  flame  of  fire,"  discerning  the  secrets  of  the 
heart;  "  and  his  feet  like  fine  brass,"  denoting  the  stability  and  glory  of  his 
proceedings.  It  is  like  saying,  "All  things  are  naked  and  open  to  the  eyes 
of  him  with  whom  you  have  to  do."  "  Seeing  then  that  ye  have  a  great 
High  Priest,  that  is  passed  into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  hold 
fast  your  profession !" 

It  is  a  high  commendation  that  is  given  of  this  church,  for  its  "  works, 
and  charity,  and  service,  and  patience,  and  works."  Nor  is  this  last  word 
repeated  without  cause ;  it  denotes  their  persevering  and  even  abounding  in 
good  works ;  "  the  last  were  more  than  the  first."  There  are  few  churches, 
I  fear,  of  which  this  can  be  said.  Christ  may  know  our  works — and  our 
works ;  but  in  most  cases  the  first  are  more  than  the  last ! 

Yet,  with  all  this  excellence,  Christ  has  a  few  things  against  them.  With 
all  this  positive  good,  there  was  a  mixture  of  relative  evil.  "  The  woman 
Jezebel"  seems  to  relate  to  a  corrupt  part  of  the  church,  who  though  united 
to  God's  people,  as  Jezebel  was  by  marrying  an  Israelitish  prince,  yet  were 
in  heart  attached  to  idolatry,  and  laboured  to  seduce  others  into  it.  As  a 
corrupt  part  of  the  Christian  church  is  described  as  a  harlot,  so  a  corrupt 
part  of  a  particular  church  may  be  thus  designated ;  and  as  Jezebel  pre- 
tended to  Divine  authority,  and  had  her  prophets  to  draw  the  servants  of 
God  into  literal  and  spiritual  fornication,  so  these  had  a  kind  of  religion 
which  would  comport  with  eating  and  drinking  at  idolatrous  temples,  and 
so  with  occasional  conformity  to  idolatry.  They  had  had  space  to  repent; 
the  Lord  had  long  borne  with  them ;  but  his  forbearance  operated,  as  it 
often  does,  to  harden  them  in  their  sin.  This  forbearance,  however,  will  not 
continue  always;  Jezebel,  with  her  adulterous  paramours,  will,  except  they 
repent,  be  cast  together  into  a  bed  of  devouring  fire ;  and  this  for  a  warning 
to  the  churches. 


THE  EPISTLES  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  215 

It  seems  that,  like  some  among  the  Corinthians,  they  boasted  of  their 
knowledge,  as  being  able  to  distinguish  between  eating  at  an  idol's  temple 
and  worshipping  it  (1  Cor.  viii.  1)  ;  they  spoke  of  their  depths  in  knowledge; 
but  Christ  calls  them  "the  depths  of  Satan,"  and  virtually  disowns  their 
abettors,  distinguishing  the  faithful  from  them — "  Unto  you,  I  say,  and  unto 
the  rest  in  Thyatira,  as  many  as  have  not  this  doctrine,  and  who  have  not 
known  the  depths  of  Satan,  as  they  speak ;  I  will  put  upon  you  none  other 
burden.     But  that  which  ye  have  hold  fast  till  I  come." 

The  promise  to  them  that  overcome  the  temptations  of  the  present  life  is 
a  final  triumph.  They  shall  judge  the  world  of  the  ungodly ;  and  those 
who  have  persecuted  them,  and  set  themselves  against  them,  will  then  fall 
before  them.  As  a  pottei-'s  vessel  is  broken  to  shivers,  so  shall  they  be 
destroyed ;  and  all  this  according  to  the  commission  which  Christ  received 
of  his  Father. 

Nor  is  this  all :  Christ  will  give  unto  them  that  overcome  "  the  morning 
star."  As  this  is  one  of  the  names  assumed  by  himself,  (chap.  xxii.  16,)  it 
may  denote  that  he  himself  will  be  their  portion. 

The  exhortation  "  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear,"  &c.,  may  in  this 
case  direct  our  attention  to  the  following  important  particulars: — That  we 
may  be  members  of  a  true  church,  and  yet  not  true  members  of  the  church; 
that  the  mixture  of  evil  characters  and  evil  things  which  at  present  is  found 
in  Christ's  visible  kingdom  greatly  tarnishes  its  glory,  but  in  the  end  he  will 
gather  them  out,  and  then  shall  the  righteous  shine  like  the  sun  in  the  king- 
dom of  their  Father ;  that  we  may  have  space  given  us  for  repentance,  and 
yet  never  repent,  which  will  greatly  aggravate  our  doom ;  that  there  is  a 
species  of  knowledge  with  which  it  is  our  honour  and  happiness  to  be 
unacquainted ;  finally,  that  the  hope  of  victory  is  sufficient  to  stimulate  us 
under  all  our  conflicts. 

Chap.  iii.  ver.  1-6.  The  church  of  Sardis  lies  under  the  heavy  charge  of 
having  "  a  name  to  live  while  it  was  dead."  The  address  to  it  is  taken  from 
chap.  i.  4,  20,  and  may  be  designed  to  direct  them  and  their  pastor  where  to 
look  for  reviving  grace.  Nothing  is  said,  in  a  way  of  commendation,  except 
to  individuals  amongst  them  This  indicates  a  bad  state  indeed.  There 
are  not  many  churches  but  individuals  might  be  found  in  them  who  love  the 
Lord.  The  "  works"  which  Christ  knew  appear  to  be  the  same  as  those 
which  he  had  "  not  found  perfect  before  God."  Though  therefore  he  knew 
them,  he  did  not  approve  of  them.  It  is  bad  for  the  world  to  be  dead ;  but 
for  a  church  to  be  so  is  worse :  this  is  salt  without  savour,  which  is  neither 
fit  for  the  land  nor  the  dunghill.  It  is  bad  for  individuals  to  be  dead ;  but 
for  the  body  of  a  church  to  be  so  is  deplorable.  It  is  implied  that  they  were 
not  only  destitute  of  spirituality,  but  had  defiled  their  garments  by  worldly 
conformity. 

There  had  been  some  good  amongst  them,  or  they  would  not  have  been 
called  to  "  remember  how  they  had  received  and  heard  ;"  and  some  remains 
of  it  might  continue.  As  no  complaint  is  made  of  false  doctrine,  it  is  likely 
they  continued  orthodox,  and  kept  up  the  forms  of  godliness.  There  seem 
to  have  been  something  of  truth,  love,  and  zeal ;  but  they  were  like  dying 
embers,  ready  to  expire. 

Christ  admonished  them  to  awake  from  their  supineness,  to  take  the  alarm, 
and  to  strengthen  the  things  which  remained,  that  were  ready  to  die.  This 
is  done  by  each  one  beginning  with  himself,  and  ending  with  one  another. 

The  means  of  recovery  from  such  a  state  are,  "  remembering  how  we 
received  and  heard"  the  gospel  at  the  first.  Call  to  remembrance  the  former 
days,  not  to  get  comfort  under  our  declensions,  but  to  recover  those  views 
and  sensations  which  we  had  at  the  beginning  of  our  Christian  course.  There 


216  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

were  many,  also,  who  at  first  had  received  the  gospel  with  much  heart,  and 
had  heard  it  with  delight,  but  who  in  the  course  of  forty  years  would  be 
removed  by  death.  Let  them  call  to  remembrance  the  love  and  zeal  of  their 
fathers,  and  be  ashamed  of  their  own  declensions.  If  these  admonitions  did 
not  awaken  them,  they  are  given  to  understand  that  Christ  will  come  upon 
them  in  an  unexpected  hour,  even  as  a  thief  cometh  in  the  night. 

The  "  few  names  which  had  not  defiled  their  garments"  are  highly  com- 
mended. To  walk  with  God  at  any  time  is  acceptable  to  him ;  and  to  do 
this  while  others  around  us  are  corrupt  is  more  so.  This  is  being  faithful 
among  the  faithless.  They  shall  walk  with  Christ  in  glory,  honour,  and 
purity.  With  this  agrees  the  promise  to  them  that  overcome :  "  They  shall 
be  clothed  in  white  raiment;  and  Christ  will  not  blot  out  their  names  from 
the  book  of  life."  The  blessed  God  is  represented  as  keeping  a  register  of 
his  servants,  not  as  elect,  or  as  redeemed,  or  as  called,  but  as  his  professed 
follotcers.  When  any  turn  back,  their  names  are  blotted  out.  Hence  at 
the  last  judgment  it  is  made  the  rule  of  condemnation.  "  Whosoever  was 
not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,"  chap. 
XX.  15.  Some  were  never  there,  having  never  professed  to  be  the  followers 
of  Jesus,  while  others  who  had  been  there  were  blotted  out ;  in  either  case 
their  names  would  not  be  found  there.  Hence  also  it  is  the  rule  of  admis- 
sion into  the  New  Jerusalem,  chap.  xxi.  27. 

"  He  that  hath  an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  Let  us  beware  of  judging 
ourselves  by  what  others  think  of  us.  We  may  have  a  name  to  live  amongst 
our  brethren,  and  yet  be  dead.  Our  names  may  be  written  among  the  pro- 
fessed followers  of  Christ,  and  yet  be  blotted  out  when  he  comes  to  judg- 
ment. But  let  faithful  individuals  know,  that  whatever  may  be  the  end  of 
others,  Jesus  will  confess  them  before  his  Father,  and  before  his  angels. 

Ver.  7-13.  There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  church  at  Philadelphia, 
and  that  at  Sardis :  in  that  there  was  nothing  to  commend,  in  this  nothing 
is  censured.  The  character  under  which  they  are  addressed  is  taken  from 
chap.  i.  18,  and  accords  with  the  address  itself  "  He  that  was  holy  and 
true"  approved  of  them;  and  "  he  that  had  the  keys  of  David,  who  opened, 
and  no  man  shut,"  had  "  set  an  open  door  before  them." 

The  Lord  knew  and  approved  of  their  works,  and  would  make  them  more 
and  more  successful.  They  were  not  distinguished  by  opulence,  nor  perhaps 
by  any  of  those  things  that  render  a  people  respectable  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world;  but  of  their  "little  strength"  they  had  made  good  use;  they  held 
fast  the  truth,  and  stood  firm  under  persecution,  which  is  of  more  account  in 
the  esteem  of  Christ,  than  all  other  things. 

This;  and  most  of  the  primitive  churches,  met  with  great  opposition  from 
the  Jewish  synagogue,  which  is  here  again  called  "  the  synagogue  of  Sa- 
tan ;"  whose  members,  having  rejected  the  Messiah,  were  no  longer  worthy 
of  the  name  of  Jews.  They  that  say  they  are  what  they  are  not,  whether  it 
be  Jews  or  Christians,  are  commonly  the  bitterest  of  persecutors.  Their 
"coming"  to  them  in  a  way  of  cringing  submission  may  refer  to  a  state  of 
things  in  which,  a  door  being  opened  in  a  way  of  success,  the  Christians 
should  be  increased  in  number  and  in  power;  while  the  Jews,  owing  to 
their  wars  with  the  Romans,  would  be  glad  of  their  friendship. 

The  gospel  is  called  "  the  word  of  Christ's  patience,"  in  respect  of  what 
it  was  to  them.  The  retention  of  it  under  a  succession  of  cruel  persecu- 
tions required  great  patience :  yet  they  had  kept  it,  and  the  Lord  promised 
in  return  to  keep  them  in  a  particular  time  of  trial  that  was  coming  upon 
the  world.  It  might  be  by  a  renewal  of  persecution  in  the  empire,  or  by 
the  prevailing  of  corruptions  in  the  church  As  the  Lord  punishes  sin  by 
giving  men  up  to  sin,  so  he  rewards  righteousness  by  preserving  them  in  the 


THE  EPISTLES  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  217 

paths  of  it.  We  have  had  many  of  these  hours  of  temptation,  and  may  have 
many  more :  blessed  are  they  that  are  preserved  through  them ! 

They  are  directed  to  look  for  the  coming  of  their  Lord,  and  to  hold  fast 
truth  and  true  religion,  lest  their  adversaries  should  wrest  it  out  of  their 
hands,  and  so  deprive  them  of  their  reward. 

The  promise  to  them  that  overcome  is, that  they  shall  be  "pillars"  in  the 
celestial  temple ;  and,  unlike  those  of  the  Jewish  temple,  which  were  re- 
moved by  the  Chaldeans  and  by  the  Romans,  shall  "  go  no  more  out."  We 
are  not  to  reckon  the  future  greatness  of  men  according  to  their  talents  in 
this  life,  but  according  to  the  use  made  of  them.  Those  who  have  here 
had  but  "a  little  strength"  may  there  become  pillars  in  the  temple.  The 
pillars  of  the  church  on  earth  go  out  and  leave  it  by  death;  but  those  of  the 
church  above  will  abide  for  ever. 

The  writing  upon  them  of  the  name  of  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of 
God,  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  of  his  own  new  name,  doubtless  means  as 
much  as  this — that  they  shall  be  treated  as  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the 
Lord  Almighty,  as  citizens  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  as  those  who  are 
redeemed  from  among  men. 

It  is  for  us,  both  as  individuals  and  as  churches,  to  take  encouragement 
from  this  address  to  hold  that  fast  which  we  have,  that  no  man  take  our 
crown. 

Ver.  14-22.  The  Laodicean  church  appears  to  have  been  in  the  worst 
state  of  any  of  the  seven.  Sardis,  though  it  had  nothing  to  commend,  had 
a  few  excellent  names;  but  Laodicea  is  censured  without  distinction.  Yet 
even  this  church  is  not  given  up,  but  rebuked  in  love. 

The  character  under  which  the  Laodiceans  are  addressed  is  that  of  "  the 
Amen,  the  faithful  and  true  witness."  Being  lifted  up  with  their  riches, 
they  might  be  tempted  to  refuse  this  faithful  witness  that  was  borne  against 
them  ;  but,  however  disagreeable,  it  was  "  true."  Christ  is  here  called  "  The 
beginning  of.  the  creation  of  God."  It  is  true  that  as  to  his  human  nature 
he  was  himself  created ;  the  name  here  assumed,  however,  does  not  refer  to 
this,  but  to  his  being  tlie  Head  (ap;t'?)  and  First  Cause  of  creation.  Thus, 
in  Col.  i.  15,  he  is  called  "the  first-born  of  every  creature;"  not  as  being 
himself  a  creature,  but  the  First  Cause  of  creation :  "  For  (it  is  added)  by 
him  were  all  things  created  that  are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth,  visible 
and  invisible,  whether  thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers;  all 
things  were  created  by  him  and  for  him.  And  he  is  before  all  things,  and 
by  him  all  things  consist."  A  message  from  such  a  character  deserved  their 
serious  attention. 

Christ  knew  their  works,  but  could  not  approve  of  them  ;  for  they  were 
"  neither  cold  nor  hot."  They  may  be  said  to  be  cold  who  have  no  religion, 
and  pretend  to  none ;  and  they  to  be  hot  who  are  zealously  engaged  in 
Christ's  work :  but  these  people  were  neither  this  nor  that.  They  were  not 
decidedly  religious,  and  yet  would  not  let  religion  alone. 

This  state  of  mind  is  represented  as  bemg  peculiarly  offensive  to  Christ. 
To  halt  between  truth  and  error.  God  and  the  world,  is  worse  in  many 
respects  than  to  be  openly  irreligious.  Corrupt  Christianity  is  more  offen- 
sive to  God  than  open  infidelity.  No  man  thinks  the  worse  of  religion  for 
what  he  sees  in  the  openly  profane ;  but  it  is  otherwise  in  respect  of  reli- 
gious professors.  If  he  that  nameththe  name  of  Christ  depart  not  from  ini- 
quity, the  honour  of  Christ  is  affected  by  his  misconduct. 

These  people  appear  to  have  been  very  proud,  and  with  a  very  ignorant  of 
themselves.  Their  opulence  seems  to  have  lifted  them  up.  Religion  seldom 
thrives  with  much  worldly  prosperity.  ]\Ien  covet  such  things,  and  value 
themselves  upon  them  ;  but  they  are  commonly  snares  to  their  souls.     It  is 

Vol.  III.— 28  T 


218  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

a  hard  thincj  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  If  these 
were  the  "riches"  of  which  they  boasted,  it  shows  that  the  estimate  of 
worldly  greatness,  formed  by  the  faithful  and  true  witness,  is  very  different 
from  that  of  the  generality  of  men.  Of  what  account  is  it  in  his  sight  to 
be  rich  and  increased  in  goods,  while  as  to  our  spiritual  concerns  we  are 
wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked? 

Being  charged  with  blindness,  and  counselled  to  use  means  to  remove  it, 
it  would  seem,  however,  that  the  riches  of  which  they  boasted  included  those 
of  the  mind ;  and  that  they  were  proud  of  their  knowledge  and  gifts  as  well 
as  of  their  wealth.  Like  the  Corinthians,  "  they  were  full,  they  were  rich, 
they  reigned  as  kings"  without  the  apostles.  There  is  much  of  this  still 
among  professing  Christians.  One  party  looks  down  upon  another,  and 
values  itself  for  its  superior  light;  one  declaims  against  Pharisaism  in  the 
true  spirit  of  a  Pharisee;  another  is  busy  about  the  mote  in  his  brother's 
eye,  regardless  of  the  beam  in  his  own.  The  sentence  of  the  faithful  and 
true  witness,  concerning  all  that  are  wise  and  righteous  in  their  own  eyes,  is, 
Thou  art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked,  and 
knowest  it  not ! 

In  respect  of  the  counsel  offered  them,  they  are  addressed  like  sinners  in 
common,  who  knew  not  the  Saviour.  This  was  probably  the  case  with 
many  of  them;  and  if  some  had  known  him,  yet,  being  in  a  backsliding 
state,  the  best  counsel  that  could  be  given  them  was,  that  they  should  come 
as  sinners  immedicitely  to  the  Saviour  They  are  directed  to  seek  the  true 
riches,  the  true  righteousness,  and  the  true  icisclom,  and  to  deal  with  Christ 
for  them;  not  as  giving  him  any  valuable  consideration  for  them,  (for  this 
as  being  poor  they  could  not,)  but  as  parting  with  all  for  them.  This  is 
"  buying  without  money  and  without  price."  This  is  the  way  in  which  sin- 
ners come  to  Christ  at  first,  and  this  is  the  way  for  backsliders  to  be  restored. 
The  child  that  has  been  ill  taught  must  begin  anew,  and  go  over  every  rule 
again. 

To  reconcile  them  to  this  sharp  and  humbling  reproof,  they  are  assured 
that  these  were  not  the  words  of  an  enemy,  but  of  one  that  bore  them  good- 
will. It  shows  the  great  forbearance  and  long-suffering  goodness  of  our 
Lord,  even  towards  them  that  have  greatly  dishonoured  him.  It  also  teaches 
us  to  put  a  right  construction  on  Divnie  rebukes,  receiving  them  as  the  rod 
of  correction  to  bring  us  to  repentance. 

To  counsel  is  added  a  word  of  encouragement  and  of  warning; — "  Behold, 
I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock :  if  any  man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the 
door,  I  will  come  in  to  him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me."  Here 
again  they  seem  to  be  treated  rather  as  sinners  than  as  Christians.  If  the 
common  invitations  of  the  gospel  be  acceptable,  they  are  welcome  to  them. 
Jesus  stands  at  their  door,  and  knocks  for  admission.  Do  they  hear  him? 
and  will  they  open  the  door  and  welcome  him?  If  so,  he  will  come  in,  and 
be  their  guest.  But  if  they  are  so  taken  up  with  their  present  company  as 
not  to  hear  him,  or  at  least  not  to  open  to  him,  he  will  go  away  as  he  did 
from  the  Jewish  temple — "  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate." 

If  this  serious  and  tender  address  did  not  reclaim  them  as  a  body,  yet  the 
promise  to  them  that  should  overcome,  that  they  should  "sit  down  with  him 
in  his  throne,  as  he  also  had  overcome,  and  was  set  down  with  his  Father  in 
his  throne,"  might  encourage  individuals  to  return  and  hold  out  to  the  end. 

Let  these  censures,  warnings,  and  encouragements,  addressed  to  the  seven 
churches  in  Asia,  as  a  specimen  of  the  whole,  be  heard  and  regarded  by  the 
churches  of  Christ,  and  by  every  individual  member  of  them,  to  the  end  of 
time. 


THE  EPISTLES  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  219 


DISCOURSE  IV. 

THE    VISION    PRECEDING    THE    BOOK    WITH    SEVEN    SEALS. 
Rev.  iv. 

The  whole  of  this  chapter  is  introductory  to  what  follows.  The  scene  of 
the  vision  is  the  heavenly  world.  No  where  else  could  it  have  been  with 
equal  propriety.  Where,  but  at  the  fountain  of  intelligence  and  influence, 
should  a  creature  learn  the  secrets  of  futurity?  When  Ahab's  destiny  was 
revealed  to  Micaiah,  the  scene  of  the  vision  was  laid  in  heaven,  1  Kings 
xxii.  19-23. 

A  door  being  opened,  the  apostle  is  invited  to  enter  in.  Having  entered, 
he  immediately  finds  himself  under  prophetic  inspiration.  He  was  not  re- 
moved from  the  earth  as  to  his  body;  but  as  Ezekiel  was  carried  by  the  spirit 
to  Jerusalem,  and  saw  what  was  transacting  there,  while  his  body  was  still  in 
Chaldea,  so  it  was  with  him ;  he  was  still  in  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  while  rapt 
up  by  Divine  inspiration,  and  introduced  into  the  immediate  presence  of 
God. 

In  this  supernatural  state  of  mind  he  beheld  a  "  throne,"  and  one  "  sitting 
upon  it,"  who  was  the  supreme  Disposer  of  all  the  concerns  of  creatures. 
Such  a  sight  would  impress  him  with  the  conviction  that  whatever  should 
befall  the  church,  or  the  world,  it  was  all  according  to  his  will  who  ruled  in 
the  armies  of  heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  ver.  1,  2. 

No  description  is  given  of  the  ever-blessed  God,  only  that  his  glory  seemed 
to  resemble  the  lustre  of  certain  precious  stones;  and  this  may  allude  to  the 
visible  glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  as  displayed  in  the  temple.  A  rainbow 
was  also  round  about  the  throne,  in  appearance  like  an  emerald.  We  know 
that  this  from  of  old  was  a  sign  of  peace  and  good-will  to  men.  It  may  here 
denote  that  the  glorious  majesty  of  God,  which  in  itself  was  too  much  to  be 
endured,  would  be  displayed  towards  his  church  in  connexion  with  covenant 
mercy,  ver.  3. 

Having  spoken  of  the  king  eternal,  immortal,  and  invisible,  sitting  on  his 
throne,  he  next  describes  his  retinue.  Here  are  twenty-four  seats,  or  subor- 
dinate thrones,  on  which  sat  twenty-four  elders,  clothed  in  white,  and  with 
crowns  of  gold  upon  their  heads.  The  "  lightnings,  and  thunderings,  and 
voices,"  may  denote  not  only  the  awful  majesty  of  God,  as  when  he  appeared 
at  Sinai,  but  that  from  him  proceeded  all  the  terrible  judgments  which 
would  shortly  afflict  the  earth.  Besides  these,  there  were  "  seven  lamps  of 
fire  before  the  throne,"  which  are  said  to  be  "the  seven  spirits  of  God;" 
answering,  it  may  be,  to  the  seven  candlesticks,  and  being  as  it  were  a  lamp 
to  each  candlestick.  The  light  imparted  by  the  churches  is  all  derived  from 
the  Holy  Spirit.     These  seven  lamps  enlighten  the  world,  ver.  4,  5. 

"  Before  the  throne  was  a  sea  of  glass  like  unto  crystal."  This  crystal 
sea,  as  it  was  in  appearance,  but  which  was  so  solid  that  the  harpers  are 
afterwards  described  as  standing  upon  it,  may  be  opposed  to  the  troubled, 
tumultuous  sea  out  of  which  the  beast  would  rise,  and  may  denote  the  gran- 
deur and  immutability  of  the  Divine  throne  as  opposed  to  the  turbulence 
and  uncertainty  of  earthly  thrones.  The  four  living  creatures  seem  to  be 
the  same  as  those  described  by  Ezekiel,  and  to  allude,  as  they  did,  to  the 
cherubim  in  the  holy  of  holies.  That  which  the  wheels  were  to  the  one, 
the  elders  are  to  the  other ;  connected  with  them,  like  horses  in  a  chariot,  in 


230  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

all  their  movements.  Of  the  former  it  is  said,  "When  the  living  creatures 
went,  the  wheels  went  by  them ;  when  those  stood,  these  stood  ;  and  when 
those  were  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  these  were  lifted  up  over  against  them ; 
for  the  spirit  of  the  living  creature  was  in  the  wheels,"  Ezek.  i.  21.  Of  the 
latter  it  is  said,  "When  those  living  creatures  give  glory,  and  honour,  and 
thanks  to  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  who  liveth  for  ever  and  ever,  the 
four-and-twenty  elders  fall  down  before  him,  and  worship  him  that  liveth  for 
ever  and  ever,  and  cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne,  saying,  Thou  art 
worthy,  O  Lord,  to  receive  glory,  and  honour,  and  power,  for  thou  hast 
created  all  things,  and  for  thy  pleasure  they  are  and  were  created." 

The  living  creatures  cannot  be  angels,  for  both  they  and  the  elders  are 
distinguished  from  them  in  chap.  vii.  11,  where  all  the  angels  are  said  to 
"  stand  round  about  the  throne,  and  about  the  elders,  and  the  four  living 
creatures."  Besides  this,  the  living  creatures  and  the  elders  speak  of  then>- 
selves  as  "  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  out  of  every  kindred,  and 
tongue,  and  people,  and  nation,"  chap.  v.  9.  Those  who  led  the  worship 
under  the  Old  Testament  might  be  meant  by  the  living  creatures  of  Ezekiel; 
and  those  who  lead  the  worship  under  the  New  Testament  may  be  signified 
by  those  of  John.  They  and  the  elders,  like  the  stars  and  the  candlesticks, 
appear  to  be  the  representatives  of  Christ's  ministers  and  churches  in  the 
heavenly  assembly.  They  are  not  described  as  being  themselves  on  earth, 
or  in  a  state  of  affliction,  but  as  before  the  throne  of  God,  as  though  a  num- 
ber of  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect  had  been  chosen  of  God  to  repre- 
sent in  his  immediate  presence  their  brethren  upon  earth,  and  who,  as  things 
should  be  described  which  concerned  the  church,  would  express  the  interest 
they  felt  in  them. 

The  description  of  the  living  creatures  as  bearing  a  resemblance  to  certain 
animals,  and  as  having  each  six  wings,  which  wings  were  "  full  of  eyes 
within,"  would  naturally  express  their  useful  properties,  particularly  the 
union  of  zeal  and  knowledge;  and  their  unceasing  ascriptions  of  glory  to 
God  may  denote  the  tendency  of  their  ministerial  labours.  The  elders  were 
crowned,  but  they  cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne.  Such  appear  to  be 
the  scene  and  scenery  of  this  preparatory  vision,  ver.  6-11. 


DISCOURSE  V. 

THE    BOOK    WITH    SEVEN    SEALS. 
Rev.  V. 


That  which  is  here  called  "a  book"  must  not  be  supposed  to  resemble 
our  books,  which  since  the  invention  of  printing  have  been  very  different 
from  those  of  the  ancients.  Conceive  of  seven  skins  of  parchment,  written 
upon  on  one  side,*  and  rolled  up,  suppose  on  wood.  At  the  end  of  every 
skin  a  seal  is  affixed  on  the  backside,  so  that  the  contents  of  it  cannot  be 
read  till  the  seal  is  opened.  This  book,  or  roll,  or  volume,  being  "  in  the 
right  hand  of  him  that  sat  on  the  throne,"  denotes  that  futurity  is  known 

*  By  the  punctuation  in  our  translation  it  would  seem  as  if  they  were  written  upon  on 
both  sides  ;  but  this  would  not  comport  with  the  contents  being  secret,  which  they  were  till 
the  seals  were  unloosed.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  a  comma  is  necessary  after  the  word 
"within,"  in  verse  1.  Several  other  versions,  and  some  editions  of  our  own,  read  it,  A. 
book  written  within^  and  on  the  backside  sealed  with  seven  sedls. 


THE  EPISTLES  TO  THE  CHURCHES.  221 

only  to  God.  The  proclamation  made  for  one  that  should  be  worthy  to  open 
the  book,  shows  how  desirable  it  was  that  the  mind  of  God  in  regard  to 
futurity  should  be  revealed,  for  strengthening  the  faith  and  supporting  the 
hope  of  his  church  upon  earth ;  and  as  John  had  been  invited  for  the  very 
purpose  of  learning  "  the  things  that  should  be  hereafter,"  things  which 
related  to  the  church  of  Christ,  which  he  had  been  employed  in  raising,  it 
must  be  peculiarly  interesting  to  him.  He  must  needs  be  anxious  to  know 
the  things  that  should  befall  these  his  people  in  the  latter  days.  To  see  a 
book  therefore  which  contained  them,  and  yet  none  in  heaven  or  earth 
found  worthy  to  open  it,  might  well  make  him  weep,  ver.  1-4. 

This  want  of  a  suitable  person  to  open  the  book  is  introduced  for  the  pur- 
pose of  doing  honour  to  the  Lamb,  whose  success  gives  universal  joy  and 
satisfaction.  The  work  of  making  known  the  mind  of  God  was  an  honour 
too  high  for  any  mere  creature  in  heaven  or  on  earth;  it  was  given  to  Christ 
as  the  reward  of  his  obedience  unto  death,  ver.  9.  The  honour  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel  is  represented  as  being  of  ^roce :  "Unto  me,  (said  Paul,) 
who  am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given,  that  I  should 
preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ."  That  which 
Christ  received  as  the  reward  of  his  death,  we  receive  in  our  measure  of 
grace,  and  for  his  sake ;  and  a  great  favour  it  is  to  be  bearers  of  such  good 
tidings.     , 

One  of  the  elders,  perceiving  the  apostle  to  weep  under  an  apprehension 
that  all  must  remain  unknown,  saith  unto  him,  "  Weep  not ;  behold,  the 
Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  the  root  of  David,  hath  prevailed  to  open  the 
book,  and  to  loose  the  seven  seals  thereof"  John  was  not  so  unacquainted 
with  the  Scriptures  as  to  be  at  any  loss  whom  this  could  mean.  Probably, 
however,  he  expected  to  behold  his  Lord  in  some  majestic  form  correspond- 
ing to  the  imagery;  but  lo,  instead  of  a  lion,  he  saw  a  lamb,  a  lamb  as  it 
had  been  slain !  yet  invested  with  perfect  authority,  and  possessing  perfect 
knowledge,  so  as  to  qualify  him  for  the  work ;  for  he  had  *'  seven  horns,  and 
seven  eyes,"  ver.  5,  6. 

This  glorious  personage,  in  whom  are  united  the  majesty  of  the  lion  and 
the  gentleness  of  the  lamb,  approaches  him  that  sat  upon  the  throne,  and 
takes  the  book  out  of  his  right  hand ;  denoting  on  his  own  part  the  under- 
taking of  the  work,  and  on  that  of  God  his  perfect  approbation,  ver.  7. 

And  now  the  whole  church  of  God  by  their  representatives  are  described 
as  falling  down  before  the  Lamb,  and  joining  in  a  chorus  of  praise.  "The 
golden  vials  full  of  odours"  doubtless  allude  to  those  of  the  priests  who 
offered  incense,  and  denote  that  the  church  on  earth  is  ever  employed  in 
presenting  its  petitions  before  the  throne.  They  had  also  "harps"  as  well 
as  vials,  and  "  sung  a  new  song,"  denoting  the  great  occasion  there  now  was 
for  joy  and  praise.  A  new  song  is  suited  to  a  new  manifestation  of  mercy. 
The  Lamb  is  found  worthy  to  take  the  book,  and  to  open  the  seals ;  and 
they  perceive  the  ground  of  it  to  lie  in  his  having  redeemed  them  at  the 
expense  of  his  blood.  For  this  they  bless  his  name,  as  also  for  his  having 
made  them  kings  and  priests  unto  God,  and  given  them  to  expect  that,  how- 
ever they  were  at  present  oppressed  on  earth,  they  should  even  there  be 
finally  victorious,  ver.  8-10. 

Nor  could  the  angels  on  such  an  occasion  be  silent,  but  must  join  in  the 
choir.  Myriads  of  myriads,  a  number  that  no  man  could  number,  unite  in 
ascribing  worthiness  to  the  Lamb,  and  that  on  the  same  ground  as  redeemed 
men  had  done,  namely,  his  having  been  "  slain  ;"  a  proof  this  of  disinterested 
affection,  both  to  the  Redeemer  and  the  redeemed.  "  He  took  not  on  hira 
the  nature  of  angels,  but  the  seed  of  Abraham ;"  yet  angels  unite  in  praising 
him  for  his  love  to  men. 

t2 


Ham 


EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


In  enumerating  the  things  which  he  was  worthy  to  receive,  it  is  remark- 
able how  they  keep  their  eye  on  those  perfections  of  which  he  had  emptied 
himself  in  his  humiliation.  He  did  not  lay  aside  any  thing  pertaining  to 
his  goodness,  but  merely  what  belonged  to  his  greatness.  He  was  no  less 
holy,  just,  faithful,  and  merciful,  when  on  earth,  than  he  is  now  in  heaven ; 
but  he  emptied  himself  of  "  power,"  as  laying  aside  his  authority,  and  taking 
upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant — of  "  riches,"  as  becoming  poor,  that  we 
through  his  poverty  might  be  made  rich — of  "  wisdom,"  as  making  himself 
of  no  reputation — of  "  strength,"  as  becoming  weak  and  subject  to  death 
like  other  men — of"  honour,"  as  not  appearing  in  his  native  Divinity,  but  as 
a  man,  and  a  man  of  obscure  birth,  despised  of  the  people — of  "  glory,"  as 
subjecting  himself  to  shame  and  disgrace — and  of  "  blessing,"  as  receiving 
not  the  benedictions  so  much  as  the  execrations  of  those  among  whom  he 
sojourned.  The  purport  of  the  song  is.  By  how  much  he  hath  emptied  him- 
self on  earth,  by  so  much  let  him  be  magnified  and  exalted  in  heaven !  ver. 
11,  12. 

Nor  is  the  song  confined  to  angels ;  the  whole  creation  joins  in  praising 
him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  the  Lamb,  for  ever ;  while  at  every  pause 
the  representatives  of  the  redeemed  add  their  emphatic  "Amen,"  adoring  in 
humble  prostration  him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever,  ver.  13. 

Such  an  august  and  affecting  representation  expresses  the  sentiments 
which  become  the  friends  of  Christ  while  contemplating  that  great  cause 
which  is  carrying  on  in  the  world,  and  which  the  world  in  a  manner  over- 
looks. To  this  may  be  added.  If  such  be  the  glory  ascribed  to  the  Saviour 
whilst  events  are  merely  foretold,  what  will  it  be  when  they  are  actually 
accomplished,  and  when  they  shall  be  reviewed  in  the  heaven  of  heavens  to 
ail  eternity ! 


DISCOURSE  VI. 

THE    SEALS    OPENED. 
Rev.  vi. 


Before  we  enter  on  the  opening  of  the  seals,  the  sounding  of  the  trumpets, 
or  the  pouring  out  of  the  vials,  it  will  be  proper  to  make  a  few  general 
remarks. 

First,  The  whole  series  of  events  here  revealed  is  included  in  the  sealed 
book.  We  are  not  to  conceive  of  the  seals  as  containing  one  series  of 
events,  the  trumpets  another,  and  the  vials  another;  but  as  all  being  included 
in  the  seals :  for  the  seven  trumpets  are  only  subdivisions  of  the  seventh 
seal,  and  the  seven  vials  of  the  seventh  trumpet. 

Secondly,  This  division  into  seals,  and  subdivision  into  trumpets  and  vials, 
appears  to  be  the  only  one  which  the  prophecy  requires,  or  even  admits.  Not 
to  mention  its  division  into  chapters,  which  are  sometimes  made  in  the  midst 
of  a  subject,  the  scheme  of  dividing  it  mio  periods,  which  Mr.  Lowman  and 
many  others  have  favoured,  seems  to  be  merely  a  work  of  the  imagination. 
There  are  doubtless  some  remarkable  periods  in  the  prophecy,  such  as  thai 
of  the  12C0  years,  &c. ;  but  to  make  them  seven  in  number,  and  for  this 
purpose  to  reckon  the  day  of  judgment,  and  the  heavenly  state,  as  periods, 
is  fanciful.     It  is  by  the  division  of  the  prophecy  itself  into  seals,  and  the 


THE  SEALED  BOOK.  223 

subdivision  of  the  seventh  seal  into  trumpets,  and  of  the  seventh  trumpet 
into  vials,  that  we  must  steer  our  course. 

Thirdly,  In  tracing  the  events  symbolized  by  the  seals,  trumpets,  and 
vials,  there  is  no  necessity  for  supposing  that  every  preceding  one  must  be 
finished  before  that  which  follows  it  can  have  begun.  It  is  enough  if  they 
succeed  each  other  iii  the  manner  of  the  four  monarchies  predicted  in  the 
seventh  chapter  of  Daniel.  The  Babylonish  empire  was  not  extinct  before 
that  of  Persia  began ;  nor  that  of  Persia  before  that  of  Macedonia  began  ; 
nor  that  of  Macedonia  before  that  of  Rome  began.  The  latter  end  of  each 
would  be  contemporary  with  the  beginning  of  that  which  followed ;  yet 
upon  the  whole  they  succeeded  each  other  in  the  empire  of  the  toorld;  and 
this  was  sufficient  to  justify  their  being  represented  in  succession.  Thus 
the  wars  of  the  red  horse  in  this  chapter  might  commence  before  the  con- 
quests of  the  white  horse  were  ended,  and  continue  in  part  while  the  events 
signified  by  the  black  horse  occurred.  The  beginnings  and  endings  of  each 
might  run  into  the  other,  while  yet  upon  the  whole  they  were  successive. 
It  is  on  this  account  that  I  am  not  solicitous  to  determine  the  year  when 
each  begins  or  ends. 

Fourthly,  So  far  as  the  seals,  trumpets,  or  vials  respect  the  world,  it  is  as 
connected  with  the  church.  The  plan  of  this  prophecy  is  much  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Old  Testament;  it  follows  religion,  and  what  concerns  religion 
only.  Why  is  there  so  much  said  in  the  Scriptures  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon 
rather  than  of  other  heathen  cities  in  those  limes,  but  because  these  powers 
had  to  do  with  the  people  of  God?  Why  are  the  ravages  of  the  four  beasts 
predicted  by  Daniel,  but  for  the  same  reason?  Had  it  not  been  for  this, 
they  might  have  risen  and  fallen  unnoticed  by  the  Scriptures,  as  much  as 
Carthage,  Palmyra,  or  Pekin.  It  is  this  that  accounts  for  so  much  being 
said  by  Daniel  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  It  is  this  that  accounts  for  so  much 
being  said  by  John  of  the  Roman  empire  rather  than  of  the  other  great 
empires  of  the  earth ;  for  it  was  here  that  Christianity  would  be  principally 
embraced.  And  as  the  Roman  empire  and  the  profession  of  Christianity 
would  in  the  latter  ages  be  in  a  manner  confined  to  Europe,  so  the  greater 
part  of  what  respects  the  world  in  the  latter  part  of  these  prophecies  is  in  a 
manner  confined  to  that  quarter  of  the  earth.  The  Scriptures,  foreseeing 
that  Europe  would  be  the  seat  of  both  the  Christian  church  and  the  anti- 
christian  beast  and  harlot,  predict  events  concerning  this  part  of  the  world 
while  they  overlook  the  other  parts. 

Nor  must  we  expect  to  find  all  the  great  events  even  of  those  parts  of  the 
world  which  are  connected  with  the  church.  As  the  Old  Testament  history, 
in  respect  of  the  nations  connected  with  Israel,  is  select,  so  we  may  expect 
to  find  the  New  Testament  prophecy.  If  some  of  the  mightiest  changes  in 
Europe  have  no  place  in  this  prophecy,  we  are  not  to  consider  the  omission 
of  them  as  a  defect,  but  rather  take  it  for  granted  that  God  did  not  judge  the 
introduction  of  them  necessary  for  his  purpose. 

Fifthly,  The  commencement  of  the  prophecy  is,  I  apprehend,  to  be 
reckoned  from  the  ascension  of  Christ.  It  has  been  common,  I  am  aware, 
to  reckon  it  from  the  time  of  the  vision,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  under 
the  reign  of  Domitian,  about  the  year  95.  On  this  principle  Mr.  Lowman 
proceeds.  Hence  he  confines  the  opening  of  the  first  seal,  on  which  it  is 
said  "  there  appeared  a  tvhite  horse,  and  he  that  sat  on  him  had  a  bow,  and 
a  crown,  and  went  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer,"  to  the  success  of  the 
gospel  after  the  year  95,  leaving  out  the  whole  of  that  which  accompanied 
the  labours  of  the  apostles.  In  like  manner  the  opening  of  the  second  seal, 
on  which  there  went  forth  "  a  red  horse,  and  power  was  given  to  him  that 
eat  thereon  to  take  peace  from  the  earth,  and  that  they  should  kill  one  an- 


224  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Other,"  is  confined  to  those  wars  between  tlie  Jews  and  Romans  which  oc- 
curred between  the  years  100  and  138,  leaving  out  the  whole  of  those  which 
issued  in  the  destruction  of  Jei-usalcm*  But  surely  it  must  appear  sin- 
gular that  in  a  prophetic  description  of  the  success  of  the  gospel  in  the  early 
ages  the  most  glorious  part  of  it  should  be  left  out;  and  that  in  a  like  de- 
scription of  the  wars  between  the  Jews  and  Romans  the  most  terrible  part 
should  be  omitted.  The  reason  given  by  Mr.  Lowman  for  its  being  so  is, 
"  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  being  past,  can  hardly  be  supposed  to  be 
denoted  by  a  prediction  of  a  judgment  to  come."  Doubtless  it  is  in  general 
true  that  prophecies  are  predictions  of  things  to  come ;  in  some  instances, 
however,  they  may  refer  to  events  the  beginnings  of  which  are  already  ac- 
complished. There  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  this  in  the  prophecies  of 
Daniel  concerning  the  four  monarchies.  He  speaks  of  his  seeing  them  all 
"rise  up  out  of  the  sea,"  chap.  vii.  1-3;  yet  at  the  time  of  the  vision  the 
first  of  them,  namely,  Babylon,  had  risen,  and  reigned,  and  was  near  its  end ; 
for  it  was  in  the  first  year  of  Belshazzar,  who  was  its  last  king.  And  why 
should  not  the  apostle  in  like  manner  commence  the  prophecy  with  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  dispensation,  though  he  wrote  above  sixty 
years  after  it?  This  makes  the  sealed  book  to  contain  a  perfect  system  of 
New  Testament  prophecy,  from  the  ascension  of  Christ  to  the  end  of  all 
things.  By  this  we  include  the  success  of  the  apostles  in  the  conquests  of 
the  man  on  the  white  horse  under  the  first  seal,  and  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem and  the  temple  in  those  of  the  red  horse  under  the  second  seal.  By 
this  too  we  are  furnished  with  an  easy  interpretation  of  the  division  of  the 
book  into  "  things  which  the  writer  had  seen,  things  which  were,  and  things 
which  should  be  hereafter."  He  had  actually  seen  the  great  progress  of 
the  gospel  from  the  time  of  Christ's  ascension,  and  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem by  the  Romans ;  he  then  saw  the  church  struggling  under  a  cruel 
persecution;  and  that  which  should  be  revealed  to  him  would  carry  on  those 
struggles  till  she  should  rise  triumphant  over  all  opposition  in  her  New  Je- 
rusalem glory. 

Ver.  1,  2.  There  is  no  doubt  of  this  being  meant  of  the  glorious  success 
of  the  gospel  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church,  even  when  it  had  to  encoun- 
ter the  most  bloody  persecutions.  Of  this  the  white  horse  is  the  appropri- 
ate symbol,  chap.  xix.  11,  12.  "Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  most 
mighty  :  with  thy  glory  and  thy  majesty.  And  in  thy  majesty  ride  prosper- 
ously, because  of  truth,  and  meekness,  and  righteousness :  and  thy  right 
hand  shall  teach  thee  terrible  things,"  Psal.  xlv.  3,  4.  I  need  not  show  how 
truly  this  accords  with  historic  fact.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  from  the  begin- 
ning, as  the  Jews  alleged  against  the  apostles,  "  Jerusalem  was  filed 
with  their  doctrine."  It  was  foretold  that,  before  the  destruction  of  that 
city,  the  gospel  should  be  preached  in  all  the  world,  Matt.  xxiv.  14.  Paul 
himself  preached  it,  and  that  fully,  "  from  Jerusalem  round  about  unto 
Illyricum,"  and,  as  he  says  in  behalf  of  himself  and  his  fellow  labourers, 
"  God  always  caused  them  to  triumph  in  every  place."  The  Caesars  set 
themselves  against  it;  yet  in  spite  of  all  their  etforts  there  were,  even  in 
Paul's  time,  saints  in  Csesar's  household. 

The  epistles  of  Pliny  and  Tiberianus,  governors  of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria, 
to  Trajan  the  emperor,  within  ten  or  twelve  years  after  the  banishment  of 
John  to  the  Isle  of  Patmos,  furnish  a  striking  and  unexceptionable  proof  of 
the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  those  times.  By  the  amazing  number  of  per- 
sons who  avowed  themselves  Christians,  and  so  exposed  themselves  to  death, 
they  were  moved  with  compassion,  and  wrote  to  know  what  they  were  to  do 

*  See  Lowman's  History  of  the  First  and  Second  Seals,  pp.  40-42. 


THE  OPENING  OP  THE  SEALS.  225 

with  them.  "The  number  is  so  great,"  says  Pliny,  "  as  to  call  for  the  most 
serious  deliberation.  Informations  are  pouring  in  against  multitudes,  of 
every  age,  of  all  orders,  and  of  both  sexes:  and  more  will  be  impeached; 
for  the  contagion  of  this  superstition  hath  spread,  not  only  through  cities, 
but  villages,  and  hath  even  reached  the  farm-houses."  He  also  speaks  of 
the  temples  as  having  been  almost  desolate,  the  sacred  solemnities  [of  idola- 
try] as  having  been  intermitted,  and  the  sacrificial  victims  as  finding  but  few 
purchasers,  "  I  am  quite  wearied,"  says  Tiberianus,  "  with  punishing  and 
destroying  the  Galileans." 

Ver.  3,  4.  This  and  the  two  following  seals  relate  to  the  judgments 
of  God  upon  the  church's  enemies.  Great  and  terrible  wars  are  as  natu- 
rally suggested  by  the  symbol  of  a  red  horse  as  the  success  of  the  gospel 
was  by  a  white  one.  The  wars  particularly  alluded  to  appear  to  be  those 
between  the  Jews  and  Romans,  who  having  united  in  persecuting  the  church, 
as  well  as  in  crucifying  its  Head,  were  now  permitted  to  "  kill  one  another." 
It  is  well  known  that  in  the  reign  of  Vespasian,  the  Jews  having  rebelled 
against  the  Romans,  Jerusalem  was  taken  and  destroyed,  the  temple  reduced 
to  ashes,  and  an  immense  number  of  persons  slain.*  Forty  or  fifty  years 
after  this,  in  the  reign  of  Ti-ajan,  the  Jews  in  Egypt  and  in  Cyprus  rebelled, 
and  are  said  to  have  slain,  with  great  marks  of  cruelty,  four  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  men ;  yet  the  Jews  were  every  where  subdued :  a  far  greater 
number,  therefore,  must  have  been  slain  amongst  themselves.  Soon  after 
this,  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian,  the  Jews  who  were  left  in  Palestine  after  the 
destruction  of  their  metropolis  were  drawn  into  a  new  rebellion,  by  adhering 
to  a  pretended  Messiah,  whose  name  was  Barchocab.  In  these  wars,  besides 
what  were  lost  on  the  side  of  the  Romans,  the  Jews  are  said  to  have  had  a 
thousand  cities  and  fortresses  destroyed,  with  the  slaughter  of  above  jftve 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  men.  The  Jews  having  employed  the  Roman 
power  to  crucify  the  Lord  of  glory,  God  employed  it  to  destroy  them  and 
their  city.  Their  carnal  policy  told  them  that  if  they  let  him  alone  all  men 
would  believe  on  him,  and  the  Romans  would  come  and  take  away  both 
their  place  and  nation.  Whether  guilty  or  not  guilty,  it  was  judged  expe- 
dient that  he  should  die,  and  that  the  whole  nation  should  not  perish.  The 
whole  nation  however  did  perish,  and  that  by  means  of  the  Romans.  Such 
was  the  result  of  that  policy  which  was  employed  against  the  Lord,  and 
against  his  Christ:  and  thus  was  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Daniel, — "And 
after  threescore  and  two  weeks  shall  Messiah  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself: 
and  the  people  of  the  prince  that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city  and  the 
sanctuary,  and  the  end  thereof  shall  be  with  a  flood,  and  unto  the  end  of  the 
war  desolations  are  determined,"  chap.  ix.  2G. 


DISCOURSE  VII. 

THE    OPENING    OF    THE    SEALS    CONTINUED. 

Rev.  vi. 

Ver.  5,  6.  A  hlach  horse  is  the  symbol  of  famine,  or  of  a  scarcity  ap- 
proaching to  famine,  by  which  the  necessaries  of  life  required  to  be  dealt 
out  by  weight  and  measure,  and  special  orders  to  be  given  that  nothing 

*  Mr.  Lowman,  from  Usher^s  Annals,  says,  "A  million  and  a  half  according  to  some, 
according  to  others  two  millions,  besides  what  were  slain  on  the  side  of  the  Romans." 

Vol.  III.— 29 


226  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

should  be  wasted,  Lam.  vi.  10;  Lev.  xxvi.  26.  Such  appears  to  have  been 
the  state  of  things  in  the  Roman  empire  for  a  long  time,  during  the  reigns 
of  the  Antonines.  It  is  in  reference  to  these,  among  other  calamities,  that 
Tertullian  speaks,  representing  the  heathens  as  ascribing  them  to  the  Chris- 
tians, because  they  taught  men  to  despise  the  gods.* 

The  "  measure"  here  referred  to  is  the  chojnix,  which  contained  the  ordi- 
nary allowance  of  corn  to  a  man  for  a  day ;  and  as  the  price  of  a  measure 
of  wheat  in  those  times  was  a  Roman  "penny,"  which  was  the  amount  of  a 
day's  wages,  it  follows  that  for  a  poor  man  to  have  lived  on  wheaten  bread 
would  have  required  all  his  labour,  without  any  thing  for  other  necessaries, 
or  even  bread  for  his  family  ! 

Ver.  7.  8.  The  pale  horse  was  the  symbol  of  great  mortality,  by  various 
means;  particularly  by  the  sword,  by  hunger,  by  pestilence,  and  by  the 
beasts  of  the  earth.  The  facts  were,  that  between  the  years  193  and  270, 
that  is,  in  less  than  eighty  years,  there  were  more  than  twenty  emperors,  and 
at  one  time  thirty  pretenders  to  the  throne.  It  is  said  also  there  were  thirty 
usurpers,  who  raised  war  for  themselves  in  different  parts  of  the  empire. 
Such  a  state  of  things  is  sufficient  to  account  for  all  that  is  here  predicted; 
for  intestine  wars  must  needs  produce  famine  and  pestilence,  and  by  destroy- 
ing men  give  an  ascendency  to  the  beasts  of  prey.  In  this  manner  the 
enemies  of  the  gospel  were  visited,  who  continued,  with  but  little  intermis- 
sion, to  persecute  the  church  of  God. 

In  understanding  the  symbols  of  the  wJiite,  the  red,  the  black,  and  the  pale 
horses,  of  the  success  of  the  gospel,  and  the  judgments  of  God  on  its  enemies, 
there  is  sufficient  unity  of  design.  They  all  bear  a  relation  to  the  church, 
and  to  the  Jews  and  Romans  only  as  persecuting  it. 

Ver.  9-11.  A  view  of  an  alta?-,  and  the  sacrifices  that  had  been  made 
upon  it,  fitly  represent  the  numerous  martyrdoms  which  had  been  made  at 
the  time  under  the  heathen  emperors.  The  "souls  under  the  altar"  are  the 
departed  spirits  of  those  Christians  who  had  fallen  in  the  arduous  contest, 
which  are  supposed  to  cry  aloud  for  retribution.  The  "white  robes"  denote 
the  heavenly  honours  conferred  upon  them.  The  answer  to  their  appeal,  in 
which  they  are  encouraged  to  expect  a  retribution  "after  a  little  season,  and 
when  the  number  of  their  fellow  servants  and  brethren,  who  should  be  killed 
as  they  were,  [by  the  hands  of  paganism,]  should  be  fulfilled,"  determines 
the  period  to  which  the  vision  refers.  It  is  supposed  that  they  had  suffered 
under  nine  of  the  ten  persecutions,  and  had  only  to  wait  for  the  completion 
of  their  number  under  the  tc7iih,  which  being  accomplished,  God  would  take 
vengeance  on  their  persecutors.  The  opening  of  this  seal,  therefore,  would 
refer  to  about  the  year  270,  when  the  ninth  persecution  was  past,  and  the 
tenth,  under  Dioclesian  and  Maximian,  was  approaching;  and  which  is  said 
to  have  been  more  extensive  and  bloody  than  any  which  had  gone  before  it. 
Its  professed  object  was  nothing  less  than  the  utter  extirpation  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  places  for  Christian  worship  were  every  where  demolished, 
Bibles  destroyed,  and  an  immense  number  of  Christians  put  to  death.  "It 
were  endless  and  almost  incredible,"  says  Echard,  "to  enumerate  the  variety 
of  sufferers  and  torments :  they  were  scourged  to  death,  had  their  flesh  torn 
off  with  pincers,  and  mangled  with  broken  pots;  were  cast  to  lions,  tigers, 
and  other  wild  beasts;  were  burnt,  beheaded,  crucified,  thrown  into  the  sea, 
torn  in  pieces  by  the  distorted  boughs  of  trees,  roasted  by  gentle  fires,  and 
holes  made  in  their  bodies  for  melted  lead  to  be  poured  into  their  bowels. 
This  persecution  lasted  ten  years  under  Dioclesian  and  some  of  his  suc- 
cessors; and  the  number  of  Christians  who  suffered  death  and  punishment 

*  Apology,  Ch.  XL.    Lowman's  History  of  the  Third  Seal,  p.  46. 


THE  SEALING  OF  THE  SERVANTS  OF  GOD.  227 

made  them  conclude  that  they  had  completed  their  work ;  and  in  an  ancient 
inscription  they  tell  the  world  that  they  had  effaced  the  name  and  siipersti- 
tioji  of  the  Christians,  and  had  restored  and  propagated  the  loorship  of  the 
gods.  But  they  were  so  much  deceived,  that  this  hastened  the  destruction 
of  paganism."* 

This  was  the  first  persecution  that  reached  Britain,  then  a  Roman  colony, 
in  which  Alban  suffered,  and  great  numbers  after  him.  "  Our  stories  record," 
says  Fox  the  martyrologist,  "that  all  Christianity  almost  in  the  whole  island 
was  destroyed,  the  churches  subverted,  all  books  of  Scripture  burned,  and 
many  of  the  faithful,  both  men  and  women,  slain." 

Ver.  12-17.  "An  earthquake"  is  the  appropriate  symbol  of  a  revolution; 
and  an  earthquake  accompanied  with  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and, 
what  was  more  than  an  eclipse,  the  "  falling  of  the  stars  to  the  earth,"  as 
though  nature  itself  were  dissolved,  denotes,  I  conceive,  the  overthrow  of 
the  pagan  empire  by  the  arms  of  Constantine.  The  ruling  powers  of  the 
world  are  that  to  the  common  people  which  the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars 
are  to  the  earth :  hence  great  changes  in  nations  are  expressed  by  God's 
*'  shaking  the  heavens  and  the  earth,"  and  sometimes  by  the  very  imagery 
here  used.  "All  the  host  of  heaven  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  heavens 
shall  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll :  and  all  their  host  shall  fall  down  as  the 
leaf  falleth  off  from  the  vine,  and  as  a  fiilling  fig  from  the  fig  tree.  For  my 
sword  shall  be  bathed  in  heaven :  behold,  it  shall  come  down  upon  Idumea, 
and  upon  the  people  of  my  curse,  to  judgment,"  Isa.  xxxiv.  4,  5.  The  revo- 
lution that  took  place  in  the  time  of  Constantine  was  not  of  a  civil,  so  much 
as  of  a  religious  character.  The  government  was  still  imperial,  and  the  dif- 
ference between  one  emperor  and  another  would  be  of  little  or  no  account. 
But  it  was  an  eclipse  of  those  powers  which  had  so  long  endeavoured  to 
crush  the  cause  of  Christ.  It  is  language  applicable  to  the  last  judgment; 
and  was  to  them  actually  a  day  of  judgment  in  miniature.  The  bloody 
enemies  of  Christ  must  now  have  felt,  whether  they  would  or  not,  that  they 
had  incurred  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb.  Now  the  number  of  the  martyrs  under 
the  pagan  persecutions  is  completed,  and  the  prayers  of  the  souls  under  the 
altar  are  answered. 


DISCOURSE  vm. 

THE    SEALING    OF    THE    SERVANTS    OF   GOD. 

Rev.  vii. 

Ver.  1-8.  This  chapter  is  a  continuation  of  the  sixth  seal ;  and  bears  a 
relation  to  the  great  revolution  which  had  taken  place  by  the  accession  of  a 
Christian  emperor.  Considering  what  the  church  had  had  to  encounter 
under  a  succession  of  heathens,  this  event  would  appear  to  be  most  auspi- 
cious. Christians  would  now  look  forward  to  times  of  peace,  happiness, 
and  prosperity.  And  true  it  is  that  during  the  life  of  this  emperor  there 
was  not  only  a  season  of  peace,  but  considerable  accessions  to  the  Christian 
profession.  On  this  account,  it  seems,  Mr.  Lowman  and  others  have  been 
led  to  interpret  this  sealing  of  the  servants  of  God  in  their  foreheads  of  the 

♦  Roman  History,  Vol.  II.  p.  550.  Eusebius,  in  the  Vlllth  book  of  his  Ecclesiastical 
History,  gives  a  particular  account  of  this  persecution,  of  which  he  was  an  eye-witness. 


"928  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

numerous  conversions  made  in  those  times  to  the  Christian  faith.  But  seal- 
ing denotes,  not  conversion,  but  the  preservation  of  those  >vho  are  converted. 
Those  who  were  sealed  did  not  by  this  become  the  servants  of  God,  but  are 
supposed  to  be  such  already.  Instead  of  signifying  the  enlargement  of  the 
church,  the  object  is  to  prevent  it  from  being  utterly  swept  away.  It  por- 
tends danger  no  less  than  the  striking  of  the  door-posts  of  the  Israelites 
when  the  destroying  angel  should  pass  through  the  land ;  or  than  the  mark- 
ing of  those  who  "sighed  and  cried"  when  Jerusalem  was  to  be  destroyed 
by  the  Chaldeans.  It  was  for  the  preservation  of  a  seed  for  God  amidst  a 
flood  of  corruption.  Hence,  when  these  evils  had  actually  deluged  the 
church,  we  find  the  sealed  servants  of  God  standing  in  triumph  upon  Mount 
Sion,  chap.  xiv.  1.  God  seeth  not  as  man  seeth ;  that  which  man  is  apt  to 
think  a  great  acquisition,  God  often  knows  to  be  a  great  temptation. 

It  is  remarkable  that,  instead  of  a  congratulation  of  the  church  on  its 
recent  victory,  by  the  striking  up  of  the  heavenly  choir,  (as  is  usual  in  the 
prophecy  when  new  and  glorious  events  occur,)  the  choir  on  this  occasion 
is  mute.  It  is  described,  indeed,  as  a  day  of  judgment  to  the  persecuting 
heathens,  and  in  itself  doubtless  afforded  matter  of  thankfulness  to  Chris- 
tians ;  but  had  they  known  what  would  arise  out  of  it,  the  joy  of  that  day 
would  have  been  turned  into  mourning. 

From  this  time  men  were  ripe  for  such  speculations  as  those  of  Arins, 
who  argued,  that  if  Christ  ivas  begotten  of  the  Father,  there  mnst  have  been 
a  time  ivhen  he  icas  not;  and  for  all  the  intrigues,  wars,  and  persecutions 
which  on  both  sides  by  turns  were  practised.  From  this  time  our  Lord's 
doctrine  of  the  new  birth  seems  in  a  manner  to  have  been  laid  aside,  and 
conversion  to  Christianity  was  little  more  than  being  baptized,  or  consenting 
to  wear  the  Christian  badge.  From  this  time  conversions  were  mostly  pro- 
duced by  authority,  or  by  the  hope  of  worldly  advantage,  or  by  exhortations 
addressed  to  kings  that  they  should  convert  their  subjects.  From  this  lime 
the  glory  of  the  church  seems  to  have  been  placed  more  in  splendid  edifices 
and  pompous  ceremonies  than  in  conformity  to  its  Head.  In  short,  from 
this  time  she  became  a  courtier,  and,  laying  aside  her  own  simple  garb,  ap- 
peared in  a  dress  more  befitting  the  mother  of  harlots  than  the  bride  of 
Christ.  "What  she  gained  in  outward  splendour  and  prosperity,"  says  Mr. 
Faber,  "  she  lost  in  purity  of  manners  and  doctrine.  The  holy  simplicity 
of  primitive  Christianity  was  no  more;  and  the  heresy  of  Arius  introduced 
a  succession  of  crimes  disgraceful  alike  to  humanity  and  religion." — See 
Mosheim's  Account  of  the  Fourth  Century. 

Doubtless  there  were  hypocrites  and  merely  nominal  Christians  in  all  ages 
of  the  church ;  but  they  were  never  before  so  designated  as  they  now  are. 
"The  servants  of  God"  are  from  this  time  distinguished  from  "the  men 
who  had  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads."  This  distinction  might 
not  take  place  immediately  after  the  accession  of  Constantine,  but  from  that 
time  the  seeds  of  it  were  sown.  The  alliance  between  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical authorities,  described  in  the  thirteenth  and  seventeenth  chapters  by 
a  woman  riding  on  a  beast,  originated  here.  Here,  therefore,  we  must  look 
for  the  grand  origin  of  that  apostacy  which  the  apostle  Paul  foretold,  and 
which  succeeding  ages  witnessed.  If  the  account  given  of  the  state  of 
things  by  Mosheim  be  just,  it  requires  a  great  stretch  of  charity  to  believe 
that  what  was  called  the  catholic  church,  even  in  the  fourth  century,  was  the 
church  of  Christ.  Christ  certainly  had  a  people  at  that  time,  but  they  seem 
to  have  consisted  of  indivifJttals  rather  than  of  that  visible  community  which 
called  itself  the  church.  They  were  "  the  servants  of  God  whom  he  sealed 
in  their  foreheads." 

These  ideas  will  be  confirmed  by  attending  to  the  manner  in  which  the 


THE  SEALING  OF  THE  SERVANTS  OF  GOD.  229 

sealing  of  the  servants  of  God  is  introduced.  Four  angels  are  seen  "  stand- 
ing on  the  four  corners  of  the  earth."  Angels  are  the  executioners  of  the 
Divine  Providence.  Their  number  answering  to  the  four  quarters  of  the 
earth  may  express  its  extending  over  the  whole  world.  Their  "  holding  the 
winds"  would  denote  that  they  were  commissioned  of  God  to  afflict  the 
earth  with  evils,  or  to  withhold  them,  according  to  his  will.  The  short 
period  in  which  they  held  back  the  winds  seems  to  refer  to  that  season  of 
tranquillity  which  the  church  enjoyed  on  the  government's  becoming  Chris- 
tian, and  before  the  temptations  of  its  new  situation  had  had  time  to  operate, 
ver.  1,  2.  But  as  the  principal  part  of  the  commission  of  the  four  angels 
was  to  "  hurt  the  earth  and  the  sea,"  they  stand  ready,  only  waiting  till  the 
greater  angel  has  sealed  the  servants  of  God  ere  they  execute  it. 

The  "  winds,"  which  were  to  be  let  loose  upon  the  earth  and  the  sea,  were 
spiritual  rather  than  temporal  judgments,  and  would  principally  grow  out  of 
the  new  order  of  things;  namely,  errors,  superstitions,  corruptions,  divisions, 
and  a  conformity  to  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  world.  These  were  the 
winds  which  in  the  end  swept  away  the  great  body  of  nominal  Christians 
into  the  gulfs  of  popery  and  Mahomedism,  ver.  3. 

And  as  many  of  the  symbols  in  the  prophecy  are  taken  from  the  Jcicish 
temple,  so  the  servants  of  God  are  symbolized  by  a  certain  number  for  an 
uncertain,  taken  from  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  The  Christian  church, 
being  now  the  true  "  Israel  of  God,"  were  to  the  apostate  Christians  what 
Israel  was  to  an  apostate  world ;  namely,  God's  witnesses,  ver.  4-8. 

Ver.  9-17.  After  the  scaling  of  God's  servants  is  accomplished,  the  saints 
and  martyrs  of  Jesus,  who  during  the  preceding  persecutions  had  overcome 
and  been  received  into  glory,  joining  with  the  whole  heavenly  chorus,  engage 
in  a  triumphant  song  of  praise  to  God  and  to  the  Lamb. .  The  reason  of 
their  being  here  introduced  seems  to  be  tliat  the  sealed  servants  of  God,  who 
were  yet  on  earth,  and  had  to  pass  through  a  series  of  trials,  might  by  a  view 
of  their  happy  end  be  strengthened  to  follow  their  example.  As  great  mim- 
hers  would  be  against  them  in  this  world,  they  are  directed  to  view  the 
numbers  of  friends  which  they  have  in  heaven ;  who  not  only  look  back  to 
their  own  deliverance,  and  ascribe  it  to  God,  but  seem  to  look  down  to  their 
brethren  upon  earth,  and  to  say,  "  Hold  fast  the  profession  of  your  faith 
without  wavering!" 

The  view  of  such  a  holy  and  happy  assembly  is  supposed  to  excite  in  the 
apostle  emotions  of  admiration  and  joy.  On  this  one  of  the  elders  asks  him 
what  he  conceives  them  to  be,  and  whence  they  come.  It  would  seem  as 
if  they  must  be  pure  celestial  beings,  whose  whole  existence  had  been  filled 
up  with  righteousness  and  blessedness.  He  does  not  presume,  however,  to 
say  what  he  thought  they  were,  whether  men  or  angels,  nor  to  offer  any 
opinion  as  to  whence  they  came,  but  modestly  refers  it  to  his  instructor  to 
inform  him.  The  answer  is,  in  effect,  that  they  are  men — men  who  were 
lately  upon  earth,  exposed  to  great  tribulations,  but  who  had  come  out  of 
them.  And  as  to  their  "  white  robes,"  they  had  been  once  impure,  but  were 
washed  and  made  white,  not  in  their  own  blood,  though  that  in  innumerable 
instances  had  been  shed,  but  "  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  It  was  as  be- 
lieving in  his  death  that  they  were  justified  and  sanctified  ;  and  having  lived 
by  faith  on  him,  they  were  without  fault  "  before  the  throne  of  God." 

Still  more  to  stimulate  the  servants  of  God  in  this  world  to  persevere,  he 
adds,  "And  he  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  shall  dwell  among  them.  They 
shall  hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more ;  neither  shall  the  sun  light 
on  them,  nor  any  heat.  For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne 
shall  ieed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  living  fountains  of  waters;  and 
God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes !" 

U 


230  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

DISCOURSE  IX. 

THE   SUBDIVISION    OF    THE    SEVENTH    SEAL   INTO   SEVEN    TRUMPETS. 

Rev.  viu. 

Ver.  1-6.  We  are  now  come  to  the  opening  of  the  last  of  the  seven  seals, 
and  which  is  longer,  and  includes  far  more,  than  the  preceding  six.  They 
have  reached  but  little  beyond  three  hundred  years;  whereas  this  will  reach 
thence  to  the  end  of  all  things. 

"  Silence  in  heaven  about  the  space  of  half  an  hour"  seems  to  denote  a 
solemn  pause  preparatory  to  other  events.  It  is  like  saying.  And  now  pre- 
pare thee  for  another  scene! — This  scene  is,  '-the  appearance  of  seven 
angels  standing  before  God,  to  whom  were  given  seven  trumpets."  As 
nothing  is  said  on  the  opening  of  the  seventh  seal  but  what  follows  under 
the  trumpets,  the  latter  must  be  considered  as  a  subdivision  of  the  former. 

But,  prior  to  the  sounding  of  the  trumpets,  "another  angel"  comes  for- 
ward, and  stands  at  the  altar,  "  having  a  golden  censer,  to  whom  much  in- 
cense is  given,  that  he  should  offer  it  with  the  prayers  of  all  saints  upon  the 
golden  altar  before  the  throne."  There  were  two  altars  belonging  to  the 
temple-worship;  one  for  sacrifice,  called  "  the  altar  of  burnt-offering," and  the 
other  for  burning  incense,  called  "the  golden  altar  before  the  throne."  The 
allusion  here  is  to  the  latter.  Our  great  High  Priest,  having  offered  himself 
without  spot  to  God,  passed  into  the  heavens,  where  he  ever  liveth  to  make 
intercession  for  us.  Through  him  our  prayers  ascend  with  acceptance 
before  God. 

The  "prayers"  here  referred  to  appear  to  have  a  special  relation  to  the 
events  about  to  be  predicted  by  the  sounding  of  the  trumpets.  The  events 
would  occur  in  answer  to  those  prayers;  which  might  be  so  many  interces- 
sions for  the  success  of  Christ's  cause,  and  against  that  of  its  adversaries. 
Heathen  Rome  was  overthrown  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  souls  under 
the  altar,  and  Christian  Rome  may  fall  in  the  same  manner.  Should  it  be 
objected  that  in  the  latter  there  would  be  less  to  pray  against,  it  may  be  an- 
swered that  those  who,  under  the  name  of  Christians,  corrupted  and  debased 
Christianity,  modelling  it  to  their  fleshly  minds,  and  converting  it  into  an 
engine  of  state  policy,  might  incur  more  of  the  Divine  displeasure  than  those 
who,  under  the  name  of  heathens,  openly  opposed  it.  For  the  persecutions 
of  Pagan  Rome  the  persecutors  only  were  punished,  having  their  power 
taken  from  them,  and  given  to  the  Christians ;  but  for  the  corruptions  of 
Christian  Rome  we  shall  see  the  empire  itself  dissolved,  and  divided  amongst 
the  barbarians. 

The  symbolical  language  under  which  these  events  are  represented  is  that 
of  the  angel  taking  the  censer,  filling  it  with  fire  of  the  altar,  and  casting  it 
into  the  earth ;  on  which  follow  voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and 
an  earthquake.  "Fire"  cast  into  the  earth  by  an  angel  would  be  the  pre- 
cursor of  dreadful  wars;  and  an  "earthquake"  is  the  well-known  symbol  of 
a  revolution,  or  such  an  overturning  in  matters  of  government  as  should 
introduce  a  new  order  of  things.  Such  were  the  events  which  distinguished 
the  times  between  Constantine  and  Augustulus,  especially  those  between  the 
years  400  and  470.  Whatever  virtues  attached  to  Constantine  or  his  suc- 
cessors, and  whatever  obligations  the  Christians  were  under  for  the  protec- 
tion afforded  them  by  their  government,  yet  the  system  which  from  those 


THE  FIRST  FOUR  TRUMPETS.  2St 

times  was  adopted  proved  ruinous  both  to  the  church  and  to  the  empire. 
The  corruptions  of  the  former,  as  we  have  seen  already,  required  the  servants 
of  God  to  be  sealed  in  their  foreheads ;  and  the  calamities  of  the  latter  we 
shall  see  described  under  the  sounding  of  the  first  four  trumpets. 

Ver.  7-12.  The  fulfilment  of  these  predictions  must,  according  to  the 
chronological  series  of  the  prophecy,  be  looked  for  in  the  fourth  or  fifth 
centuries.  They  are  the  same  things  particularly  described  as  those  which 
followed  the  fire  cast  by  the  angel  into  the  earth.  Moreover,  as  the  seals 
went  to  destroy  the  empire  as  pagan,  the  trumpets  will  go  to  overturn  it  as 
Christian.  Both  issue  in  an  "  earthquake,"  (chap.  vi.  12,  with  viii.  5,)  the 
ordinary  symbol  of  a  revolution. 

The  Roman  empire,  as  being  now  the  seat  of  Christianity,  is  here  con- 
sidered as  a  world  of  itself;  having  not  only  its  earth,  its  sea,  and  its  rivers, 
but  its  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars.  By  the  earth  we  may  understand  those 
parts  of  the  empire  which  were  continental,  as  Gaul  and  the  southern  parts 
of  Germany.  On  these  fell  the  effects  of  the  first  trumpet,  burning  up  the 
trees  and  the  grass,  or  destroying  great  numbers  among  the  middle  and 
lower  orders  of  men.  By  the  sea  we  may  understand  those  parts  of  the 
empire  which  were  maritime,  such  as  Spain,  Portugal,  and  the  lower  parts 
of  Italy.  On  these  fell  the  effects  of  the  second  trumpet,  turning  the  waters 
into  blood,  and  destroying  whatever  was  in  them.  By  the  rivers  and  foun- 
tains of  waters  may  be  understood  the  mountainous  parts  of  the  empire,  as 
Upper  Italy,  and  the  countries  about  the  Alps;  at  no  great  distance  from 
which  rise  the  Loire,  the  Po,  the  Rhine,  the  Rhone,  and  the  Danube.  On 
these  fell  the  effects  of  the  third  trumpet,  imparting  to  their  streams  a  mortal 
bitterness.  By  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  we  may  understand  the  governing 
powers,  supreme  and  subordinate.  On  these  fell  i\\e  fourth  trumpet,  smiting 
them  with  darkness,  or  with  a  general  eclipse.  Finally,  By  a  third  part 
only  being  affected  at  once  may  be  meant,  not  only  that  the  events  should 
take  place  by  several  successive  calamities,  but  that  the  effect  of  the  whole 
would  not  be  to  destroy  the  western  empire,  but  merely  to  S7ibvert  it.  The 
empire  was  to  continue,  though  under  another  form,  namely,  as  composed 
of  the  ten  kingdoms.  Mr.  Cuninghame  very  properly  remarks  the  difference 
between  the  effects  of  the  trumpets,  which  refer  to  the  subversion  of  the 
empire,  and  those  of  the  vials,  which  refer  to  its  final  dissolution.  The 
former  are  partial,  the  latter  total. — Dissertation,  pp.  80,  81. 

Whether  the  events  pertaining  to  each  trumpet  can  be  exactly  ascertained 
or  not,  thus  much  is  certain,  that  the  ravages  of  the  Goths,  the  Vandals,  and 
the  Huns  were  that  to  the  empire  which  a  terrible  hail-storm,  accompanied 
with  thunder  and  lightning,  is  to  the  "trees  and  the  fields;"  which  a  burn- 
ing mountain,  thrown  into  the  sea,  would  be  to  the  waters;  and  which  a 
blazing  meteor  that  should  fall  upon  the  rivers  and  fountains  of  waters,  and 
imbitter  them,  would  be  to  a  country:  while  the  effects  of  these  successive 
ravages  on  the  government  would  resemble  a  great  though  not  a  total  eclipse 
of  the  heavenly  bodies. 


233  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

APPENDIX  TO  DISCOURSE  IX. 

Containing  a  Sketch  of  the  Histoi-y  of  the  First  Four  Trumpets. 

In  the  northern  and  north-eastern  parts  of  Europe,  bordering  on  the 
Baltic  and  the  Euxine  seas,  tnere  were  many  barbarous  nations  which  were 
never  subdued  by  the  Roman  arms :  such  were  the  Saxons,  the  Visigoths, 
the  Ostrogotlis,  the  Vandals,  the  Burgundians,  the  Huns,  the  Alans,  &c. ; 
and  who  were  often  associated  in  their  enterprises.  About  the  year  376; 
during  the  reign  of  the  Eastern  emperor  Valens,  the  Goths  having  been 
driven  from  their  own  country  by  the  Huns  and  Alans,  a  body  of  not  fewer 
than  two  hundred  thousand  of  them,  besides  women  and  children,  under 
Alaviviis  and  Fritigern,  two  of  their  chiefs,  obtained  permission  to  settle 
in  Thrace,  a  province  of  the  Roman  empire.  To  the  imprudence  of  admit- 
ting such  a  body  of  hostile  emigrants  were  added  several  instances  of  inju- 
rious treatment  after  their  arrival.  These  first  produced  resistance,  and  that 
a  battle,  in  which  the  Romans  were  defeated,  and  the  emperor  lost  his  life. 
By  the  prudent  and  energetic  measures  of  Theodosius  the  Great,  who  suc- 
ceeded Valens,  the  Gothic  emigrants  were  so  far  subjugated  as  to  be  rendered 
serviceable  to  the  empire.  But  after  his  death  the  jealousies  between  Rufinus 
and  Stilicho,  ministers  of  state  at  Constantinople  and  Rome,  under  Arcadius 
and  Honorius  the  emperors,  afforded  them  opportunity  to  renew  their 
hostilities. 

Alaric,  an  Arian  Christian,  the  successor  of  Fritigern,  had  been  in  the 
Roman  service  for  several  years,  having  commanded  a  body  of  his  country- 
men in  the  wars  of  Theodosius;  but  thinking  himself  not  sufficiently  re- 
warded by  that  prince,  and  perceiving  as  he  thought  a  fair  opportunity,  he 
was  disposed  to  carve  for  himself  To  this  he  is  said  to  have  been  encouraged 
by  Rufinus,  principal  ruler  under  Arcadius  at  Constantinople,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  oppose  him.  Marching  his  army  into  Macedonia  and  Thessaly, 
he  laid  waste  the  country  as  he  went.  Through  the  treachery  of  Rufinus 
the  straits  of  Thermopylaj  were  left  unguarded,  and  so  opened  a  free  passage 
for  him  into  Greece,  where  the  villages  were  plundered  and  burnt,  the  males 
who  were  capable  of  bearing  arms  massacred,  and  the  females  led  captive. 
His  successes  obtained  for  him  a  command  in  the  Eastern  empire,  which 
having  improved  to  the  strengthening  of  his  own  army,  he  resolved  to  invade 
that  of  the  west.  Having  laid  waste  Epirus  and  Pannonia,  he  in  403  entered 
Italy.  Italy  however  was  for  this  time  delivered  from  his  depredations.  The 
Romans  under  Stilicho,  after  twice  defeating  him,  suffered  him  to  quit  the 
country  with  the  remnant  of  his  army. 

In  40G  another  vast  army,  composed  of  Goths,  Huns,  Vandals,  Suevi, 
Burgundians,  Alani,  &c.,  under  Radagaisus,  a  heathen,  attempted  the  inva- 
sion of  Italy.  The  number  of  fighting  men  is  said  to  have  been  two  hun- 
dred thousand,  besides  slaves,  women,  and  children,  who  are  reckoned  to 
have  amounted  to  as  many  more.  But  neither  were  they  successful.  Rada- 
gaisus was  defeated  and  slain,  and  a  great  part  of  his  army  either  perished 
or  were  sold  for  slaves. 

But  though  the  capital  of  the  western  empire  was  by  these  events  once 
more  saved,  yet  its  provinces  were  reduced  to  desolation.  Gaul  was  at  this 
time  invaded  by  the  Vandals,  the  Suevi,  the  Alani,  and  the  Burgundians, 
who,  with  the  remains  of  Radagaisus's  army,  destroyed  all  before  them. 
"  On  the  last  day  of  the  year,  (says  Gibbon,)  when  the  waters  of  the  Rhine 


THE  FIRST  FOUR  TRUMPETS.  333( 

were  probably  frozen,  they  entered  without  opposition  the  defenceless  pro- 
vinces of  Gaul.  This  memorable  passage  of  the  Suevi,  the  Vandals,  the 
Alani,  and  the  Burgundians,  ivho  never  aftcrivards  retreated,  may  be  consi- 
dered as  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  in  the  countries  beyond  the  Alps; 
and  the  barriers  which  had  so  long  separated  the  savage  and  the  civilized 
nations  of  the  earth  were  from  that  fatal  moment  levelled  with  the  ground. — 
The  banks  of  the  Rhine  were  crowned,  like  those  of  the  Tiber,  with  elegant 
houses,  and  well  cultivated  farms.  This  scene  of  peace  and  plenty  was  sud- 
denly changed  into  a  desert;  and  the  prospect  of  the  smoking  ruins  could 
alone  distinguish  the  solitude  of  nature  from  the  desolation  of  man.  The 
flourishing  city  of  Mentz  was  surprised  and  destroyed  ;  and  many  thousands 
of  Christians  were  inhumanly  massacred  in  the  church.  Worms  perished 
after  a  long  and  obstinate  siege  ;  Strasburgh,  Spires,  Rheims,  Tournay,  Arras, 
and  Amiens  experienced  the  cruel  oppression  of  the  German  yoke ;  and  the 
consuming  flames  of  war  spread  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  over  the  seven- 
teen provinces  of  Gaul.  That  rich  and  extensive  country,  as  far  as  the 
ocean,  the  Alps,  and  the  Pyrenees,  was  delivered  to  the  barbarians,  who 
drove  before  them  in  a  promiscuous  crowd  the  bishop,  the  senator,  and  the 
virgin,  laden  with  the  spoils  of  their  houses  and  altars." — Decline,  &c., 
chap.  XXX. 

Thus  far  events  appear  to  answer  to  the  "  hail  and  fire  mingled  with 
blood"  under  ihejirst  trumpet,  which,  as  they  are  said  to  be  on  the  earth, 
correspond  with  the  calamities  which  in  those  times  were  brought  upon  the 
continental  parts  of  the  empire. 

Alaric,  the  king  of  the  Visigoths,  had  made  peace  with  the  emperor 
Honorius,  and  been  made  master-general  of  the  Roman  armies  in  lilyricum. 
In  the  invasion  of  Radagaisus  he  took  no  part,  but  was  attentive  to  the 
recruiting  of  his  own  army.  In  408  he  made  large  demands  on  the  Roman 
government,  accompanied  with  intimations  of  what  would  follow  if  they 
were  not  complied  with.  Stilicho  persuaded  the  senate  to  comply  with 
them,  and  four  thousand  pounds  of  gold  were  promised  him  under  the  name 
of  a  subsidy.  But,  before  the  promise  was  fulfilled,  Stilicho  was  disgraced 
and  slain.  Of  the  measures  of  his  successors,  Alaric  is  said  to  have  had 
just  cause  of  complaint.  The  result  was,  he  determined  again  to  invade 
Italy.  Passing  over  the  Alps,  he  pillaged  the  cities  of  Aquileia,  Altinum, 
Concordia,  and  Cremona,  which  yielded  to  his  arms;  increased  his  forces 
by  the  accession  of  thirty  thousand  auxiliaries;  and  without  opposition 
marched  to  the  gates  of  Rome.  Here,  encompassing  the  city,  he  reduced 
it  to  a  state  of  famine,  of  which  many  thousands  died.  To  this  succeeded 
a  destructive  pestilence.  At  length  the  siege  was  raised  on  a  large  sum  ol 
money  being  paid  him ;  but  his  terms  of  peace  being  rejected  by  Honorius, 
who  had  shut  himself  up  in  Ravenna,  Rome  was  a  second  time  besieged. 
After  this  it  was  taken,  and  for  three  days  given  up  to  the  plunder  of  the 
besiegers.  Vast  numbers  of  the  Romans  were  slain,  not  only  by  the  Goths, 
but  by  their  own  slaves,  forty  thousand  of  whom,  being  liberated,  fell  upon 
their  masters. 

About  ten  months  before  this  terrible  calamity  on  Rome  and  the  lower 
parts  of  Italy  by  the  Goths,  Spain  and  Portugal  were  invaded  by  the  Van- 
dals, the  Suevi,  and  the  Alani.  These  nations  had  already  desolated  Gaul, 
whence  passing  over  the  Pyrenees  they  conquered  the  Peninsula.  Echard 
says,  "  The  Vandals  tookGalicia,  where  they  settled;  the  Suevi  pushed  their 
conquests  farther;  and  the  Alani  fixed  themselves  in  Portugal  and  Anda- 
lusia. From  these  barbarians  (he  adds)  descended  the  ancient  kings  of 
Spain." 

The  calamities  of  this  invasion  are  thus  described  by  Gibbon  from  a 
Vol  hi.— 30  u2 


234 


EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


Spanish  historian  ; — "  The  barbarians  exercised  their  indiscriminate  cruelty 
on  the  fortunes  of  the  Romans  and  Spaniards,  and  ravaged  with  equal  fury 
the  cities  and  the  open  country.  The  progress  of  famine  reduced  tiie  mis- 
erable inhabitants  to  feed  on  the  flesh  of  tiieir  fellow  creatures ;  and  even 
the  wild  beasis,  that  multiplied  without  control  in  the  desert,  were  exaspe- 
rated by  the  taste  of  blood,  and  the  impatience  of  hunger,  boldly  to  attack 
and  devour  their  human  prey.  Pestilence  soon  appeared,  the  inseparable 
companion  of  famine;  a  large  portion  of  the  people  was  swept  away;  and 
the  groans  of  the  dying  excited  only  the  envy  of  their  surviving  friends.  At 
length  the  barbarians,  satiated  with  carnage  and  rapine,  and  afflicted  by  the 
contagious  evils  which  they  themselves  had  introduced,  fixed  their  perma- 
nent seats  in  the  depopulated  country." — Rom.  Hist.  chap.  xxxi. 

These  events  seem  to  answer  to  the  "  burning  mountain  cast  into  the  sea," 
causing  a  third  part  of  it  to  become  blood,  and  destroying  a  third  part  of  all 
which  were  in  it,  as  described  under  the  second  trumpet.  If  ^Etna  or  Vesu- 
vius had  literally  been  thrown  into  the  ocean,  it  could  hardly  have  produced 
a  greater  effervescence  among  the  waters  than  these  things  produced  among 
the  nations.  The  sea  would  also  have  a  special  reference  to  these  calamities 
being  brought  upon  the  maritime  parts  of  the  empire. 

After  this,  the  empire  received  another  mighty  shock  from  the  Scythians^ 
or  Huns,  a  heathen  nation,  more  barbarous  and  cruel  than  either  the  Goths 
or  Vandals.  Attila,  their  king  and  commander,  was  distinguished  by  his 
ferocity,  affecting  to  be  called  "  the  scourge  of  God,"  and  declaring  that  "  the 
grass  would  never  grow  upon  those  places  where  his  horse  had  trodden !" 
About  441  he  fell  upon  the  eastern  empire,  where,  bearing  down  all  before 
him,  the  country  was  in  a  manner  destroyed  by  fire  and  sword.  Gibbon 
says,  "  The  whole  breadth  of  Europe  as  it  extends  above  five  hundred  miles, 
from  the  Euxine  to  the  Adriatic,  was  at  once  invaded,  and  occupied,  and 
desolated  by  him."  The  government  of  Constantinople,  after  seventy  cities 
had  been  razed  to  the  ground,  was  compelled  iguominiously  to  purchase  his 
retreat. 

In  the  year  450  Attila  again  declared  war  against  both  the  eastern  and 
western  empires.  He  was  defeated  in  Gaul  with  a  loss  (says  Echard)  of 
170,000  men ;  yet  in  the  following  year  he  invaded  Italy  with  a  larger  army 
than  that  with  which  he  had  entered  Gaul.  Aquilcia  after  a  siege  of  three 
months  was  taken,  and  so  effectually  destroyed,  that  the  succeeding  genera- 
tion could  scarcely  discover  its  ruins.  After  this  Verona,  Mantua,  Padua, 
and  many  other  cities,  shared  the  same  fate;  the  men  were  slain,  the  women 
ravished,  and  the  places  reduced  to  ashes.  These  devastations,  however, 
were  confined  to  those  parts  of  Italy  which  border  on  the  Alps.  Attila 
threatened  Rome,  but  was  induced,  partly  by  fear  of  the  Roman  army, 
partly  by  the  remonstrances  of  his  own,  and  partly  by  the  embassy  of  Leo 
to  the  Roman  pontiff,  to  forego  the  attempt,  and,  returning  into  his  own 
country,  he  shorUy  after  ended  his  days. 

This  surely  must  be  the  "  great  star  burning  as  it  were  a  lamp,"  which 
followed  the  sounding  of  the  third  trumpet,  and  which,  shooting  like  a  fiery 
meteor  from  east  to  west,  and  falling  upon  the  rivers  and  fountains  of  waters, 
impregnated  the  streams  with  a  mortal  bitterness.  If  the  rivers  and  fountains 
denote,  as  has  been  supposed,  the  mountainous  parts  of  the  empire,  whence 
they  have  their  origin,  the  facts  have  a  remarkable  coincidence  with  the  pre- 
diction. 

As  to  the  remainder  of  the  history,  every  thing  from  this  time  went  to 
eclipse  the  imperial  government.  Africa,  Spain,  Britain,  the  greatest  part  of 
Gaul,  Germany,  and  Illyricum,  are  said  to  have  been  dismembered  from  the 
empire;  the  court  was  full  of  intrigues  and  murders;  Valentinian  the  em- 


THE  FIRST  FOUR  TRUMPETS.  235 

peror  ravislied  the  wife  of  Maxinius,  one  of  his  senators ;  Maximus  in  return 
got  Valentinian  murdered,  usurped  his  throne,  and  compelled  Eudoxia  the 
empress  to  marry  him ;  Eudoxia,  in  hatred  to  the  usurper,  invited  Genscric, 
the  Vandal,  to  come  over  from  Africa  and  revenge  the  death  of  Valentinian  ; 
Genseric  prepared  to  invade  Italy;  Maxinius,  on  hearing  it,  instead  of  taking 
measures  for  repelling  him,  sunk  into  despondency;  the  senators  stoned  him 
to  death,  and  threw  his  body  into  the  Tiber;  Genseric  entered  Rome  with- 
out opposition,  and  gave  it  up  to  be  sacked  and  plundered  by  his  soldiers 
for  fourteen  days.  Hence,  as  Bishop  Newton  observes,  "  the  western  em- 
pire struggled  hard,  and  gasped  as  it  were  for  breath  through  eight  short  and 
turbulent  reigns  for  the  space  of  twenty  years,  and  at  length  expired  in  the 
year  47G,  under  Momyllus,  or  Augustulus,  as  he  was  named  ia  derision, 
being  a  diminutive  of  Augustus." 

After  this,  Odoacer,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths,  invaded  the  country  and 
seized  the  government,  which  he  held,  however,  not  as  head  of  the  western 
empire,  but  merely  as  king  of  Italy.  There  were  indeed  a  senate  and 
council  after  this,  but  they  had  only  the  shadow  of  authority. 

Thus  it  was,  I  conceive,  that  the  eclipse  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  as 
described  under  the  fourth  trumpet,  was  accomplished.  It  may  be  thought 
that  these  events  had  too  slight  a  relation  to  the  church  of  Christ  to  become 
the  subject  of  prophecy :  two  things,  however,  may  be  alleged  in  answer. 
First,  They  were  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  other  prophecies, 
particidarly  Dan.  vii.  7,  8 ;  2  Thess.  ii.  7.  Hereby  a  way  was  made  for  the 
beast  to  have  "  ten  horns,"  as  after  the  overthrow  of  the  empire  it  was  divided 
into  so  many  independent  kingdoms,  which  with  little  variation  continue  to 
this  day.  Hereby  also  a  way  was  made  for  the  "little  horn"  of  Daniel's 
fourth  beast,  or  the  papal  antichrist,  to  come  up  amongst  them ;  or,  as  the 
apostle  expresses  it,  for  the  man  of  sin  to  be  revealed.  "  The  mystery  of 
iniquity  hath  already  begun  to  work,  (saith  he,)  only  he  who  now  letteth 
will  let,  until  he  be  taken  out  of  the  way:  and  then  shall  that  wicked  (one) 
be  revealed."  While  the  imperial  authority  continued,  there  was  not  suffi- 
cient scope  for  ecclesiastical  ambition ;  but  when  this  was  removed,  the 
other  soon  appeared  in  its  true  character.  The  Goths  embracing  the  reli- 
gion of  the  conquered  Romans,  the  clergy  became  objects  of  superstitious 
veneration  amongst  a  barbarous  people,  and  of  this  they  availed  themselves 
to  the  establishing  of  their  spiritual  authority.  Hence  the  see  of  Rome  made 
no  scruple  of  setting  up  for  supremacy. 

Sccondlij,  In  these  judgments  upon  the  empire  we  perceive  the  Divine 
displeasure  for  its  having  corrupted  the  Christian  religion,  and  transformed 
it  into  an  engine  of  state.  The  wars  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  were 
the  scourges  of  God  on  those  who  had  corrupted  the  true  religion  ;  and  such 
were  those  of  the  Goths,  the  Vandals,  and  the  Huns,  on  the  Christian  go- 
vernments of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries. 


EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


DISCOURSE  X. 

THE    FIRST    WOE-TRUMPET,   OR    THE    SMOKE    AND    LOCUSTS. 
Rev.  viii.  13;  ix.  1-12. 

As  the  first  four  trumpets  were  connected  in  their  objects,  so  are  the  last 
three.     The  last  verse  of"  the  eighth  chapter  is  introductory  to  them. 

Ver.  13.  "This  solemn  denunciation  seems  to  be  introduced  for  the  pur- 
pose of  drawing  our  attention  to  the  great  importance  of  the  events  which 
were  to  happen  under  the  last  three  trumpets.  It  serves  also  as  a  chrono- 
logical mark  to  show  that  these  three  trumpets  are  all  posterior  to  the  first 
four,  not  only  in  order,  but  in  time ;  and  that  they  belong  to  a  new  series 
of  events."*  The  most  distinguishing  plagues  which  were  to  befall  the 
church  and  the  world  are  designated  by  them.  The  first  two  seem  to  refer 
to  the  prevalence  of  popery  and  Mahomedism,  and  the  last  to  those  vials  of 
wrath  which  should  effect  their  overthrow- 
Chap,  ix.  ver.  1-12.  The  fifth,  or  first  woe-trumpet,  is  short,  but  awfully 
impressive.  Looking  at  this  dreadful  irruption  of  darkness  and  desolation, 
we  perceive  the  necessity  there  was  for  "  sealing  the  servants  of  God  in  their 
foreheads,"  that  they  might  be  preserved  amidst  these  trying  times.  These 
are  the  "  winds"  which  those  ministers  of  vengeance  to  whom  it  was  given 
to  hurt  the  earth  (chap.  vii.  1,  2)  at  length  let  loose  upon  it.  The  profess- 
ing Christian  world  being  exceedingly  corrupt,  it  became  necessary  to  try 
them.  The  "sealed"  servants  of  God  would  endure  the  trial ;  but  "those 
men  who  had  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads"  would  be  carried  away 
and  perish. 

That  the  locusts  refer  to  the  ravaging  hordes  of  Saracens,  who,  with 
Mahomed  at  their  head,  subdued  and  destroyed  the  eastern  part  of  Christen- 
dom, seems  to  be  generally  admitted ;  and  some  have  considered  the 
"smoke"  as  denoting  his  false  doctrine,  and  the  "star"  which  fell  from 
heaven  to  the  earth  as  meaning  himself  But,  on  the  most  mature  consi- 
deration, I  concur  with  those  expositors  who,  while  admitting  the  locusts  to 
be  Mahomed's  destructive  hordes  of  Saracens,  yet  understand  the  smoke  of 
-popish  darkness,  which  was  preparatory  to  the  other,  and  the  fallen  star,  of 
the  fallen  bishop  of  Rome.t  If  the  fourth  trumpet  refer  to  the  subversion 
of  the  imperial  government  under  Augustulus,  it  may  be  presumed  that  the 
fifth  would  refer  to  things  not  very  distant  from  it,  and  probably  rising  out 
of  it;  but  the  appearance  of  Mahomed  was  130  years  after  this  event,  and 
seems  to  have  no  immediate  connexion  with  it.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  a  connexion  between  the  subversion  of  the  imperial  government  and  "  the 
revelation  of  the  man  of  sin."  It  was  the  imperial  authority  which  "let" 
or  hindered  him,  and  which,  when  "  taken  out  of  the  way,"  made  room  for 
his  appearing,  2  Thess.  ii.  2-8.  Thus  the  eclipse  under  the  fourth  trumpet 
prepared  the  way  for  the  irruption  of  darkness  under  the  fifth.  The  mystery 
of  iniquity  had  long  been  at  work ;  but  now  it  burst  forth  as  the  smoke  of  a 
great  furnace,  impeding  the  light  of  the  gospel,  and  darkening  the  moral 
atmosphere  of  the  Christian  world. 

*  Cuninghanie's  Dissertation,  p.  84. 

t  It  is  true  that  that  part  of  the  prophecy  which  treats  directly  of  the  great  papal  com- 
munity  is  yet  in  reserve  ;  but  as  in  a  history  of  any  nation  frequent  mention  requires  to  be 
made  of  other  nations,  so,  in  a  prophecy  of  the  ravages  of  Mahomedism,  mention  may 
require  to  be  made  of  popery,  as  preparing  its  way. 


THE  SMOKE  AND  LOCUSTS.  237 

•  With  this  also  agrees  the  application  of  "the  fallen  star"  to  the  pope  or 
bishop  of  Rome.  It  comports  with  the  symbolical  style  of  the  book  that  a 
prophetical  person  should  denote  not  an  individual,  but  a  succession  of  indi- 
viduals in  an  official  character.  The  bishop  of  Rome  was  once  a  star  in  the 
Christian  firmament;  but  abandoning  the  doctrine  and  spirit  of  a  Christian 
minister,  and  setting  up  for  worldly  domination,  he  "  fell  from  heaven  unto 
the  earth,"  and  thus  became  a  fit  agent  for  "  opening  the  bottomless  pit." 
The  bishop  of  Meaux  acknowledges  that  "  hell  does  not  open  of  itself;  it  is 
always  some  false  doctor  that  opens  it." 

The  darkness  of  popery  is  not  only  of  infernal  origin,  but  brings  with  it 
a  state  of  mind  prepared  for  the  grossest  delusions.  Intercepting  the  light 
of  truth,  it  darkened  the  world  with  its  doctrines.  It  changed  the  truth  of 
God  into  a  lie,  and,  like  old  heathenism,  "  worshipped  and  served  the  crea- 
ture more  than  the  Creator,  who  is  blessed  for  ever.  Amen !"  Wherefore 
God  gave  them  up  to  Mahomedan  imposture,  depredation,  and  ruin.  As  the 
smoke  brought  forth  the  locusts,  (though  both  proceeded  from  the  pit,)  so 
popery  brought  forth  Mahomedism.*  But  for  the  one,  the  other  could  not 
have  prevailed  as  it  did  where  the  light  of  the  gospel  had  once  appeared 
The  Roman  catholics  have  made  great  noise  about  the  keys;  and  truly  a 
key  has  been  given  them,  "  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit!" 

As  to  the  loc2ists,  they  are  described  chiefly  by  their  depredations.  The 
wrath  of  God  is  less  directed  against  them  than  against  that  out  of  which 
they  came.  They  were  indeed  from  beneath,  and  so  was  the  conquering 
system  of  Assyria  and  Babylon ;  but  as  these  powers  were  the  rod  of  God's 
anger  against  a  nation  which  had  corrupted  the  true  religion,  it  is  not  till 
they  in  their  turn  are  punished  that  much  is  said  of  their  crimes.  And  thus 
the  destructive  hordes  of  Saracens  that  laid  waste  a  great  part  of  the  eastern 
world  are  described  as  executing  a  commission,  not  against  "  grass,  or  green 
things,  or  trees,"  like  ordinary  locusts,  but  "  against  the  men  who  had  not 
the  seal  of  God  in  their  foreheads" — that  is,  against  the  corrupters  of  Chris- 
tianity, ver.  4.  There  was  a  direction  given  to  their  successes  very  much 
like  that  which  has  of  late  years  been  given  to  those  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  against  the  papal  countries.  The  Christianity  of  the  Greek  church, 
whose  patriarch  resided  at  Constantinople,  was  in  a  great  degree  absorbed 
by  them. 

It  is  observable,  however,  that  the  men  against  whom  their  commission 
was  directed  were  not  to  be  killed,  but  tormented  for  a  certain  time.  They 
doubtless  did  kill  great  numbers,  individuolly  considered ;  but  with  all  their 
ravages  they  only  harassed  those  countries  where  corrupted  Christianity  pre- 
vailed.   They  were  not  able  to  destroy  either  the  Greek  or  the  Latin  church. 

The  time  in  which  they  should  harass  them  is  limited  to  "  five  months," 
which  probably  alludes  to  the  usual  season  for  the  ravages  of  the  natural 
locust.  It  has  been  thought  to  intend  so  many  prophetical  days  or  years. 
Five  months,  reckoning  thirty  days  to  a  month,  and  each  day  a  year,  would 
be  150  years ;  and  this  was  the  period  in  which  the  Saracen  arms  are  said 
to  have  prevailed.  They  began  about  612.  After  the  death  of  Mahomed, 
they  continued,  though  with  some  interruptions,  to  carry  on  their  conquests. 
In  713  they  entered  Spain,  which  in  a  few  years  wa^  subjugated  to  them, 
and,  passing  the  Pyrenees,  they  entered  France,  which  was  then  said  to  be 
the  only  rampart  of  Christianity.  They  advanced  as  to  a  certain  victory, 
whereupon  ensued  one  of  the  bloodiest  battles  that  the  world  had  ever  seen. 
Of  the  Saracens  there  were  400,000  men,  besides  women  and  children,  who 
came  with  them,  designing  to  settle  in  France,  and  no  doubt  to  extirpate 

*  See  Mr.  Cuninghame's  Dissertation  on  the  Trumpets,  chap.  VI. 


338  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Christianity  from  Europe.  Three  hmdred  and  seventy  thousand  of  them 
are  said  to  have  been  slain,  including  their  general.  This  battle  was  fought 
by  Charles  Blartel,  the  grandfather  of  Charlemagne,  in  734,  and  put  a  stop 
to  the  progress  of  the  Saracen  arms  in  Europe.  About  762,  after  the  "  five 
months"  of  years  which  were  given  them  to  continue  had  elapsed,  they 
ceased  to  extend  their  conquests  by  settling  peaceably  in  the  countries 
which  they  had  conquered,  and  so  ceased  to  ravage  as  locusts. 

The  description  given  of  these  locusts,  ver.  7-10,  answers  to  most  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  Saracen  armies;  as  their  use  of  cavalry;  their  turbans, 
resembling  crowns,  in  which  they  gloried;  the  union  of  fierceness  and  effemi- 
nacy in  their  character ;  the  impenetrability  of  their  forces ;  the  rapidity  of 
their  conquests;  and  their  carrying  with  them  the  sting  of  a  deadly  im- 
posture. 

Finally,  This  fearful  army  is  described  as  having  "a  king  over  them,  even 
the  angel  of  the  bottomless  pit,"  whence  they  came,  and  "  whose  name  in 
the  Hebrew  tongue  is  Abaddon,  but  in  the  Greek  Apollyon."  This  would 
seem  to  be  Mahomed  and  his  successors,  or  Satan  as  working  by  them. 
The  genius  of  Mahomedism  is  to  destroy  the  lives  as  well  as  the  souls  of 
men. 

After  this  we  are  told,  "  One  woe  is  past ;  and  behold  there  come  two 
woes  more  hereafter."  By  the  term  "  hereafter"  it  seems  to  be  intimated  that 
the  second  would  not  follow  very  soon  after  the  first,  but  that  a  considerable 
lapse  of  time  would  intervene  betwixt  them.  In  this  respect  the  language 
differs  from  the  introduction  of  the  third  woe,  in  chap.  xi.  14,  where  it  is 
said,  "  The  second  woe  is  past,  and  behold  the  third  one  cometh  quickly." 


DISCOURSE  XI. 


THE    SECOND    WOE-TRUMPET,    OR    THE   ARMY    OF    HORSEMEN. 

Rev.  ix.  13-21. 

We  here  enter  on  the  sixth,  or  second  woe-trumpet,  which,  embracing 
different  contemporary  events,  may  be  expected  to  require  several  discourses. 
That  part  of  it  which  we  are  now  upon  contains  a  description  of  the  revival 
of  the  Mahomedan  desolations  by  the  Turks,  in  the  thirteenth  and  following 
centuries.  It  will  be  recollected  that  the  second  woe  was  not  to  come 
quickly,  but  "  hereafter."  Such  was  the  fact.  Several  centuries  elapsed 
between  the  ravages  of  the  Saracens  and  those  of  the  Turks.  But  as  the 
desolations  wrought  by  the  followers  of  Mahomed,  whether  Saracens  or 
Turks,  would  be  less  injurious  to  the  cause  of  Christ  than  the  abominations 
of  popery,  there  is  not  only  much  less  said  of  them  than  of  the  other,  but 
what  is  said  is  finished  before  the  other  is  particularly  begun,  that  the  thread 
of  the  principal  subject  might  not  be  broken.  There  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  the  Turkish  wars  would  have  occupied  a  place  in  Scripture  prophecy, 
but  for  their  being  the  appointed  means  of  crushing  a  corrupt  part  of  the 
Christian  church.  For  these  reasons  I  question  the  propriety  of  calling  the 
Mahomedan  power  the  eastern  antichrist.  There  is  no  doubt  of  its  being 
opposed  to  Christ,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  heathenism ;  but  nothing  is 
called  antichrist  in  the  Scriptures  which  makes  no  profession  of  being  on  the 
side  of  Christ.     If  there  was  an  eastern  antichrist,  it  was  that  community 


THE  SECOND  WOE-TRUMPET.  239 

which  the  Mahomedans  destroyed,  namely,  "  the  men  who  had  not  the  seal 
of  God  in  their  foreheads!" 

The  leading  facts  corresponding  with  this  part  of  the  prophecy  were  as 
follows : — The  Turks,  a  people  who  in  the  ninth  century  had  migrated  from 
the  neighbourhood  of  Mount  Caucasus,  and  settled  in  Armenia  Major,  by 
the  eleventh  century  became  formidable  to  their  neighbours.  They  con- 
sisted oi  four  sultanies,  the  seats  of  which  were  at  Bagdad,  Damascus, 
Aleppo,  and  Iconium ;  all  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Euphrates.  Their 
principal  struggles  were  with  the  eastern  Roman  empire,  or  the  Christians 
of  the  Greek  church.  For  about  two  centuries  their  ambition  was  restrained, 
partly  it  may  be  by  the  European  crusades,  or  what  were  called  the  holy 
wars,  for  the  recovery  of  Jerusalem ;  but  the  disasters  which  attended  these 
undertakings  inducing  the  European  princes  at  length  to  relinquish  them, 
they  were  then  at  liberty  to  pursue  their  objects.  In  1281  they  obtained  a 
decided  victory  over  the  eastern  Christians ;  and  in  1299  a  new  empire  was 
founded  by  Othman,  composed  of  the  four  Turkish  sultanies,  which  still 
subsists,  and  is  called  after  his  name  the  Ottoman  empire.  During  the  four- 
teenth century  their  successes  continued.  In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
(1453)  Constantinople  was  taken,  the  eastern  Roman  empire  fell,  and  with 
it  the  Greek  church,  neither  of  which,  except  in  the  religion  of  the  latter 
being  embraced  by  the  Russians,  has  since  lifted  up  its  head. 

The  "four  angels"  then  denote  the  four  Turkish  governments  near  the 
Euphrates.  These  are  called  angels,  as  being  messengers  of  wrath,  com- 
missioned to  destroy  the  corrupt  Christians  of  the  east.  The  "loosing"  of 
them  refers  to  the  removal  of  those  obstructions  which  for  a  time  impeded 
their  progress.  The  "voice"  which  ordered  them  to  be  loosed  proceeding 
from  the  "  four  horns  of  the  golden  altar"  signifies  that  these  judgments, 
like  those  in  chap.  viii.  3-5,  would  be  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  the  saints; 
or  perhaps,  as  Bishop  Newton  says,  "  intimating  that  the  sins  of  men  must 
have  been  very  great,  when  the  altar,  which  was  their  sanctuary  and  protec- 
tion, called  aloud  for  vengeance."  Their  continuance  "  for  an  hour  and  a 
day,  and  a  month  and  a  year,"  reckoning  by  prophetic  time,  includes  391 
years;  which  beginning  from  1281,  the  year  of  their  first  victory  over  the 
eastern  Roman  empire,  extends  to  1G72,  the  year  of  their  last  victory  over 
the  Poles;  from  which  period  they  have  been  sinking  into  such  disorder  and 
imbecility  as  forebode  their  ruin.  Their  armies  being  described  as  "  horse- 
men" answers  to  the  numerous  cavalry  of  the  Turks.  The  number  of  them, 
consisting  of  "  myriads  of  myriads,"  shows  the  vast  armies  which  they 
brought  into  the  field.  "  Breastplates  of  fire,  of  jacinth,  and  of  brimstone," 
may  denote  the  glittering  harness  with  which  the  horses  were  caparisoned. 
Their  "heads  being  as  the  heads  of  lions"  is  expressive  of  their  strength 
and  fierceness.  "  Fire,  and  smoke,  and  brimstone,  issuing  out  of  their 
mouths,"  seems  to  allude  to  the  use  of  gunpowder  in  war,  which  began 
about  this  period.  Great  guns  were  used  in  the  taking  of  Constantinople 
in  1453.  The  symbol  is  expressive  of  what  a  body  of  horsemen,  fighting 
with  fire-arms,  would  appear  to  a  distant  spectator,  who  had  never  before 
seen  or  heard  of  any  thing  of  the  kind. 

There  is  one  remarkable  difference  between  the  locusts  and  the  horsemen: 
the  former  were  not  commissioned  to  kill,  but  merely  to  torment;  whereas 
of  the  latter  it  is  said,  "By  these  were  the  third  part  of  men  killed,  even  by 
the  fire,  and  by  the  smoke,  and  by  the  brimstone  which  issued  out  of  their 
mouths."  They  both,  doubtless,  killed  men  as  individuals;  but  the  latter 
only  were  permitted  to  kill  those  political  bodies  to  which  the  prophecy 
refers.  The  eastern  Roman  empire,  and  the  Greek  church  as  connected 
with  it,  fell  not  by  the  Saracens  of  the  eighth,  but  by  the  Turks  of  the  fif- 


240  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

teenth  century.  Finally,  their  "power  was  in  their  mouth,  and  in  their  tails' 
Now  as  the  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone  are  said  to  issue  from  the  former 
they  would  seem  to  denote  their  artillery;  and  as  in  respect  of  the  latter  they 
resemble  the  locusts,  these  are  the  destructive  'principles  which  they  propa- 
gate by  the  sword  in  common  with  the  Saracens.  Mahomedism  was  that 
to  the  Christian  church  in  the  east  which  Assyria  and  Babylon  were  to 
Samaria  and  Jerusalem.  Its  first  appearance  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  cen- 
turies was  a  judgment  upon  them  for  having  corrupted  the  Christian  doctrine 
and  worship  ;  but  as  a  body  it  went  only  to  "  torment"  them,  and  to  "  kill" 
them.  It  said,  "Repent,  or  I  will  remove  thy  candlestick  out  of  his  place !" 
but  they  repented  not.  Its  last  appearance  therefore,  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries,  carried  the  threatening  into  execution.  The  candlestick 
of  the  eastern  church  was  removed,  and  her  children  were  killed  with  death! 
But  that  which  is  the  most  remarkable  is  the  effect,  or  rather  the  want  of 
effect,  of  these  terrible  judgments  on  those  who  survived  them.  "  The  rest 
of  the  men  (that  is,  of  the  men  who  had  not  the  seal  of  God  in  their  fore- 
heads) who  were  not  killed  by  these  plagues,  repented  not."  As  those  that 
were  killed  were  the  eastern  Roman  empire  and  the  Greek  church  as  con- 
nected with  it,  so  those  that  were  not  killed  were  the  western  Roman 
empire  and  the  Latin  church.  These  two  churches  were  as  Aholah  and 
AhoUbah.  The  fall  of  the  one  ought  to  have  been  a  warning  to  the  other; 
but  it  was  not.  They  persisted  in  their  image-worship,  which  was  only  the 
old  idolatry  of  the  pagans  under  a  new  form  ;  nor  were  they  behind  them  in 
their  murderous  persecutions,  their  foul  impostures,  their  filthy  intrigues,  and 
their  fraudulent  impositions.  And  though,  soon  after  the  overthrow  of  the 
Greek  church,  the  Reformation  began,  yet  they  reformed  not.  The  council 
of  Trent,  which  was  called  on  this  occasion,  sat  eighteen  years,  and  at  last 
left  things  as  it  found  them.     Babylon  was  not  to  be  healed! 


DISCOURSE  XII. 


INTRODUCTION    TO   THE    WESTERN    OR   PAPAL   APOSTACY. 
Rev.  X. 

The  eastern  church,  as  connected  with  the  Roman  empire,  being  slain, 
the  remainder  of  the  prophecy  may  be  expected  to  concern  the  ivestern,  or 
"  the  rest  of  the  men  who  were  not  killed  by  these  plagues."  This  it  does; 
so  much  of  it,  at  least,  as  brings  us  to  the  taking  of  the  beast  and  of  the 
false  prophet,  and  so  to  the  commencement  of  the  Millennium.  The  cor- 
ruptions of  the  western  church  have  been  intimated  before  ;  as  by  the  sealing 
of  the  servants  of  God  in  their  foreheads,  chap.  vii. ;  by  the  judgments  in- 
flicted on  the  western  empire  under  the  first  four  trumpets,  chap.  viii. ;  and 
by  the  cloud  of  smoke  from  the  bottomless  pit:  but  now  the  prophecy  treats 
directly  and  exclusively  of  them.  Nor  is  it  surprising  that  the  apostacy  of 
this  church  should  occupy  so  large  a  part  of  the  prophecy,*  inasmuch  as 
both  for  its  duration  and  mischievous  effects  there  is  nothing  equal  to  it 
under  the  gospel  dispensation.  The  period  allotted  for  its  continuance  is  no 
less  than  1200  years ;  during  which  the  holy  city  is  trodden  under  foot,  the 
witnesses  prophesy  in  sackcloth,  the  true  church  fleeth  into  the  wilderness, 
and  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  are  persecuted  to  death  by  a  ferocious  and 

From  tlie  beginning  of  chap.  x.  to  the  end  of  chap.  xix. 


WESTERN  APOSTACr.  241 

cruel  beast.  This  apostate  church  was,  no  doubt,  the  man  of  sin  foretold  by 
Paul;  and,  notwithstanding  what  has  been  advanced  against  it  by  a  late 
respectable  writer,  I  have  no  doubt  of  its  being  the  antichrist  which  the 
Christians  in  John's  time  had  heard  shoiikl  come* 

Before  we  enter  upon  this  subject  it  will  be  proper  to  give  the  outlines  of 
the  ten  chapters  in  which  it  is  contained.  Chap.  x.  I  consider  as  merely 
introductory.  Chap.  xi.  gives  a  general  representation  of  this  corrupt  and 
persecuting  power,  with  the  state  of  the  church  of  Christ  under  it,  during 
the  12G0  years.  Chap.  xii.  gives  a  second,  and  chap.  xiii.  and  xiv.  a  third 
general  representation  of  it  during  the  same  period.  Chap.  xv.  and  xvi.  give 
a  more  particular  account  of  that  part  of  the  subject  which  commences  at 
the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  and  contains  a  subdivision  of  that 
trumpet  into  seven  vials,  the  pouring  out  of  which  brings  us  down  to  the 
Millennium.  The  xviith,  xviiith,  and  xixth  chapters  contani  what  in  modern 
publications  we  should  call  notes  of  illustration,  giving  particular  accounts 
of  things  which  before  had  only  been  generally  intimated. 

We  are  not  to  expect  the  events  relating  to  the  western  church  to  follow 
the  conclusion  of  those  of  the  eastern,  in  order  of  time.  In  tracing  the  issue 
of  the  one,  we  were  led  almost  down  to  the  times  of  the  Reformation ;  but, 
in  taking  up  the  other,  we  must  expect  to  go  many  centuries  back  again.  It 
is  in  prophecy  as  it  is  in  history,  when  describing  contemporary  events,  the 
writer,  having  gone  through  one  series,  returns  and  takes  up  the  other.  It  is 
thus  in  the  history  of  Judah  and  Israel  in  the  Second  Book  of  Kings;  with 
this  difference,  that,  in  carrying  on  those  histories  together,  the  writer  went 
through  only  a  single  reign  of  one  of  them  ere  he  returned  to  the  other ; 
whereas  in  this  the  overthrow  of  the  eastern  church  is  completed  before  the 
account  of  the  western  is  begun.  The  former  brought  us  down  to  the  fif- 
teenth century ;  the  latter,  when  tracing  the  origin  of  things,  may  glance  at 
events  as  early  as  the  fourth. 

Ver.  1-11.  The  "mighty  angel"  appears  by  his  description  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  himself,  and  this  may  indicate  the  importance  of  the  vision.  His 
being  "  clothed  with  a  cloud"  may  express  the  concealment  of  his  designs, 
and  the  hiding  of  his  power.  He  could  have  crushed  this  great  conspiracy 
at  the  outset,  but  he  did  not.  The  "  rainbow  on  his  head"  is  the  sign  of 
peace,  or  of  covenant  mercy,  and  may  here  denote  that  whatever  evils  might 
be  permitted  in  order  to  try  the  church,  yet  there  should  not  be  such  a 
deluge  as  to  destroy  it.  His  countenance  being  compared  to  "the  sun," 
and  his  feet  to  "pillars  of  fire,"  may  intimate  that  neither  is  his  glory  tar- 
nished, nor  his  majesty  diminished,  by  all  the  corruptions  which  are  intro- 
duced under  his  name.  Finally,  his  "  coming  down  from  heaven"  seems  to 
denote  a  change  of  scene.  The  Lamb's  company  stand  upon  Mount  Sion ; 
but  the  harlot  sitteth  upon  the  waters,  and  the  beast  riseth  out  of  the  sea. 
Thus,  as  the  subject  respects  the  same  apostate  community,  the  scene  is  the 
earth,  and  the  angel  descends  from  heaven  to  disclose  it. 

*  This  appears  to  be  evidently  made  out  by  Mr.  Scott,  in  his  notes  on  2  Thes.  ii.  3-12, 
and  1  John  ii.  IS.  As  to  its  being  a  cliaracter  of  antichrist  that  he  "  dcnieth  the  Father  and 
the  Son,"  (ver.  22,)  it  is  of  the  antichrist  already  come  that  this  is  spoken,  who  had  professed 
Christianity,  and  whose  apostacy  consisted  not  in  a  disavowal  of  tlie  name  of  Christ,  but 
of  certain  Christian  doctrines,  which  included  a  virtual  denial  of  Jesus  being  the  Christ,  aa 
that  also  was  a  virtual  denial  of  the  Father.  Had  these  "forerunners  of  antichrist,"  aa 
Mr.  Scott  very  properly  calls  them,  been  avowed  infidels,  they  could  not  have  been  seducers 
to  the  churclics  of  Christ,  (ver.  26,)  a  name  given  to  false  teachers.  Such  were  those 
deceivers  in  2  John  7,  who,  by  denying  the  real  humanity  of  Christ,  denied  his  being  come 
in  the  flesh.  But  if  a  virtual  denial  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  rendered  those  who  were 
already  come  antichrists,  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  do  the  same  o^ him  that  should 
come.  It  is  not  probable  that  John  would  have  allowed  "  the  man  of  sin  "  to  acknowledge 
either  the  Father  or  the  Son,  while  he  usurped  the  place  of  both. 

Vol.  III.— 31  X 


243  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  "little  book"  which  the  angel  held  open  in  his  hand  relates  doubt- 
less to  the  western  apostacy.  It  has  been  thought  to  be  a  kind  of  AppendiXj 
or  Codicil,  to  the  sealed  book,  and  a  part  of  what  follows  to  be  chapters  of 
it.  But  this  seems  too  much ;  for  if  so,  it  would  not  properly  belong  to  the 
sealed  book,  whereas  all  that  pertains  to  the  apostacy,  and  to  the  state  of  the 
church  to  the  end  of  the  world,  belongs  to  the  trumpets,  which  trumpets  are 
a  subdivision  of  the  seventh  seal.  It  is  not  therefore  any  thing  added  to  the 
sealed  book,  but  a  marked  division  of  it, — a  book  as  it  were  whhin  abook. — 
The  angel's  setting  his  right  foot  upon  the  sea,  and  his  left  foot  on  the  earth, 
would  express  his  absolute  dominion  over  both.  His  "  crying  with  a  loud 
voice  as  when  a  lion  roareth"  was  awfully  preparatory  to  the  seven  thun- 
ders which  immediately  uttered  their  voices.  On  hearing  them,  John  was 
about  to  write,  but  is  told  by  a  voice  fiom  heaven  to  "seal  up  the  things 
which  the  thunders  uttered,  and  write  them  not."  The  thunders  then  were 
not  mere  sounds,  but  certain  "  things,"  which,  though  they  were  not  at  pre- 
sent to  be  disclosed,  yet  in  due  time  should  be  fulfilled.  Their  fulfilment 
too  was  an  object  of  such  importance,  and  lay  so  near  the  angel's  heart,  that 
with  the  utmost  indignation  he  "  sware  by  Him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever 
that  there  should  be  no  delay;"  but  that  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the 
seventh  angel,  when  he  should  begin  to  sound,  they  should  be  accom- 
plished.* 

From  these  considerations  it  appears  plain  that  the  seven  thunders  relate 
to  the  same  "things"  as  those  which  are  afterwards  disclosed  under  the 
seven  vials.  They  both  express  the  wrath  of  God  against  the  papal  anti- 
christ ;  the  one  describes  it  only  in  general,  and  that  in  the  form  of  threatcn- 
ings,  ihe  other  descends  to  particulars,  and  describes  it  as  actually  executing. 
The  thunders  being  introduced  before  the  prophetic  account  of  the  apostacy 
may  denote  the  displeasure  of  God  against  it  from  its  very  beginning,  and 
tend  to  support  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  church  under  it. 

The  forbidding  the  apostle  to  write,  and  commanding  him  to  eat  the  book, 
seems  like  saying, — The  apostacy  is  not  yet  ripe.  The  wrath  of  God  against 
it  will  be  deferred  for  the  present.  Under  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  angel 
he  will  pour  forth  the  vials  of  his  indignation  upon  it.  At  present,  there- 
fore, write  it  not ;  but  receive  a  general  impression  of  things  by  eating  the 
book  ! — The  allusion  doubtless  is  to  Ezek.  iii.  1-3,  and  denotes  that  he  must 
understand  and  digest  its  contents.  The  book,  he  was  told,  would  be  sweet 
in  his  mouth,  but  bitter  in  his  belly.  The  same  desire  of  understanding  the 
future  state  of  the  church  which  made  him  weep  when  no  one  was  found 
worthy  to  open  the  sealed  book,  must  make  him  rejoice  when  an  open  book 
was  put  into  his  hand,  with  a  direction  to  eat  it;  but  when  he  came  to  di- 
gest it,  and  to  perceive  the  corruptions  and  persecutions  that  should  prevail, 

*  Whether  on  xpovoi  ovk  carai  cri  be  rendered,  as  in  ourversion, that  there  shouldbe  time  no 
longer;  or  more  literally,  as  by  Mr.  Daubuz  and  others,  that  the  time  shall  not  be  yet ;  or, 
as  Dr.  Gill  says  the  words  will  bear  to  be  rendered,  that  there  should  be  delay  no  longer  ; 
the  meaning  cannot  be  that  time  itself  should  then  be  at  an  end.  Nor  does  it  seem  to  be 
an  object  of  sufficient  importance  for  an  oath  that  the  time  for  the  seven  thunders  to  be 
executed  should  not  be  yet.  It  is  not  their  not  being  yet,  but  their  being  at  the  appointed 
time;  not  the  protraction,  but  the  accomplishment,  notwithstanding  the  protraction,  to 
which  the  angel  swears.  There  is  a  manifest  reference  in  the  passage  to  Dan.  xii.  7  : 
"  And  I  heard  the  man  clothed  in  linen,  who  was  upon  the  waters  of  the  river,  when  he 
held  up  his  right  hand  and  his  left  hand  unto  heaven,  and  sware  by  him  that  liveth  for  ever, 
that  it  shall  be  for  a  time,  times,  and  a  half,  and  when  he  shall  have  accomplished  to  scatter 
the  power  of  the  holy  people,  all  these  things  shall  be  finished."  It  was  of  the  papal  anti- 
christ, of  whom  Antiochus  Epiphanes  was  a  type,  that  the  man  clothed  in  linen  spake,  and 
of  him  speaks  the  angel  to  John.  As  the  former  predicts  his  fall,  so  does  the  latter;  and 
as  Antiochus  had  been  permitted  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people  for  a  time,  times, 
and  half  a  time,  so  should  antichrist  be  permitted  to  scatter  the  church  of  Christ  for  the 
same  prophetic  period,  reckoning  a  year  for  a  day,  that  is,  for  the  space  of  1260  years.  See 
"  Prideaux's  Connexion,"  Part  11.  Book  III.  at  the  close. 


WESTERN  APOSTACT.  243 

and  for  so  long  a  period  retard  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  it  would  be  griev- 
ous to  him. 

To  teach  him  that  what  he  had  now  seen  and  done  was  designed  only  as 
a  general  impression,  preparatory  to  what  should  follow,  he  is  given  to  un- 
derstand that  he  must  go  over  the  ground  "  again,"  writing  prophecies  which 
respect  many  "  peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings." 


DISCOURSE  XIII. 


THE  FIRST  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  PAPAL  APOSTACY,  AND  OF  THE 
STATE  OF  THE  CRURCH  UNDER  IT. 

Rev.  xi.,  &c. 

I  CONCEIVE  with  Mr.  Lowman  that  the  following  chapters  contain  three 
general  descriptions  of  the  papal  antichrist,  and  of  the  state  of  the  church 
under  it ;  only  he  confines  them  to  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth  chap- 
ters, whereas  it  appears  to  me  that  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  should  not 
be  divided,  but  considered  as  containing  between  them  the  third  general  de- 
scription. The  reasons  for  considering  these  four  chapters  not  as  one  con- 
tinued prophecy,  but  as  general  representations  of  the  events  of  the  same 
period,  are  the  following: — 

First,  The  events  foretold  by  the  slaughter  and  resurrection  of  the  wit- 
nesses in  chap.  xi. ;  by  the  flight  of  the  woman  into  the  wilderness,  and  the 
victory  over  the  dragon,  in  chap.  xii. ;  with  the  ravages  of  the  beasts  and  the 
triumph  of  the  Lamb's  company  in  chapters  xiii.  and  xiv.,  are  the  same. — 
Secondly,  These  representations  are  not  confined  to  one  or  two  trumpets,  but 
comprehend  the  times  of  the  greater  part  of  them.  Some  of  the  things 
represented,  particularly  those  at  the  beginning  of  chap,  xii.,  in  which  the 
origin  of  the  apostacy  is  traced,  appear  to  go  back  to  the  times  of  the  first 
four  trumpets,  namely,  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries ;  others,  particularly 
those  at  the  close  of  chapters  xi.  and  xiv.,  which  describe  the  overthrow  of 
the  apostate  church,  go  forward  to  the  times  of  the  last  trumpet,  and  even 
of  the  last  vials,  into  which  that  trumpet  is  subdivided.  This  will  be  evi- 
dent by  comparing  chap.  xi.  19,  with  chap.  xvi.  18.  In  both  mention  is  made 
of  "  lightnings,  and  voices,  and  thunderings,  and  an  earthquake,  and  great 
hail ;"  both,  therefore,  manifestly  refer  to  the  same  events. —  Thirdly,  In  each 
of  these  descriptions  there  is  a  reference  to  the  1260  years,  the  period  which 
in  prophecy  marks  the  duration  of  the  antichristian  power.  So  long  were 
the  witnesses  to  prophesy  in  sackcloth,  so  long  the  woman  to  be  in  the  wil- 
derness, and  so  long  the  beast  to  make  war  with  the  saints.  It  is  therefore 
to  the  events  of  this  period  that  these  chapters  relate ;  containing  an  account 
of  the  rise,  the  reign,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  papal  antichrist. 

It  could  scarcely  be  expected  that  so  long  a  period,  embracing  such  mul- 
tifarious characters  and  events,  events  too  which  so  deeply  interest  the  church 
of  God,  should  be  passed  over  without  particular  notice.  The  sacred  writer 
is  as  it  were  made  to  pause,  and  to  give  us  several  distinct  views  of  the  sub- 
ject, according  to  the  different  lights  in  which  he  beheld  it.  I  only  add,  if 
these  chapters  do  really  comprehend  the  events  of  the  1260  years,  we  might 
almost  presume,  in  going  over  them,  to  meet  with  something  under  each  de- 
scription relating  to  so  distinguished  an  event  as  the  Reformation,  and  must 
certainly  have  thrice  to  cross  the  meridian  of  our  own  times. 


244  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  first  of  these  general  descriptions,  which  we  now  enter  upon,  does 
not  appear  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  apostacy,  but  to  take  it  up  from  the 
time  in  which  things  were  so  matured,  that,  in  taking  the  measurement  of 
God's  temple,  the  papal  community  was  ordered  to  be  left  out,  as  not  belong- 
ing to  it. 

Ver.  1 ,  2.  The  language  no  doubt  is  Jewish,  but  the  doctrine,  worship, 
and  worshippers  of  the  Christian  church  are  intended.  Christianity,  having 
become  the  religion  of  the  state,  abounded  with  converts ;  but  such  would 
be  their  character,  and  such  the  kind  of  religion  they  would  introduce,  that 
the  extent  of  the  church  would  require  to  be  contradicted.  The  outer  court, 
containing  the  body  of  the  worshippers,  must  be  left  out.  That  which  had 
been  known  by  the  name  of  the  catholic  church  must  be  given  up  as  idola- 
trous- and  thus  the  profanation  of  the  temple  by  Antiochus  would  be  acted 
over  again.* 

Ver.  3-6.  The  import  of  these  verses  is,  that,  during  the  long  period  of 
papal  corruption  and  persecution,  God  would  have  his  faithful  witnesses, 
who  should  bear  testimony  against  it,  though  it  were  in  sackcloth.  As,  in 
the  language  of  the  prophecy,  a  king  denotes  not  an  individual  monarch, 
but  a  succession  of  kings,  or  a  kingdom;  so  by  "two  witnesses"  we  are 
doubtless  to  understand  not  two  individual  witnesses,  but  a  competent  suc- 
cession of  them.  This  is  manifest  from  their  continuing  through  the  long 
period  of  1260  years,  which  can  only  be  true  of  a  succession  of  men.  Some 
have  supposed  them  to  be  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  others  the  Old  and 
New  Testament  churches;  but  I  see  no  reason  why  they  should  not  be  un- 
derstood of  the  faithful  servants  of  Christ,  who,  during  this  period,  would 
bear  witness  for  the  truth.  It  is  of  the  triic  church  as  opposed  to  the  false 
that  the  other  general  descriptions  speak ;  namely,  of  the  woman  and  her 
seed  who  fled  into  the  wilderness,  and  of  the  Lamb's  company  as  opposed 
to  that  of  the  beast ;  I  conclude,  therefore,  that  such  are  the  two  witnesses 
in  this. 

Moreover,  the  correspondence  of  1260  days,  in  which  they  should  pro- 
phesy, with  the  "  time,  times,  and  the  dividing  of  time,"  in  Daniel,  (chap. 
vii.  25,)  not  only  determines  the  general  application  of  the  prophecy,  but  the 
parties  concerned  in  both  to  be  the  same.  In  the  latter  end  of  the  fourth, 
or  Roman,  government,  according  to  Daniel,  a  little  horn  should  grow  up 
among  the  ten  horns,  that  should  "wear  out  the  saints  of  the  3Iost  High, 
until  a  time,  times,  and  the  dividing  of  time."  According  to  John,  the 
witnesses,  during  the  same  period,  should  prophesy  in  sackcloth,  and  be  per- 
secuted and  slain.  The  witnesses  of  John,  therefore,  and  the  saints  of 
Daniel,  are  the  same. 

These  two  witnesses  are  said  to  be  "  the  two  olive  trees  and  the  two 
candlesticks,  standing  before  the  God  of  the  earth."  The  olive  trees  and 
the  candlestick  of  Zechariah,  to  which  there  is  a  manifest  reference,  were 
not  the  same.  Tlie  former  supplied  the  latter,  or  the  two  sides  of  the  bowl 
of  it,  with  oil.     The  candlestick  seems  to  have  signified  the  church,  and  the 

*  "Our  Reformers  (says  Mr.  Faher)  never  thought  of  unchurching  the  church  of  Rome, 
though  they  freely  declared  it  to  have  erred.  Hence,  while  they  rejected  its  abominations, 
they  did  not  scruple  to  derive  from  it  their  line  of  episcopal  and  sacerdotal  ordination." 
Vol.  II,  p.  3,  note. 

The  English  Reformers  might  allow  the  church  of  Rome  to  be  a  true  church  of  Christ; 
but  do  the  Scriptures  support  them  in  their  concession  ?  The  church  of  Rome  was  once  a 
part  of  God's  temple;  but  hence  it  is  left  out  of  the  measurement.  Instead  of  being  "  the 
holy  city,"  it  is  a  body  of  idolaters  who  tread  it  under  foot.  It  is  not  Zion,  but  Babylon. 
Some  of  God's  people  might  be  found  in  her,  but  they  are  commanded  to  come  out  of  her 
She  is  not  the  bride,  the  Lamb's  wife,  but  the  mother  of  harlots.  Finally,  If  the  church  of 
Rome  continued  to  be  a  church  of  Christ,  what  must  that  church  be  who  fled  from  her  per 
secutious  into  the  wilderness  ? 


THE  TWO   WITNESSES.  245 

olive  trees  the  prophets  of  God  who  were  with  the  builders  helping  them, 
Ezra  V,  2.  Corresponding  with  this,  the  olive  trees  of  John  are  faithful 
ministers,  and  the  candlesticks  Christian  churches.  The  same  prophesying 
which  bears  witness  against  the  corruptions  of  antichrist  supplies  the  friends 
of  Christ  as  with  fresh  oil,  and  enables  them  to  shine  as  lights  in  the  world. 
Both  the  olive  trees  and  the  candlesticks  in  different  ways  are  witnesses  to 
the  truth. 

The  "  fire  that  proceedeth  out  of  their  mouth"  denotes  the  Divine  threat- 
enings  to  which  those  who  reject  their  testimony  are  exposed.  In  this  way 
all  who  have  perseveringly  set  themselves  against  the  truth  of  God  have  been 
slain  by  it,  not  only  as  incurring  the  wrath  to  come,  but  spiritual  judgments 
even  in  this  life;  such  are  blindness  of  mind  and  hardness  of  heart,  the 
most  awful  and  sure  presages  of  eternal  death. 

Their  having  "  power  to  shut  heaven  that  it  rain  not  in  the  days  of  their 
prophecy,  to  turn  waters  into  blood,  and  to  smite  the  earth  with  plagues  as 
often  as  they  will,"  denotes  the  influence  of  prayer  when  presented  in  faith 
and  in  conformity  to  the  will  of  God.  Tliere  is  a  reference  no  doubt  to  the 
prayer  of  Elijah  against  apostate  Israel,  which  prayer  was  answered  with  a 
dearth  ;  but,  without  any  thing  properly  miraculous,  the  prayers  of  God's 
suft'ering  servants  may  draw  down  both  temporal  and  spiiitual  judgments  on 
persecuting  nations.  The  terrible  things  which  God  is  now  in  righteous- 
ness inflicting  on  the  nations  may  be  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  his  servants 
of  former  ages,  who  century  after  century  have  been  crying,  "  How  long,  O 
Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood  on  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth?"  Such  cries  enter  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and 
must  be  answered. 


APPENDIX  TO  DISCOURSE  XIIL 


The  history  of  the  witnesses  prior  to  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  is 
difiicult  to  be  traced,  owing  to  the  want  of  materials;  and  during  those 
centuries  almost  all  the  accounts  that  we  have  of  them  are  from  the  pens  of 
their  persecutors,  who  have  not  failed  to  transmit  their  memory  to  posterity 
in  the  most  odious  colours.  That  some  who  in  church  history  are  deemed 
heretics  were  really  such  need  not  to  be  questioned ;  but  let  any  serious 
Christian  read  the  church  history  of  Mosheim  ;  and,  unless  he  can  find  a 
portion  of  true  religion  under  the  article  of  "  heresies  and  heretics  that  dis- 
turbed the  peace  of  the  church  during  this  century,"  it  is  difficult  to  say 
where  he  is  to  look  for  it.  After  the  utmost  search  through  other  parts,  he 
may  ask,  "Where  is  wisdom,  and  where  is  the  place  of  understanding?" 

There  is  litde  doubt  but  that  all  through  these  dark  ages  there  were  many 
thousands  who  stood  aloof  from  the  corruptions  of  the  times,  and  bore  prac- 
tical testimony  against  them;  and  who,  notwithstanding  some  errors,  were 
much  nearer  the  truth  and  true  religion  than  those  who  have  reproached 
them  as  heretics. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  amongst  the  Novatians,  the  Paulicians, 
the  Cathari,  the  Patcrincs,  and  others  who  separated  from  the  catholic 
church,  and  were  cruelly  persecuted  by  it,  there  were  a  great  number  of 
faithful  witnesses  for  the  truth  in  those  days. 

We  should  not,  like  Bishop  Newton,  confine  the  witnesses  to  councils, 
princes,  and  eminent  men,  who  in  their  day  bore  testimony  against  error 
and  superstition.  They  will  be  found,  I  doubt  not,  in  great  numbers  amongst 

x2 


246  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

those  who  were  unknown,  and  consequently  unnoticed  by  historians.  God 
hath  chosen  the  things  that  are  not  to  bring  to  naught  the  things  that  are. 
Let  a  church  history  of  our  own  times  be  written  on  the  principles  of  that 
of  MosHEiM,  and  the  gieat  body  of  the  most  faithful  witnesses  would  have 
no  place  in  it. 

The  history  of  the  witnesses  will  be  principally  found  in  that  of  the  Wal- 
denses  and  Albigenses,  who  for  a  succession  of  centuries  spread  themselves 
over  almost  every  nation  in  Europe,  and  in  innumerable  instances  bore 
testimony,  at  the  expense  of  their  lives,  against  the  corruptions  of  the  anti- 
christian  party. 

John  Faul  Perrin,  a  French  protestant  of  the  city  of  Lyons,  who  early  in 
the  seventeenth  century  wrote  the  history  of  these  churches,  traces  their 
origin  to  Peter  Waldo,  who  was  also  a  citizen  of  Lyons.  Waldo,  as  we 
shall  see  presently,  was  not  the  father  of  the  Waldenses;  but  he  was  an 
excellent  man.  About  the  year  IIGO  he  began  to  bear  testimony  against 
the  papal  corruptions..  The  archbishop  of  Lyons,  being  informed  of  his 
proceedings,  sought  to  apprehend  him ;  but  Waldo,  having  many  friends  in 
the  city,  was  concealed  there  for  about  three  years.  After  this,  he  was 
driven  from  Lyons,  and  it  is  said  that  he  retired  into  Dauphine  in  the  south 
of  France,  and  afterwards  into  Picardy  in  the  north ;  and  that  his  followers 
spread  themselves,  not  only  in  Piedmont,  Provence,  Languedoc,  &-c.,  but  in 
almost  all  the  nations  of  Europe. 

Waldo  translated,  or  procured  to  be  translated,  the  Scriptures  into  the 
French  language ;  by  means  of  which  his  followers  disseminated  the  truth 
over  a  great  part  of  Europe. 

In  Piedmont,  whither  some  of  his  followers  were  driven,  churches  were 
planted,  which  though  opposed  to  innumerable  oppressions  and  persecutions 
from  their  princes,  who  were  stirred  up  by  the  priests,  yet  continued  to  bear 
witness  to  the  truth,  not  only  till  the  Reformation,  but  for  a  considerable 
time  after  it.  In  Picardy,  whither  Waldo  himself  retired,  the  houses  of 
three  hundred  gentlemen  who  adhered  to  him  were  razed  to  the  ground,  and 
several  walled  towns  were  destroyed.  Being  driven  thence,  he  and  his  fol- 
lowers retired  into  Flanders,  where  great  numbers  of  them  were  burnt  to 
death.  Thence  many  fled  into  Germany,  particularly  into  Alsace,  and  the 
country  along  the  Rhine,  where  the  bishop  of  3Iayence  caused  to  be  burnt 
thirty-five  burgesses  in  one  fire,  and  eighteen  in  another,  who  with  great  con- 
stancy suffered  death.  At  Strasburg  eighty  were  burnt  at  the  instance  ^of 
the  bishop  of  the  place.  They  were  scattered  through  the  whole  kingdom 
of  France.  From  the  year  1206,  when  the  Inquisition  was  established,  to 
1228,  such  multitudes  were  seized,  particularly  in  France,  that  even  the 
bishops  declared  to  the  monks  inquisitors,  that  "  the  expense  of  supporting 
them  would  be  more  than  could  be  defrayed,  and  that  there  would  not  be 
found  lime  and  stone  sufficient  to  build  prisons  which  should  contain  them  !" 
A  hundred  and  fourteen  were  burnt  alive  at  one  time  in  Paris.  In  1223 
they  had  goodly  chuiches  in  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Dalmatia,  and  Hungary; 
and  notwithstanding  the  persecution,  in  Germany,  one  of  their  martyrs 
assured  his  persecutors,  in  the  year  1315,  that  there  were  then  80,000  of  the 
same  mind  in  the  country.  In  Bohemia,  a  colony  of  Waldenses  settled  and 
planted  churches  240  years  before  the  time  of  Huss.  Another  colony  went 
from  Dauphine  about  1370,  and  settled  in  Calabria,  where  they  were  de- 
fended by  their  landlords  against  the  priests  till  1560,  when  they  were  exter- 
minated by  the  papal  soldiery.  In  England,  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II., 
namely,  from  1174  to  1189,  they  were  persecuted  under  the  name  o{  Publi- 
cans. About  1315,  Lollard,  who  was  seven  years  afterwards  burnt  to 
death  at  Cologne,  came  over  to  England  and  taught  many,  who  thence  were 


THE   HISTORY  OF  THE  WITNESSES.  247 

called  Lollards,  and  were  persecuted  without  mercy.  Soon  after  the  death 
of  Lollard,  the  same  doctrines  were  taught  by  Wickliff,  whose  followers  also 
for  a  century  and  a  half,  down  to  the  Reformation,  were  burnt  in  great 
numbers. 

JPerrin,  as  has  been  observed,  traces  the  origin  of  the  Waldenses  and 
Albigenses  to  Peter  Waldo  ;  yet  there  are  several  things  even  in  his  his- 
tory which  prove  their  existence  long  before  the  time  of  Waldo.  He 
quotes  Rnjnerius  the  inquisitor,  who  wrote  within  sixty  years  after  Waldo, 
as  saying  of  the  Waldenses  that  "  they  had  resisted  the  church  of  Rome^br 
a  long  time."  He  quotes  a  Waldensian  poem,  called  The  Noble  Lesson, 
which  poem  appears  by  its  contents  to  have  been  written  about  the  year 
1100,  that  is,  forty  or  fifty  years  at  least  before  the  appearance  of  W^aldo. 
He  quotes  Claudius  Rubis,  who,  in  his  History  of  Lyons,  says  of  the  Wal- 
denses, in  a  way  of  reproach,  that  "  being  retired  unto  the  Alps,  at  their 
departure  from  Lyons,  they  became  like  the  rest  of  the  people  of  that  country, 
besom-riders,"  or  sorcerers.  There  must  then  have  been  a  people  among  the 
Alps  who  were  reproached  as  sorcerers,  before  the  disciples  of  Waldo  went 
and  joined  them.  Finally,  in  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses,  he  says. 
They  received  the  belief  of  the  Waldenses  soon  after  the  departure  of  Waldo 
from  Lyons,  that  is,  soon  after  1160,  and  yet  that  the  instruments  who  were 
employed  in  this  work  were  Peter  of  Bruis,  Henry,  Joseph,  Esperon,  and 
Arnold  Holt.  But  Pefcr  of  Bruis  began  to  preach  against  the  corruptions 
of  popery  in  1110,  and  was  burnt  in  1130,  and  Henry  was  soon  after  im- 
prisoned at  Rome;  all  before  the  times  of  Waldo.  There  must  therefore 
have  been  a  body  of  these  faithful  witnesses  from  an  early  period,  probably 
from  the  times  in  which  the  Christian  church  began  to  be  overspread  with 
corruptions. 

In  the  spring  of  1655  a  most  horrible  massacre  of  the  Waldenses  was 
perpetrated  in  the  dominions  of  the  duke  of  Savoy.*  On  this  occasion  Sir 
Samuel  Morland,  going  over  as  envoy  from  the  protector  Cromwell  to  the 
court  of  Savoy,  was  charged,  as  he  says,  by  Archbishop  Usher,  before  he 
left  England,  to  make  the  most  diligent  inquiry  into  the  antiquity  of  the 
Waldenses.  Having  finished  his  business  at  Turin,  and  retired  to  Geneva, 
he  was  requested  by  Secretary  Thurloe  to  write  his  History  of  the  Evange- 
lical Churches  of  the  Valleys  of  Piedmont.  In  his  history.  Sir  Samuel, 
besides  relating  many  things  of  the  Waldenses  since  the  days  of  Pfrn'w,  and 
narrating  the  particulars  of  the  late  massacre,  makes  it  appear  that  these 
churches  remained  united  with  all  other  Christian  churches  so  long  as  they 
retained  the  true  religion ;  but  when  the  church  of  Rome  departed  from  it, 

*  It  was  on  occasion  of  this  horrible  massacre  that  Milton  wrote  the  following  sonnet:— 

Avenge,  0  Lord,  thy  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones 

Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold ; 

Even  them  that  kept  thy  truth  so  pure  of  old, 
When  all  our  fathers  worshipped  stocks  and  stones, 
Forget  not :  in  thy  book  record  their  groans, 

Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  their  ancient  fold 

Slain  by  the  bloody  Piedmontese,  that  rolled 
Mother  and  infant  down  the  rocks.     Their  moans 

The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 
To  heaven.     Their  martyred  blood  and  ashes  sow 

O'er  all  th'  Italian  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 
A  triple  tyrant;  that  from  these  may  grow 

A  hundredfold,  who,  having  learned  thy  way, 
Early  may  fly  the  Babylonian  woe ! 

Not  only  did  the  English  government  interfere  with  the  court  of  Turin  in  behalf  of  the 
remnant  of  these  persecuted  people,  but  a  collection  was  made  for  them  through  the  nation, 
which  amounted  to  nearly  £40,000,  (a  prodigious  sum  in  those  times,)  which  was  sent  to 
them  by  Sir  Samuel  Morland. 


248  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

they  began  lo  depart  from  her ;  and  that  the  followers  of  Pe1(r  Waldo,  who 
about  1165  fled  from  the  south  of  France  into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  were 
not  the  first  Waldenses,  but  rather  that  they  joined  themselves  to  those  their 
fliithful  brethren  who  had  been  there  long  before  them. 

The  learned  Dr.  Allix,  a  French  protestant  who  took  refuge  in  England, 
on  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  largely  establishes  the  same  thing 
in  his  Remarks  on  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Ancient  Churches  of 
Piedmont  and  of  the  Country  of  the  Alhigcnscs.  He  has  proved  that  these 
people,  from  their  situation  in  the  valleys,  and  not  from  Waldo,  were  deno- 
minated Wallenses,  or  the  Vaudois — that  though  not  free  from  a  portion  of 
the  general  corruption,  yet  they  continued  to  maintain  the  leading  principles 
of  what  is  now  called  the  protestant  religion — that  before  the  year  1026  a 
body  of  men  in  Italy,  connected  with  Gundidfus,  believed  contrary  to  the 
opinions  of  the  church  of  Rome,  condemned  its  errors,  and  sent  their 
brethren  into  divers  places  to  oppose  themselves  to  the  superstitions  that 
reigned  throughout  the  west — that  in  the  same  century  another  body  of  the 
Christians  of  Italy,  denominated  Poterines,  and  whose  principles  were  much 
the  same  with  those  who  were  afterwards  called  Waldenses,  separated  from 
the  church  of  Rome — that  soon  after  the  year  1100  it  was  said,  "  If  a  man 
loves  those  that  desire  to  love  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  if  he  will  neither  curse, 
nor  swear,  nor  lie,  nor  whore,  nor  kill,  nor  deceive  his  neighbour,  nor  avenge 
himself  of  his  enemies,  they  presently  say.  He  is  a  Vaudes,  he  deserves  to 
be  punished;  and  by  lies  and  forging  are  found  to  take  away  from  him  what 
he  has  got  by  his  lawful  industry" — that  about  1160  many  of  the  followers 
of  Peter  Waldo  retired  into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  there  joined  the 
Vaudois — that,  Waldo  himself  being  condemned  as  a  heretic,  it  was  com- 
mon for  the  papists  to  call  all  religious  people  W^aldenses,  hoping  thereby  to 
fix  a  stigma  upon  them,  and  to  represent  them  as  a  sect  but  newly  risen  up — 
and  that  from  this  time  to  the  Reformation,  a  period  of  between  three  and 
four  hundred  years,  the  Waldenses  were  persecuted  with  but  little  intermis- 
sion ;  partly  by  armies  sent  to  destroy  them,  and  pardy  by  the  horrid  process 
of  the  inquisition ;  which  persecutions  they  bore  with  unparalleled  con- 
stancy. 

Similar  remarks  are  made  by  Dr.  Allix  on  the  churches  of  the  Albigenses, 
so  called  from  Albi,  a  city  in  the  south  of  France.  He  has  proved  that  these 
churches  continued  for  many  centuries  independent  of  the  pope — that  about 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  Bcrengarius  of  Tours  opposed  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Romish  church,  and  was  charged  by  its  adherents  with  having 
corrupted  almost  all  the  French,  Italians,  and  English — that  early  in  the 
twelfth,  namely,  about  the  year  1110,  Peter  of  Bruis,  and  after  him  Henry, 
taught  the  same  doctrines,  for  which  the  former  was  burnt,  and  the  latter 
died  in  prison — that  in  the  fourth  canon  of  the  Council  of  Tours,  held  in 
the  year  1163,  it  is  said,  "  In  the  country  about  Thoulouse  there  sprang  up 
long  ago  a  damnable  heresy,  which  by  little  and  little,  like  a  canker,  spread- 
ing itself  to  the  neighbouring  places  in  Gascoin,  hath  already  infected  many 
other  provinces" — that  between  1137  and  1180  Languedoc  was  so  full  of 
the  disciples  of  Peter  of  Bruis  and  Henry,  that  the  archbishop  of  Narbonne, 
writing  to  Louis  VII.  king  of  France,  complains  as  follows  : — "My  lord  the 
king.  We  are  extremely  pressed  with  many  calamities,  among  which  there 
is  one  that  most  of  all  affects  us,  which  is,  that  the  catholic  faith  is  extremely 
shaken  in  this  our  diocess,  and  St.  Peter's  boat  is  so  violently  tossed  by  the 
waves  that  it  is  in  great  danger  of  sinking!" 

From  the  whole  it  appears  that  in  the  early  ages  of  the  papal  apostacy, 
before  the  introduction  of  image-worship,  transubstantiation,  and  other  gross 
departures  from  the  fliith,  the  opposition  of  the  faithful  would  be  less  decided 


SLAYING  OP  THE   WITNESSES.  249 

than  in  later  times.  Other  Christian  churches,  while  they  preserved  their 
independency,  might  not  go  the  same  lengths  as  that  of  Rome;  but  neither 
might  they  at  once  separate  from  it,  nor  probably  be  clear  of  a  participation 
in  its  corruptions.  The  opposition  to  it  might  be  expected  also  to  be  chiefly 
from  individuals  rather  than  from  churches ;  and  this  appears  to  have  been 
the  fact. 

The  famous  Claude,  bishop  of  Turin,  in  the  ninth  century,  though  he 
preached  the  doctrine  of  Christ  in  great  purity,  and  boldly  opposed  almost 
all  the  errors  of  popery,  yet  does  not  appear  to  have  so  separated  from  the 
church  of  Rome  as  to  form  independent  churches.  The  principles  however 
which  he  taught  led  to  this  issue,  and  were  acted  upon  after  his  death.  His 
preaching  and  writings  contributed  greatly  to  the  spread  of  true  religion  in 
the  valleys  of  Piedmont 

From  the  fourth  to  the  tenth  century  but  little  is  said  of  the  Waldenses  in 
history :  yet  as  Reyncrius,  who  wrote  about  the  year  1230,  speaks  of  the 
Vaudois  as  "  a  sect  of  the  longest  standing,"  and  as  the  Council  of  Tours, 
about  seventy  years  before  this,  speaks  of  the  same  heresy  as  having  "  sprung 
up  long  ago,"  we  may  conclude,  even  from  the  acknowledgments  of  the  ad- 
versaries, that  God  was  not  without  his  witnesses  in  those  dark  ages.  Mil- 
ton also,  in  the  sonnet  before  quoted,  represents  the  Vaudois,  or  people  of 
the  valleys,  as  having  "  kept  God's  truth  so  pure  of  old,  when  all  our  fathers 
worshipped  stocks  and  stones."  He  must  therefore  have  considered  them 
as  having  preserved  the  purity  of  Christianity  while  mtr  Saxon  ancestors  loere 
yet  heathens.  After  the  tenth  century,  when  iniquity  was  at  the  full,  the 
opposition  was  more  decided.  For  500  years,  during  the  most  murderous 
wars  and  persecutions,  the  Paterincs,  the  Petrobrussians,  the  Waldenses, 
the  Albigenses,  the  Lollards,  the  Wicklijjites,  &.C.,  maintained  their  ground. 
Nor  were  they  contented  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  in  their  own  countries, 
but  employed  missionaries  to  almost  all  the  nations  of  Europe;  and  this  not- 
withstanding each  missionary  could  expect  nothing  less  than  martyrdom  for 
his  reward ! 

Nor  were  their  labours  unproductive.  The  numbers  who  espoused  their 
principles  in  the  south  of  France  only  were  such  that  a  crusade  of  500,000 
men  was  sent  against  them.  It  was  by  this  army  of  bloody-minded  fanatics 
that  the  city  of  Beziers  was  taken,  and  the  inhabitants,  without  distinction, 
men,  women,  and  children,  to  the  number  of  60,000,  were  put  to  the  sword ! 


DISCOURSE  XIV. 


THE  FIRST  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  CONTINUED  ;  OR  THE  SLAUGHTER  AND 
RESURRECTION  OF  THE  WITNESSES,  WITH  THE  FALLING  OF  A  TENTH 
PART    OF    THE    CITY. 

Rev.  xi.  7-13. 

Ver.  7-12.  If  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  be  the  same  as  their  pro- 
phesying in  sackcloth,  it  must  continue  through  the  whole  of  the  1200 
years.  But  it  does  not  appear  that  the  beast  at  the  termination  of  that 
period  will  be  able  to  "  overcome  and  kill  them,"  seeing  he  himself  will 
then  be  slain,  and  his  body  given  to  the  burning  flame.  Several  commen- 
tators therefore  have  rendered  it,  rohile  they  shall  perform,  or  be  about  to 
Jinish,  their  testimony,  «Sic.    And  with  this  agrees  the  account  which  repre- 

VoL.  Ill— 32 


250  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

sents  the  beast  and  his  party  at  the  time  of  the  slaying  of  the  witnesses  as 
being  in  the  plenitude  of  their  power. 

The  slaiightir  of  the  witnesses  would  not,  according  to  the  usual  style  of 
the  prophecy,  denote  their  being  put  to  death  as  individuals,  but  silenced 
and  crushed  as  witnessing  bodies.  It  was  thus,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the 
eastern  empire,  and  the  Greek  church  as  connected  with  it,  were  killed  by 
the  Turkish  horsemen,  chap.  ix.  18. 

Of  the  beast  that  shall  kill  them  no  mention  is  made  before ;  but  we  shall 
hear  much  of  him  hereafter.  Suffice  it  at  present  to  say,  it  is  the  same  as 
Daniel's  fourth  beast,  chap,  vii.,  and  as  that  which  is  described  by  John,  in 
chap.  xiii.  1-8  of  this  book,  as  having  "  seven  heads  and  ten  horns>  and 
upon  his  horns  ten  crowns :"  it  is  the  Roman  empire  under  its  last  form,  as 
divided  into  ten  independent  kingdoms.  There  he  is  described  as  rising  out 
of  the  sea ;  here  out  of  the  abyss,  or  bottomless  pit :  the  one,  as  Mr.  Faber 
remarks,  may  denote  his  political,  and  the  other  his  spiritual  origin. 

The  witnesses  were  to  be  killed  in  the  great  city,  which  "  spiritually  is 
called  Sodom  and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified."  We  shall 
have  occasion  more  than  once  to  notice  an  antichristian  city  as  opposed  to 
the  church  of  Christ,  just  as  the  great  harlot  is  opposed  to  the  bride  the 
Lamb's  wife.  It  will  be  proper  therefore  to  fix  the  meaning  at  the  outset. 
If  the  prophecy  had  related  to  Old  Testament  times,  when  God  chose  a  literal 
city  in  which  to  build  his  temple,  a  literal  city  might  have  been  properly  op- 
posed to  it.  When  Zion  was  his  dwelling-place,  Babylon  was  its  adversary. 
But  as  the  true  church  under  the  gospel  is  not  confined  to  place,  neither  is 
the  false  church.  The  New  Testament  Zion  does  not  consist  of  material 
buildings,  but  is  a  community  scattered  among  the  nations;  and  such  is  the 
New  Testament  Babylon.  The  "  great  city"  therefore  means  Rome,  not  in 
respect  of  its  buildings,  nor  the  inhabitants  within  its  walls,  nor  as  a  political 
empire,  the  symbol  of  which  is  the  beast;  but  as  the  head  of  the  antichristian 
community.  This  city,  or  community  of  nations  under  one  ecclesiastical 
head,  was  a  Sodom  for  its  filthiness,  an  Egypt  for  its  idolatry  and  persecu- 
tion, and  a  Jerusalem  for  its  malignant  hatred  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

The  dead  bodies  of  the  witnesses  were  to  lie  in  the  street  of  the  great  city 
unburicd;  that  is,  being  silenced  and  crushed  throughout  Christendom,  they 
would  for  a  time  be  treated  with  the  utmost  indignity  and  reproach,  as  those 
are  who  are  denied  the  ordinary  decencies  of  burial.  Nor  would  these  in- 
dignities be  inflicted  by  the  highest  orders  only;  but  "peoples,  and  kindreds, 
and  tongues,  and  nations,"  that  is,  the  body  of  the  inhabitants  of  Christen- 
dom, would  take  a  part  in  them.  While  insulting  the  witnesses,  they  would 
make  merry  on  their  own  account,  as  being  no  longer  tormented  with  their 
testimony. 

Such  is  the  description  given  of  the  witnesses,  and  of  the  treatment  which 
they  would  receive,  both  from  the  ruling  powers  and  the  common  people. 
The  question  is.  What  are  the  facts  which  correspond  with  it?  It  is  thought 
by  some  that  both  the  slaughter  and  the  resurrection  of  the  witnesses  are  yet 
to  be  fulfilled.  If  so,  it  is  vain  to  look  for  corresponding  facts  in  past  events. 
This  was  the  opinion  of  Bishop  Newton,  of  Doctor  Gill,  and  of  other  ex- 
positors of  note.  I  cannot  but  consider  this  as  a  mistake.  In  the  bishop  it 
appears  to  have  been  founded  on  the  supposition  of  Me  time  of  the  dead  that 
they  should  be  judged,  spoken  of  in  ver.  18,  referring  to  the  last  judgment, 
or  "  the  consummation  of  all  things ;"  but  which  manifestly  refers  to  the 
avenging  of  the  martyrs  by  the  judgments  to  be  inflicted  on  the  papal  power, 
under  the  seven  vials,  antecedent  to  the  Millennium.  Comp.  chap.  xi.  18, 
19;  chap.  xvi.  12-21.  Dr.  Gill  speaks  of  the  war  by  which  the  witnesses 
are  slain  as  being  "  the  last  war  of  the  beast"  (on  chap.  xi.  8) ;  but  the  last 


SLAYING  OF  THE   WITNESSES.  251 

war  of  the  beast  is  that  in  which  he  and  the  false  prophet  will  be  taken ; 
and  in  which  the  followers  of  Christ,  instead  of  being  killed,  shall  be  victo- 
rious over  their  enemies,  chap.  xix.  20.*  It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  both  the 
slaughter  and  resurrection  of  the  witnesses,  together  with  the  falling  of  a 
lentil  part  of  the  city,  are  introduced  before  the  termination  of  the  sixth,  or 
second  woe-trumpet.  I  question  therefore  whether  these  prophecies  can 
refer  to  events  of  so  late  a  date  as  this  hypothesis  requires. 

The  time  in  which  the  witnesses  are  slain,  and  their  bodies  lie  unburied, 
appears  to  be  a  time  in  which  the  beast  is  in  the  height  of  his  power,  or,  as 
President  Edwards  says,  "  in  which  the  true  church  of  Christ  is  lowest 
of  all,  most  of  all  prevailed  against  by  antichrist,  and  nearest  to  an  utter  ex- 
tinction; a  time  in  which  there  is  left  the  least  visibility  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  yet  subsisting  in  the  world,  and  the  least  remains  of  any  thing  ap- 
pertaining to  true  religion  whence  a  revival  of  it  could  be  expected,"  p.  92. 
It  is  true  we  know  not  what  is  before  us ;  but  if  such  a  state  of  things  as 
this  should  return  after  what  has  occurred  in  Europe  within  the  last  three 
hundred  years,  it  will,  as  Mr.  Edwards  I  think  has  proved,  be  contrary  to  all 
God's  usual  methods  of  proceeding.  I  cannot  therefore  but  think  with  him 
that  the  persecution  and  slaughter  of  the  witnesses  ■preceded  the  Reforma- 
tion. 

After  the  suppression  of  the  Bohemians,  for  nearly  a  hundred  years,  true 
religion  was  in  a  manner  crushed.  The  enemy  continued  without  resistance 
to  "  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."  Not  a  society  or  body  of 
Christians  was  to  be  found  which  dared  to  oppose  the  general  corruption. 
The  popish  party  considered  the  heretics  as  suppressed,  and  congratulated 
each  other  on  so  happy  an  event.  The  security  that  they  felt  was  manifest 
by  the  barefaced  manner  in  which  they  sold  their  pardons  and  indulgences 
at  the  time  when  Luther's  indignation  was  first  kindled  against  them. 

Whether  the  "  three  days  and  a  half,"  during  which  the  witnesses  should 
lie  unburied,  denote  three  years  and  a  half,  and  refer  to  a  particular  period 
of  that  duration,  or  only  to  a  short  space  of  oppression,  in  allusion  to  the 
"  three  times  and  a  half,"  as  being  a  kind  of  1260  years  in  miniature,  I  am 
not  able  to  determine ;  nor  have  I  seen  any  thing  on  the  subject  relating  to 
a  particular  period  which  afforded  me  satisfaction.  However  this  may  be, 
if  the  slaying  of  the  witnesses  refer  to  the  times  immediately  preceding  the 
Reformation,  their  resurrection  and  ascension  to  heaven  must  denote  the 
Reformation  itself,  and  the  placing,  by  Divine  Providence,  of  the  parties 
concerned  in  it  out  of  the  reach  of  their  enemies.  The  resurrection,  as  it 
were,  of  the  Waldenses,  the  VVickliffites,  and  other  reputed  heretics,  in  the 
persons  of  Luther  and  his  contemporaries,  with  the  rapid  progress  made  by 
them  in  various  nations  nearly  at  the  same  time,  would  cause  great  fear  to 
fall  upon  their  adversaries;  and  the  security  in  which  they  were  placed  by 
the  secession  of  those  nations  from  the  see  of  Rome  was  equal  to  their  being 
taken  up  to  heaven  in  a  cloud,  where  those  who  thirsted  for  their  blood  could 
only  look  after  them  with  malignity  and  envy. 

Ver.  13.  After  the  resurrection  of  the  witnesses,  and  before  the  sounding 
of  the  seventh,  or  third  woe-trumpet,  follows  an  earthquake,  and  a  tenth 
part  of  the  city  falls.  In  the  earthquake  are  slain  of  men  (or  names  of  men) 
seven  thousand,  and  the  remnant  are  affrighted,  and  give  glory  to  the  God 
of  heaven.  If  the  meaning  of  this  passage  can  be  clearly  ascertained,  it 
will  determine  the  time  of  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  angel,  and  serve  as 
a  medium  by  which  to  judge  of  several  other  things. 

The  "  earthquake"  must,  I  conceive,  denote  a  revolution,  as  this  is  the  ap- 

*  See  President  Edwards  on  Agreement  in  Extraordinary  Prayer. 


252  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

propriate  and  well-known  symbol  of  such  an  event.  The  "city"  is  doubt- 
less the  same  as  that  which  in  the  8th  verse  is  "  spiritually  called  Sodom  and 
Egypt;"  that  is,  the  Romish  church,  or  the  Apocalyptic  Babylon.  By  "a 
tenth  part"  of  it  must  be  understood  a  considerable  portion  of  it,  and  very 
probably  a  part  belonging  to  one  of  the  ten  horns,  or  kingdoms,  into  which 
the  empire  under  its  papal  form  was  to  be  divided.  By  "  the  names  of  men," 
Dr.  Goodwin  and  others  have  understood  titles  or  orders  of  men,  and  sup 
posed  that  the  revolution  signified  by  the  earthquake  would  destroy  them. 
Or  if  the  phrase  denote,  as  some  have  understood  it,  men  of  name,  it  would 
signify  the  destruction  made  among  the  higher  orders,  and  which  would  of 
course  be  accompanied  with  great  slaughter  among  the  common  people. 
"The  remnant  that  were  affrighted  and  gave  glory  to  God"  would  denote 
those  of  the  same  community  who  escaped,  and  whose  fears  would  forebode 
other  examples  of  the  Divine  justice. 

What  event  is  there  during  the  12G0  years  of  antichristian  usurpation 
which  answers  to  these  characters  ?  It  has  been  understood  of  the  fall  ot 
the  Greek  church  in  1453,  when  Constantinople  was  taken  by  the  Turks : 
but  that  event  has  been  described  in  the  vision  of  the  horsemen  (chap,  ix.)  ; 
and  it  is  the  western  or  Latin  church  that  occupies  the  whole  of  these  chap- 
ters. It  were  much  better  to  understand  it  of  the  ft\lling  off  of  the  northern 
nations  from  the  see  of  Rome,  which  was  an  immediate  consequence  of  the 
Reformation.  Its  being  "in  the  same  hour"  with  the  resurrection  of  the 
witnesses  would  favour  this  interpretation,  but  in  several  other  particulars  it 
does  not  agree.  No  reason  can  be  given  why  the  seceding  northern  nations 
should  be  called  "  a  teiith  part  of  the  city ;"  nor  do  any  events  which 
attended  the  Reformation  appear  to  correspond  with  the  slaughter  of"  seven 
thousand  names  of  men."  If  the  tenth  part  of  the  city  fell  as  early  as  the 
Reformation,  the  seventh  angel  must  have  sounded  his  trumpet  "quickly" 
after  it;  and  this  some  writers  who  believed  the  former  have  very  consistently 
maintained,  conceiving  also  that  the  Millennium  commenced,  or  would  com- 
mence, towards  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  But  surely  we  must 
allow  that  events  have  contradicted  this  explication.  The  character  of  the 
seventh  trumpet  is,  that  under  it  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  were  to  become 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ ;  but  the  nations  which  have 
fallen  off  from  the  papal  see  have  not  answered  to  this  description,  but  have 
rather  sunk  into  formality  and  irreligion.  And  as  to  the  Millennium,  one  of 
its  characters  is,  that  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  shall  first  have  gone 
into  perdition,  and  Satan  be  bound ;  but  neither  of  these  has  taken  place. 
It  is  also  in  the  Millennium,  if  ever,  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  cessation  of 
war,  and  the  universal  prevalence  of  true  religion,  both  among  Jews  and 
Gentiles,  neither  of  which  has  yet  come  to  pass. 

All  things  considered,  I  know  of  no  event  that  seems  to  correspond  so 
well  with  the  prophecy  as  the  late  revolution  in  France.  Thus  it  has  been 
understood  by  some  of  the  ablest  expositors,  and  that  for  ages  prior  to  the 
event.  A  writer  in  the  Eclectic  Rcviao  has  collected  no  fewer  than  ten 
of  them  who  have  referred  to  this  event,  and  that  long  before  it  occurred, 
and  several  of  them  in  commenting  on  the  passage.  Among  these  are  the 
names  of  Dr.  Thomas  Goodwin,  and  Vitringa.  Dr.  Goodwin,  who  wrote 
in  1639,  says,  "  By  the  tenth  part  of  the  city,  I  understand,  as  Mr.  Bright- 
man  before  me,  some  one  tenth  part  of  Europe."  "  I  think  it  probable  that 
France  may  be  this  country ;  and  that  in  this  revolution  men  will  be  de- 
prived of  their  names  and  titles,  which  are  to  be  rooted  out  for  ever,  and 
condemned  to  perpetual  forgetfulness."  "  France  may  have  the  honour  to 
have  the  last  great  stroke  in  the  ruining  of  Rome.  And  this  figurative 
earthquake,  though  happening  only  in  one  country,  may  extend  its  effects  to 


SLAYING  OF  THE  WITNESSES.  253 

Others,  so  that  a  great  shaking  of  states,  as  well  political  as  ecclesiastical, 
may  be  intended." 

ViTRiNGA,  who  wrote  in  1719,  asks,  "  What  can  be  more  suitable  than  to 
understand  here  by  the  teiith  part  of  the  city  some  illustrious  kingdom, 
which,  being  under  the  dominion  of  Rome  with  respect  to  religion,  was  of 
distinguished  rank  among  the  ten  kingdoms,  and  had  hitherto  defended  the 
Romish  superstitions?  It  is  here  said,  in  a  figurative  sense,  that  it  would 
fall,  since  by  means  of  those  mighty  commotions  by  which  it  was  to  be 
shaken  it  would  be  torn  from  the  body  of  the  antichristian  empire."  "  France 
may  be  the  forum  of  the  great  city."  "  The  earthquake  in  this  tenth  part 
of  the  city  is  an  event  which  history  must  illustrate.  It  is  not  perfectly  clear 
from  the  prophecy  of  what  kind  these  commotions  are;  whether  warlike, 
such  as  are  wont  to  shake  the  world,  and  subvert  the  existing  government, 
or  whether  they  are  such  as  arise  on  a  sudden  from  the  insurrection  of  a 
nation  that  has  been  long  oppressed  :  the  words  of  the  prophecy  appear  to 
favour  the  latter  sense.  In  the  predicted  catastrophe  some  thousands  will 
undoubtedly  perish  distinguished  by  their  elevated  dignities  or  nobility  of 
birth." — Eclectic  Review  for  February,  1814. 

Dr.  Gill,  in  1748,  speaking  of  the  earthquake,  says,  "  Something  yet  to 
come  is  here  intended;"  and  "1  rather  think  the  kingdom  of  France  is  meant, 
the  last  of  the  ten  kingdoms  which  rose  up  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  Roman 
empire."  And  in  his  note  on  chap.  xiii.  18,  he  speaks  of  the  destruction  of 
antichrist  as  "  quickly  following  the  downfall  of  the  kingdom  o^  France,  as 
the  tenth  part  of  the  city,  which  should  fall  a  little  before  the  third  woe  came 
on." 

The  revolution  in  France  has  been  truly  a  moral  earthquake,  which  has 
shaken  the  papal  world  to  its  centre.  One  of  the  ten  kingdoms  which  com- 
posed it,  and  that  the  principal  one,  has  so  fallen  as  at  present  to  be  rather 
a  scourge  than  a  support  to  it.  If  by  names  of  men  be  meant  titles,  they  were 
abolished ;  or  if  7ncn  of  name,  the  slaughter  predicted  of  them  certainly  cor- 
responds with  the  calamities  which  befell  the  princes,  the  nobles,  and  the 
priests,  during  that  awful  period ;  and  as  the  fall  of  a  few  thousands  of  great 
men  would  involve  that  of  an  immense  number  of  the  common  people,  such 
has  been  the  effect  in  this  instance.  Whether  the  remaining  adherents  to 
the  papal  cause  have  given  "glory  to  God"  in  the  manner  they  ought,  or 
not,  they  have  felt  his  hand,  and  by  their  fear  and  dismay  have  been  com- 
pelled to  yield  a  sort  of  involuntary  acknowledgment  of  his  justice. 

The  only  objection  that  I  feel  to  this  application  of  the  prophecy  is,  that  it 
is  said  to  be  "in  the  same  hour"  as  that  in  which  the  witnesses  ascended 
into  heaven,  which,  if  understood  of  that  legal  security  which  from  the 
Reformation  was  afforded  to  the  protestants  against  popish  persecution,  may 
seem  to  be  at  too  great  a  distance  for  such  a  mode  of  expression.  It  is  how- 
ever not  only  under  the  same  trumpet,  but  during  the  period  in  irhich  the 
imtnesses  continue  to  enjoy  that  security  to  2vhich  they  were  then  introduced, 
that  this  event  has  occurred.  Instead  of  the  great  Babylonish  city  recover- 
ing itself  so  as  to  renew  its  persecutions  against  the  witnesses,  it  is  itself 
smitten  of  God  as  by  an  earthquake  and  in  a  measure  overthrown.  If  the 
opinions  of  Goodwin,  Vitringa,  and  Gill  be  correct,  and  if  the  events 
which  have  of  late  years  occurred  be  the  accomplishment  of  them,  the  last 
of  these  writers  must  have  been  mistaken  in  supposing  the  slaying  of  the 
witnesses  to  be  something  future ;  for  the  fall  of  the  city  is  placed  after  the 
slaying  and  rising  again  of  the  witnesses.  If  therefore  the  one  be  now  past, 
60  is  the  other. 

Y 


251 


EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


DISCOURSE  XV. 


THE    FIRST    GENERAL   DESCRIPTION    CONCLUDED  ;    OR   THE    SOUNDING    OF    THE 

SEVENTH    ANGEL. 

Rev.  vi.  14-19. 

After  the  great  earthquake,  we  hear  as  it  were  the  cry  of  the  watchman, 
telling  us  the  hour  of  the  night — "  The  second  woe  is  past,  and  behold  the 
third  woe  cometh  quickly!"  When  the  first  woe  was  past,  the  second 
and  third  woes  were  to  come  hereafter;  but  between  the  last  two  there  would 
be  but  a  short  space.  As  things  should  approach  to  a  crisis,  events  would 
occur  in  a  more  rapid  succession. 

This  second  woe,  as  it  introduced  the  Turkish  horsemen,  (chap.  ix.  13-19,) 
must  have  commenced  about  1281,  and  (if  the  falling  of  a  tenth  part  of  the 
city  has  been  rightly  interpreted)  ended  about  1791.  Its  having  commenced 
with  the  introduction  of  the  Turks  does  not  prove  that  it  comprehended 
them  only,  nor  that  it  must  needs  end  with  the  passing  away  of  their  empire. 
On  the  contrary,  the  accomplishment  of  their  overthrow  seems  to  be  reserved 
for  the  sixth  vial  of  the  third  woe-trumpet,  which  will  be  poured  upon  the 
Euphrates,  near  the  times  of  the  Millennium. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  how  is  it  that  the  sounding  of  the  trumpets  should 
be  introduced  in  this  place?  If  this  and  the  three  following  chapters  con- 
tain general  descriptions  of  the  papal  apostacy,  including  the  times  of  various 
trumpets,  but  not  divided  by  them,  how  is  it  that  in  the  midst  of  one  of  these 
descriptions  mention  should  be  made  of  the  second  woe  ending,  and  of  the 
third  woe  coming  quickly?  I  answer,  Though  these  general  descriptions  are 
not  divided  by  trumpets,  yet,  as  they  comprehend  the  times  of  the  trumpets, 
each  of  them  might  have  been  so,  and,  for  our  information,  one  of  them 
actually  is  so.  And  as  the  termination  of  the  sixth  and  the  sounding  of 
the  seventh  trumpet  forms  an  era  in  the  church  of  Christ,  it  is  here  marked 
with  peculiar  emphasis.  It  is  from  this  era,  as  we  shall  find,  that,  after  these 
three  general  descriptions  are  given,  the  series  of  the  prophecy  is  resumed, 
and  the  vials  are  introduced. 

But  if  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  angel  forms  an  era  in  the  Christian 
church,  it  requires  that  we  pause,  and  pay  particular  attention  to  it. 

The  events  of  this  trumpet  were  anticipated  by  the  angel  at  the  distance 
probably  of  more  than  a  thousand  years,  when  he  forbade  the  seven  thunders 
to  be  written — "The  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  should 
begin  to  sound,"  are  marked  as  the  period  when  the  great  designs  of  Heaven, 
foretold  in  prophecy,  should  be  accomplished,  chap.  x. 

The  contents  of  this  trumpet  are  of  deeper  interest  than  any  that  have 
preceded  it,  both  to  the  enemies  of  the  church  and  to  the  church  itself.  It 
wears  a  twofold  aspect.  Towards  the  enemies  of  the  church  it  is  a  tme- 
trumpet,  and  a  signal  of  mighty  vengeance;  towards  the  church  itself  it  is  a 
harbinger  of  joy,  a  kind  of /«6«7ce-trumpet,  announcing  the  year  of  enlarge- 
ment; for  when  the  "seventh  angel  sounded,  there  were  great  voices  in 
heaven,  saying,  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever!"  Under 
the  former  of  these  aspects  it  includes  the  seven  last  plagues,  which  are  but 
so  many  subdivisions  of  it,  and  which  are,  I  conceive,  the  execution  of  the 
seven  thunders  in  chap.  x.     These  thunders,  it  is  observable,  are  not  only 


SOUNDING  OF  THE  SEVENTH  ANGEL.  255 

referred  to  "  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,"  but  to  those  in 
which  he  should  "  begin  to  sound,"  that  is,  to  the  early  part  of  them.  Under 
the  latter  aspect  it  comprehends  all  the  success  of  the  gospel  previous  to  and 
during  the  Millennium,  with  all  the  glorious  results  of  it  as  described  in  the 
remainder  of  the  prophecy.  We  are  not  to  consider  it,  however,  under 
either  of  these  aspects  as  being  more  than  a  signal  of  things  tvhich  are  to 
folloic.  As  the  vengeance  will  not  all  be  poured  forth  at  once,  so  neither 
will  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  at  once  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  of  his  Christ ;  but  from  the  sounding  of  this  trumpet  both  shall  have  a 
commencement,  and  both  be  singularly  progressive  under  it. 

With  respect  to  the  time,  if  the  application  of  the  "  earthquake,  and  the 
falling  of  a  tenth  part  of  the  city"  to  events  which  have  occurred  within  the 
last  twenty  years  be  just,  there  can  be  little  if  any  doubt  of  the  seventh 
angel's  having  sounded  his  trumpet  within  that  period,  and  of  the  whole  of 
these  verses  containing  a  general  view  of  the  state  of  things  from  our  times 
to  the  commencement  of  the  Millennium. 

On  this  occasion  the  heavenly  chorus  strikes  up.  The  four-and-twenty 
elders,  who  sit  before  God  on  their  seats,  fall  upon  their  faces  and  worship 
God.  This  heavenly  chorus  is  not  introduced  on  ordinary  occasions.  Things 
must  therefore  be  pending  of  deep  interest  to  the  church  of  God.  By  the 
matter  of  the  song  we  may  learn  something  of  what  they  are.  Correspond- 
ing with  the  twofold  aspect  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  those  who  have  destroyed 
the  earth  are  to  be  destroyed,  and  those  who  have  suffered  for  Christ  are  to 
be  rewarded 

The  character  under  which  the  Most  High  is  praised — "  the  Lord  God 
Almighty,  who  is,  and  was,  and  is  to  come" — seems  to  imply  that  he  could 
have  suppressed  the  power  of  his  enemies  at  any  time  ;  that  though,  for  wise 
reasons,  he  had  not  for  ages  past  exerted  his  strength,  yet  now  he  was  about 
to  "take  unto  him  his  great  power,  and  to  reign;"  and  that  all  this  is  the 
result  of  his  immutable  counsels. 

The  "anger"  of  the  nations  had  been  great  both  against  God  and  his 
servants,  opposing  him,  and  persecuting  them  with  unrelenting  cruelty  :  but 
now  his  wrath  is  come;  now  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of  past  ages  shall  be 
avenged  (chap,  xviii.  20) ;  now  their  labours  and  sufferings  shall  produce 
their  effects;  from  the  seed  which  has  been  sown  during  a  succession  of 
centuries  in  tears  and  blood  a  harvest  of  joy  will  spring  up;  finally,  those 
who  by  persecutions,  corruptions,  and  unjust  wars  have  destroyed  the  earth, 
shall  now  be  themselves  destroyed. 

Under  the  image  of  opening  the  heavenly  temple  seems  to  be  set  forth  the 
glorious  state  of  the  church  when  these  judgments  shall  be  executed  upon 
her  enemies.  As  the  temple  was  polluted  and  shut  up  under  certain  idola- 
trous reigns,  and  opened  in  times  of  reformation,  so  the  gospel  temple  has 
been  treated  under  the  reign  of  antichrist,  and  so  it  shall  be  restored  at  or 
towards  the  end  of  the  1260  years.  "  The  ark  of  the  testament  being  seen" 
implies  the  removal  of  the  veil ;  and  as  it  was  not  to  be  seen  in  the  second 
temple,  but  only  in  the  first,  its  being  seen  here  would  seem  to  denote  the 
restoration  of  pure  primitive  Christianity,  as  it  was  taught,  believed,  and 
practised  when  the  gospel  temple  was  first  erected.  "  The  lightnings,  voices, 
thunderings,  earthquake,  and  hail,"  are  the  same  things  which  are  described 
under  the  seventh  vial,  chap.  xvi.  18-21.  Both  refer  to  the  same  events; 
only  this  is  general,  and  that  more  particular;  and  as  there  the  language 
seems  to  refer  to  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  of  the  spiritual  judgments 
on  those  who  reject  it — purifying  the  moral  atmosphere  of  the  world — such 
appears  to  be  its  meaning  here. 


256  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


DISCOURSE  XVI. 

THE  SECOND  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  ;    OR    THE    GREAT    RED  DRAGON,  AND   THE 
WOMAN    FLYING    INTO    THE    WILDERNESS. 

Rev.  xii.  1-6. 

The  first  general  description,  it  has  been  observed,  took  up  the  apostacy 
at  the  time  when  tilings  were  so  matured  that  the  catholic  church  was 
ordered  to  be  left  out  of  God's  temple,  as  not  belonging  to  it ;  but  this 
appears  to  trace  it  to  its  origin.  Here  we  go  back  to  an  early  period  of 
history ;  possibly  as  far  as  to  the  fourth  century,  and  to  the  times  of  some 
of  the  first  trumpets.  At  a  time  when  the  church  was  in  danger  of  being 
lost  in  superstition  and  worldly  conformity,  it  was  natural  for  the  faithful  to 
feel  anxious  for  the  cause  of  Christ  For  their  encouragement,  the  church 
is  described  in  vision  as  bearing  a  seed  which  should  be  preserved  by  the 
special  care  of  Heaven,  through  all  these  evil  times,  and  become  in  the  end 
victorious  over  the  whole  earth.  Such  appears  to  be  the  scope  of  this  second 
general  description. 

Prior  to  the  introduction  of  antichristian  corruptions,  the  church  is 
described  as  "  a  woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  and  having  the  moon  under 
her  feet,  and  upon  her  head  a  crown  of  twelve  stars;"  denoting  the  pleni- 
tude of  gospel  light  which  compassed  her  as  a  garment;  her  superiority  to 
the  Jewish  dispensation;  and,  in  consequence  of  her  adherence  to  the  doc- 
trine and  examples  of  the  apostles,  her  triumph  over  ten  successive  perse- 
cutions. 

The  woman  is  said  to  be  "  with  child,  travailing  in  birth,  and  pained  to 
be  delivered ;"  denoting,  it  may  be,  the  earnest  desires  of  the  true  church 
after  the  increase  of  believers.  Such  has  always  been  its  character.  Worldly 
men  who  have  taken  upon  them  the  Christian  name  have  invariably  been 
employed  in  compassing  selfish  objects  But  true  Christians  have  at  all 
times  been  distinguished  by  a  desire  to  extend  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

The  following  description,  by  Eusebius,  of  the  labours  of  the  immediate 
successors  of  the  apostles,  is  doubtless  applicable  to  the  church  so  long  as  it 
adhered  to  their  doctrine  and  example.  "  They  built  up  those  churches  the 
foundations  of  which  were  laid  by  the  apostles,  promoting  greatly  the  doc- 
trine of  the  gospel,  and  scattering  the  salutary  seed  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
at  large  over  the  whole  world. — Travelling  abroad,  they  performed  the  work 
of  evangelists  to  those  who  as  yet  had  not  heard  the  word  of  faith,  being 
very  ambitious  to  preach  Christ,  and  to  deliver  the  books  of  the  Divine 
Gospels.  And  these  persons  having  only  laid  the  foundation  of  fiiith  in 
remote  and  barbarous  places,  and  constituted  other  pastors,  committed  to 
them  the  culture  of  those  they  had  perfectly  introduced  to  the  faith,  depart- 
ing again  to  other  regions  and  nations,  accompanied  with  the  grace  and  co- 
operation of  God."— Lib.  HI.  c.  37 

While  the  woman  is  thus  in  labour,  "  behold  a  great  red  dragon,  having 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  seven  crowns  upon  his  heads,  whose  tail 
drew  the  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  did  cast  them  to  the  earth, 
stands  before  her,  ready  to  devour  her  child  as  soon  as  it  was  born."  The 
dragon  is  in  ver.  9  expressly  called  "  the  devil  and  Satan  who  deceiveth  the 
whole  woild,"  and  all  that  is  said  of  him  in  the  remainder  of  the  prophecy 
agrees  with  this  in  its  literal  application  ;  but,  by  his  having  the  heads  and 


THE  WOMAN  AND  THE  DRAGON.  257 

horns  of  the  Roman  beast,  is  intimated  that  it  was  under  this  form,  or  by 
means  of  this  government,  that  he  did  what  he  did  in  the  present  instance. 

As  the  woman  is  not  an  individual,  but  the  society  of  the  faithful,  so 
neither  is  the  man-child  an  individual,  but  the  woman's  seed,  which,  in  ver. 
17,  is  explained  of  them  who  "keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  have 
the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ."  It  was  this  seed  that  the  dragon  aimed  by 
persecution  and  corruption  to  destroy.  This  child  was  horn  to  rule :  not 
however  at  present ;  for  if  so,  there  had  been  no  need  of  his  being  caught 
up  to  the  throne  of  God,  nor  for  his  mother's  flying  into  the  wilderness  for 
1200  years.  It  is  at  the  termination  of  that  period  that  the  man-child,  or  the 
seed  of  the  church,  shall  rule ;  and  this  accords  with  Dan.  vii.  27,  "  The 
kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole 
heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."  Nor 
need  it  be  objected  that  the  sceptre  of  this  govennnent  is  a  rod  of  iron ;  for 
such  the  kingdom  of  Christ  must  ever  be  to  the  ungodly. 

There  are  two  marks  by  which  the  times  referred  to  in  this  vision  may, 
if  I  mistake  not,  be  ascertained.  One  is  the  1260  days,  or  years,  which, 
being  the  appropriate  number  of  the  reign  of  the  papal  antichrist,  proves  it 
to  have  no  reference  to  the  times  of  paganism.  The  other  is,  that  the  ten 
horns  are  not  upon  the  beast,  but  upon  the  dragon,  and  the  crowns  are  not 
as  yet  upon  them,  but  upon  the  seven  heads.  When  the  horns  are  spoken 
of  in  reference  to  the  times  following  the  overthrow  of  the  empire  by  the 
northern  nations,  and  of  its  becoming  ten  independent  kingdoms,  they  are 
described  as  being  upon  the  beast,  and  as  having  crowns  upon  them,  chap. 
xiii.  1.  This  indicates  that  the  introduction  of  the  vision  contained  in 
the  first  five  verses  of  this  chapter,  though  it  does  not  go  so  far  back  as  to 
the  days  of  paganism,  yet  neither  does  it  go  so  far  forward  as  to  the  times 
of  popery  ;  but  to  those  which  were  intermediate  and  preparatori/,  namely, 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  in  which  Christianity  became  exceedingly 
corrupt,  and  a  connexion  was  introduced  between  the  secular  and  eccle- 
siastical powers  which  issued  in  what  is  exhibited  in  chap,  xvii.,  a  woman 
riding  upon  a  scarlet-coloured  beast!  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  1260 
years  of  the  reign  of  antichrist  are  to  be  reckoned  from  the  time  when 
these  corruptions  began.  Antichrist  did  not  commence  his  reign  from  his 
birth;  but  thence  his  way  was  preparing.  It  is  of  what  was  done  prior  to 
the  woman's  flight  into  the  wilderness  for  1260  years  that  these  verses  speak. 
By  the  accession  of  Constantine,  the  beast  was  "  as  it  were  wounded  to 
death  ;"  and  this  may  be  the  reason  why  no  mention  is  made  of  him.  Under 
the  Christian  emperors  the  beast  for  some  time  would  lie  apparently  dead : 
the  dragon,  however,  "  that  old  serpent  the  devil  and  Satan,  who  deceiveth 
the  whole  world,"  knew  how  even  at  that  time  to  make  use  of  the  pomp  and 
power  of  the  empire  to  serve  his  purposes. 

It  is  in  the  corruptions  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  that  we  are  to  look 
for  the  origin  of  popery.  It  was  by  the  influx  of  worldly  power  and  glory 
into  the  church  that  Satan  first  seduced  a  great  part  of  those  who  had  shone 
like  stars  in  the  Christian  firmament,  and  (alluding  perhaps  to  his  having 
originally  drawn  into  apostacy  a  great  part  of  the  angels  of  heaven)  cast 
them  to  the  earth.  But  perceiving,  notu-ithstanding  what  had  been  done  as 
to  a  number  of  the  leaders  of  the  church,  that  a  large  body  of  the  faitiiful 
were  still  intent  on  not  only  preserving,  but  extending  the  Redeemer's  king- 
dom, the  dragon  aims  to  destroy  the  fruits  of  their  labours.  When  he  saw 
that  the  bait  of  worldly  pomp  and  power  had  so  far  succeeded  as  to  draw  the 
principal  men  into  his  net,  it  was  doubtless  his  object  to  make  a  full  end  of 
the  church  of  Christ.  But  he  was  disappointed.  The  woman  "  brought  forth 
a  man-child,  who,  in  the  end,  would  rule  all  nations  as  with  a  rod  of  iron  " 

Vol.  III.— 33  y  2 


258  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

By  the  woman's  flying  into  the  wilderness  seems  to  be  meant  her  retiring 
into  obscurity,  where  she  would  exist  without  legal  protection,  in  some  such 
manner  as  David  did  when  he  fled  from  the  persecutions  of  Saul,  and  with- 
out any  other  defence  than  that  which  was  afforded  by  the  shielding  provi- 
dence of  God.  In  this  way  the  true  church  existed  in  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  from  the  time  that  popery  first  obtained  the  ascendency,  and  during 
the  long  period  of  its  domination.  Wherever  this  religion  prevailed,  all 
those  Christians  who  refused  to  yield  to  its  corruptions  were  driven  into 
obscurity.  It  was  thus  not  only  in  those  countries  bordering  upon  Italy,  but 
in  others  at  the  greatest  distance.  It  is  thought  by  some  to  have  been  thus 
with  the  British  churches  in  Wales,  with  the  Culdces  in  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land, and  probably  with  every  other  body  of  Christians  where  this  influence 
extended.  Many  of  them  were  so  pursued  by  persecution,  that,  if  they  had 
any  communion  with  each  other,  it  was  in  a  secret  way.  If  they  met  to 
worship  God,  it  must  be  in  the  night,  in  woods,  or  mountains,  or  caves  of 
the  earth.  So  little  visibility  belonged  to  the  church  in  this  state,  that  it 
requires  some  attention  to  ascertain  where  it  was  to  be  found.  To  the  ques- 
tion, however,  "Where  was  your  church  before  Luther?"  we  may  answer, 
In  the  wilderness,  where  prophecy  has  placed  her,  and  whither  those  who 
ask  the  question  had  driven  her.  If  one  place  was  more  distinguished  than 
another  as  affording  a  shelter  to  the  faithful,  it  teas  among  the  mountains  and 
valleys  of  the  Alps. 

It  may  be  difficult  to  decide  upon  the  time  when  the  woman  fled  into  the 
wilderness.  This,  however,  we  know,  that  very  soon  after  the  revolution  by 
the  accession  of  Constantine  corruptions  in  doctrine,  divisions,  intrigues, 
persecutions,  and  a  flood  of  superstition,  overspread  the  catholic  church.* 

In  such  a  state  of  things  true  Christians  must  not  only  be  offended,  but 
must  become  offensive  to  others,  and  so  be  persecuted,  and  compelled  to 
retire  as  into  the  wilderness. 

The  ancient  Vaiidois  are  said  to  "  date  their  origin  from  the  beginning 
of  the  fourth  century;  when  one  Leo,  at  the  great  revolution  in  religion 
under  Constantine  the  Great,  opposed  the  innovations  of  Sylvester,  bishop 
of  Rome.  This  agrees  with  what  was  said  by  Rainerius,  a  monk  inquisitor 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  that  they  were  the  most  pernicious  of  all  sects,  for 
three  reasons.  1.  "  Because  it  is  the  most  ancient.  Some  aver  their  exist- 
ence (says  he)  from  the  days  of  Sylvester,  others  from  the  very  times  of  the 
apostles.  2.  Because  it  is  so  universal;  for  there  is  hardly  a  country  into 
which  this  sect  has  not  crept.     3.  Because  all  others  render  themselves  de- 

*  We  may  see  into  what  a  gulf  of  superstitious  imposture  the  catholic  church  was  sunk 
within  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Constantine,  by  the  following  story,  taken  from  Dr. 
Allix.  Sulpicius  Severus,  who  lived  early  in  the  fifth  century,  wrote  The  Life  of  a  St. 
Martin  of  Tours,  who  had  lived  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth.  In  writing  this  life,  Sul- 
picius speaks  of  a  certain  altar,  which  the  popular  superstition  had  rendered  famous,  because 
some  martyr  was  pretended  to  have  been  buried  in  the  place.  "  St.  Martin  not  being  able 
to  make  any  certain  discovery  of  the  name  of  the  martyr,  and  the  circumstances  of  his  suf- 
ferings, and  being  loth  absolutely  to  doubt  the  truth  of  it,  thought  fit  himself  to  go  to  thi8 
famous  sepulchre  in  company  with  some  of  his  brethren.  Being  come  to  the  place,  he  ear- 
nestly begged  of  God  to  reveal  to  him  the  name  and  merit  of  the  martyr.  After  this,  turn- 
ing himself  towards  the  left,  he  saw  standing  a  hideous  ghost.  They  command  him  to 
declare  himself.  The  ghost  obeys,  tells  his  name,  confesses  that  he  had  been  executed  for 
robbery,  that  it  was  only  the  error  of  the  people  that  caused  him  to  be  canonized,  that  he 
was  in  nothing  like  the  martyrs,  they  were  in  glory,  whereas  he  was  in  pain.  The  good  St. 
Martin,  being  troul)led  to  hear  this  account,  caused  the  altar  to  be  carried  to  another  place, 
and  so,  says  his  biographer,  delivered  the  people  from  a  superstitious  error." 

The  same  Sulpiciiis  Severus,  though  a  monk  himself,  yet  speaking  of  the  monks  of  his 
time,  says,  "They  do  almost  all  things  in  such  a  manner  that  you  would  not  so  much  think 
they  had  repented  for  their  former  crimes,  as  that  afterwards  they  had  repented  of  their 
repentance !" 


MICHAEL  AND  THE  DRAGON.  259 

testable  by  their  blasphemies;  but  this  has  a  great  appearance  of  godliness, 
living  a  righteous  life  before  men,  believing  right  concerning  God,  confess- 
ing all  the  articles  of  the  creed,  only  hating  and  reviling  the  church  of 
Rome." 


DISCOURSE  XVII. 


THE    SECOND    GENERAL    DESCRIPTION    CONTINUED;    OR    THE    WAR    BETWEEN 
MICHAEL    AND    THE    DRAGON. 

Rev.  xii.  7-17. 

Ver.  7-12.  The  dragon,  having  driven  the  true  church  into  the  wilder- 
ness, is  supposed  to  have  carried  things  in  his  own  way  amongst  the  rest. 
At  a  certain  period,  however,  during  her  12G0  years'  residence  in  the  wil- 
derness, Michael  her  prince  espoused  her  cause,  and  makes  war  upon  the 
dragon. 

There  is  no  doubt  a  reference  in  this  part  of  the  prophecy  to  what  was 
predicted  in  Dan.  x.  13-21 ;  xii.  1.  Michael  is  there  described  not  only  as 
standing  up  for  the  people  of  God  under  Persian  oppression,  but  as  fighting 
the  battles  of  the  church  in  later  ages,  even  during  the  "  time,  times,  and 
half  a  time,"  or  during  the  dominion  of  antichrist. 

The  account  given  of  Michael  agrees  not  only  with  the  character  of  a 
created  angel,  but  with  that  of  Messiah  the  Prince,  who  defends  his  church 
against  the  dragon,  "  that  old  serpent  the  devil."  Each  has  his  angels,  who 
perhaps  are  the  visible  agents  in  the  war.  But,  before  we  determine  the 
application  of  this  part  of  the  vision,  it  will  be  proper  to  notice  a  few  of  its 
general  characters. 

First,  The  scene  is  laid  in  "  heaven."  Yet  in  this  heaven  there  is  sup- 
posed till  now  to  have  been  a  place  found  for  the  dragon.  It  could  not  there- 
fore be  in  the  church  above,  where  there  has  been  no  place  for  him  since  he 
"  left  his  first  estate."  But  in  the  church  below  there  has.  The  latter  there- 
fore must  have  been  the  scene  of  the  present  contest. 

Secondly,  The  war  is  made  by  Michael  on  the  dragon,  and  not  by  the 
dragon  on  Michael.  This  intimates  that  it  must  have  been  at  a  time  when 
the  dragon  possessed  such  a  plenitude  of  power  in  what  was  called  the 
Christian  church,  that  his  object  was  not  to  extend  so  much  as  to  retain  it. 

Thirdly,  Whatever  of  worldly  power  and  policy  might  accompany  the 
war,  the  war  itself  was  spiritual.  It  was  a  war  between  truth  and  error, 
righteousness  and  unrighteousness ;  for  the  victors  "  overcame  by  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the  word  of  their  testimony." 

Fourthlif,  It  is  supposed  that  in  this  great  struggle  many  of  Michael's 
adherents  would  lose  their  lives,  but  that  nevertheless  they  would  overcome. 
The  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  would  prevail,  and  those  who  suffered 
for  Christ's  sake  would  bear  such  a  testimony  for  truth,  and  obtain  such  a 
victory  over  the  world,  as  to  be  more  than  conquerors. 

Such  are  the  characters  of  the  war:  to  what  event  during  the  1260  years 
of  antichristian  usurpation  does  it  apply  1  I  can  conceive  of  none  but  the 
Rcformatimi  in  the  sixteenth  centuri/.  Satan,  as  ruling  by  means  of  Rome, 
was  then  attacked,  and  cast  out  of  those  nations  where  the  Reformation  pre- 
vailed ;  which  nations,  being  the  seat  of  Christ's  visible  kingdom,  are  accounted 
as  "  heaven,"  while  those  which  still  cleave  to  the  apostacy  are  "  the  earth." 


260  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

A  song  of  the  heavenly  host  is  introduced  on  this  occasion  ;  for  the  "  loud 
voice"  (ver.  10)  does  not  appear  to  be  that  of  an  individual,  but  of  a  multi- 
tude, who  join  as  with  one  voice  in  a  shout  of  joy  and  praise.  It  fits  the 
lips  of  the  holy  army  of  martyrs  before  the  throne,  who,  feeling  for  their 
brethren  upon  earth,  rejoice  in  their  having  obtained  a  portion  of  relief  As 
Satan  accused  Job,  and  obtained  permission  of  God  to  persecute  him,  so, 
by  the  agency  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  he  had  from  century  to  century 
accused  and  persecuted  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  But  now  were  come 
"  salvation  and  strength,  and  the  kingdom  of  our  God,  and  the  power  of 
his  Christ;  for  the  accuser  of  our  brethren,"  say  they,  "is  cast  down,  that 
accused  them  to  our  God  day  and  night."  The  Reformation  was  at  once 
a  pledge  of  antichrist's  consumption,  and  of  the  increase  of  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom. 

The  weapons  by  which  the  victory  was  obtained  are  celebrated  by  the 
heavenly  host,  and  are  worthy  of  our  special  attention.  Some  of  the  followers 
of  Christ  among  the  Albigenses,  the  Bohemians,  and  the  Reformers  thought 
it  necessary  to  take  arms,  and  fight  for  their  religion ;  but  it  has  proved,  I 
believe,  in  almost  every  instance,  that  where  a  body  of  Christians  have  taken 
the  sword  to  defend  themselves  against  persecution,  they  as  a  body  have 
perished  by  the  sword.  Whatever  of  this  spirit  there  might  be  amongst  the 
Reformers,  it  was  not  by  this,  but  by  "  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  the  word 
of  their  testimony,"  that  they  overcame. 

The  "  heavens,"  from  which  the  dragon  is  cast  out,  are  called  upon  to 
rejoice,  while  a  woe  is  pronounced  upon  the  inhabiters  of  "the  earth  and  of 
the  sea,"  or  those  continental  and  maritime  nations  where  he  still  dwelleth, 
and  to  which  his  influence  is  in  one  sense  confined.  The  power  of  Satan 
in  this  way,  being  reduced  to  narrower  limits,  would  be  the  more  mischie- 
vous within  those  limits.  He  would  consider  the  Reformation  as  only  a 
first  step  towards  the  overthrow  of  a  system  by  which,  under  the  Christian 
name,  he  had  deceived  mankind  with  equal  facility  as  by  the  delusions  of 
heathenism.  Knowing  therefore  that  his  time  was  short,  he  would  be  the 
more  a'ssiduous  in  improving  it.  The  denunciation  wears  a  terrible  aspect 
towards  those  nations  which,  notwithstanding  all  the  light  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, still  cleave  to  the  apostacy.  It  may  be  equal  to  saying.  Woe  unto  you, 
Austria,  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy ;  for  the  devil  is  come  down 
unto  you,  having  great  wrath,  because  he  knoweth  that  he  hath  but  a  short 
time! — From  this  language  it  might  be  expected  that,  in  those  countries 
which  rejected  the  Reformation,  popery  would  operate  so  as  either,  by  pro- 
ducing its  proper  eflTect,  to  lead  its  votaries  into  downright  infidelity,  or,  by 
riveting  the  delusion,  to  render  them  more  and  more  the  dupes  of  impos- 
ture. And  thus  it  has  actually  operated :  the  nations  which  still  cleave  to 
it  are  nearly  divided  into  two  classes,  the  deceivers  and  the  deceived ;  the 
former  of  which  appear  to  be  the  destined  instruments  of  Heaven  in  destroy- 
ing the  latter,  and  so  of  executing  the  vials  of  God's  displeasure  upon  them. 

Ver.  13-17.  The  wrath  of  the  dragon,  for  having  been  cast  out  of  heaven, 
is  directed  against  not  only  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  own  subjects,  but  tlie 
lives  of  those  Christians  who  were  situated  within  his  territories.  The 
friends  of  Christ  in  popish  countries  have  since  the  Reformation  been  per- 
secuted with  increased  violence.  In  the  ordinary  measures  of  legal  process, 
persecution  has  indeed  diminished ;  it  has  in  a  manner  been  shamed  out  of 
countenance  by  the  prevalence  of  tolerant  principles ;  but  the  more  it  has 
been  restrained  in  this  way,  the  more  violent  have  been  its  ebullitions  in  a 
way  of  occasional  outrage.  Of  this  the  massacre  of  Paris  in  1572,  the 
cruelties  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  in  1G55,  and  the  revocation  of  the  edict 
of  Nantes  in  1685,  are  horrible  examples. 


THE  TEN-HORNED  BEAST.  2G1 

From  the  times  of  the  Reformation  the  church  of  Christ  had  in  a  manner 
come  out  of  the  wilderness.  Having  obtained  a  degree  of  legal  protection 
in  several  nations,  its  members  were  not  obliged  as  heretofore  to  retire  into 
woods,  and  mountains,  and  caves,  nor  to  have  recourse  to  midnight  assem- 
blies for  the  purpose  of  hearing  the  gospel ;  but  after  these  renewed  perse- 
cutions the  woman  is  obliged  to  fly  a  second  time  into  the  wilderness,  as  to 
her  wonted  place  of  refuge.  Such  has  been  the  state  of  the  protestants  in 
all  popish  countries;  such  has  been  their  state  in  France  from  the  revoca- 
tion of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  in  16So,  to  the  revolution,  in  1789,  though  of 
late  they  were  treated  with  less  severity  than  formerly,  being  allowed  to  meet 
in  the  daytime,  only  under  military  inspection.  Nor  was  it  in  popish  coun- 
tries only  that  the  wrath  of  the  dragon  vented  itself.  A  portion  of  the  poison 
of  a  persecuting  spirit  was  found  among  protestants,  even  in  our  own  coun- 
try, from  the  Reformation  to  the  revolution  of  1G8S.  If  one  place  was  more 
distinguished  than  another,  as  affording  a  shelter  for  the  woman  at  the  time 
of  this  her  second  flight,  I  suspect  it  was  North  America,  where  the  church 
of  Christ  has  been  nourished,  and  may  continue  to  be  nourished  during  the 
remainder  of  the  1260  years.  And  as  to  those  parts  of  the  church  which 
still  exist  in  a  state  of  insecurity,  the  serpent  has  not  been  suffered  to  make 
a  full  end  of  them;  they  are  nourished  by  the  word  of  God,  and  shall  doubt- 
less survive  the  reign  of  antichristian  corruption  and  persecution. 

The  flood  of  waters  cast  after  the  woman  by  the  dragon,  and  the  war  made 
on  the  remnant  of  her  seed,  referring,  as  it  appears,  to  the  latter  end  of  the 
1260  years,  may  be  something  yet  to  come.  It  is  not  impossible  that  perse- 
cution may  yet  be  revived.  The  antichristian  cause  can  hardly  be  supposed 
to  expire  without  some  deadly  struggles.  Indeed  it  is  in  the  very  act  of 
"  making  war  on  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  horse,  and  his  army,"  that  the 
"  beast  and  the  false  prophet  will  be  taken ;"  and  this  seems  to  be  the  same 
war  which  is  here  made  with  the  "  remnant  of  the  woman's  seed." 

Should  a  flood  of  persecution  yet  be  in  reserve  for  the  church  of  Christ, 
it  may  be  the  last  effort  of  an  expiring  foe  :  and  from  that  the  earth  will  pre- 
serve her  by  swallowing  it  up ;  it  may  be  in  some  such  way  as  the  invasion 
of  the  Philistines  preserved  David,  or  as  political  struggles  have  often  been 
favourable  to  Christians,  by  furnishing  those  who  wished  to  persecute  them 
with  other  employment.  The  dragon,  provoked  by  his  want  of  success 
against  the  woman,  may  vent  his  malice  on  the  remnant  of  her  seed  that 
are  within  his  reach  ;  but  his  time  is  short.  His  agents,  "  the  beast  and  the 
false  prophet,"  will  soon  be  taken ;  and  the  Angel,  with  a  great  chain  in  his 
hand,  shall  next  lay  hold  o(  him,  and  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit. 


DISCOURSE  xviir. 


THE  THIRD  GENERAL  DESCRIPTION ;    OR    THE    BEAST  WITH    SEVEN    HEADS  AND 

TEN  HORNS. 

Rev.  xiii.  1-10. 

The  apostle,  in  vision,  standing  as  upon  the  sea-shore,  sees  "  a  beast  rise 
up  out  of  the  sea,  having  seven  heads  aiid  ten  horns,  and  ufK)n  his  horns 
ten  crowns,  and  u[)on  his  heads  the  nam6  of  blasphemy."  A  beast  rising 
out  of  the  sea  is  an  empire  opposed  to  God  and  his  Christ  rising  out  of  the 
perturbed  state  of  things  in  the  world. 


262  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  description  given  of  this  beast  leaves  no  doubt  of  its  being  the  same 
as  the  fourth  beast  in  the  seventh  chapter  of  Daniel,  namely,  the  Roman 
empire ;  with  only  a  few  circumstantial  differences.  Daniel  viewed  it  in  its 
whole  duration,  whereas  John  describes  it  with  special  reference  to  its  lad 
or  papal  form  ;  Daniel  says  nothing  of  its  heads,  which  John  does ;  and, 
lastly,  Daniel  speaks  merely  of  the  ten  hours  pertaining  to  the  beast,  but 
John  describes  them  as  having  "  crowns,"  which  shows  that  the  times  refer- 
red to  are  those  in  which  the  western  empire  would  be  overthrown,  and  ten 
independent  kingdoms  arise  out  of  it. 

This  seven-headed  and  ten-horned  beast  does  not  appear  to  be  the  pope, 
or  popedom,  nor  the  church  of  Rome;  but  that  secular  power  which  has 
supported  the  church  of  Rome  through  the  whole  of  her  corrupt  and  blood)/ 
progress.  The  beast  is  not  the  harlot,  but  that  on  which  the  harlot  rides. 
That  which  has  been  denominated  The  Holt/  Roman  Empire,  of  which 
sometimes  a  French  and  sometimes  a  German  monarch  has  been  the  head, 
seems  to  be  the  government  principally  intended,  as  being  the  great  sup- 
porter of  that  church.  It  is  not  this  government,  however,  exclusively  of 
that  of  the  other  European  nations,  but  merely  as  a  principal  amongst  them. 
The  ten  horns  were  not  distinct  from  the  beast,  but  constituent  parts  of  it. 
Europe,  prior  to  the  Reformation,  was  a  family  of  nations,  united  in  respect 
of  religion  by  one  ecclesiastical  head  As  nations  they  were  independent, 
and  often  engaged  in  war  with  one  another;  but  in  supporting  the  church 
they  were  united.  The  beast  is  indeed  distinguished  from  its  horns,  as  any 
other  beast  may  be,  while  yet  the  horns  are  constituent  parts  of  it.  The  ten 
horns  are  said  to  "agree  and  to  give  their  kingdom  to  the  beast"  (chap, 
xvii.  17) ;  that  is,  they  united  with  the  emperor  in  supporting  the  church. 
Things  were  so  managed  indeed  by  the  church,  that  the  rulers  of  every 
nation  in  Christendom  were  in  a  manner  compelled  to  unite  in  her  support, 
"All  the  civil  powers  were  obliged  by  the  council  of  Lateran  to  take  an  oath, 
on  pain  of  ecclesiastical  censures,  that  they  would  endeavour  to  exterminate 
all  who  were  declared  heretics  by  the  church  out  of  their  dominions;  and 
if  any  prince  or  ruler  refused  to  do  so,  after  admonition,  it  was  to  be  certified 
to  the  pope,  who  should  declare  all  his  subjects  absolved  from  their  alle- 
giance, and  any  catholic  was  free  to  seize  his  dominion."  Such  was  this 
monstrous  beast,  and  such  the  means  used  by  his  rider  to  guide  and  govern 
him. 

Of  the  heads  and  horns  of  the  beast  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  here- 
after more  particularly.  At  present  we  may  observe  he  is  described  as  pos- 
sessing the  properties  of  the  first  three  of  Daniel's  four  beasts,  a  leopard,  a 
bear,  and  a  lion,  each  ferocious  and  destructive;  and  whereas  the  dragon  is 
said  to  have  given  him  his  authority,  the  government,  though  professedly 
Christian,  was  under  the  influence  of  the  wicked  one.  After  the  empire 
became  Christian,  the  dragon  for  a  while  seemed  to  take  the  work  of 
seducing  and  persecuting  men  into  his  own  hand  (chap.  xii.  1-6);  but  he  is 
now  contented  to  transfer  it  to  the  beast  as  a  kind  of  deputy  under  him,  ver.  2. 

"  I  saw  one  of  his  heads,"  continues  the  apostle,  "  as  it  were  wounded  to 
death,  and  his  deadly  wound  was  healed,  and  all  the  world  wondered  after 
the  beast."  To  understand  this,  we  must  know  what  is  meant  by  the  heads 
of  the  beast,  and  this  we  must  learn  from  chap.  xvii.  7-11.  They  are  there 
said  to  be  "  seven  mountains  on  which  the  woman  sitteth,  and  seven  kings, 
five  of  which  are  fallen,  one  is,  and  the  other  is  not  yet  come."  It  was  not 
one  of  the  seven  mountains  that  was  "  as  it  were  wounded  to  death,"  but 
one  of  the  seven  kings,  or  governments,  or  forms  of  government,  under 
which  Rome  existed.  These,  according  to  Tacitus  the  Roman  historian, 
were  kings,  consuls,  dictators,  decemvirs,  military  tribunes,  and  emperors ; 


THE  TEN-HORNED  BEAST.  263 

five  of  which  forms  of  government  had  passed  away  at  the  time  of  the  pro- 
phecy; the  sixth,  namely,  that  of  emperors,  then  was,  and  the  other  was  not 
yet  come.  Tlie  wound  which  the  beast  is  said  to  have  received  in  one  of 
his  heads  was  so  serious  that  he  was  for  a  time  considered  as  dead;  yet  was 
he  not  dead  in  reality,  but  merely  "as  it  locre  wounded  to  death;"  for  after 
this  he  revived  and  lived  and  reigned,  to  the  wonder  of  the  world.  Hence 
the  language  in  chap.  xvii.  8,  "And  they  that  dwell  on  the  earth  shall  wonder 
— when  they  behold  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is!" 

There  are  two  interpretations  of  this  part  of  the  prophecy  on  which  good 
commentators  have  been  divided.  One  is,  that  the  sword  by  which  the 
beast  was  wounded  was  that  of  the  northern  nations  in  the  fifth  century,  by 
which  Rome,  under  its  sixth  or  imperial  head,  was  overthrown  ;  but  by  means 
of  popery  the  wound  was  healed,  and  she  who  had  been  given  up  for  lost  be- 
came in  a  new  form  the  mistress  of  the  western  world.  The  other  is,  that  the 
deadly  wound  was  caused  by  the  sword  of  Constantine,  who,  having  in 
different  engagements  defeated  his  pagan  colleagues,  subverted  the  ancient 
religion  of  the  empire,  so  that  for  a  few  years  the  beast  was  as  it  were  dead; 
but  that  when,  under  the  influence  of  corruption,  it  again  became  idolatrous 
and  persecuting,  the  beast  revived,  and  the  world  wondered  after  him. 

Till  of  late  I  have  preferred  the  former  of  these  interpretations;  but  upon 
a  closer  examination  of  the  prophecy  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  latter  to  be 
the  meaning.  It  does  not  seem  likely  that  so  extraordinary  a  change  in  the 
empire,  and  one  that  so  deeply  interested  the  church  of  God,  should  be  over- 
looked, while  one  which  is  much  more  ordinary,  and  of  but  small  account 
to  religion,  should  be  held  up  to  view.  It  seems  also,  notwithstanding  the 
corruptions  introduced  under  the  first  Christian  emperors,  it  were  too  much 
to  suppose  that  the  empire  continued  to  be  the  same  beast  as  it  was  in  the 
times  of  paganism,  or  that  the  difference  was  so  small  as  not  to  require  any 
kind  of  notice  in  the  page  of  prophecy. 

That  the  species  of  Christianity  introduced  in  the  times  of  Constantine 
was  injurious  to  the  church  is  allowed,  even  by  those  who  approve  of  national 
religious  establishments;  yet  the  prophecy  may  be  very  applicable  to  the 
event.  Supposing  this  to  be  its  true  meaning,  there  is  no  countenance 
given  by  it  to  that  partial  and  corrupt  system  which  at  that  time  was  intro- 
duced. On  the  contrary,  there  is  a  strong  intimation  conveyed  in  those 
saving  terms  "as  it  were"  that  the  beast,  though  stunned,  was  not  slain. 
He  was  not  wounded  to  death,  but  merely  as  it  were  wounded  to  death.  As 
soon  as  circumstances  favoured  his  recovery,  the  wound  was  healed,  and  the 
beast  resumed  his  wonted  vigour,  ver.  3. 

"They  worshipped  the  dragon  and  the  beast."  The  homage  of  the  world 
is  generally  paid  to  success,  though  it  be  in  the  worst  of  causes.  Those 
powers  which  raised  and  supported  the  antichristian  harlot,  being  successful, 
receive  the  homage  of  the  nations  called  Christian,  though  in  paying  it  they 
sink  into  the  old  idolatry  under  a  new  name,  and  in  reality  worship  the 
wicked  one,  ver.  4. 

The  "  great  things"  spoken  by  this  secular  beast  may  refer  to  that  spirit 
which  gives  not  God  the  glory  of  success,  but,  like  Sennacherib  and  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, arrogates  every  thing  to  self  Its  "  blasphemies"  relate  to  words 
and  assumptions  more  immediately  directed  against  God  and  his  cause. 
The  charge  of  blasphemy  was  preferred  against  all  the  heads  of  the  beast, 
(ver.  1,)  though  most  of  them  were  pagan,  and  of  course  unacquainted  with 
the  true  God.  The  blasphemies  referred  to  therefore  must  be  not  merely  his 
speeches  directly  uttered  against  the  Great  Supreme,  but  his  arrogating-  and 
assuming  that  which  exclusively  belongs  to  him  This  charge  is  repeated 
and  enlarged  upon  in  ver.  G,  where  also  it  is  followed  with  "making  war 


264  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

upon  the  saints."  If  God  had  been  within  the  reach  of  the  beast,  he  would 
have  made  war  with  him;  but  as  he  was  not,  his  hatred  against  him  was 
discovered  in  making  war  upon  his  people.  A  species  of  practical  blasphemy 
seems  to  constitute  the  principle  from  which  all  persecution  proceeds ;  for  it 
is  no  other  than  usurping  the  throne  of  God  in  the  mind  of  man.  This 
principle  has  been  common  through  all  those  pagan  and  papal  governments 
which  have  come  in  contact  with  the  church  of  God.  Nay,  is  it  not  exceed- 
ingly prevalent  in  almost  all  the  governments  now  in  being?  It  is  rare, 
very  rare,  for  those  who  occupy  the  supreme  place  in  civil  afl'airs  to  respect 
the  claims  of  conscience  and  of  God.  Had  these  claims  been  properly  re- 
spected, it  had  never  entered  the  minds  of  the  rulers  of  any  nation  that  all 
the  people  within  certain  geographical  boundaries  should  be  compelled  to 
worship  God  in  a  given  way! 

The  blasphemies  of  this  beast  are  directed  not  only  against  the  "name," 
but  against  "  the  tabernacle  of  God,  and  them  that  dwell  in  heaven,"  or  his 
celestial  attendants.  The  very  saints  and  angels  before  the  throne  are  by 
him  represented  as  rebels  against  God,  by  receiving  that  homage  which  is 
due  to  him,  and  participating  in  their  abominations.  The  church  of  God 
on  earth,  relatively  considered,  or  as  being  his  "  tabernacle,"  possesses  a 
sacred  character.  If  any  man  destroy  or  defile  it,  as  Antiochus  did  that  of 
the  Jews,  him  will  God  destroy.  What  then  must  be  the  guilt  contracted 
by  those  persecuting  powers  who,  under  the  pretence  of  extirpating  heresy, 
have  reproached  the  living  God,  and  done  every  thing  in  their  power  to  drive 
the  religion  of  the  Bible  out  of  the  world ! 

The  time  allotted  for  the  continuance  of  this  beast  is  "forty  and  two 
months."  A  day  being  here  put  for  a  year,  it  is  the  same  period  as  the 
"thousand  two  hundred  and  threescore  days"  in  which  the  witnesses  were 
to  prophesy  in  sackcloth,  and  the  woman  was  to  continue  in  the  wilderness. 

The  war  which  it  was  "given  him  to  make  with  the  saints"  is  the  same 
as  that  which  he  is  said  to  have  made  against  the  witnesses,  chap.  xi.  7.  It 
is  that  continued  series  of  persecutions  which,  during  that  part  of  the  12G0 
years  which  has  already  elapsed,  he  has  been  carrying  on  against  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ. 

As  the  beast  had  assumed  the  place  of  God,  so  the  multitude  consented 
to  treat  him  as  the  sovereign  lord  of  conscience,  and  to  be  of  that  religion 
which  he  required.  In  describing  this  unworthy  compliance,  however,  the 
Holy  Spirit  takes  care  to  except  "  those  whose  names  were  written  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life;"  thus  branding  the  idolaters  with  the  black  mark  of 
reprobation.  Such  language  wears  a  terrible  aspect  towards  those  who  enter 
into  the  abominations  of  antichrist  and  persevere  therein ;  but  a  pleasing 
one  towards  the  chosen  of  God,  who  in  the  worst  of  times  maintain  their 
allegiance  to  Christ,  ver.  8. 

The  account  of  this  secular  beast  (which  from  its  character  of  supporting 
the  popish  hierarchy  may  be  denominated  papal)  here  closes  with  a  few 
words  by  way  of  solemn  warning — "  If  any  man  have  an  ear,  let  him  hear. 
He  that  leadeth  into  captivity  shall  go  into  captivity;  he  that  killeth  with  the 
sword  must  be  killed  with  the  sword.  Here  is  the  patience  and  faith  of  the 
saints."  The  persecutor  shall  soon  be  persecuted,  and  the  destroyer  de- 
stroyed ;  and  this  not  only  in  the  world  to  come,  but  even  in  this  world. 
Meanwhile,  let  the  saints  know  that  this  is  the  season  for  the  trial  of  their 
patience,  and  of  their  faith ;  the  one  to  bear  up  under  the  persecutions  of 
their  enemies,  and  the  other  to  keep  in  view  the  crown  of  life  before  them, 
ver.  9,  10. 


THE  BEAST  WITH  TWO  HORNS.  265 


DISCOURSE  XIX. 

THE   THIRD    GENERAL   DESCRIPTION    CONTINUED  ;    OR   THE    BEAST    WITH    TWO 
HORNS    LIKE    A    LAMB. 

Rev.  xiii.  11-18. 

Ver.  11-15.  The  former  of  these  beasts  we  have  considered  as  designed 
to  symbolize  the  Roman  empire  under  its  last  head,  or  that  secular  govern- 
ment which,  in  connexion  with  the  ten  horns  or  kingdoms  of  Europe,  sup- 
ported popery  through  all  its  foul  and  bloody  deeds ;  but  here  arises  another 
beast,  diverse  from  the  former,  yet  acting  in  concert  with  him.  Daniel, 
when  describing  the  fourth  or  Roman  beast,  speaks  of  a  little  horn  which 
should  grow  up  as  it  were  insensibly  among  the  ten  horns,  and  displace  three 
of  them.  John  says  nothing  of  this  little  horn  of  Daniel,  and  Daniel  is 
equally  silent  about  this  second  beast  of  John ;  but  from  the  character  given 
to  them  both  they  appear  to  be  one  and  the  same,  namely,  that  ecclesiastical 
power  which  was  to  coexist  toith  the  secular,  and  both  assist  it  and  be  assisted 
hy  it. 

This  beast  is  described  as  "  rising  out  of  the  earth,"  in  which  particular 
it  is  distinguished  from  the  other,  which  "  rose  out  of  the  sea."  For  a  beast 
to  rise  out  of  the  sea  is  for  an  empire  to  rise  out  of  the  perturbed  state  of 
things  in  the  world,  and  such  was  the  empire  before  described ;  but  for  one 
to  rise  from  the  earth  is  for  a  power  to  grow  up  insensibly,  like  a  weed  in  a 
garden,  out  of  the  established  order  of  things. — Such  was  popery. 

"And  he  had  two  horns  like  a  lamb,  and  he  spake  as  a  dragon."  This 
perfectly  answers  to  that  affectation  of  Christian  meekness,  accompanied  in 
reality  by  the  spirit  and  doctrine  of  the  wicked  one.  On  one  occasion  it 
can  be  the  servant  of  servants ;  on  another  the  deposer  of  kings  and  disposer 
of  empires. 

"  He  exerciseth  all  the  power  of  the  first  beast  before  or  in  the  sight  of 
him."  "  He  is  (says  Bishop  Newton)  the  prime  minister,  adviser,  and 
mover  of  the  first  or  secular  beast.  He  holdeth  imperium  in  imperio,  an 
empire  within  an  empire;  claimeth  a  temporal  authority  as  well  as  a  spiri- 
tual ;  hath  not  only  the  principal  direction  of  the  temporal  powers,  but  often 
engageth  them  in  his  service,  and  enforceth  his  canons  and  decrees  with  the 
sword  of  tlie  civil  magistrate." 

"  He  causeth  men  to  worship  the  first  beast."  As  the  secular  authority 
invested  the  ecclesiastical  with  power,  and  riches,  and  honours,  so,  in  return, 
the  ecclesiastical,  by  consenting  that  Christianity  should  become  an  engine 
of  state  policy,  and  conscience  itself  be  subjected  to  its  interests,  transferred 
that  homage  to  man  which  was  due  only  to  the  eternal  God.  It  is  this  eccle- 
siastical influence  that  has  constituted  the  European  nations  a  continuation 
of  the  old  Roman  empire.  It  is  the  only  bond  which  for  ages  has  held 
them  together,  so  as  to  render  them  one  great  antichristian  beast,  ver.  12. 

He  is  next  described  by  his  pretended  miracles.  He  doeth  great  wonders, 
so  that  he  maketh  (or  seemeth  to  make)  "  fire  come  down  from  heaven  on 
the  earth  in  the  sight  of  men,  and  deceiveth  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  by 
means  of  those  miracles  which  he  had  power  to  do  in  the  sight  of  the  beast." 
This  part  of  his  character  answers  to  what  was  foretold  by  the  apostle  of  the 
man  of  sin — that  he  should  come  with  "  signs  and  lying  wonders."  All 
these  impositions  of  "  the  false  prophet,"  as  he  is  elsewhere  called,  (chap. 

Vol.  III.— 34  Z 


26G  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

xvi.  13,  14,)  being  wrought  in  the  sight  of  the  first  beast,  and  in  that  of  the 
people,  were  to  ingratiate  himself  with  them,  and  to  persuade  them  that  he 
was,  as  is  said  of  the  sorcerer,  "  the  great  power  of  God."  While  therefore 
he  was  professing  to  honour  magistracy,  he  was  labouring  to  subject  it  to 
himself 

To  show  his  devotion  to  the  secular  beast,  he  directs  the  people  to  make 
an  image  to  him ;  which  being  done,  he,  after  liis  manner,  endues  it  with 
life,  and  speech,  and  great  authority  :  but  all  is  "  deceit ;"  for  the  object  is 
not  to  exalt  the  secular  beast,  but  himself 

This  making  of  an  image  to  the  beast  seems  to  allude  to  the  heathen 
practice  of  making  images  to  their  deities.  The  gods  themselves  were  sup- 
posed to  be  invisible.  The  same  deity  had  images  made  to  him  in  divers 
places.  The  design  of  making  an  image  to  a  god  would  be  to  acknowledge 
him  as  their  deity,  and  to  give  a  visibility  and  an  establishment  to  his  wor- 
ship. To  "  make  an  image  to  the  beast  whose  deadly  wound  was  healed," 
would  therefore  be  to  give  visibility  and  authority  to  his  worship;  or  to 
require  implicit  obedience  to  his  commands  in  whose  reign  paganism  teas 
revived  under  the  name  of  catholic  Christianity  !  It  is  as  guarantee  of  this 
system  that  the  first  beast  is  designated  by  the  healing  of  his  deadly  wound, 
and  that  the  second  beast  exerts  all  his  influence  in  his  favour. 

It  has  been  observed,  that  while  the  secular  beast  is  said  to  make  war 
upon  the  saints,  the  ecclesiastical  is  only  said  to  "  cause  them  to  be  killed." 
The  council  of  Lateran  decreed  not  to  put  heretics  to  death,  but  to  deliver 
them  over  to  the  secular  power  to  be  killed  !  "  The  inquisitors  (says  Bur- 
net) on  this  occasion,  with  a  disgusting  affectation  of  lamb-like  meekness, 
are  wont  to  beseech  the  civil  magistrates  to  show  mercy  to  those  whom  they 
themselves  have  given  up  to  be  consigned  to  the  flames!"  ver.  15. 

Ver.  16-18.  Such  was  to  be  the  growing  influence  of  this  last  beast,  that 
he  could  "  cause"  all  ranks  and  degrees  of  men  to  enlist  under  the  banners 
of  the  first,  to  receive  like  soldiers  his  mark  and  number,  and  so  to  be  aiding 
and  assisting  in  the  execution  of  his  measures.  Such  has  actually  been  the 
conduct  of  the  Roman  hierarchy ;  so  that  the  common  rights  of  men  have 
been  suspended  on  condition  of  their  receiving  the  papal  badge.  Such,  in 
fine,  is  the  nature  of  the  alliance  established  by  this  system  between  the 
ecclesiastical  and  the  secular  powers;  each  plays  into  the  other's  hands;  the 
church  consents  that  religion  shall  be  an  engine  of  state  policy,  and  in 
return  the  state  supports  the  church  in  all  her  corrupt  proceedings. 

Respecting  the  "  mark"  and  the  "name"  of  the  beast,  it  is  opposed,  I 
conceive,  to  the  seal  of  God  on  the  foreheads  of  his  servants,  chap.  vii. 
And  as  the  seal  and  name  of  God  on  the  forehead  appear  to  be  the  same, 
(compare  chap.  vii.  3,  with  chap.  xiv.  1,)  so  may  the  mark  and  the  narne  of 
the  beast.  Both  are  thought  to  allude  to  the  ancient  practice  of  marking 
servants  and  soldiers  with  their  owner's  name  in  their  forehead  or  in  their 
hand. 

I  cannot  pretend  to  be  certain  what  is  meant  by  the  "name  of  the  beast." 
It  may  be  observed,  however,  that  as  the  beast  here  evidently  means  the 
secular,  and  not  the  ecclesiastical  power,  there  is  a  name  given  to  him  in  the 
prophecy.  He  is  called  "  the  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is"  (chap. 
xvii.  8,  11) ;  the  meaning  of  which  I  conceive  to  be, — the  government  that 
existed  in  all  its  beastly  properties  as  pagan,  that  appeared  to  have  lost  them 
as  Christian,  but  that  in  supporting  a  corrupted  Christianity  resumed  them. 
In  other  words,  it  is  paganism  revived  under  the  form  of  catholic  Christi- 
anity. Now  as  names  are  signs  of  character,  to  have  this  name  or  mark 
of  the  beast  would  be  the  same  thing  as  being  openly  of  this  character  or 
religion. 


THE  LAMB  S  COMPANY.  2G7 

As  to  the  "  number  of  his  name,"  I  have  nothing  to  offer  which  is  fully 
satisfactory  to  my  own  mind.  It  is  something  wh|ch  requires  "wisdom  and 
understanding  to  count  it;"  and  yet,  by  its  being  the  "number  of  a  man," 
it  would  seem  not  to  surpass  human  comprehension.  It  may  be  a  name 
whose  numerals  amount  to  6GG,  as  the  Greek  word  ^.a-tHvo^,  or  other  words 
in  which  tiiis  number  has  been  found ;  but  as  this  appears  to  be  merely  con- 
jecture, I  leave  it  undecided. 


DISCOURSE  XX. 

THE    THIRD    GENERAL    DESCRIPTION    CONTINUED;     OR    THE    LAMb's    COMPANY. 

Rev.  xiv.  1-5. 

Unless  we  consider  the  whole  of  the  fourteenth  chapter  as  a  continuation 
of  the  thirteenth,  we  cannot  be  said  to  have  a  third  general  view  of  the  rise, 
reign,  and  overthrow  of  popery;  for  the  whole  of  the  thirteenth  chapter  is 
taken  up  with  a  description  of  its  rise  and  reign,  and  nothing  is  said  in  it 
of  its  downfall.  Nor  is  any  thing  said  of  the  state  of  the  church  of  Christ 
during  these  "  forty  and  two  months,"  save  that  the  beasts  "  made  war"  with 
its  members, -and  "  caused  them  to  be  killed."  But  if  the  fourteenth  chap- 
ter be  considered  as  a  continuation  of  the  subject,  we  have  then  a  complete 
view  of  it,  and  a  most  animating  description  of  the  state  of  the  church  of 
Christ  during  the  "  forty  and  two  months,"  or  1260  years,  in  beautiful  oppo- 
sition to  the  beasts  and  their  followers. 

Ver.  1.  The  first  of  the  beasts  was  a  monster,  having  seven  heads  and  ten 
horns;  a  compound  of  the  leopard,  the  bear,  and  the  lion.  And  as  to  the 
last,  though  in  respect  of  its  horns  it  was  like  a  lamb,  yet  it  had  nothing  of 
a  lamb  in  its  nature.  What  a  charming  contrast  is  here ;  not  only  between 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  but  between  a  com- 
pound of  hypocrisy  and  malignity,  and  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ!  There 
was  something  like  a  lamb;  but,  lo,  here  is  a  Lamb! 

One  of  the  beasts  is  described  as  rising  out  of  the  sea,  and  the  other  out 
of  the  earth;  but  the  Lamb  as  standing  upon  a  mountain.  "  Standino-"  is 
a  reigning  posture,  Dan.  xi.  3.  He  had  been  slain,  but  now  "stands  up, 
and  rules  with  great  dominion."  It  also  denotes  that  the  party  is  not  only 
unvanquished,  but  triumphant.  It  might  have  been  supposed  that  from  the 
rising  up  of  these  beasts  the  Lamb  should  have  found  no  place  to  exercise 
his  government  among  men  ;  but  he  stands  his  ground,  and  has  his  follow- 
ers, as  the  beasts  have  theirs.  His  kingdom  was  never  overturned  even  ia 
the  most  corrupt  ages. 

The  place  on  which  he  stood  was  "  Mount  Sion."  This  is  his  proper 
ground,  as  much  as  Babylon  was  of  the  other.  In  his  church  even  upon 
earth,  and  amidst  the  sharpest  persecutions,  the  Lamb  standeth  upon  the 
Mount  Sion. 

The  company  said  to  be  with  him  are  the  same  that  were  sealed  in  chap, 
vii.  This  sealing  was  prior  to  the  papal  apostacy,  and  contained  an  assur- 
ance that  God  would  preserve  himself  a  people  under  it;  and  lo,  after  all 
the  ravages  of  the  beasts,  here  we  find  them ;  not  in  Babylon,  but  with  the 
Lamb  in  Sion.  The  followers  of  the  beast  were  designated  by  his  mark 
and  the  number  of  his  name ;  and  the  followers  of  the  Lamb  "  have  his 
Father's  name  written  in  their  foreheads."     These  are  the  same  with  the 


268  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALTPSE. 

two  witnesses,  and  the  woman  that  fled  into  the  wilderness ;  they  denote 
the  Israel  of  God,  and  were  that  to  an  apostate  church  which  the  twelve 
tribes  wlio  served  God  day  and  night  were  to  an  apostate  world. 

In  reviewing  the  dark  ages  of  popery,  we  are  apt  to  think  there  could 
have  been  but  few  who  clave  to  the  truth  in  those  times  ;  but,  if  the  Christian 
world  were  again  put  to  such  a  test  of  their  sincerity,  it  were  well  if  the 
number  of  the  faithful  proved  greater  than  in  those  days.  Mede  (says 
Bishop  Newton)  hath  observed,  from  good  authorities,  that  in  the  war  with 
the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  there  perished  in  France  alone  a  million : 
from  the  first  institution  of  the  Jesuits  to  the  year  1480,  that  is,  in  little  more 
than  thirty  years,  ni7ie  hundred  thousand.  In  the  Netherlands  alone,  the  duke 
of  Alva  boasted  that  within  a  few  years  he  had  despatched  to  the  amount  of 
thirty-six  thousand,  and  those  all  by  the  hand  of  the  common  executioner. 
In  the  space  of  scarcely  thirty  years  the  inquisition  destroyed  by  various 
kinds  of  tortures  one  hundred  and  Jifty  thousand.  Saunders,  himself  a 
popish  writer,  confesses  that  an  innumerable  multitude  of  Lollards  and  Sacra- 
mentarians  were  burnt  throughout  all  Europe ;  who  yet,  he  says,  were  not 
put  to  death  by  the  pope  and  bishops,  but  by  the  civil  magistrates."  That 
is,  the  secular  beast  did  the  work,  and  the  ecclesiastical  only  caused  it! 
These,  and  many  more  whose  names  will  appear  another  day,  composed  the 
company  who  stood  with  the  Lamb. 

Ver.  2,  3.  But  hark  !  A  sound  is  heard — It  is  from  a  great  distance — It 
is  like  the  roaring  of  the  sea,  or  the  rolling  of  thunder — It  is  the  sound  of 
a  multitude — There  is  music — It  seems  like  a  new  song — It  is  the  moving 
of  God's  host! — What  can  be  the  meaning?  If  I  mistake  not,  this  is  a  de- 
scription of  the  same  event  which  is  signified  in  the  first  general  view  by  the 
resurrection  of  the  witnesses,  and  in  the  second  by  the  victory  of  Michael 
and  his  angels  over  the  dragon  and  his  angels;  that  is  to  say,  The  Reforma- 
tion of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  song  intimates  that  something  has  oc- 
curred which  furnishes  matter  of  rejoicing.  A  neto  soug  commonly  supposes 
a  new  or  recent  deliverance :  and  to  what  event  during  the  1260  years  can 
this  be  applied  unless  it  be  to  the  Reformation?  It  was  then  that  the  army 
of  the  Lamb  felt  its  ground,  and  gloriously  triumphed.  That  which  at  a  dis- 
tance was  only  "as  it  were"  a  new  song,  on  drawing  nearer  proved  to  be 
one  in  reality,  and  one  that  none  but  the  redeemed  could  unite  in.  The  joy 
attending  the  Reformation  would  be  confined  to  the  faithful.  As  to  worldly 
men  who  engaged  in  it,  they  would  rejoice  only  as  their  temporal  interests 
were  promoted  by  it ;  and  as  to  the  devotees  of  the  beasts,  they  would  de- 
plore the  dangers  of  the  church:  but  they  who  had  been  reclaimed  from 
the  apostacy  of  their  species,  and  preserved  from  that  of  professing  Chris- 
tians, would  enter  into  the  spirit  of  it.  In  them  it  was  the  triumph  of  faith. 
The  blood  of  the  Lamb  and  the  word  of  their  testimony  would  be  the  bur- 
den of  their  song. 

"T^he  Lamb's  company  are  here  particularly  characterized.  First,  By  the 
things  from  which  they  had  been  preserved  ;  namely,  spiritual  fornication 
and  adultery,  into  which  the  generality  of  professing  Christians  had  fallen. 
Secondly,  By  the  course  they  had  pursued.  They  followed  the  Lamb 
whithersoever  he  went ;  in  his  doctrine,  worship,  afflictions,  spirit,  and  con- 
duct he  was  their  example.  Thirdly,  By  the  distinguished  blessings  confer- 
red upon  them.  They  were  "  redeemed  from  among  men,  being  the  first- 
fruits  unto  God  and  to  the  Lamb."  They  were  the  travail  of  his  soul,  in 
which  he  was  satisfied.  In  them  appeared  the  efficacy  of  his  death ;  while 
others,  though  calling  themselves  Christians,  still  continued  under  the  worst 
of  bondage.  And  as,  in  the  law  of  the  first-fruits,  a  part  was  accepted  for 
the  whole,  so,  when  that  which  called  itself  the  church  apostatized,  those 


THE  MESSAGES  OF  THE  THREE  ANGELS,  ETC.  269 

who  continued  faithful  were  accepted  as  the  Christian  clmrch,  or  reckoned 
as  the  Lord's  portion.  Fourthly,  By  their  sincerity  and  purity.  "  Tn  their 
mouth  was  found  no  guile;  for  they  were  without  fault  before  the  throne  of 
God."  While  the  followers  of  the  beasts  were  trimming  and  worshipping, 
as  their  worldly  interests  required,  these  were  upright  before  God  in  all  their 
conversation. 

Such  is  the  contrast  between  the  beast  and  the  blasphemies  of  his  wor- 
shippers on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Lamb  and  the  praises  of  his  followers  on 
the  other. 


DISCOURSE  XXL 


THE    THIRD    GENERAL    DESCRIPTION    CONCLUDED  ;    OR   THE    MESSAGES    OF   THE 
THREE    ANGELS,    THE    HARVEST,    AND    THE    VINTAGE. 

Rev.  xiv.  6-20. 

If  the  foregoing  application  of  the  new  song  of  the  Lamb's  company  to 
the  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century  be  just,  it  may  be  expected  that 
what  follows  will  relate  to  events  subsequent  to  that  distinguished  era. 

Ver.  6,  7.  I  am  aware  that  this  commission  of  the  flying  angel  has  been 
generally  understood  as  addressed  to  papal  idolaters,  and  the  passage  of 
course  applied  to  the  evangelical  labours  of  the  reformers.  The  fall  of 
Babylon,  and  the  warnings  against  worshipping  the  beast  and  his  image 
which  follow,  may  have  led  to  this  application.  There  are  other  things, 
however,  which  have  led  me  to  consider  "  the  angel  flying  in  the  midst  of 
heaven"  as  sent  to  pagan  rather  than  to  papal  idolaters. 

It  is  true  we  are  in  danger  of  magnifying  the  events  of  our  own  times,  and 
of  expecting  to  find  things  occupying  a  conspicuous  place  in  prophecy  which 
upon  the  great  chart  of  the  Divine  proceedings  may  have  no  place,  or  at  most 
be  only  as  a  speck.  I  have  not  sought  however  for  any  thing  which  might  be 
applied  to  the  events  of  present  times,  nor  interpreted  the  passage  in  any 
other  than  what  appears  to  be  its  most  natural  meaning. 

There  are  four  characters  pertaining  to  the  prophecy,  some  of  which 
appear  to  be  inapplicable  to  the  evangelical  labours  of  the  reformers,  but 
which  are  all  applicable  to  the  attempts  to  evangelize  the  heathen.  1.  The 
parties  to  whom  the  message  is  sent  are  not  merely  the  nations  of  Europe, 

but  EVERY  NATION,  AND  KINDRED,  AND  TONGUE,  AND  PEOPLE.  2.  The  mes- 
sage itself  seems  to  intimate  that  they  had  hitherto  read  only  the  book  of 
nature,  and  that  without  learning  from   it  so  much  as  who  made  the 

HEAVENS,  and  THE  EARTH,  AND  THE  SEA,  AND  THE  FOUNTAINS  OF  WATERS. 

'3.  It  is  supposed  that  when  the  spread  of  the  gospel  should  be  attempted  in 
good  earnest,  and  in  a  humble  dependence  upon  God,  difficulties  which  be- 
fore seemed  insuperable  would  subside.  The  church  has  long  felt  too  much 
like  the  unbelieving  Israelites  in  respect  of  going  up  to  possess  the  Promised 
Land.  Giants  have  seemed  in  the  way,  and  walls  reaching  up  to  heaven; 
but  when  the  work  is  attempted  in  the  name  of  Christ,  it  is  like  an  angel 
flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  whose  course  none  are  able  to  arrest.  4.  The 
tone  in  which  the  nations  are  addressed  is  solemn  and  imperious.  "  The 
hour  of  his  judgment  is  come!"  There  was  something  resembling  this 
when  the  gospel  was  first  announced.  "  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand." — "  The  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at;  but  now  com- 

■7    O 


270  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

mandetli  all  men  every  where  to  repent;  because  he  hath  appointed  a  day 
in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness,"  &c.  The  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah  was  then  at  hand,  but  now  it  draws  near  in  its  most  extended 
form;  and  those  nations  and  governments  that  will  not  bow  to  him  shall  be 
dashed  in  pieces  as  a  potter's  vessel !  It  is  now  coming  to  this,  that  "  all 
they  that  go  down  to  the  dust  shall  bow  before  him ;  and  none  can  keep 
alive  his  own  soul ;" — which,  as  our  poet  expresses  it,  is  equal  to  saying — 

And  all  the  kindreds  of  the  earth 
Shall  worship,  or  shall  die  ! 

The  desire  which  has  been  kindled  of  late  years  to  carry  the  gospel  among 
the  heathen  does  not  appear  to  be  an  object  unworthy  of  a  place  in  prophecy. 
It  has  engaged  the  attention  of  a  larger  portion  of  the  Christian  church,  and 
excited  more  earnest  prayer  and  disinterested  exertion,  than  perhaps  any 
thing  which  has  occurred  since  the  Reformation.  Nor  ought  we  to  consider 
what  has  hitherto  been  done  as  any  thing  more  that  the  commencement  of 
the  angel's  flight.  It  has  indeed  for  its  object  the  evangelizing  of  "  everi/ 
nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people;"  but  at  present  this  is  far  from 
being  accomplished.  We  have  seen  enough,  however,  to  convince  us  with 
what  ease  the  great  God,  by  touching  the  hearts  of  a  few  individuals,  can 
accomplish  it. 

Ver.  8.  This  is  the  first  time  that  mention  is  made  of  Babylon.  The 
allusion  doubtless  is  to  old  Babylon,  by  which  the  church  was  formerly  op- 
pressed ;  and  to  the  predictions  of  her  fall  as  given  by  the  prophets  (Isa. 
xxi.  9;  Jer.  li.  8):  but  the  Babylon  here  referred  to  doubtless  is  Rome,  con- 
sidered as  the  head  of  that  great  antichristian  community  which  has  cor- 
rupted the  religion  of  Christ,  and  persecuted  his  followers. 

There  may  be  no  such  immediate  connexion  between  the  preaching  of 
the  everlasting  gospel  to  the  heathen  world  and  the  fall  of  antichristian 
Babylon  as  that  the  latter  should  be  the  effect  of  the  former ;  but  it  may 
comport  with  the  wisdom  of  God  to  render  it  a  concomitant.  When  the 
servants  of  Christ  lay  themselves  out  for  his  name  in  one  way,  it  is  not  un- 
usual with  him  to  promote  the  same  general  object  in  another.  If  we  seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  temporal  blessings  are  added 
unto  us;  and  thus  if  we  lay  ourselves  out  in  extending  his  cause  among  the 
heathen,  he  may  at  the  same  time,  by  his  providence,  be  working  in  another 
quarter  the  overthrow  of  that  which  is  opposed  to  it. 

The  cry  of  the  angel  does  not  denote  that  Babylon  would  be  immediately 
and  entirely  destroyed  at  this  time;  for  if  so,  the  warnings  of  the  third  angel, 
which  follow,  would  be  unnecessary.  Besides,  it  is  by  the  harvest  and  the 
vintage,  towards  the  close  of  the  chapter,  that  the  overthrow  will  be  effected. 
But  the  church  is  here  called  upon  to  expect  it,  and  to  observe  the  course  of 
events,  as  preparing  the  way  for  it. 

Ver.  9-13.  This  is  the  language  of  solemn  warning.  It  is  addressed  to 
all  whom  it  concerns,  good  and  bad,  especially  to  those  who  live  at  the  time 
here  referred  to,  the  time  immediately  preceding  the  fall  of  the  antichristian 
power,  and  so  looks  with  a  severe  aspect  on  those  who  persevere  in  their 
attachment  to  it,  notwithstanding  the  light  which  will  have  been  diffused  in 
the  world.  They  who  at  ani/  period  surrender  their  consciences  to  human 
authority,  and  fully  imbibe  the  antichristian  system,  will  incur  the  wrath  of 
God ;  but  they  who  do  this  in  the  face  of  that  light  which  by  this  time  will 
be  spread  through  the  world,  will  incur  greater  degrees  of  the  Divine  dis- 
pleasure than  those  who  have  been  carried  away  with  it  in  darker  ages. 
The  twelfth  and  thirteenth  verses  would  seem  to  portend  a  time  of  persecu- 
tion prior  to  the  final  overthrow  of  the  antichristian  power;  a  time  which 


INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  VIALS.  271 

may  be  as  the  last  struggles  of  the  beast.  This  is  the  flood  cast  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  dragon  after  the  woman  (chap.  xii.  15);  the  gathering  together 
of  the  "  kings  of  the  earth  and  of  the  whole  world  to  the  battle  of  the  great 
day  of  God  Almighty"  (chap.  xvi.  14) ;  and  the  war  made  by  the  beast  and 
the  kings  against  him  who  sat  upon  the  horse,  and  against  his  army,  chap, 
xix.  19.  « 

Ver.  14-20.  The  angels  have  delivered  their  messages,  and  now  the  Lord 
himself  appears.  He  comes  as  it  were  to  judgment,  and  to  the  antichristian 
party  a  terrible  judgment  it  will  be.  Under  the  symbols  of  a  harvest  and  a 
vintage  is  predicted  its  utter  overthrow.  Whatever  distinction  there  may  be 
between  the  one  and  the  other,  both  I  doubt  not  refer  to  that  series  of 
calamities  which  is  reserved  to  destroy  the  beast  and  his  adherents.  They 
refer  to  the  same  things  which  have  been  noticed  from  chap.  xi.  18,  when 
the  wrath  of  God  was  come,  and  the  time  of  the  dead  that  they  should  be 
avenged,  and  those  destroyed  who  had  long  destroyed  the  earth.  This  being 
a  general  description  of  events  which  will  be  more  particularly  set'  forth 
under  the  pouring  out  of  the  vials,  we  shall  find  them  again  under  "  the 
battle  of  Armageddon,  or  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty"  (chap,  xvi.);  also 
in  the  "  supper  of  the  great  God,"  to  which  the  fowls  are  invited,  and  in 
which  "  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are  taken,"  chap.  xix. 

One  thing  is  remarkable  in  both  the  harvest  and  the  vintage,  they  indicate 
that  the  papal  abominations  shall  be  ripe,  fully  ripe.  There  is  a  tendency  to 
maturity  in  both  good  and  evil,  in  individuals  and  communities,  and  even 
in  the  world  itself.  Popery  matured  is  infidelity.  To  this  it  tends,  and 
here  it  will  probably  land  the  great  body  of  its  adherents.  I  see  no  solid 
ground  for  Mr.  Faber's  hypothesis  of  an  vifidel  king,  any  more  than  of  an 
iiifidel  antichrist,  the  historical  exposition  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Daniel 
by  Prideaux  [Connexion,  Part  II.  Bonk  II.,  III.)  appearing  to  me  to  be 
the  true  one ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  infidelity  is,  and  will  be,  the  distin- 
guishing feature  of  the  last  times.  What  is  said  of  the  "  scoffers  of  the  last 
limes"  is  indeed  descriptive  of  what  we  daily  witness ;  but  it  is  only  of  indi- 
viduals that  these  things  are  spoken.  Infidelity  does  not  appeal  to  be  sym- 
bolized in  the  Scriptures  either  by  a  beast,  a  horn,  or  a  king;  it  is  merely 
the  papal  beast  grown  old,  or  popery  as  having  produced  its  proper  fruits, 
which  fruits  may  be  the  appointed  means  of  its  destruction. 


DISCOURSE  XXII. 

INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    VIALS. 
Rev.  XV. 


Three  general  descriptions  having  been  given  of  the  antichristian  power, 
each  of  which  carried  us  to  the  end  of  the  1260  years,  the  series  of  the  pro- 
phecy from  the  time  of  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  is  now  resumed. 
This  trumpet,  it  has  been  observed  before,  wears  a  twofold  aspect.  It  is 
partly  a  woe-trumpet,  and  partly  the  harbinger  of  joy.  The  seven  vials  are 
a  part  of  it,  and  answer  to  the  former  view.  The  other  part  comprehends 
the  success  of  the  gospel  preparatory  to  the  Millennium,  the  Millennium 
itself,  and  all  that  follows  to  the  end  of  the  prophecy,  and  answers  to  the 
latter  view.  At  present  we  are  to  consider  it  as  a  woe-trumpet,  or  as  com- 
prehending the  seven  vials;  which,  containing  a  more  particular  account  of 


273  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  judgments  already  hinted  at  towards  tlie  end  of  the  general  descriptions, 
will,  like  them,  bring  us  to  the  close  of  the  12G0  years. 

The  angels  with  the  vials  are  called  "  a  sign  in  heaven,  great  and  mar- 
vellous," because  the  judgments  which  follow  are  signal  and  fearful,  and 
the  times  very  eventful,  so  as  deeply  to  interest  the  church  of  God. 

The  seven  vials  are  denominated  "  the  seven  last  plagues,  in  icJnch  will 
be  Jillcd  up  the  wrath  of  God."  This  supposes  that  in  various  instances 
God  had  already  poured  forth  his  wrath  upon  these  antichristian  powers,  but 
that  this  should  be  the  finishing  blow.  Hence  it  follows  that  we  are  not 
to  consider  these  vials  as  including  all  those  plagues  which  at  different 
periods  have  been  poured  upon  the  antichristian  party,  but  merely  those 
which  shall  bring  it  to  its  end.  As  the  vials  are  a  subdivision  of  the  third 
and  last  woe-trumpet,  they  could  not  begin  to  be  poured  out  till  that  trumpet 
was  sounded ;  and  as  they  are  emphatically  called  the  seven  last  plagues, 
they  must  refer  to  the  latter  end  of  the  1260  years.  In  short,  they  are  the 
particulars  of  what  was  signified  under  the  general  representations  by  God's 
wrath  being  come,  and  the  time  of  the  dead  that  they  should  be  avenged — 
and  by  the  harvest  and  the  vintage,  chap,  xi.,  xiv. 

All  those  expositions  of  the  vials,  therefore,  which  suppose  them  to  have 
been  pouring  out  at  different  periods  from  the  beginning  of  the  12G0  years, 
appear  to  me  to  be  founded  in  mistake.  The  furthest  point  to  which  we 
can  look  back  for  the  commencement  of  these  calamities  may  be  found  to 
be  within  the  last  five-and-twenty  years,  ver.  1. 

The  "sea  of  glass  mingled  with  fire"  is  the  same  which  is  said  in  chap, 
iv.  6  to  have  been  before  the  throne.  It  is  opposed,  I  conceive,  to  that  per- 
turbed element  from  which  the  beast  arose ;  and  describes  the  pure,  calm, 
and  triumphant  state  of  those  who  have  overcome.  The  striking  up  of  the 
heavenly  choir  on  this  occasion  was  to  express  the  great  good  that  should 
arise  from  these  evils.  The  song  they  sing  is  that  of"  Moses  and  the  Lamb." 
As  the  song  of  Moses  at  the  Red  Sea  magnified  the  victory  of  the  Lord  over 
the  Egyptians,  so  this  song  will  celebrate  the  triumph  of  the  Lamb  and  of 
his  followers  over  enemies  of  a  similar  character.  If  the  works  of  God  in 
redeeming  his  people  from  the  long  and  hard  bondage  of  Egypt  were  "  great 
and  marvellous,"  much  more  so  would  they  be  in  delivering  his  saints  from 
the  long  and  hard  bondage  of  "  that  great  city  which  is  spiritually  called 
Egypt ;"  and  if  his  "  ways  were  just  and  true"  in  the  former  instance,  they 
would  be  still  more  manifestly  so  in  the  latter,  ver.  2,  3. 

It  is  not  in  malignity  towards  any  creature,  but  in  love  to  God,  whose 
honour  had  for  so  long  a  time  been  trampled  under  foot,  that  these  heavenly 
minds  rejoice  ;  not  for  the  evil  considered  as  evil,  but  for  the  good  that 
should  arise  from  it.  Hence,  anticipating  the  righteousness  which  the 
world  shall  learn  when  these  judgments  are  abroad  in  the  earth,  they 
triumphantly  ask,  "Who  shall  not  fear  thee,  O  Lord,  and  glorify  thy  name? 
for  thou  only  art  holy :  for  all  nations  shall  come  and  worship  before  thee ; 
for  thy  judgments  are  made  manifest."  By  this  language  we  are  given  to 
expect  that  the  judgments  on  the  antichristian  powers,  in  connexion  with  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  will  contribute  to  the  universal  spread  of  true  reli- 
gion over  the  face  of  the  earth,  ver.  4. 

As  the  throne  of  the  God  of  Israel  was  in  the  holy  of  holies,  so  his  throne 
in  heaven  is  described  as  in  his  temple  ;  and  as,  when  the  high  priest  entered 
into  the  former  once  a  year,  he  saw  the  ark  of  the  testimony,  so,  the  hea- 
venly temple  being  opened,  the  apostle  looked  and  saw  the  seven  angels 
come  out  from  before  the  throne,  as  having  received  their  commissions. 
They  are  described  as  "  clothed  in  pure  and  white  linen,  and  having  their 
breasts  girded  with  golden  girdles."     Nothing  could  better  express  the  state 


THE  VIALS.  273 

of  their  minds  in  executing  the  Divine  displeasure.  God  had  sometimes 
employed  evil  angels  to  execute  his  will,  even  towards  his  own  people,  as  in 
the  case  of  Job,  and  in  such  instances  they  have  been  certain  to  discover 
their  malignity.  But  when  good  angels  execute  the  Divine  will,  though  it 
be  upon  his  worst  enemies,  they  have  no  malignant  bitterness,  but  are  in- 
fluenced purely  by  the  love  of  God  and  righteousness,  ver.  5,  6. 

Next  to  the  description  of  the  messengers  follows  the  delivering  to  them 
their  respective  messages ;  and  this  was  from  the  hand  of  one  of  the  four 
living  creatures  who  represented  redeemed  men.  God  does  not  usually 
employ  his  people  in  this  world  to  overthrow  either  corrupt  churches  or 
antichristian  governments.  This  is  a  kind  of  work  not  suited  to  them.  They 
must,  however,  have  some  concern  in  it.  Their  prayers  for  deliverance  are 
answered  by  terrible  things  in  righteousness  upon  their  persecutors;  and  to 
all  the  judgments  of  God  they  must  add  their  cordial  Atnen,  ver.  7. 

The  effect  of  the  delivery  of  these  messages  is  described  as  "  filling  the 
temple  with  smoke  from  the  glory  of  God,  and  from  his  power,  so  that  no 
man  could  enter  it."  "  This  cloud  (says  Dr.  Guyse)  appeared  like  a  thick 
smoke,  awfully  glorious,  which  was  a  symbol  of  the  Divine  vengeance,  (Psal. 
xviii.  8,)  as  going  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  to  be  executed 
by  the  glory  of  his  power,  in  the  destruction  of  antichrist ;  even  as  the  cloud 
on  the  tabernacle  was  of  his  dreadful  judgment  upon  Korah,  Dathan,  and 
Abiram,  and  the  murmuring  Israelites;  (Numb.  xvi.  19,  42;)  and  as  Moses 
could  not  enter  into  the  tabernacle,  nor  the  priests  stand  to  minister  in  the 
temple,  while  the  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord;  (Exod.  xj. 
35;  1  Kings  viii.  11 ;)  so  no  one  could  enter  into  this  heavenly  temple  to 
intercede  for  the  preventing  of  these  grievous  calamities  upon  the  beast : 
none  were  suffered  to  do  this,  that  judgment  might  have  its  free  course,  till 
all  the  seven  punishments  to  be  inflicted  by  the  ministry  of  the  seven  angels 
were  fully  executed  in  their  order." 


DISCOURSE  XXIIL 

ON   THE    VIALS. 
Rev.  xvi.  1-9. 


I  ENTER  upon  this  part  of  the  subject  with  diffidence,  because  I  consider 
the  events  predicted  as  mostly  future;  and  the  exposition  of  unfulfilled  pro- 
phecy, especially  when  couched  under  symbolical  language,  is  rarely  accu- 
rate. When  in  looking  at  a  symbol  we  compare  it  with  facts,  we  can  judge 
of  the  one  as  being  designed  to  predict  the  other;  but,  in  looking  at  the 
symbols  without  the  facts,  we  can  seldom-  make  much  out  in  explaining 
them.  Nor  does  it  appear  to  have  been  the  design  of  prophecy  to  enable  us 
to  foresee  things  with  any  considerable  degree  of  precision ;  but  to  keep  up 
a  general  hope  before  the  accomplishment,  and  to  strengthen  our  faith 
after  it. 

Ver.  1.  Before  entering  on  particulars  I  shall  offer  two  or  three  general 
remarks : — 

First,  Some  of  these  "  plagues,"  and  it  may  be  the  greater  part  of  them, 
will  consist  in  ivars  between  the  nations  of  Christendom.  Such  is  doubtless 
the  meaning  of  those  in  which  mention  is  made  of  "  blood,"  and  of  the 
"  battle  of  Armageddon,  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty."     It  is  thus  that 

Vol.  IU.— 35 


274  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  nations  which  have  shed  the  blood  of  his  saints  will  have  blood  given 
them  to  drink ! 

Secondly,  As  the  grand  design  of  these  wars  is  the  destruction  of  the  anti- 
christian  hierarchy,  they  may  be  expected  to  have  a  providential  direction 
given  to  them,  causing  them  to  bear  more  especially  upon  that  object.  If 
this  remark  be  just,  it  furnishes  a  presumption  that  the  vials  have  been  pour- 
ing out  for  the  last  twenty  years.  As  a  fire  kindled  in  a  city  has  a  direction 
given  to  its  ravages,  by  the  wind,  or  by  some  other  means ;  so  Providence 
has  caused  the  desolations  of  the  continent  to  bear  principally,  though  not 
entirely,  upon  the  papal  cause. 

Thirdly,  The  resemblances  between  the  vials  and  the  trumpets  may  throw 
more  light  upon  the  subject  than  any  other  medium  of  which  we  are  in  pos- 
session. It  is  a  fact  very  remarkable,  that  each  of  the  seven  trumpets  has  a 
point  of  resemblance  to  one  of  the  seven  vials — For  example.  The  first 
trumpet  affected  the  earth;  and  so  does  the  first  vial.*  The  second  trumpet 
turned  the  sea  into  blood;  and  the  second  vial  was  poured  out  upon  the  sea, 
which  became  as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man.i  The  third  trumpet  affected  the 
rivers  and  fountains  of  waters;  and  so  does  the  third  vial. |  The  fourth 
trumpet  respected  the  sun;  and  the  fourth  vial  does  the  same.§  .The  fifth 
trumpet  was  followed  by  darkness  and  pain;  and  such  were  the  effects  of 
the  fifth  vial. II  The  sixth  trumpet  was  complex,  relating  partly  to  the  depre- 
dations of  the  Euphratean  horsemen  in  the  east,  and  partly  to  the  idolatries 
and  persecutions  of  the  beast  and  his  associates  in  the  west;  and  so  is  the 
sixth  vial,  relating  partly  to  the  Euphratean  waters  being  dried  up,  and  partly 
to  the  battle  of  Armageddon,  by  which  the  cause  of  the  beasts  will  be 
ruined.^  Finally,  the  seventh  trumpet  presents  a  closing  scene;  and  so  does 
the  seventh  vial.**  These  resemblances  cannot  be  accidental.  Though 
they  refer  to  events,  therefore,  more  than  a  thousand  years  distant  from  each 
other,  yet  there  must  be  some  important  points  of  likeness  between  them ; 
and  as  the  trumpets  are  all,  except  the  last,  fulfilled,  we  may  by  means  of 
them  form  some  judgment  of  the  vials  which  yet  may  be  unfulfilled. 

It  is  on  this  principle  that  Dr.  Gill  seems  to  have  proceeded  in  expound- 
ing the  vials.  "  The  first  vial,"  says  he,  "  will  be  poured  out  upon  the  earth, 
and  designs  those  popish  countries  which  are  upon  the  continent,  as  France 
and  Germany,  especially  the  latter;  and  as  the  first  trumpet  brought  the 
Goths  into  Germany,  so  the  first  vial  will  bring  great  distress  upon  the  popish 
party  in  the  empire. — The  second  vial  will  be  poured  upon  the  sea,  and  may 
intend  the  maritime  powers  belonging  to  the  church  of  Rome,  particularly 
Spain  and  Portugal ;  and  as  the  second  trumpet  brought  the  Vandals  into 
these  places,  so  this  vial  will  effect  the  same,  and  bring  wars  and  desolations 
into  them. — The  third  vial  will  be  poured  out  upon  the  rivers  and  fountains 
of  waters,  which  may  point  to  those  places  adjacent  to  Rome,  as  Italy  and 
Savoy;  and  as  the  third  trumpet  brought  the  Huns  into  those  parts,  so  this 
vial  will  bring  in  large  armies  hither,  which  will  cause  much  bloodshed,  and 
a  great  revolution  in  church  and  state."  tt 

This  comment  on  the  vials,  founded  upon  their  analogy  with  the  trumpets, 
bids  fair,  in  my  judgment,  to  be  the  true  one;  especially  that  on  the  first 
three  which  has  just  been  quoted. 

The  Doctor  adds — "As  yet  I  take  it  none  of  them  are  poured  out,  though 
some  great  and  learned  men  have  thought  otherwise.  As  yet  there  have 
been  no  such  devastations  on  the  continent,  as  in  France  and  Germany,  as 
to  produce  the  above  effects ;  nor  in  the  countries  of  Spain,  Portugal,"  6lc. 

*  Comp.  chap.viii.7;  xvi.  2.         t  Chap.  viii.  8  ;  xvi.  3.         t  Chap.  viii.  10, 11;  xvi.4. 

^  Ch.  viii.  12  ;  xvi.  8,  9.  II  Ch.  ix.  1-3  ;  xvi.  10.  T  Ch.  ix.  14 ;  xi.  14 ;  xvi.  12-16. 

**Ch.  xi.  13j  xvi.  17.         tt  Sermon  on  the  Glory  of  the  Church  in  the  Latter  Day,  pp. 12-15. 


THE  VIALS.  275 

This  was  doubtless  the  case  in  1752,  the  year  in  which  the  sermon  from 
which  the  above  extract  is  made  was  printed,  but  this  is  more  than  can  be 
said  in  1810! 

Ver.  2.  If  by  the  "earth"  be  meant  "the  continent,  as  France  and  Ger- 
many, especially  the  latter,"  (and  I  know  of  no  interpretation  more  natural,) 
we  have  certainly  seen  a  succession  of  evils  falling  upon  the  men  who  "  had 
the  mark  of  the  beast,"  first  in  France,  and  after  that  in  Germany,  grievous 
as  the  most  "noisome  sores,"  and  like  them  indicative  of  a  state  of  corrup- 
tion and  approaching  dissolution. 

Ver.  3.  If  this  vial  respect  the  papal  maritime  nations,  particularly  Spain 
and  Portugal,  (and  here  also  I  know  of  no  interpretation  more  natural,) 
we  have  seen  a  commencement  of  things  in  those  countries,  but  have  not 
yet  seen  the  issue.  What  it  will  be  God  knoweth.  Whether  this  or  that 
political  party  prevail,  it  will  be  a  plague,  and  a  plague  that  will  tend  to 
accomplish  the  ruin  of  the  antichristian  cause. 

There  is  a  circumstance  of  additional  horror  in  this  vial,  which  was  not 
in  its  corresponding  trumpet:  the  blood  into  which  this  "sea"  would  be 
turned  is  described  as  stagnant,  "  as  the  blood  of  a  dead  man ;"  as  though 
such  a  quantity  should  be  shed  as  not  only  to  tinge,  but  to  congeal  the 
ocean,  turning  it  as  it  were  into  a  putrid  mass! 

Ver.  4-7.  If  the  rivers  and  fountains  oftoaters  denote  "  Italy  and  Savoy," 
these  countries  may  be  expected  to  be  the  scene  of  the  next  great  convul- 
sions which  shall  agitate  Europe.  And  if  it  be  so,  it  may  be  a  just  retribu- 
tion for  the  blood  of  the  Waldenses,  which  was  there  shed  in  shocking 
profusion  for  many  successive  centuries. 

The  responsive  language  of  the  angels  on  this  occasion  accords  with  such 
an  interpretation,  and  is  exceedingly  impressive.  It  shows  in  what  light  the 
persecution  of  the  faithful  is  viewed  in  heaven.  This  sin  implies  such  a 
hatred  of  God  and  his  image  as  would,  if  he  were  within  reach,  dethrone 
and  kill  him!  Unjust  war  is  a  great  sin;  it  is  murder  on  an  extended 
scale;  yet  it  is  not  to  be  named  in  comparison  of  persecution  for  Christ's 
sake.  The  one  is  destroying  God's  natural  image;  but  the  other  is  aimed 
at  his  moral  image.  In  the  former  "  the  potsherd  striveth  with  the  potsherds 
of  the  earth;"  but  in  the  latter  man  striveth  with  his  Maker!  This  was  the 
sin  which  crowned  the  wicked  life  of  Herod  the  tetrarch,  who  to  all  his 
other  crimes  "  added  this,  above  all,  that  he  shut  up  John  in  prison  !"  Blood 
shed  in  persecution  of  God's  servants  hath  a  cry  which  must  sooner  or  later 
be  heard.  The  persecutions  of  former  ages  may  be  forgotten  by  men ;  but 
he  "  who  is,  and  was,  and  shall  be"  will  not  forget  them.  The  judgments 
of  our  own  times  are  examples  of  this;  all  Europe,  previously  to  the  Refor- 
mation, was  stained  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs;  and  since  that  memora- 
ble era,  France,  and  Germany,  and  Spain,  and  Portugal,  and  Italy  have  been 
deeply  engaged  in  that  impious  practice.  Is  it  surprising  then  that  all 
Europe  in  measure,  and  those  nations  in  particular  which  have  persisted  in 
it,  should  be  made  to  drink  the  bloody  draught?  While  we  feel,  and  ought 
to  feel,  for  suffering  humanity,  it  is  not  for  us  to  join  with  the  merchants  of 
the  earth  in  their  wailings;  but  rather  with  the  angels  in  heaven,  saying, 
*'  Thou  art  righteous,  O  Lord,  because  thou  hast  judged  thus !" 

Ver.  8,  9.  In  discoursing  upon  the  trumpets,  it  was  observed  that  the 
Roman  empire,  then  become  the  seat  of  Christianity,  was  considered  as  a 
world  of  itself;  having  not  only  its  earth,  its  sea,  and  its  rivers,  but  its  sun, 
and  moon,  and  stars ;  symbols  of  its  supreme  and  subordinate  governments, 
chap.  viii.  6-12.  When  the  sun  was  eclipsed,  on  the  sounding  of  the  fourth 
trumpet,  it  signified  the  fall  of  the  imperial  authority;  but  the  fourth  vial, 
though  poured  upon  the  sun,  yet,  unlike  its  corresponding  trumpet,  does  not 


;276  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

terminate  upon  it,  but  upon  the  people  on  whom  it  shines.  The  sun  here, 
instead  of  being  eclipsed,  or  having  its  power  diminished,  has  it  increased. 
Its  heat  is  rendered  more  intense,  so  as  to  become  a  plague  to  those  who 
are  under  its  influence. 

By  the  "sun"  is  undoubtedly  to  be  understood  the  supreme  secular 
government  of  what  is  called  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  which  is  denomi- 
nated the  beast,  and  distinguished  by  its  carrying  or  supporting  the  harlot. 
Its  scorching  heat  cannot  be  understood  of  the  persecution  of  the  faithful ; 
for  they  would  not  "  blaspheme"  under  it.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  to  be 
the  galling  tyranny  by  which  the  adherents  of  the  beast  will  be  oppressed ; 
while  yet  they  repent  not  of  their  deeds. 


DISCOURSE  XXIV. 

THE    VIALS    CONTINUED. 

Rev.  xvi.  10-21. 


Ver.  10,  11.  By  the  "beast"  we  have  all  along  understood  that  secular 
government  which  at  the  head  of  the  other  European  governments  has  svp- 
ported  the  papal  antichrist.  This  certainly  has  not  been  the  imperial 
government  of  France,  but  of  Germany,  to  which  therefore  the  character  of 
the  beast  belongs.  The  station  from  which  his  influence  and  authority  pro- 
ceeds will  be  his  "  seat,"  or  throne,  or  we  may  say  his  den ;  and  that  which 
the  swellings  of  Jordan  were  to  the  lions  which  made  their  dens  amongst 
the  thickets  growing  upon  its  margin,  (Jer.  xlix.  19,)  that  will  this  plague 
be  to  him,  causing  him,  if  not  to  quit  his  den  with  bowlings,  yet  to  be  very 
miserable  in  it.  This  is  intimated  by  his  "kingdom  being  full  of  darkness," 
and  by  their  "  gnawing  their  tongues  for  pain."  The  supporters  of  the 
papal  cause  will  be  confounded.  Darkness  and  anguish  will  come  upon 
them.  Yet  being  given  up,  like  Pharaoh,  to  hardness  of  heart,  they  will 
continue  to  blaspheme  the  God  of  heaven,  and  will  not  repent  of  their  deeds. 
These  blasphemies  and  this  perseverance  in  impenitence  are  sure  signs  of 
its  being  the  determination  of  heaven  to  destroy  them.  Individuals  may  re- 
pent and  escape;  but  as  a  community  they  are  appointed  to  utter  destruction. 

Ver.  12-16.  This  vial,  so  far  as  respects  the  temporal  dominion  of  Christ's 
enemies,  possesses  a  final  character;  and  seems  partly  to  respect  the  over- 
throw of  the  Turkish  power,  signified  by  the  "  drying  up  of  the  waters  of  the 
Euphrates,"  and  partly  that  of  the  papal,  signified  by  the  battle  of  "  Arma- 
geddon," or  of  that  "  great  day  of  God  Almighty." 

With  regard  to  the  first,  as  the  sixth  trumpet  respected  the  rise  of  the 
Turkish  power  to  punish  the  eastern  church,  so  the  sixth  vial  seems  to  de- 
note its  overthrow,  along  with  that  of  the  western  church.  The  drying  up 
of  waters  fitly  expresses  that  diminution  of  strength  and  defence  in  a  nation 
which  issues  in  destruction.  Thus,  when  God  would  destroy  Babylon,  he 
saith,  "  A  drought  is  upon  her  waters,  and  they  shall  be  dried  up — I  will  dry 
up  her  sea,  and  will  make  her  springs  dry.  And  Babylon  shall  become 
heaps,  a  dwelling-place  for  dragons,  an  astonishment  and  a  hissing,  without 
an  inhabitant."  "The  kings  of  the  east"  may  denote  those  who  shall  be 
employed  in  overthrowing  this  power,  as  the  armies  of  Cyrus  and  Darius, 
on  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates  being  diverted,  were  employed  in  overthrow- 
ing Babylon. 


THE  LAST  THREE  VIALS.  277 

I  have  expressed  a  doubt  whether  either  the  doctrines  or  the  wars  of  Ma- 
homed would  have  had  a  place  in  this  prophecy  but  for  their  relation  to  the 
Christian  church  (on  chap.  ix.  13-21) ;  and  I  think  it  questionable  whether 
the  downfall  of  the  Turks  would  have  been  noticed  but  on  the  same  account. 
This  was  the  reason  of  so  much  being  said  of  old  Babylon.  She  might 
have  risen  and  fallen  unnoticed  by  the  prophets,  if  she  had  had  nothing  to 
do  with  Jerusalem.  But  though  she  was  an  instrument  in  God's  hand  in 
purging  that  corrupted  city,  yet  seeing  she  "  meant  not  so,"  but  set  herself 
against  God  himself,  it  retjuired  that  she  should  in  the  end  be  overthrown, 
and  that  her  overthrow  should  be  marked  in  prophecy.  In  like  manner, 
though  Mahomed  and  his  followers  were  instruments  in  punishing  a  corrupt 
part  of  the  Christian  church,  yet  seeing  they  meant  not  so,  but  set  them- 
selves against  Christ  himself,  they  also  shall  be  overthrown,  and  their  over- 
throw is  marked  in  prophecy. 

With  regard  to  the  second  part  of  this  vial,  or  that  which  respects  the 
papal  powers,  this  is  the  most  tremendous.  This  is  the  last  struggle  of  the 
beast  and  his  adherents,  and  it  will  issue  in  their  utter  overthrow.  This  is 
"  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty;"  the  same  as  the  harvest  and  the  vintage 
in  chap,  xiv.,  and  the  "  taking  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet,"  in 
chap.  xix. 

Preparatory  to  this  great  day  we  have  the  mustering  of  the  forces. — "Three 
unclean  spirits  like  frogs"  are  described  as  going  forth  amongst  the  nations 
to  gather  them  together;  one  from  the  mouth  of  the  dragon,  another  from  that 
of  the  beast,  and  another  from  that  of  the  false  prophet.  These  spirits  may 
denote  the  corrupt  principles  which  shall  be  disseminated  in  the  earth,  tend- 
ing to  deceive  and  to  destroy  mankind.  As  the  dragon  is  described  as  the 
grand  mover  of  all  these  mischiefs,  as  he  is  not  said  to  be  taken  with  the 
beast  and  the  false  prophet  in  chap,  xix.,  and  is  denominated  "  that  old  ser- 
pent the  devil  and  Satan,"  I  consider  him  as  a  being  of  a  different  order 
from  either  of  them ;  and  as  the  unclean  spirit  which  proceeded  from  the 
dragon  may  be  supposed  to  correspond  with  his  character,  it  may  be  a  spirit 
of  diabolical  malignity  against  God,  and  true  religion. — The  beast  being 
understood  of  the  last  head  of  the  Roman  empire,  the  great  supporter  of 
popery,  the  unclean  spirit  proceeding  out  of  his  mouth  may  be  that  which 
assumes  the  place  of  God  in  the  consciences  of  men,  and  converts  Christianity 
into  an  engine  of  state  policy. — The  false  prophet,  though  designated  by  a 
new  name,  appears  to  be  the  same  power  that  was  represented  in  chap.  xiii. 
by  the  two-horned  beast,  and  in  2  Thess.  ii.  3,  by  "  the  man  of  sin."  This 
is  evident  from  the  character  of  each  being  the  same.  The  coming  of  the 
man  of  sin  was  to  be  with  "  signs  and  lying  wonders."  The  two-horned 
beast  "deceived  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  by  means  of  his  miracles;" 
and  amongst  the  operations  of  the  three  evil  spirits  mention  is  made  of 
"  miracles,"  which  seem  to  pertain  to  the  false  prophet.  The  man  of  sin, 
the  two-horned  beast,  and  the  false  prophet,  therefore,  are  the  same;  namely, 
the  papal  hierarchy,  or  the  community  of  which  the  pope  is  the  head.  The 
evil  spirit  proceeding  out  of  his  mouth  may  be  that  of  blind  zeal,  and  religious 
imposture. 

These  three  evil  spirits,  discordant  as  they  may  be  in  some  respects,  will 
be  united  in  their  opposition  to  true  religion.  Hence  in  the  great  battle 
wherein  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are  taken,  (chap,  xix.)  and  which, 
as  has  been  observed,  is  the  same  as  this  at  Armageddon,  the  whole  trium- 
virate is  engaged  "  against  him  that  sat  on  the  horse,  and  against  his  army." 
It  will  be  a  character,  it  seems,  of  these  times,  that  the  friends  and  enemies 
of  Christ  will  be  nearer  together  than  they  have  been  wont  to  be:  irreligion 
and  false  religion  will  unite  their  standards  and  fight  with  neither  small  nor 

2A 


278  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE, 

great,  but  with  Christ  and  his  adherents.  Where  men  agree  in  the  grand 
outlines  of  false  doctrine,  and  conceive  themselves  to  meet  in  their  political 
interests,  they  can  easily  overlook  other  differences. 

It  seems  as  if  a  spirit  of  infatuation,  like  that  in  Pharaoh  and  his  host  at 
the  Red  Sea,  would  possess  the  enemies  of  Christ  prior  to  this  their  last 
overthrow.  The  kings  of  the  earth  are  gathered  together,  partly  by  hatred 
of  God  and  religion,  (the  spirit  of  the  dragon,)  partly  by  the  desire  of  subju- 
gating both  to  political  purposes,  (the  spirit  of  the  beast,)  and  partly  by  blind 
zeal  and  religious  imposture,  (the  spirit  of  the  false  prophet,)  and  being 
assembled  will  direct  all  their  force  against  God  and  his  cause.  In  what 
particular  mode  their  hostility  will  be  manifested,  and  by  what  means  Christ 
will  prevail  against  them,  it  is  too  much  for  us  to  determine.  The  former 
may  be  by  direct  persecution,  or,  if  by  war,  it  will  be  one  whose  object  shall 
be  to  exterminate  the  true  religion ;  and  the  latter  may  be  by  turning  their 
hearts  one  against  another.  Though  they  have  been  gathered  together,  and 
have  unitedly  engaged  in  this  notable  enterprise,  yet,  finding  it  unsuccessful, 
they  may  fall  out  with  one  another.  The  spirit  of  the  dragon  may  prevail 
over  that  of  the  beast  and  that  of  the  false  prophet,  and  he  may  think  to 
govern  the  world  without  them.  The  antichristian  kings  also,  perceiving 
how  things  are  going,  may  be  for  joining  the  strongest  side.  But  if  so,  they 
will  find  themselves  deceived.  The  next  vial  will  purify  the  world  of  their 
baleful  influences,  and  the  angel  with  a  great  chain  in  his  hand  stands  ready 
to  lay  hold  on  the  dragon  himself,  and  to  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit. 

The  warning  language  addressed  to  the  faithful  (ver.  15)  seems  to  inti- 
mate that  these  important  events  will  come  upon  men  unexpectedly,  and 
that  many  will  be  stripped  by  them  of  their  professions  and  prospects. 
Blessed  are  they  whose  religion  will  stand  the  test  of  such  times  of  trial. 

Ver.  17-21.  As  the  sixth  vial  has  issued  in  the  overthrow  of  the  temporal 
power  of  antichrist,  the  seventh  seems  to  respect  its  spiritual  dominion,  or 
the  hold  which  it  has  on  the  minds  of  men.* 

The  moral  atmosphere  of  the  world  has  long  been  polluted  by  false  reli- 
gion, from  which  it  seems  to  be  the  object  of  this  vial  to  cleanse  it  as  by  a 
thunder-storm,  which  thunder-storm  produces  a  great  earthquake,  and  this  the 
falling  to  pieces  of  the  great  antichristian  city,  and  other  cities  with  it.  The 
face  of  the  world  hence  becomes  changed,  and  the  wrath  of  God  pursues,  as 
by  a  terrible  hail-storm,  the  men  who  repent  not  of  their  deeds. 

Nor  will  this  purification  of  the  moral  atmosphere  be  confined  to  Christen- 
dom, but  will  extend  to  the  whole  earth.  Paganism,  Mahomedism,  apostate 
Judaism,  and  every  thing  which  stands  opposed  to  the  truth,  shall  now  be 
driven  out  of  the  world.  An  "earthquake"  is  the  well-known  symbol  of  a 
revolution ;  and  so  great  and  mighty  a  revolution  of  religious  principle  may 
well  justify  the  description  given  of  it.  And  now,  a  voice  out  of  the  temple 
of  heaven,  even  from  the  throne  of  God,  is  heard,  saying,  "  It  is  done  1" 
The  threatening  of  the  angel  in  chap.  x.  7  is  accomplished — the  1260  years 
are  ended — the  mystery  of  God  is  finished  ! 

As  this  vial  seems  to  be  wholly  of  a  spiritual  nature,  the  "  thunders,  and 
lightnings,  and  earthquake,  and  hail"  do  not  seem  to  refer  to  wars,  or  to  any 
other  temporal  calamities,  but  it  may  be  to  the  effects  of  truth,  and  to  those 
spiritual  judgments  which  will  fall  on  them  who  continue  to  reject  it.  The 
body  of  antichrist,  as  I  may  say,  will  be  destroyed  by  the  temporal  sword,  as 
described  under  the  preceding  vial ;  but  the  "  spirit  of  Christ's  mouth"  shall 
destroy  his  spirit.     Such  from  the  beginning  was  the  doom  passed  upon 

*  That  these  are  very  distinct  we  need  go  no  further  than  Ireland  for  proof.  Popery  hag 
there  long  existed,  not  only  without  the  aid  of  temporal  power,  but  in  a  manner  against  it; 
yet  there  are  few  if  any  countries  where  it  has  faster  hold  on  the  minds  of  men. 


THE  HASLOT   AND  THE  BEAST.  279 

that  wicked  one;  and  such  is  the  punishment  of  those  who  escape  in  the 
great  battle  wherein  the  beast  and  false  prophet  shall  be  taken,  but  who 
repent  not  of  their  deeds:  they  shall  be  "  slain  with  the  sword  of  him  that 
sat  upon  the  horse,  which  sword  proceedeth  out  of  his  mouth,"  chap.  xix.  21. 
The  city  being  "  divided  into  three  parts,"  as  by  an  earthquake,  denotes 
I  think  the  breaking  up  of  the  papal  system ;  and  what  "  the  cities  of  the 
nations"  which  fall  with  it  can  be  understood  to  mean  but  those  worldly 
establishments  of  religion  which  have  symbolized  with  popery,  not  only  in 
worship  and  ceremonies,  but  in  an  alliance  with  the  kingdoms  of  this  world, 
I  cannot  conceive.  To  understand  "  the  great  city"  of  the  Roman  empire, 
and  "  the  cities  of  the  nations"  of  particular  states,  neither  comports  with 
the  meaning  of  the  terms  in  other  parts  of  the  prophecy,  nor  with  the  spi- 
ritual judgments  denoted  by  this  vial.  "The  great  city"  is  mentioned  in 
several  other  places  in  the  prophecy — as  in  chap.  xi.  8,  "Their  dead  bodies 
shall  lie  in  tlie  streets  of  the  great  city,  which  spiritually  is  called  Sodom 
and  Egypt,  where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified." — And  in  chap.  xiv.  8, 
"Babylon  is  fallen,  that  great  city." — And  in  chap,  xviii.  10,  21,  "Alas, 
that  great  city,  Babylon." — "  Thus  with  violence  shall  that  great  city  Baby- 
lon be  thrown  down."  In  none  of  these  passages  does  it  appear  to  mean  the 
empire,  but  the  church  of  Rome.  The  empire  is  symbolized  by  a  beast, 
from  which  the  great  city  is  distinguished,  chap.  xi.  7,8.  But  if  "the 
great  city"  mean  the  church  of  Rome,  even  "  great  Babylon  who  now  comes 
in  remembrance  before  God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the  wine  of  the 
fierceness  of  his  wrath,"  "  the  cities  of  the  nations"  must  mean  those  eccle- 
siastical communities  which  have  symbolized  with  her. 


DISCOURSE  XXV. 


THE    GREAT    HARLOT,    AND    THE    BEAST    THAT    CARRIETH    HER. 
Rev.  xvii. 

Having  gone  through  the  vials,  we  have  arrived  at  the  commencement  of 
the  Millennium.  Indeed  we  descended  to  this  period  in  each  of  the  three 
general  descriptions,  and  in  the  pouring  out  of  the  vials  have  only  retraced 
the  latter  part  of  the  ground  more  particularly.  All  that  remains  between 
this  and  the  twentieth  chapter  would  in  modern  publications  be  called  notes 
of  illustration.  No  new  subject  is  introduced,  but  mere  enlargement  on 
what  has  already  been  announced.  We  have  heard  much  of  the  beast  in 
the  thirteenth  chapter;  but  in  the  seventeenth  we  have  a  still  more  particu- 
lar account  of  him,  and  of  the  woman  that  sitteth  upon  him,  without  which 
we  should  not  have  been  able  to  understand  the  other.  We  had  a  hint  given 
us  of  the  fail  of  Babylon  in  the  fourteenth  chapter;  but  in  the  eighteenth 
and  part  of  the  nineteenth  we  have  a  triumphant  ode,  sent  as  it  were  from 
heaven,  to  be  sung  on  the  occasion.  Finally,  we  have  been  given  to  expect, 
in  the  fourteenth  chapter,  that  prior  to  the  overthrow  of  the  antichristian 
cause  the  gospel  would  be  making  progress;  but  in  the  nineteenth  we  see 
the  word  of  God  going  forth,  riding  upon  a  white  horse,  and  the  antichris- 
tian powers  destroyed  in  the  very  act  of  opposing  him. 

The  first  of  these  illustrative  notes,  as  we  shall  call  them,  is  contained  in 
the  seventeenth  chapter,  and  respects  the  leading  characters  of  the  antichris- 
tian party. 


283  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Ver.  1-6.  The  object  of  this  vision  was  not  to  gratify  curiosity,  but  to 
show  the  justice  of  those  plagues  which  were,  or  were  about  to  be,  inflicted. 

The  opprobrious  name  given  to  the  woman  determines  its  reference  to  a 
corrupt  and  false  church,  as  opposed  to  "  the  bride  the  Lamb's  wife."  Her 
"  sitting  upon  many  waters,"  and  which  are  said  to  be  "  peoples,  and  multi- 
tudes, and  nations,  and  tongues,"  (ver.  15,)  prove  that  this  corrupt  and  false 
church  would  not  be  confined  to  a  single  city  or  nation,  but  would  extend 
over  a  number  of  nations.  The  "  kings  of  the  earth  that  have  committed 
fornication  with  her,"  are  all  those  governments  which  are  or  have  been 
within  the  pale  of  her  communion,  and  which  till  the  Reformation  included 
the  whole  of  western  Europe,  "  the  great  Gothic  family,"  as  they  have  been 
denominated.  It  is  this  their  idolatrous  communion  with  her  that  is  called 
fornication.  Those  who  have  been  made  "  drunk  with  the  wine  of  her 
fornication,"  are  those  who  have  drunk  into  her  doctrines,  worship,  spirit, 
and  practices,  and  have  become  as  it  were  intoxicated  by  them. 

To  have  a  view  of  this  harlot,  the  apostle  is  carried  in  vision  "  into  the 
wilderness."  She  was  represented  before  as  sitting  upon  many  waters;  but 
as  she  is  now  to  be  described  as  riding  upon  a  beast,  it  is  proper  that  it 
should  be  upon  the  earth.  Though  the  imagery  however  is  changed,  yet 
the  meaning  may  be  much  the  same;  for  a  wilderness,  no  less  than  many 
waters,  signifies  peoples,  and  multitudes,  and  nations,  and  tongues.  Hence 
the  nations  into  which  Judah  was  carried  captive  are  called  "  the  wilderness 
of  the  people,"  Ezek.  xx.  35.  For  the  apostle  to  be  carried  into  the  wilder- 
ness may  be  equal  to  his  being  placed  in  the  midst  of  the  nations  of  Europe 
— say  in  London,  Paris,  Madrid,  or  Vienna — at  a  time  when  papal  Rome 
was  in  all  her  glory. 

Being  in  the  wilderness,  he  sees  a  woman  sitting  upon  a  beast,  which 
beast  was  caparisoned  with  scarlet  trappings,  full  of  the  names  of  blas- 
phemy, having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  This  beast  is  manifestly  the 
same  as  that  which  is  described  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  as  "  rising  out  of 
the  sea,"  and  is  no  other  than  the  Roman  empire  under  its  last  head  or  form 
of  government,  or  that  which  has  been  knovm  in  history  as  the  western  or 
holy  Roman  empire,  in  connexion  ivith  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  ivhich  are 
its  ten  horns.  It  is  this  government  which  has  given  the  title  of  emperor, 
sometimes  to  a  king  of  one  nation,  and  sometimes  of  another ;  but  whoever 
has  possessed  it,  he  has  been  considered  as  the  grand  supporter  of  the  papal 
hierarchy. 

It  is  said  that  the  ancient  pagan  emperors  were  wont  to  be  dressed  in 
"scarlet"  in  times  of  war, — a  fit  attire  then  for  a  bloody  period,  and  now 
for  a  bloody  persecuting  government.  Its  "names  of  blasphemy"  express 
its  impious  and  antichristian  character,  assuming  the  throne  of  God  in  the 
minds  and  consciences  of  men. 

The  "  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  gold,  and  precious  stones,  and  pearls," 
with  which  the  woman  was  arrayed,  allude  no  doubt  to  the  attire  of  a  harlot 
of  no  ordinary  rank.  The  design  is  to  describe  her  as  being  of  the  world, 
and  seeking  the  things  of  the  world,  or  as  contriving  by  her  meretricious 
ornaments  to  dazzle  the  eyes  of  her  beholders.  It  is  by  that  ceremonious 
pomp,  splendour,  and  will-worship,  which  have  often  been  defended  under 
the  name  of  decency,  and  deemed  necessary,  both  to  gratify  the  taste  of  the 
polite  and  to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  vulgar,  that  false  religion  makes 
its  way.  The  "  golden  cup  in  her  hand,  full  of  abominations  and  filthiness 
of  her  fornication,"  are  her  corrupt  principles  and  idolatrous  practices, 
recommended  by  her  seducing  emoluments.  The  "name  on  her  forehead" 
is  thought  to  allude  to  the  ancient  practice  of  harlots,  who  not  only  used  to 
put  their  names  on  their  doors,  but  some  of  them  upon  their  foreheads.     It 


THE  HARLOT  AND  THE  BEAST.  281 

is  expressive  not  only  of  the  general  character  of  the  antichristian  church, 
but  of  her  impudence;  practising  day  by  day  the  foulest  and  filthiest  impos- 
tures, and  yet  calling  herself  the  holy  catholic  church,  and  denying  salvation 
to  all  without  her  pale!  The  name  of  "  mystery"  was  given  to  this  apos- 
tacy  by  Paul  as  well  as  John,  and  with  this  very  proper  exposition,  "  The 
mystery  of  iniquity."  The  system  is  full  of  "  the  depths  of  Satan,"  which 
it  is  an  honour  not  to  know. — She  is  further  denominated  "  Babylon  the 
great."  Here  we  see  that  the  Apocalyptic  Babylon  and  the  harlot  are  the 
same;  it  is  Rome,  as  an  antichristian  community  extending  over  many  na- 
tions. What  Babylon  was  to  the  Old  Testament  church  she  is  to  the  New; 
and  such  will  be  her  end. — Finally,  she  is  denominated  '-the  mother  of  har- 
lots and  abominations  of  the  earth."  There  are  other  corrupt  churches  as 
well  as  that  of  Rome;  but  she  is  the  principal,  and  the  parent  of  them,  the 
harlot  of  harlots.  Not  only  by  "forbidding  to  marry"  does  she  open  the 
flood-gates  to  illicit  commerce  between  the  sexes,  and  even  to  unnatural 
crimes,  but  sells  indulgences  and  pardons  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ! 

To  complete  the  character  of  this  mother  of  harlots,  she  is  described  as 
makinw  others  intoxicated,  and  as  being  herself  "  drunken  with  the  blood  of 

to  '  ,  o        ^ 

the  saints !"  Persecution  is  the  crowning  sin  of  the  greatest  smners. 

The  apostle,  having  beheld  her,  "  wondered  with  great  admiration,"  as 
well  he  might.  So  much  wickedness,  be  it  committed  by  whom  it  might, 
was  wonderful ;  but  who  could  have  thought  that  this  was  a  picture  of  what 
would  be  called  the  holy  catholic  church,  in  whose  pale  only  loas  salvation! ! ! 
The  Christian  church  was  an  object  dear  to  him :  what  then  must  be  his 
feelings  to  be  told  that  it  should  come  to  this. 

Ver.  7.  The  answer  of  the  angel  is  designed  to  allay  the  admiration  of  the 
apostle;  and  this  it  does  by  accounting  for  what  had  been  seen.  When 
Hazael  wondered  at  his  own  predicted  cruelties,  and  scarcely  thought  them 
possible,  he  was  told  in  answer,  "The  Lord  hath  showed  me  that  thou  shall 
be  king  over  Syria."  This  was  answer  sufficient ;  and  that  of  the  angel 
resembles  it.  The  character  of  the  woman  is  accounted  for  by  her  alliance 
with  the  beast.  Let  the  Christian  church  consider  this,  and  tremble  at  such 
alliances. 

Ver.  8-1 1.  Having  given  an  account  of  the  woman,  the  angel  proceeds 
to  describe  "  the  beast  that  carrieth  her."  This  no  doubt  is  the  Roman  em- 
pire, described  as  the  "  beast  that  was,  and  is  not,  and  yet  is."  Prior  to  the 
overthrow  of  paganism  by  Constantine,  it  urns — it  was  that  idolatrous,  blas- 
phemous, persecuting  power  which  Daniel  had  foretold.  From  that  period, 
professing  to  become  a  Christian  government,  the  properties  of  the  beast 
were  as  it  were  laid  aside,  and  it  was  not.  Such  was  its  character  from  the 
days  of  Constantine  to  the  revelation  of  the  man  of  sin.  It  might  have  been 
denominated  the  beast  that  7vas,  and  is  not;  or  the  late  pagan,  but  noto 
Christian  empire.  But,  notwithstanding  this  his  profession  of  Christianity, 
his  origin  is  "  the  bottomless  pit,"  and  his  end  "  perdition."  He  may  de- 
ceive the  blinded  multitude  with  his  pretences  of  being  not  that  which  he 
once  was ;  but,  as  the  angel  informs  the  apostle,  he  yet  is.  He  had  indeed 
a  "  wound  by  a  sword,"  which  was  thought  at  the  time  to  be  mortal,  but  it 
did  not  prove  so.  The  corruptions  of  Christianity  healed  it,  and  all  the  pro- 
perties of  the  beast  revived  in  their  wonted  vigour. 

The  angel  proceeds  to  inform  the  apostle  more  particularly  concerning 
the  "  seven  heads"  of  the  beast,  and  intimates  that  in  understanding  this 
subject  there  will  be  employment  for  "  wisdom."  They  are  said  first  to  be 
"  seven  mountains  on  which  the  woman  sitteth."  This  determines  the  seat 
of  the  hierarchy  to  be  Rome,  well  known  as  standing,  when  in  its  full  ex- 
tent, upon  seven  hills.     They  are  also  said  to  be  "  seven  kings,"  or  forms  of 

Vol.  m.— 30  2a3 


282  •  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

government,  under  which  the  empire  had  subsisted,"did  subsist,  or  would 
hereafter  subsist.  The  forms  which  had  subsisted  (as  has  been  observed  on 
chap,  xiii.)  were  kings,  consul.^,  dictator.'^,  decemvirs,  and  military  tribunes ; 
the  form  which  subsisted  at  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  the  prophecy 
was  (hat  of  emperors ;  and  that  which  was  yet  to  come,  and  to  "  continue  a 
short  space,"  seems  to  be  that  non-descript  government  which  succeeded  the 
overthrow  of  the  emperors,  and  continued  in  divers  forms  for  about  three 
hundred  years,  till  the  establishment  of  that  government  which  from  the  days 
of  Charlemagne  to  the  Reformation  (a  space  of  above  seven  hundred  years) 
combined  all  the  nations  of  Europe  in  support  of  the  antichristian  hie- 
rarchy. 

This  short-lived  intermediate  power  might  on  some  accounts  be  considered 
as  the  "  seventh"  head  of  the  beast,  and  as  such  be  distinguished  from  its 
last  head,  which  in  this  view  would  be  the  "  eighth ;"  but  upon  the  whole 
it  was  rather  to  be  considered  as  belonging  to  that  in  which  it  merged,  and 
which  in  this  view  would  be  the  seventh,  or  "  of  the  seven." 

There  is  an  apparent  difficulty  in  this  last  head  of  the  Roman  government 
being  described  as  the  beast  that  loas  and  is  not,  as  though  the  changes  here 
alluded  to  were  peculiar  to  that  last  head,  when  in  fact  they  respect  the  beast 
under  different  heads.  The  answer  I  conceive  to  be  this : — The  beast,  it  is 
true,  icas  under  his  first  five  heads,  and  ivas  not  under  his  sixth ;  but  till  the 
last  stages  of  his  existence  this  description  could  not  be  applied  to  him,  or 
become  as  it  were  his  proper  name.  From  this  time  he  would  be  known 
as  the  beast  which  was  and  is  not,  or  as  the  no  longer  pagan,  but  Christian 
empire. 

Ver.  12-18.  In  every  description  of  the  Roman  beast,  whether  by  Daniel 
or  John,  the  ten  horns  are  a  distinguished  part  of  it.  "  Ten  kings,"  in  the 
language  of  prophecy,  are  ten  kingdoms  or  governments.  They  were  not 
kingdoms  at  the  time  of  the  vision ;  hence  the  kings  are  said  to  have  "  re- 
ceived no  kingdom  as  yet;"  but  on  the  overturning  of  the  empire  by  the 
Goths  in  the  fifth  century,  those  nations  which  had  before  been  dependent 
provinces,  together  with  others  that  were  without  its  jurisdiction,  became 
independent  kingdoms;  and  having  embraced  the  religion  of  Rome,  in  pro- 
cess of  time  united  in  supporting  it. 

The  reign  of  these  kings  is  said  to  be  "  one  (or  the  same)  hour  with  the 
beast ;"  that  is,  with  the  last  head  of  the  Roman  empire.  They  had  over- 
turned the  empire  in  its  preceding  head  or  form;  but  by  agreeing  together 
in  religion  they  established  it  under  a  new  form :  and  being  of  the  same 
mind  with  the  beast  in  this  his  new  form  as  to  suppm'ting  the  church,  they 
unanimously  "gave  their  power  and  strength  and  kingdoms  to  him,"  for  this 
end.  They  did  not  subject  their  kingdoms  to  him  as  a  secular  power,  for 
then  had  they  not  been  independent;  their  only  connexion  with  him  would 
be  ecclesiastical,  or  in  his  supporting  the  harlot.  That  this  was  the  only 
bond  of  union  between  them  is  manifest  from  the  result  of  things :  when 
their  love  should  be  turned  into  hatred,  they  are  not  said  to  hate  the  beast, 
but  the  whore ;  it  was  the  whore  therefore,  and  not  the  beast,  that  was  the 
object  of  their  attachment.  While  he,  caparisoned  in  scarlet,  should  carry 
her  through  all  her  filthy  and  bloody  courses,  they  would  be  with  him,  hold- 
ing up  his  trappings,  or  lending  their  authority  to  enforce  his  measures. 

Such  was  actually  the  conduct  of  all  the  governments  of  Christendom 
prior  to  the  Reformation,  and  such  has  been  the  conduct  of  many  of  them 
since.  It  is  thus  that  they  are  said  to  have  made  "war  with  the  Lamb." 
Their  proceedings  with  respect  to  religion  have  been  antichristian.  All  that 
has  been  done  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  in  invading  the  rights  of  con- 
science has  been  assuming  his  throne;  and  all  the  cruel  edicts  against  what 


FALL  OF  BABYLON,  AND  MARRIAGE  OF  THE  LAMB.  283 

they  call  heresy  and  heretics,  with  all  the  bloody  executions  of  them,  have 
been  in  direct  hostility  against  his  kingdom.  "  But  the  Lamb  shall  over- 
come them."  Whosoever  shall  gather  together  against  him  will  fall  for  his 
sake.  They  may  ask,  Who  is  like  unto  the  beast,  and  who  is  able  to  make 
war  with  him?  But  the  Lamb  is  "Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of  kings,"  and 
must  prevail.  His  army,  too,  is  a  select  band,  "  called,  and  chosen,  and 
faithful,"  who  following  their  Leader  are  certain  to  be  victorious.  The 
overthrow  of  the  governments  of  Christendom  does  not  respect  them  as 
monarchical  in  distinction  from  republican,  (for  one  of  Daniel's  "kingdoms" 
was  a  republic,)  but  as  antichristian.  Those  governments  that  "  make  war 
with  the  Lamb,"  whatever  be  their  form,  the  "  Lamb  will  overcome  them." 

In  the  progress  of  this  war  it  is  intimated  that  the  kings  who  have  sup- 
ported the  harlot  shall  have  their  hearts  turned  to  "  hate"  her,  and  shall  be 
instruments  in  her  destruction.  The  hierarchy  will  become  as  odious  in  the 
eyes  of  the  nations  as  a  wrinkled  prostitute  is  in  the  eyes  of  her  paramours. 
This  is  the  way  in  which  the  antichristian  church  is  doomed  to  fall.  It  will 
not  be  from  the  increase  of  religious  people  who  withdraw  from  her  com- 
munion, as  she  has  always  apprehended;  but  from  those  who  have  been  her 
companions  in  sin,  and  who,  when  nothing  more  is  to  be  expected  from  her, 
shall  turn  against  her  and  destroy  her.  It  is  not  by  protestantism,  nor  by 
Methodism,  (as  serious  Christianity  is  now  called  amongst  us,)  but  by  infi- 
delity, that  false  religion  will  be  overthrown. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  the  powers  which  supported  the  antichristian 
harlot  should  be  the  instruments  employed  in  destroying  her;  but  so  it  is 
appointed  of  Heaven.  God,  who  saw  the  end  from  the  beginning,  intended 
for  wise  ends  to  permit  the  apostacy,  and  so  to  order  it  that  the  governments 
of  Europe  should  for  a  time  unite  in  supporting  it.  But  it  is  only  for  a  time: 
when  the  purposes  and  prophecies  of  God  are  fulfilled,  he  will  cause  a  spirit 
of  discord  to  separate  these  workers  of  iniquity,  so  that  they  shall  destroy 
one  another. 

Finally,  That  no  doubt  might  be  left  as  to  what  was  signified  by  the  woman, 
she  is  called  "that  great  city  which  reigned"  at  the  time  of  the  vision  "  over 
the  kings,"  or  kingdoms,  "  of  the  earth."  This  was  equal  to  saying,  It  is 
Rome,  considered  as  the  seat  of  an  antichristian  hierarchy,  which  in  the 
latter  part  of  her  empire  shall  prevail,  but  which,  like  all  her  other  forms, 
shall  go  into  perdition. 


DISCOURSE  XXVI. 


THE   FALL   OF    BABYLON,  AND    THE    MARRIAGE    OF   THE    LAMB 
Rev.  xviii. ;  six.  1-10 

Chap,  xviii.  This  is  another  note  of  illustration ;  a  sacred  ode,  much 
resembling  that  on  the  fall  of  old  Babylon,  Isa.  xiv.  4-23;  xxi.  9.  That 
which  old  Babylon  was  to  Zion,  the  Roman  hierarchy  has  been  to  the 
Christian  church ;  and  the  end  of  the  one  shall  correspond  with  that  of  the 
other. 

:  Her  fall  being  sudden,  and  accomplished  by  the  "strong  arm  of  Him  that 
judgeth  her,"  seems  to  relate  to  her  political  overthrow,  as  predicted  by  "the 
harvest  and  the  vintage,"  chap,  xiv.;  by  the  "  battle  of  Armageddon,"  chap, 
xvi.;  and  by  "the  supper  of  the  great  God,"  chap.  xix.     And  as  the  city  to 


284  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

be  destroyed  does  not  consist  of  material  buildings,  but  is  a  community 
extending  over  many  nations,  so  the  fire  by  which  it  is  consumed  will 
doubtless  be  such  as  is  suited  to  the  object.  The  events  o(  ivar  may  be  that 
to  the  antichristian  cause  which  fire  is  to  a  city. 

I  shall  barely  notice  the  contents  of  the  song,  and  remark  on  a  few  of  its 
parts.  An  angel  descends  from  heaven,  and  proclaims  the  important  event; 
and  while  he  pronounces  the  doom  of  the  criminal,  states  withal  what  have 
been  her  crimes,  ver.  1-3.  Another  voice  is  heard  from  heaven  addressed 
to  the  people  of  God  who  have  in  different  ways  and  degrees  been  connected 
with  her,  to  come  out  of  her  as  Lot  escaped  from  Sodom,  lest,  being  par- 
takers of  her  sins,  they  receive  also  of  her  plagues,  ver.  4.  This  second 
voice  also  confirms  the  charges  exhibited  against  her  by  the  first ;  and 
reiterates  her  doom,  ver.  5-8.  A  description  is  given  of  her  overthrow 
under  the  image  of  a  city  on  fire :  Those  who  have  been  seduced  by  her 
wiles  shall  be  filled  with  astonishment  at  beholding  her  fearful  end,  ver.  9- 
13.  The  criminal  herself  is  tauntingly  addressed,  as  having  lost  all  that  her 
heart  had  been  set  upon,  ver.  14.  Interested  men  make  great  lamentations 
on  account  of  her,  ver.  15-19.  Apostles,  prophets,  and  martyrs  are  called 
upon  to  rejoice  over  her,  ver.  20.  Her  fall  is  compared  to  the  sinking  of  a 
great  millstone  cast  into  the  sea,  ver.  21.  Her  desolations  are  described  by 
the  loss  of  all  her  enjoyments,  ver.  22-24.  Great  interest  is  excited  in 
heaven  by  her  overthrow,  chap.  xix.  1-G.  A  general  joy  pervades  the  church 
of  God  both  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  Millennium  quickly  follows,  ver. 
7-9.  The  song  concludes  with  an  account  of  the  effect  of  the  vision  on  the 
apostle  towards  his  informant,  ver.  10. 

By  the  language  in  chap,  xviii.  6,  7,  it  may  seem  as  if  the  servants  of  God 
would  be  the  executioners  of  his  wrath  upon  this  corrupt  community;  but 
their  being  called  to  "reward  her  as  she  rewarded  them"  may  only  denote 
that  the  judgments  inflicted  upon  her  will  be  according  to  their  testimony, 
and  in  answer  to  their  prayers.  It  was  thus  that  the  two  witnesses  inflicted 
plagues  upon  their  enemies,  chap.  xi.  5,  6.  The  visible  agents  employed 
in  the  work  will  be  the  governments  of  Christendom  which  will  "  hate  the 
whore,  and  eat  her  flesh,  and  burn  her  with  fire." 

That  which  will  greatly  contribute  to  the  fearfulness  of  her  overthrow  will 
be  htx  previoiis  security.  She  saith  in  her  heart,  "I  sit  a  queen,  and  am  no 
widow,  and  shall  see  no  sorrow."  If  she  had  been  "  the  bride,  the  Lamb's 
wife,  she  could  not  have  been  more  secure;  so  much  the  greater  therefore 
W'ill  be  her  fall. 

The  events  which  to  a  political  eye  seem  to  occur  only  from  the  chances 
of  war,  are  here  described  as  the  process  of  the  Judge  of  heaven  and  earth. 
The  power  which  will  be  exerted  will  be  that  exercised  over  a  condemned 
malefactor  by  a  judge,  at  whose  command  the  officers  of  justice  proceed  to 
execution.  Power  is  the  only  thing  that  she  has  respected;  and  by  the 
strong  arm  of  power  she  shall  be  brought  down !  ver.  8. 

We  have  heard  of  the  hearts  of  the  kings  being  turned  to  hate  the  whore; 
yet  we  find  here  kings  lamenting  her  overthrow.  The  kings  or  kingdoms 
of  Europe  may  then  be  what  they  now  are — divided  into  parties.  One 
party,  and  that  the  successful,  will,  from  interested  considerations,  hate  and 
set  themselves  against  her ;  another  party,  from  similar  considerations,  will 
espouse  her  cause,  and  these,  proving  unsuccessful,  will  lament  over  her, 
ver.  10. 

The  kings  are  joined  in  their  lamentations  by  the  "  merchants,"  who  seem 
to  be  those  who  have  made  a  trade  of  religion ;  which,  however  it  may  in- 
clude many  amongst  the  laity,  must  refer  more  immediately  to  the  mer- 
cenary part  of  the  clergy. 


FALL  OF  BABYLON,  AND  MARRIAGE  OF  THE  LAMB.  285 

The  most  notable  article  in  the  list  of  her  commodities  is  "  the  souls  of 
men."  There  is  doubtless  an  allusion  to  Ezek.  xxvii.  13,  but  "  the  persons 
of  men"  can  there  mean  only  slaves,  whereas  "  the  souls  of  men"  are  here 
distinguished  from  slaves.  Tyre  dealt  only  in  men's  bodies,  but  Rome  in 
their  souls.  I  know  not  what  else  to  make  of  the  sale  of  indulgences  and 
pardons ;  of  the  buying  and  selling  of  church  livings ;  of  confessions,  prayers 
for  the  dead,  and  of  every  other  means  of  extorting  money  from  the  ignorant. 
That  which  will  excite  the  most  doleful  lamentations  among  the  adherents 
of  the  antichristian  church  will  cause  the  friends  of  Christ  to  shout  for  joy. 
The  marks  of  desolation  are  recounted  with  triumph.  The  sounds  of  music, 
the  bustle  of  craftsmen,  the  grinding  of  the  mill-stone,  the  light  of  a  candle, 
and  the  joyful  salutations  of  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride,  are  all  ceased, 
and  succeeded  by  the  awful  stillness  of  death.  And  if  any  ask,  Wherefore 
hath  the  Lord  done  this?  What  meaneth  the  heat  of  this  great  anger?  the 
answer  is,  "  In  her  was  found  the  blood  of  prophets,  and  of  saints,  and  of 
all  that  were  slain  upon  the  earth." 

The  first  ten  verses  of  the  nineteenth  chapter,  which  are  a  part  of  the 
sacred  ode,  describe  the  effect  of  the  fall  of  Babylon  on  the  friends  of  God 
both  in  heaven  and  earth. 

Chap.  xix.  1-8.  The  heavenly  host  with  one  voice  raises  the  shout  of 
"Alleluia  !  Salvation,  and  glory,  and  honour,  and  power,  unto  the  Lord 
our  God ;  for  true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments :  for  he  hath  judged  the 
great  whore,  which  did  corrupt  the  earth  with  her  fornication,  and  hath 
avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants  at  her  hand.  And  again  they  said.  Alle- 
luia !  and  her  smoke  rose  up  for  ever  and  ever."  What  a  contrast  between 
this  and  the  whining  lamentations  of  the  merchants! 

The  punishment  of  every  community  as  such  requires  to  be  in  this  world  ; 
when  therefore  her  smoke  is  said  to  "  rise  up  for  ever  and  ever,"  the  allusion 
may  be  to  a  city  consumed  by  fire ;  and  the  meaning  is,  that  it  shall  never 
be  rebuilt,  but  its  overthrow,  like  that  of  Sodom,  shall  be  set  forth  for  an 
everlasting  monument  of  the  Divine  displeasure. 

After  this  a  voice  is  heard  out  of  the  throne,  saying,  "  Praise  our  God,  all 
ye  his  servants,  and  ye  that  fear  him,  both  small  and  great."  The  theme 
is  acceptable  to  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  must  be  encored.  In 
answer  to  this  call  of  the  angel,  the  servants  of  God  both  in  heaven  and 
earth  are  described  as  in  a  state  of  delightful  agitation.  With  one  voice  they 
renew  the  song,  and  expatiate  on  the  subject.  The  sound  of  their  voices  is 
as  that  of  an  immense  multitude  of  people,  or  as  the  roaring  of  the  sea,  or 
as  continued  peals  of  thunder,  saying,  "Alleluia;  for  the  Lord  God  omni- 
potent reigneth  !"  God  had  always  been  omnipotent,  and  had  always  reigned  ; 
but  while  his  enemies  were  suffered  to  prevail  on  earth  he  did  not  appear  to 
reign  in  that  part  of  his  empire  as  he  now  will.  Now  his  right  hand  and 
his  holy  arm  will  have  gotten  him  the  victory ! 

But  the  song  is  not  yet  finished  :  it  is  added,  "  Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice, 
and  give  honour  to  him,  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife 
hath  made  herself  ready."  The  Lamb  and  his  wife  are  fitly  introduced  in 
opposition  to  the  harlot  and  her  paramours ;  namely,  the  beast  and  the  kings 
of  the  earth.  The  fall  of  the  one  is  the  signal  for  the  glorious  appearance 
of  the  other.  Such  was  the  taking  away  of  the  dominion  of  the  little  horn 
to  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the 
whole  heaven,  being  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High, 
Dan.  vii.  26,  27.  This  marriage  of  the  Lamb  I  conceive  is  the  Millennium 
itself  Both  this  and  the  fall  of  Babylon,  which  precedes  it,  are  here  intro- 
duced by  way  of  anticipation.  They  each  come  into  the  song  of  heaven 
previously  to  their  being  actually  accomplished  on  earth.     The  account  of 


286  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  one  follows  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter,  where  the  beast  and  the 
false  prophet  are  taken ;  and  that  of  the  other  in  the  first  six  verses  of  the 
chapter  following. 

The  accession  of  believers  to  Christ  at  any  period  is  represented  by  the 
espousal  of  a  chaste  virgin  to  her  husband ;  and  the  whole  gospel  dispensa- 
tion is  described  as  a  marriage  supper.  What  an  espousal,  then,  and  what 
a  supper  will  that  be,  when  Jews  and  Gentiles,  from  every  nation  under 
heaven,  shall  be  brought  to  believe  in  him !  The  appearance  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  has  not  been  such  of  late  ages  as  might  have  been  expected  of 
one  that  had  Christ  for  her  Head.  She  has  been  not  only  scattered  by 
persecution,  but  her  beauty  greatly  tarnished  by  errors,  corruptions,  and 
divisions,  so  as  scarcely  to  sustain  a  visible  character;  but  when  believers 
all  over  the  world  shall  have  purified  their  souls  by  obeying  the  truth — when 
they  are  what  they  were  in  the  days  of  pentecost,  "  of  one  heart  and  of  one 
soul" — and  when  there  is  nothing  but  distance  of  situation  in  one  body- 
to  hinder  their  being  united  then  will  "  the  bride  have  made  herself  ready." 

The  church  is  described  as  being  active  in  putting  on  her  robes  of  glory, 
but  they  are  ready  prepared  for  her.  To  her  was  "granted  that  she  should 
be  arrayed  in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white."  Reference  may  be  had  to  the 
wedding  garments  provided,  according  to  the  representation  in  the  parable, 
at  the  expense  of  the  bridegroom.  It  is  said  to  be  "  the  righteousness  of  the 
saints;"  yet  as  it  respects  the  saints  not  individually,  but  collectively,  and  at 
the  Millennial  period,  it  would  seem  to  denote  a  justification  of  the  church 
from  all  things  which  have  stood  against  her,  analogous  to  that  of  an  indi- 
vidual believer  on  his  first  espousal  to  Christ.  As  the  perdition  of  the  anti- 
christian  community  is  described  in  language  alluding  to  that  of  individual 
unbelievers,  (ver.  3,  20,)  so  the  glory  bestowed  on  the  church  at  this  period 
alludes  to  that  which  is  conferred  on  individual  believers  when  they  are 
"washed,  and  justified,  and  sanctified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
by^  the  Spirit  of  our  God."  Thus  the  church  in  the  days  of  Zerubbabel, 
when  she  had  been  polluted  among  the  heathen,  is  represented  by  Joshua 
the  high  priest  "  clothed  with  filthy  garments,"  and  her  justification  by  the 
"  taking  away  of  his  filthy  garments  and  clothing  him  with  change  of  rai- 
ment." Thus  also  the  glory  of  the  church  at  another  period  is  expressed  in 
language  applicable  at  all  times  to  individual  believers: — "  I  will  greatly 
rejoice  in  the  Lord,  my  soul  shall  be  joyful  in  my  God ;  for  he  hath  clothed 
me  with  the  garments  of  salvation,  and  hath  covered  me  with  the  robe  of 
righteousness,  as  a  bridegroom  decketh  with  ornaments,  and  as  a  bride 
adorneth  with  jewels."  Christ's  salvation  will  then  be  to  her  as  a  beautiful 
garment,  and  his  righteousness  as  an  ornamental  robe. 

Ver.  9.  A  blessing  was  pronounced  by  our  Lord  on  those  who  saw  and 
heard  the  things  which  were  then  to  be  seen  and  heard,  and  a  still  greater 
blessing  is  in  reserve  for  those  who  shall  see  and  partake  of  the  good  here 
predicted.  The  most  glorious  things  spoken  of  the  church  of  God  will  then 
be  accomplished.  The  success  of  the  gospel  in  different  parts  of  the  world 
during  the  period  of  the  vials  will  then  meet  as  a  confluence  of  rivers  near 
the  ocean.  The  tides  of  mercy  and  judgment  towards  Jews  and  Gentiles 
will  soon  find  their  level  in  the  salvation  of  both.  "  In  times  past  we  be- 
lieved not  God,  but  obtained  mercy  through  their  unbelief;"  now  "  through 
our  mercy  they  also  shall  have  obtained  mercy,"  Rom.  xi.  30,  3L  In  former 
ages  God  blessed  the  eastern  parts  of  the  world;  of  late  ages  the  western  ; 
but  now  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  like  a  returning  tide,  shall  spread  over  both 
west  and  east,  Isa.  Ix.  I-IL  "  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth,  and  coraeth  to 
the  thousand,  three  hundred,  and  five-and-thirty  days !"  Dan.  xii.  12. 

These  predictions  respecting  the  overthrow  of  Babylon,  and  the  establish- 


THE  BEAST  AND  THE  FALSE  PROPHET  TAKEN.        287 

ment  of  the  church,  are  attested  by  the  angel  as  "  the  true  sayings  of  God." 
Such  an  attestation  would  tend  to  strengthen  the  faith  and  hope  of  believers, 
who  might  otherwise,  during  the  long  reign  of  the  antichristian  beasts,  be 
tempted  to  think  that  God  had  forgotten  to  be  gracious,  and  would  be  favour- 
able to  his  church  no  more. 

Here  I  consider  the  sacred  ode  on  the  fall  of  Babylon  and  the  marriage 
of  the  Lamb  as  closing,  with  only  a  few  words  of  the  apostle  concerning 
his  informant. 

Ver.  10.  The  angel  here  spoken  of  seems  to  be  him  whose  voice  was 
heard  out  of  the  throne,  calling  for  a  repetition  of  the  song,  ver.  5.  John 
probably  supposed  him  to  be  the  Son  of  God  himself,  who  had  more  thtn 
once  in  his  visions  appeared  as  an  angel,  and  whom  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
worshipping.  But  the  angel  refuses  his  adoration  on  the  ground  of  his 
being  merely  a  servant,  the  fellow  servant  of  him  and  his  brethren,  who  had 
the  testimony  of  Jesus.  They  testified  of  things  concerning  him  which 
were  accomplished ;  as  of  his  birth,  life,  death,  resurrection,  ascension,  and 
the  way  of  salvation  by  him :  he  revealed  prophecies  which  as  yet  were  un- 
accomplished. Yet  their  work  was  much  the  same :  the  theme  of  their 
testimony  contained  the  spirit  or  substance  of  what  he  had  imparted  for 
prophecy.  They  were  therefore  fellow  labourers  in  the  same  cause,  and 
must  not  worship  one  another,  but  God.  Christ  himself  is  not  an  object  of 
worship  considered  as  man,  but  as  God  only.  That  he  is  God  as  well  as 
man,  and  as  such  an  object  of  Divine  worship,  this  circumstance  of  the 
angel's  refusal  fully  evinces.  We  see  in  his  conduct  what  we  see  in  that  of 
Paul  and  Barnabas  at  Iconium;  and  every  creature  who  fears  God  must 
follow  the  example.  If  Jesus  therefore  were  not  God,  he  ought  on  all  occa- 
sions to  have  refused  Divine  worship,  and  certainly  would  have  done  so. 
His  never  having  done  this  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  his  Divinity.  Nor  can  it 
be  justly  alleged  that  the  worship  paid  to  Christ  was  mere  civil  respect;  for 
then  the  same  might  be  said  of  John's  worshipping  the  angel,  and  which  he 
might  have  done  without  being  repulsed.  We  learn  therefore  from  this 
circumstance  that  Jesus  is  not  only  the  theme  of  the  gospel  ministry, 
and  the  spirit  or  substance  of  prophecy,  but  that  he  is  truly  and  properly 
Divine. 


DISCOURSE  xxvn. 

THE    TAKING    OF   THE   BEAST    AND   THE    FALSE    PROPHET. 
Rev.  XIX.  11-21. 

When  the  Israelites,  full  of  fearful  apprehension  from  the  pursuit  of  their 
enemies,  cried  out  for  fear,  Moses  said  unto  them,  "  Fear  not,  stand  still  and 
see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord:  for  the  Egyptians,  whom  ye  have  seen  to-day, 
ye  shall  see  no  more  for  ever !"  In  going  over  these  last  ten  chapters  we 
have  seen  and  heard  much  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet,  and  of  the 
mischiefs  which  they  have  wrought  upon  the  earth ;  but  this  is  the  last 
account  that  we  shall  have  of  them.  By  the  prophecies  in  these  verses 
they  are  buried  in  oblivion,  so  that  the  church  in  after-times  shall  know 
of  them  only  as  we  know  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host,  namely,  as  matters  of 
history. 

In  cases  wherein  the  parties  have  been  assured  of  victory,  it  has  not  been 


288  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE 

unusual  for  a  battle  to  be  preceded  by  a  song  of  triumph.  It  was  thus  when 
Jehoshaphat  went  forth  against  his  enemies :  singers  were  first  appointed 
to  praise  the  Lord,  and  then  the  army  was  led  on  to  the  engagement,  2 
Chron.  xx.  And  thus  our  Lord,  when  about  to  engage  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness, being  certain  of  victory,  exclaimed,  "  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this 
world:  now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out! — Now  is  the  Son  of 
man  glorified,  and  God  is  glorified  in  him!"  John  xii.  31;  xiii.  31.  It  is 
thus,  I  conceive,  that  the  prophecy,  having  anticipated  the  victory  over 
Babylon  in  a  song  of  triumph,  proceeds  to  describe  the  battle.  The  scene 
of  the  song  was  in  heaven,  but  the  battle  in  which  the  event  will  actually 
occur  is  upon  earth.  It  is  the  same  as  that  before  described  under  the  sixth 
vial,  namely,  the  battle  of  Armageddon, — "  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty," 
— "  the  supper  of  the  great  God  !" 

Observe  the  preparations  for  it. — "  Heaven  is  opened,  a  white  horse  is 
seen,  and  he  that  sat  upon  it  is  called  faithful  and  true,  who  in  righteous- 
ness doth  judge  and  make  war."  We  can  be  at  no  loss  in  deciding  who 
this  great  warrior  is.  He  is  doubtless  the  same  that  is  addressed  in  Psal. 
xlv.  3,  4  : — "  Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  most  mighty,  with  thy  glory 
and  thy  majesty :  and  in  thy  majesty  ride  prosperously,  because  of  truth,  and 
meekness,  and  righteousness :  and  thy  right  hand  shall  teach  thee  terrible 
things." — I  may  add,  he  is  the  same  that  is  described  in  the  first  six  verses 
of  the  sixty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah;  and  what  is  here  predicted  by  John  not 
only  alludes  to  that  prophecy,  but  appears  to  refer  to  the  same  event.  His 
coming  up  from  Edom  with  garments  stained  with  the  blood  of  his  enemies 
appears  to  be  justly  paraphrased  by  Dr.  Watts : — 

"  I  lift  my  banner  (saith  the  Lord) 
Where  antichrist  has  stood  ; 
The  city  of  my  gospel  foes 
Shall  be  a  field  of  blood. 

My  heart  hath  studied  just  revenge, 

And  now  the  day  appears ; 
The  day  of  my  redeemed  is  come, 

To  wipe  away  their  tears. 

Slaughter,  and  my  devouring  sword, 

Shall  walk  the  streets  around; 
Babel  shall  reel  beneath  my  stroke. 

And  stagger  to  the  ground." 

It  may  be  thought  that  this  bloody  representation  is  unsuitable  to  the  cha- 
racter of  \he  Prince  of  peace;  and  that  the  battle  between  him  and  his  army 
on  the  one  side,  and  that  of  the  beast  and  kings  on  the  other,  is  contrary  to 
the  genius  of  the  gospel  dispensation.  To  solve  this  difficulty,  let  it  be  ob- 
served that  the  war  here  described  is  of  two  kinds,  and  Christ  sustains  a 
twofold  character  in  conducting  it.  The  first  is  spiritual;  and  this  he 
undertakes  as  the  "  Head  of  the  church."  In  this  character  he  rides  upon  a 
white  horse,  and  the  armies  of  heaven  follow  him  upon  white  horses ;  fitly 
representing  the  great  efforts  that  shall  be  making,  at  the  very  period  of 
Babylon's  overthrow,  to  spread  the  gospel  over  the  whole  earth.  The 
second  is  providential ;  and  this  he  undertakes  as  "  Head  over  all  things  to 
the  church."  In  this  character  he  is  "  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in 
blood."  In  making  war  in  his  spiritual  character,  he  does  not  wait  to  be 
attacked  by  his  enemies:  he  goes  forth  in  this  respect  conquering  and  to 
conquer.  But  in  so  far  as  the  war  is  of  a  providential  character,  the  enemies 
are  the  aggressors.  The  beast,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  their  armies, 
"  gather  together  to  make  war  against  him  and  his  army,"  ver.  19.  The  idea 
conveyed  by  this  language  is,  that  while  he  who  sitteth  upon  the  white  horse 


THE  BEAST  AND  THE  FALSE  PROPHET  TAKEN.  289 

and  his  army  are  going  forth,  to  spread  the  everlasting  gospel  in  the  world, 
the  beast  and  his  allies  will  gather  together  to  oppose  its  progress,  and  will 
perish  in  the  attempt. 

There  is  no  necessity  for  supposing  the  armies  of  Christ  will  have  literally 
to  fight  with  those  of  the  beast  and  the  kings;  but  while  they  are  following 
him  in  spreading  the  gospel, ~//e,  as  "King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords," 
may  work  the  utter  overthrow  of  their  adversaries,  by  setting  them  at  vari- 
ance with  one  another.  We  have  seen  this  accomplished  in  part  already  in 
the  antipathies  and  wars  which  have  raged  between  infidelity  and  popery ; 
and  such  may  be  the  progress  of  things,  till,  like  two  furious  beasts  of  prey, 
they  shall  both  be  destroyed.  The  account  itself  agrees  with  this  supposi- 
tion ;  for  though  the  armies  of  the  beast  are  said  to  have  gathered  together 
against  the  armies  of  him  that  sat  upon  the  horse,  yet  there  is  no  mention 
of  any  being  engaged  in  their  overthrow  but  he  himself.  It  is  he  that 
"  smites  the  nations,"  "  treads  the  wine-press,"  and  has  his  "  vesture  dipped 
in  blood."  It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  in  the  corresponding  prophecy  of 
Isa.  Ixiii.  1-5,  he  is  said  to  have  "  trodden  the  wine-press  alone,  and  of  the 

people  THERE  WAS  NONE  WITH  Hill." 

These  remarks  may  suffice  for  the  general  meaning  of  the  prophecy. 
Let  us  now  attend  to  a  few  of  the  particulars. 

It  is  a  joyful  sight  to  see  the  Son  of  God  riding  forth  upon  the  white 
horse.  He  will  not  wait  for  the  fall  of  the  antichristian  powers  ere  he 
extends  his  spiritual  kingdom.  The  flight  of  the  evangelical  angel  was 
prior  to  the  fall  of  Babylon ;  such  is  still  the  order  of  things ;  and  it  is  in 
opposing  this  great  and  good  work  that  the  enemies  of  the  gospel  will  bring 
destruction  upon  themselves. 

The  character  given  to  this  Divine  warrior  must  not  be  overlooked.  He 
is  "  faithful  and  true,"  as  performing  all  his  engagements  to  God,  and  ful- 
filling all  his  promises  to  men.  "  In  righteousness  he  doth  judge  and  make 
war."  .  The  cause  in  which  he  is  engaged  is  just,  and  all  his  measures  are 
in  harmony  with  it.  "  Plis  eyes  were  as  a  flame  of  fire,"  burning  with  holy 
indignation  against  his  enemies.  "And  on  his  head  were  many  crowns," 
denoting  his  great  power  and  numerous  conquests.  "And  he  had  a  name 
written  that  no  man  knew  but  he  himself;"  for  after  all  that  is  known  of  the 
glory  of  his  character,  it  passeth  knowledge.  The  "  vesture  dipped  in 
blood"  refers  to  what  has  been  said  of  the  destruction  of  his  enemies  by 
means  of  wars  kindled  by  their  own  malignity.  "  His  name  is  called  the 
Word  of  God,"  as  being  that  Divine  person  whose  oflice  it  is  to  reveal  the 
mind  of  God  to  men,  and  whose  victories  are  accomplished  by  means  of  the 
gospel.  "  The  armies  of  heaven  on  white  horses"  are  the  friends  of  Christ 
who  go  forth  in  their  respective  stations,  and  lay  themselves  out  to  promote 
his  kingdom.  "The  sharp  sword  that  goeth  out  of  his  mouth"  is  his  truth, 
which  is  not  only  the  means  of  saving  believers,  but  of  punishing  unbe- 
lievers. By  his  word  they  shall  be  judged  at  the  last  day,  and  his  threaten- 
ings  will  fall  upon  them  even  in  the  present  world.  Those  who  are  not 
destroyed  by  his  judgments  on  the  antichristian  party  will  be  despoiled  of 
their  power,  and  ruled  as  with  a  rod  of  iron.  "And  he  treadeth  the  wine- 
press of  the  fierceness  and  wrath  of  Almighty  God." — The  vine  of  the  earth 
being  ripe  for  destruction,  like  grapes  cast  into  a  press,  he  will  tread  them 
in  his  anger,  and  trample  them  in  his  fury.  "And  he  hath  on  his  vesture 
and  on  his  thigh  a  name  written,  KING  OF  KINGS  AND  LORD  OF 
LORDS."  In  this  there  is  something  especially  appropriate,  as  it  respects 
those  kings  who  have  opposed  his  gospel,  and  lorded  it  over  the  consciences 
of  his  subjects.  He  has  long  sustained  this  name  in  right,  but  hencefor- 
ward he  will  sustain  it  in  fact. 

Vol.  III.— 37  2  B 


290  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

And  now  comes  on  the  decisive  battle,  "  the  battle  of  Armageddon,"  "  the 
great  day  of  God  Almighty,"  "  the  supper  of  the  great  God !"  Terrible 
things  in  righteousness  have  occurred  in  our  times;  but  by  the  strong  lan- 
guage used  to  express  this  event,  it  seems  as  if  it  would  surpass  every  thing 
which  has  gone  before  it.  It  is  unlikely  that  it  should  consist  of  a  single 
battle,  but  rather  of  a  war,  or  succession  of  battles,  though  doubtless  one 
must  be  the  last.  It  is  proclaimed  by  an  "  angel  standing  in  the  sun,"  whose 
voice  would  of  course  be  heard  from  the  rising  to  the  going  down  thereof. 
The  mode  in  which  he  announces  it  is  by  an  invitation  to  the  fowls  of 
heaven  to  come  as  to  a  supper,  to  feast  upon  the  carcasses  of  all  ranks  and 
degrees  of  men  who  shall  be  found  on  the  antichristian  side.  The  beast 
and  the  kings  of  the  earth  who  make  common  cause  with  him,  being 
gathered  together  with  their  armies  to  make  war  against  him  that  sitteth 
upon  the  horse  and  against  his  army,  will  now  be  utterly  overthrown.  Those 
powers  which  shall  be  found  supporting  the  papal  hierarchy,  together  with 
"  the  false  prophet,"  or  the  hierarchy  itself,  after  a  corrupt  and  bloody  reign 
of  1200  years,  will  be  "  taken  and  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire,  burning  with 
brimstone." 

It  was  remarked,  on  chap.  xvii.  7,  that  the  corruption  of  the  church  is 
ascribed  to  her  allegiance  with  the  secular  beast,  and  it  is  no  less  remarkable 
that  the  overthrow  of  the  secular  beast  is  ascribed  to  its  allegiance  with  the 
church.  It  was  "  because  of  the  great  words  that  the  little  horn  spake 
against  the  Most  High  that  the  beast  on  whose  head  it  grew  should  be  slain, 
and  his  body  destroyed,  and  given  to  the  burning  flame,"  Dan.  vii.  11.  Let 
governments  consider  this,  and  tremble  at  such  alliances. 

It  is  true  that  neither  political  nor  ecclesiastical  bodies  as  such  can  be 
literally  cast  into  a  place  of  torment,  as  individual  unbelievers  that  compose 
them  will  be ;  they  may,  however,  be  cast  into  perdition  so  as  never  to  rise 
any  more,  which  may  be  the  whole  of  what  is  intended.  As  the  Christian 
church  in  her  Millennial  glory  is  described  in  language  applicable  to  indi- 
vidual believers,  (ver.  8,)  so  the  antichristian  church  is  represented  as  a 
hardened  sinner,  arrested  in  a  course  of  wickedness,  and  sent  to  his  own 
place. 

Finally,  It  is  supposed  that  after  this  terrible  overthrow  there  will  be  a 
remnant,  like  the  scattered  remains  of  a  defeated  army,  who  shall  still  be  on 
the  side  of  antichrist ;  but  they  shall  be  "  slain  by  the  sword  of  him  that 
sitteth  upon  the  horse,  which  sword  proceedeth  out  of  his  mouth."  As  the 
battle  above  described  is  the  same  as  that  of  Armageddon  under  the  sixth 
vial,  so  "the  sword  proceeding  out  of  Christ's  mouth"  corresponds  with  the 
spiritual  judgments  under  the  seventh  vial.  They  who  have  escaped  the 
temporal  calamities  of  the  former  will,  except  they  repent,  fall  under  the 
spiritual  judgments  of  the  latter.  The  threatenings  of  Christ's  word  will 
overtake  them.  Their  hearts  will  fail  within  them,  as  did  the  heart  of  Nabal 
when  told  of  the  words  of  David.  Like  him  they  will  be  smitten  of  God 
and  die ;  and  having  no  successors  to  stand  up  in  their  place,  their  cause 
will  die  with  them. 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  291 


DISCOURSE  XXVIII. 

ON   THE    MILLENNIUM. 
Rev.  XX.  1-6. 

Veu.  1-3.  We  have  seen  the  taking  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet, 
and  in  that  the  fall  of  Babylon ;  but  the  principal  mover  in  the  confederacy 
is  the  dragon,  and  of  him  no  mention  was  made  in  the  battle  before  de- 
scribed. Hence,  though  he  had  not  been  expressly  called  "  that  old  serpent 
the  devil  and  Satan,"  we  might  have  presumed  that  he  was  not  of  an  order 
of  beings  to  be  crushed  by  the  hand  of  man.  His  being  in  one  place  de- 
scribed as  "  a  great  red  dragon,  with  the  seven  heads  and  ten  horns  "  of  the 
Roman  beast,  (chap.  xii.  3,)  can  therefore  only  respect  the  form  under  which 
he  at  that  time  acted  out  his  mischievous  designs. 

This  great  red  dragon  that  had  formerly  been  cast  out  of  heaven  is  sup- 
posed to  be  yet  on  earth,  and  after  the  taking  of  his  agents,  the  beast  and 
the  false  prophet,  is  about  to  rally  his  scattered  forces,  and  to  engage  in  new 
schemes  against  the  Lord  and  against  his  Christ.  If  he  be  not  bound,  all 
the  success  against  the  other  will  signify  but  little;  for  he  will  not  be  at  a 
loss  how  to  deceive  the  world,  and  to  engage  them  anew  in  some  antichris- 
tian  enterprise. 

But  who  is  able  to  bind  him?  The  hand  of  man  cannot  take  him.  Lo, 
"  an  angel  comes  down  from  heaven,  having  the  key  of  the  bottomless  pit 
and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand,  and  lays  hold  on  him  and  binds  him  a 
thousand  years !"  The  apprehension  and  imprisonment  of  this  enemy  will 
complete  the  victory. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  who  this  angel  is ;  for  we  know  who  hath  the 
"  keys  of  hell  and  of  death."  To  him  it  appertaineth,  after  having  been 
manifested  to  destroy  his  works,  to  arrest  him  in  his  course,  and  to  set  bounds 
to  his  operations.  The  hand  of  man  could  not  take  him ;  but  the  hand  of 
Christ  can  lay  fast  hold  of  him. 

The  dragon  being  cast  into  the  bottomless  pit,  and  shut  up,  and  a  seal  set 
upon  him  to  prevent  his  deceiving  the  nations  for  a  thousand  years,  the  king- 
dom of  Christ  shall  now  be  established  over  the  whole  earth. 

Various  questions  have  arisen  concerning  this  Millennial  state,  both  as  to 
its  nature  and  duration.  With  respect  to  the  latter,  the  "thousand  years" 
require,  I  think,  in  this  instance  to  be  taken  Uterally ;  for  if  understood  of 
so  many  years  as  there  are  dai/s  in  this  period,  the  duration  of  the  world 
would  greatly  exceed  what  we  are  elsewhere  given  to  expect.  The  apostles 
seem  to  have  considered  themselves  as  having  passed  the  meridian  of  time, 
and  as  drawing  on  towards  the  close  of  it.  Such  appears  to  be  the  import 
of  the  following  passages : — "  God  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  to  us  by 
his  Son. — But  now  once  in  the  end  of  the  world  hath  he  appeared  to  put 
away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself — The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand. — 
The  coming  of  the  Lord  draioeth  nigh. — Behold,  the  Judge  standeth  before 
the  door. — He  that  testifieth  these  things  saith.  Surely  I  come  quickly!" 
But  if  the  thousand  years  were  reckoned  a  day  for  a  year,  we  are  at  present 
but  upon  the  threshold  of  time :  the  last  judgment  must  in  this  case  be  at  a 
distance  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years. 

A  question  of  more  importance  is  that  which  respects  the  nature  of  this 


292  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Millennial  reign  of  Christ,  whether  it  be  spiritual  or  personal*  Those  who 
favour  the  former,  consider  it  as  a  time  in  which  the  gospel  will  be  spread 
over  the  whole  earth,  and  cordially  embraced  both  by  Jews  and  Gentiles; 
when  those  prophecies  will  be  fulfilled  which  speak  of  the  cessation  of  wars 
— of  the  stone  cut  out  without  hands  becoming  a  great  mountain  and  filling 
the  whole  earth — of  the  little  leaven  leavening  the  whole  lump — of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Lord  covering  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea — of  the  first 
dominion  coming  to  Zion — and  of  the  kingdom  and  dominion,  and  the 
greatness  of  the  knigdom,  under  the  whole  heaven,  being  given  to  the  people 
of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High. 

Those,  on  the  other  hand,  who  plead  for  a  personal  reign  of  Christ  upon 
earth,  consider  the  Millennium  as  a  state  of  immortality,  a  state  subsequent 
to  the  general  conflagration,  wherein  the  righteous,  being  raised  from  their 
graves,  shall  live  and  reign  with  Christ  a  thousand  years ;  after  which,  the 
wicked  dead  being  raised,  the  general  judgment  shall  follow. 

Whatever  respect  I  feel  for  some  who  have  maintained  the  latter  hypo- 
thesis, I  find  insurmountable  objections  to  the  hypothesis  itself. 

First,  The  idea  of  a  personal  reign  appears  to  me  nearly  to  exclude  that 
of  a  spiritual  one,  by  leaving  little  or  no  place  for  it. — It  is  clear  that  the 
pouring  out  of  the  seven  vials  is  principally  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the 
antichnstian  system,  and  that  when  this  is  accomplished  the  Millennium 
follows.  No  sooner  are  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  taken  under  the 
sixth  vial,  and  the  world  (like  the  temple  after  being  polluted  by  Antiochus) 
purified  from  its  abominations  by  the  seventh,  than  the  dragon  is  bound  for 
a  thousand  years.  If  then  this  thousand  years'  reign  be  personal,  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  must  immediately  succeed  the  ruin  of  antichrist.  But  if 
so,  how  or  when  are  all  those  prophecies  to  be  fulfilled  which  describe  the 
prosperity  of  the  church  in  the  latter  days?  How  is  war  to  cease  in  the 
earth,  and  peace  succeed  to  it,  when,  as  soon  as  the  troubles  of  the  earth 
are  destroyed,  the  world  will  be  at  an  end  1  On  this  principle  antichrist 
will  reign  till  the  heavens  are  no  more.  The  end  of  the  1260  years  will  be 
the  end  of  time,  and  the  church  will  have  no  existence  upon  the  present 
earth  but  "  in  the  wilderness."  Instead  of  the  stone,  after  breaking  in  pieces 
the  image,  "  becoming  a  great  mountain,  and  filling  the  whole  earth,"  no 
sooner  is  the  image  broken  to  pieces  than  the  earth  itself  shall  be  burnt  up. 
And  on  the  destruction  of  the  little  horn,  (Dan.  vii.  26,  27,)  instead  of  "the 
kingdom,  and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole 
heaven,  being  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"  no  sooner 
shall  that  horn  be  broken  than  the  whole  earth  will  be  destroyed  with  it ! 

Secondly,  The  idea  of  a  personal  reign  represents  Christ's  second  coming 
at  a  thousand  years'  distance  from  the  last  judgment;  whereas  the  Scripture 
speaks  of  the  one  as  immediately  fullmoing  the  other,  and  as  being  the  grand 
object  of  it.  "The  Lord  Jesus  will  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty 
angels  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and 
that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  who  shall  be  punished, 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  from  the 
glory  of  his  poiotr;  w^hen  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints, 
and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that  believe  in  that  day." — "Behold,  the 
Lord  Cometh  with  ten  thousand  of  his  saints  to  execute  judgment  upon  all," 

*  I  say  nothing  of  a  third  class,  which  might  be  denominated  political,  and  which,  in  the 
delirium  that  prevailed  a  few  years  since,  made  the  dragon  to  be  "  monarchy  in  general," 
the  Millennial  thrones  (chap.  xx.  4)  seats  of  magisterial  authority  to  which  the  people  were 
exalted,  and  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  the  results  of  the  American  and  French 
Revolutions  !  Such  are  the  effects  of  interpreting  prophecy  with  the  view  of  establishing  a 
political  hypothesis. 


THE  MILLENNIUM.  293 

&c. — "I  charge  thee  before  God,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall 
judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  at  his  appearing  and  kingdom." 

Thirdli/,  The  idea  of  a  personal  reign  represents  believers  as  raised  to  a 
state  of  immortality  a  thousand  years  before  the  close  of  Christ's  mediatorial 
kingdom ;  whereas  the  Scripture  represents  the  one  as  immediately  succeed- 
ing the  other.  Speaking  of  the  resurrection,  the  apostle  says,  "Christ  the 
first-fruits,  and  afterwards  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming.  Then  cometh 
the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the 
Father;  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  authority  and  power; 
for  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet.  The  last  enemy 
that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death."  Now  the  resurrection  of  the  saints  will  itself 
be  the  destruction  of  death.  If  therefore  the  end  then  cometh,  there  is  no  place 
for  a  personal  reign  of  a  thousand  years  between  them.  Besides,  if  death  be 
the  last  enemy,  and  this  enemy  be  destroyed  in  the  resurrection,  how  can 
there  be  a  Gog  and  Magog  army  to  be  destroyed  a  thousand  years  after  it? 

Fourthly,  Those  who  consider  the  Millennial  reign  as  personal  confine  the 
last  resurrection  and  the  final  judgment,  as  described  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
chapter,  to  the  tcicked:  but  there  is  nothing  in  that  account  of  the  resurrec- 
tion which  requires  it  to  be  limited  to  them.  The  sea  is  said  to  give  up  the 
dead  which  were  in  it ;  and  death  and  hell  (or  the  grave)  to  give  up  the  dead 
which  were  in  them;  which  language  equally  applies  to  the  righteous  and 
the  wicked:  and  as  to  the  last  judgment,  which  immediately  follows,  had  it 
been  confined  to  the  wicked,  it  would  not  have  been  said  "zvhosocver  was 
not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,"  since 
on  this  principle  they  could  none  of  them  be  found  written  in  it. 

If  the  last  judgment,  as  described  in  chap.  xx.  11-15,  do  not  include  that 
of  the  righteous  as  well  as  the  wicked,  there  is  no  proof  from  this  account 
of  their  being  judged  at  all.  The  Scriptures,  however,  are  very  express, 
that  "  we  must  aU  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,  and  give 
account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body;"  and  that  "God  will  bring  every 
work  into  judgment,  whether  it  be  good  or  whether  it  be  evil." 

Fifthly,  The  account  of  Satan's  being  loosed  after  a  thousand  years' 
restraint,  and  going  forth  to  deceive  the  nations,  and  to  gather  together  the 
armies  of  Gog  and  Magog,  does  not  comport  with  a  state  of  immortality,  or 
with  the  condition  of  men  after  their  resurrection.  Wicked  men  may  rise, 
indeed,  with  the  same  enmity  against  God  and  religion  as  they  possessed  at 
death ;  but  as  to  their  being  able  to  collect  together,  and  to  encompass  the 
church  of  God  in  hope  of  destroying  it,  the  idea  is  gross  and  inadmissible. 
The  sea  and  the  grave  will  give  up  their  dead,  not  to  become  followers  of 
Satan  in  a  new  enterprise,  but  to  be  judged  every  man  according  to  his 
works,  ver.  13. 

Fincdly,  To  represent  the  Millennium,  which  precedes  the  last  judgment, 
as  a  state  of  immortality,  is  to  confound  it  with  the  New  Jerusalem  which 
follows  it.  The  latter  is  indeed  a  state  of  immortality;  for  "there  shall  be 
no  more  death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
pain;  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away"  (xxi.  4);  but  this  language 
•itself  implies  that  till  after  the  final  judgment  it  shall  not  be  so. 

For  these  reasons,  as  well  as  from  the  figurative  language  of  almost  the 
whole  of  the  prophecy,  I  cannot  think  that  the  Millennium  is  to  be  under- 
stood of  a  personal  reign  of  Christ,  in  a  state  of  immortality;  but  of  that 
glorious  7'est  which  the  clmrch  will  enjoy  after  the  destruction  of  her  anti- 
christian  enemies.  Under  this  view,  therefore,  I  shall  now  attend  to  the 
description  given  of  it. 

Ver.  4-6.  These  thrones  correspond  with  the  account  in  Dan.  vii.,  where, 
after  the  power  of  the  little  horn  is  broken,  it  follows,  "  And  the  kingdom 

2b  2 


294  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

and  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven, 
was  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."  Stations  of  im- 
portance, both  in  the  world  and  in  the  church,  will  be  filled  by  righteous 
men.  Righteousness  therefore  will  flow  as  a  river,  and  corruption  and 
violence  will  recede  before  it.  The  public  mind  will  favour  this  course  of 
things.  Thus  it  is  that  wars  and  oppressions,  and  all  other  disorders,  will 
in  a  great  measure  subside.  Every  thing  being  done  on  Christian  principles, 
Christ  will  reign.  "  God's  way  will  be  known  upon  earth,  and  his  saving 
health  among  all  nations.  The  peoples  shall  be  glad  and  sing  for  joy,  for 
the  Lord  will  judge  them  righteously,"  Psal.  Ixvii. 

,,The  "judgment  given  unto  them,  and  to  the  souls  that  were  beheaded  for 
the  witness  of  Jesus,"  denotes  that  God  will  now  vindicate  their  charac- 
ters, and  avenge  their  wrongs.  This  appears  to  be  the  meaning  in  chap.  xi. 
18,  and  xviii.  20.  The  vengeance  poured  upon  the  antichristian  party  is  in 
the  former  of  these  passages  called  judgvig  the  chad,  because  it  vindicates 
them  and  the  cause  in  which  they  suffered,  and  avenges  them  on  their  ad- 
versaries. Thus  it  will  be  during  the  Millennium.  The  cause  in  which  the 
martyrs  have  suffered  will  then  triumph ;  and  while  the  names  of  their  per- 
secutors will  rot  in  execration,  their  labours  will  be  in  request,  and  their 
characters  embalmed  in  the  memory  of  mankind.  It  is  thus,  I  conceive, 
that  the  martyrs  will  "  live  and  reign  with  Christ  a  thousand  years." 

The  antichristian  party,  on  the  other  hand,  called  "  the  rest  of  the  dead," 
or  the  "  remnant"  that  escaped  from  the  battle  in  which  "  the  beast  and  the 
false  prophet  were  taken,  were  slain  with  the  sword  of  him  that  sat  on  the 
horse,  which  sword  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth."  In  other  words,  they 
will  become  as  dead  men  during  the  whole  of  the  Millennial  period.  They 
would  die  as  a  body  in  that  they  had  no  successors  to  stand  up  in  their 
place,  and  as  individuals,  if  any  remained,  would  be  unable  to  impede  the 
progress  of  the  gospel.  After  this  their  leader  being  let  loose,  and  permitted 
to  make  one  more  desperate  effort,  they  will  then  "  live  again,"  though  it 
will  be  but  for  a  short  season. 

"  This  (adds  the  sacred  writer)  is  the  first  resurrection.  Blessed  and  holy 
is  he  that  hath  part  in  the  first  resurrection ;  on  such  the  second  death  hath 
no  power ;  but  they  shall  be  priests  of  God  and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign 
with  him  a  thousand  years."  Those  who  consider  the  reign  of  Christ  per- 
sonal understand  this  of  the  resurrection  of  the  bodies  of  the  righteous, 
which  they  suppose  will  be  a  thousand  years  before  that  of  the  wicked."  A 
*'Jirst  resurrection"  doubtless  implies  a  second,  as  much  as  a  "  second  death" 
implies  a  first;  but  as  the  first  and  second  deaths  are  different  in  their  na- 
ture, so  may  the  first  and  second  resurrections.  I  question  if  there  be  any 
proof  of  the  corporeal  resurrection  of  the  righteous  being  prior  in  order  of 
time  to  that  of  the  wicked.  The  only  passage  that  I  recollect  to  have  seen 
alleged  for  it  is  1  Thess.  iv.  16,  "  And  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  frst." 
It  is  not,  however,  in  respect  of  the  resurrection  of  the  wicked  that  they  are 
said  to  rise  Jirst,  but  of  the  change  of  the  livii:g  saints ;  for  it  follows,  "  then 
we  who  are  alive,  and 'remain,  shall  be  caught  up,"  &c.  The  context  says 
nothing  of  the  wicked,  or  of  their  resurrection.  The  resurrection  of  the 
righteous  being  mentioned  alone,  or  without  that  of  the  wicked,  does  not 
prove  that  the  one  will  be  prior  to  the  other.  If  it  prove  any  thing  concern- 
ing the  wicked,  it  would  seem  to  be  that  there  will  be  no  resurrection  of 
them ;  but  knowing  from  other  scriptures  that  there  will  be  a  resurrection 
"  both  of  the  just  and  the  unjust,"  we  do  not  draw  this  inference ;  nor  have 
we  any  ground  for  drawing  the  other. 

The  "  first  resurrection"  appears  to  me  to  be  no  other  than  the  Millennium 
itself,  to  which  all  that  is  said  of  it  will  apply.     During  this  glorious  period, 


END  07  THE  WORLD — RESURRECTION LAST  JUDGMENT.       295 

the  church  will  have  its  Pauls,  and  Peters,  and  Johns  over  again.  Men  will 
be  raised  up  who  will  go  forth  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  those  worthies,  as 
much  as  John  the  Baptist  did  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias.  Thus  the 
apostles  and  martyrs  will,  as  it  were,  be  raised  from  their  graves  and  live 
again  upon  the  earth. 

The  blessedness  pronounced  upon  him  that  hath  a  part  in  it  is  expressive 
of  the  happiness  of  those  times.  The  idea  is  the  same  as  that  in  chap.  xix. 
9,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  are  called  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb;" — 
and  that  in  Dan.  xii.  12,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  waiteth  and  cometh  to  the 
thousand  three  hundred  and  five-and-thirty  days!"  Each  of  these  passages 
refers  to  the  same  period.  If  a  blessing  was  pronounced  on  those  who  saw 
the  early  part  of  gospel  times,  much  more  on  those  who  shall  enjoy  the  lat- 
ter. It  were  not  enough  however  to  exist  in  those  times;  to  be  blessed  we 
must  have  "a  part"  in  all  that  is  going  on;  and  in  order  to  this  we  must 
be  "  holy."  Otherwise,  God  might  work  a  work  in  our  days  which  we  should 
not  believe,  but  despise  it,  and  wonder,  and  perish ! 

The  Jirst  resurrection  supposes  a  second,  and  which  seems  to  be  that  of 
the  just  and  the  unjust.  In  this  the  wicked  shall  be  raised  to  die  a  second 
death ;  but  over  the  followers  of  Christ  the  second  death  shall  have  no 
power.  As  a  pledge  of  their  victory,  they  are  already  made  priests  of  God 
and  of  Christ,  and  shall  reign  in  spiritual  prosperity  from  generation  to 
generation,  for  the  space  of  a  thousand  years. 


IDISCOURSE  XXIX. 

THE    FALLING    AWAY. THE    END    OF    THE    WORLD. THE    RESURRECTION    OF 

THE   DEAD. AND    THE    LAST    JUDGMENT. 

Rev.  XX.  7-15. 

Ver.  7,  8.  It  seems  almost  incredible,  after  so  long  and  glorious  a  season 
of  grace,  that  Satan  should  so  recover  his  influence  in  the  world,  as  that  the 
number  of  his  adherents  should  become  "  as  the  sand  of  the  sea!"  Yet 
thus  it  is.  What  is  ordinarily  called  the  religion  of  a  people  becomes  a  sort 
of  national  habit,  to  which  they  are  attached  from  generation  to  generation. 
But  it  is  not  thus  with  true  religion.  There  is  nothing  in  it  suited  to  the 
temper  of  mind  with  which  men  are  born  into  the  world.  If  therefore  the 
Holy  Spirit  be  aggrieved,  and  withdraw  his  influence  but  from  one  genera- 
tion, it  will  be  like  that  which  succeeded  the  times  of  Joshua,  that  "  knew 
not  the  Lord."  If  in  such  a  state  of  things  Satan  be  permitted  to  ply  with 
his  temptations,  he  is  certain  to  be  successful. 

"  The  four  quarters  of  the  earth  "  prior  to  this  must  have  been  evangelized 
by  the  gospel ;  but  the  dragon  being  let  loose  deceives  them ;  not  by  any 
new  superstition,  like  that  of  popery ;  for  as  to  the  beast  and  the  filse  pro- 
phet, they  will  long  since  have  gone  to  perdition.  It  may  be  by  a  perse- 
cuting infidelity,  the  spirit  inspired  by  the  dragon  himself,  that  this  last  effort 
will  be  made.  Having  seen  so  much  Christianity  in  the  world,  the  hearts 
of  the  wicked  will  rise  against  it,  and  be  so  far  "deceived"  by  the  wicked 
one  as  to  imagine  themselves  capable  of  extirpating  it  from  the  earth. 

The  name  given  to  the  enemies  of  Christ  is  borrowed  from  the  thirty- 
eighth  and  thirty-ninth  chapters  of  Ezekiel,  where  mention  is  made  of  Gog 
and  Magog.     It  does  not  appear  however  that  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel  and 


296  EXPOSITION  OP  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Joliii  refer  to  the  same  period ;  but  that  the  language  is  merely  allusive. 
Ezekiel's  Gog  and  Magog  seem  to  refer  to  a  combination  among  the  nations 
against  the  house  of  Israel,  soon  after  thdr  restoration  to  their  oum  land  and 
their  conversion  to  Christ,  and  which  will  be  prior  to  or  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Millennium  ;  but  the  Gog  and  Magog  army  of  John  is  "  after 
the  thousand  years  are  expired."  The  meaning  may  be,  that,  like  as  the 
nations  will  combine  against  restored  and  converted  Israel,  so  will  the  whole 
world  of  the  ungodly  combine  to  exterminate  Christianity  from  the  earth ; 
and  as  the  one  would  issue  in  the  utter  overthrow  of  the  assailants,  so  would 
the  other. 

Ver.  9,  10.  As  there  is  nothing  in  the  account  which  intervenes  between 
this  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  the  "  fire  that  cometh  down  from  God 
out  of  heaven"  may  be  no  other  than  the  general  conflagration  itself,  spoken 
of  by  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul — "  The  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a 
thief  in  the  night ;  in  the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great 
noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat;  the  earth  also  and  the 
works  that  are  therein  shall  be  burnt  up. — The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be  revealed 
from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on 
them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"  2  Pet.  iii.  10 ;  2  Thess.  i.  8. 

And  now  the  grand  mover  of  all  the  mischief  which  has  taken  place  in 
the  world  is  not  merely  bound  for  a  season,  as  before,  but  cast  into  perdition, 
where  his  agents,  the  beast  and  the  false  prophets,  are.  There  is  no  mention 
of  their  being  "  tormented,"  because  they  as  political  bodies  were  incapable 
of  it;  but  of  him  it  is  said  he  "shall  be  tormented  day  and  night  for  ever 
and  ever."  Perdition  to  them  will  be  oblivion;  but  to  him  a  state  of  ever- 
lasting punishment. 

Ver.  11-15.  A  more  impressive  description  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  and  of  eternal  judgment,  is  scarcely  in  the  power  of  language.  The 
words  are  simple,  but  the  sentiments  exceedingly  sublime.  "  The  language 
is  so  plain  (says  Mr.  Blackwell)  as  not  to  need,  and  so  majestic  and  grand 
as  to  exceed,  commentary  or  paraphrase."  But  it  is  not  for  us  to  stand 
admiring  the  language  till  we  overlook  the  event  itself. 

Lo,  the  dead,  both  "small  and  great,  stand  before  God!"  Young  and 
old,  rich  and  poor,  all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  None  are 
so  insignificant  as  to  be  overlooked,  none  so  mighty  as  to  escape;  the  go- 
vernors and  the  governed,  the  parent  and  the  child,  the  master  and  the  ser- 
vant, the  oppressor  and  the  oppressed,  the  preacher  and  the  hearer,  all  must 
give  an  account  of  themselves  to  God! 

Men,  owing  to  the  imperfection  of  their  knowledge,  and  of  their  memories, 
make  use  of  "  books ;"  but  God's  infinite  knowledge  requires  no  such  assist- 
ance. It  is  merely  in  allusion  to  human  proceedings  that  this  is  spoken. 
His  memory  is  itself  the  book  from  which  he  will  judge  the  world. 

Believing  sinners  are  justified  by  grace;  but  both  believers  and  unbelievers 
will  be  judged  "  according  to  their  works."  Those  who  have  sinned  without 
the  light  of  revelation  will  be  judged  by  the  light  of  nature.  Those  who 
have  sinned  against  revelation  will  be  judged  by  it,  according  to  the  light 
they  had,  or  might  have  had.  Believers  themselves,  though  not  dealt  with 
according  to  their  deserts,  (for  they  will  "  obtain  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that 
day !")  yet  their  works  will  be  censured  or  approved  according  to  what  they 
were.  Their  sinful  works  will  be  burnt  up,  though  they  themselves  are 
saved ;  and  as  to  their  good  works,  though  there  be  nothing  in  them  de- 
serving eternal  life,  or  furnishing  the  least  ground  for  boasting,  yet  will  they 
be  admitted  as  evidences  in  their  favour,  Matt.  xxv.  31-40. 

There  have  been  many  days  of  judgment,  as  it  were,  in  miniature,  but  this 


THE  NEW  HEAVEN  AND  THE  NEW  EARTH.  297 

will  be  universal.  Whether  men  have  died  at  sea,  or  on  land  ;  and  whatever 
became  of  their  bodies,  whether  slain  in  battle,  devoured  by  beasts  of  prey, 
or  decently  interred  in  their  graves;  all  will  rise  and  be  judged,  ver.  13. 

"  Death  and  hell  (or  the  grave)  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."  Death 
and  the  grave  are  things  which  belong  to  time,  and  which,  as  rivers  are  lost 
in  the  ocean,  will  now  be  swallowed  up  in  eternity.  Prior  to  the  day  of 
judgment  the  ungodly  were  confined  under  their  power  as  in  a  prison ;  but 
having  received  their  doom,  they  shall  not  be  remanded  thither,  but  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  punishment.  "  This  is  the  second  death."  Into  this 
dreadful  abyss  all  will  be  cast,  as  the  just  punishment  of  their  sins,  except- 
ing those  whose  names  are  "  written  in  the  book  of  life."  An  interest  in 
the  salvation  of  Christ  is  the  only  security  against  eternal  death. 


DISCOURSE  XXX. 


THE   NEW  HEAVEN   AND    THE    NEW    EARTH,    WITH    THE   NEW    JERUSALEM 
Rev.  xxi.;  xsii.  1-5. 

Chap.  xxi.  We  have  seen,  in  the  foregoing  chapter,  the  end  of  the  world 
and  the  last  judgment,  even  that  fearful  issue  of  things  described  by  the 
apostle  Peter :  "  The  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night,  in 
the  which  the  heavens  will  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements 
shall  melt  with  fervent  heat ;  the  earth  also,  and  the  w  )rks  that  are  therein, 
shall  be  burnt  up." — But  as  the  same  apostle  adds,  "  Nevertheless  we,  accord- 
ing to  his  promise,  look  for  tiao  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness ;"  so  in  this  chapter,  and  the  first  five  verses  of  the  next,  we 
find  an  ample  description  of  them. 

What  then  are  we  to  understand  by  this  "  new  heaven  and  new  earth," 
this  "  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,"  and  this  "  pure 
river  of  the  water  of  life,"  which  is  supposed  to  flow  in  the  midst  of  it? 
Some  have  considered  it  as  only  a  more  particular  account  of  the  Millennium. 
But  to  this  it  is  objected — First,  The  Millennium  precedes  the  last  judgment, 
whereas  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  follow  it.  Secondly,  The  Mil- 
lennium was  for  a  limited  time  ;  but  this  is  "  for  ever  and  ever,"  chap.  xxii.  5. 
Thirdly,  Under  the  Millennium  the  dragon  is  only  bound  for  a  season,  and 
afterwards  loosed;  but  here  there  is  no  dragon  nor  enemy  of  any  kind.  The 
devil  will  have  been  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  to  be  tormented 
day  and  night  for  ever  and  ever  (chap.  xx.  10)  ;  "  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more  pain ;  for 
the  former  things  are  passed  away,"  ver.  4. 

For  these  reasons  others  have  considered  it  as  no  other  than  the  heavenly 
state*  Yet  it  seems  singular  that  the  heavenly  state  should  be  introduced 
as  a  subject  oi prophecy .  It  is  doubtless  an  object  oi promise,  but  prophecy 
seems  rather  to  respect  events  in  the  world  in  which  we  dwell  than  in  the 
world  to  come.  Whatever  is  meant  by  the  glorious  state  here  described,  the 
earth,  as  purified  by  the  conflagration,  is  the  scene  of  it.  The  whole  of  what 
is  said,  instead  of  describing  the  heaven  of  heavens,  represents  the  glory  of 
that  state  as  "  coming  down  upon  the  earth,"  ver.  1-4.  The  truth  appears 
to  me  to  be  this :  it  is  a  representation  of  heavenly  glory  in  so  far  as  that 

*  LowMAN — Hopkins  on  the  Millennium,  p.  48. 

Vol.  III.— 38 


298  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

glory  relates  to  the  state  of  the  earth  on  which  ive  dwell ;  whicli,  instead  ot 
being  the  stew  of  the  mother  of  harlots,  shall  become  the  seat  of  "  the  holy 
city,  the  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as 
a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband."  The  earth  will  not  be  annihUated  by 
fire  any  more  than  it  was  by  water.  It  will  be  purified  from  sin,  and  all  its 
effects.  The  generations  of  a  corrupt  race  of  creatures  having  terminated, 
it  will  become  the  perfect  and  perpetual  abode  of  righteousness.  The  crea- 
tion has  long  been  subjected  to  the  "vanity"  of  supplying  its  Creator's 
enemies  with  the  means  of  carrying  on  their  rebellion  against  him.  Under 
this  "  bondage  of  corruption"  it  has  "  groaned  and  travailed,"  as  it  were  in 
pain,  longing  to  be  delivered.  And  now  the  period  is  arrived.  The  libera- 
tion of  the  sons  of  God  from  the  power  of  the  grave  shall  be  the  signal  of 
deliverance  to  the  whole  creation,  Rom.  viii.  19-23. 

It  is  not  the  object  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  tell  us  what  the  heavenly  glory 
is,  but  rather  what  this  ivorlcl  shall  become,  in  opposition  to  what  it  now  is. 
This  opposition  is  preserved  throughout  the  description.  We  have  read  of 
Babylon ;  not  that  in  Chaldea,  but  a  nezv  Babylon :  here  we  read  of  Jerusa- 
lem ;  not  that  in  Palestine,  but  a  nciv  Jerusalem — of  a  city  by  whose  deli- 
cacies the  merchants  of  the  earth  were  made  rich ;  now  of  another  city  in 
the  light  of  which  "  the  nations  of  them  that  are  saved  shall  walk,  and  to 
which  kings  shall  bring  their  glory  and  honour" — of  a  troubled  "sea," 
whence  arose  those  monsters  which  were  the  plagues  of  the  earth ;  now  of 
there  being  "  no  more  sea" — of  the  "  great  whore  that  sat  upon  many  waters;" 
now  of  "  the  bride  the  Lamb's  wife" — of  "  great  tribulations  out  of  which 
the  saints  of  God  have  had  to  come;"  now  of  "  all  tears  being  wiped  from 
their  eyes,  and  of  death,  and  sorrow,  and  crying,  and  pain  having  passed 
away" — finally,  of  "a  golden  cup  full  of  abominations  and  filthiness;"  but 
now  of  the  "  pure  river  of  the  water  of  life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out 
of -the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb,"  together  with  the  "  fruits  of  the  tree 
of  life,  which  bears  twelve  kinds  of  fruit,  and  yields  its  fruit  every  month." 

As  the  new  Jerusalem  is  denominated  "  the  bride,  the  Lamb's  wife,"  all 
that  is  said  of  her  as  a  city,  from  ver.  10-27,  though  couched  in  highly 
figurative  language,  is  descriptive  of  the  church  triumphant.  In  this,  as  in 
many  other  places,  there  is  a  reference  to  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel,  (chap, 
xlviii.  31-34,)  though  the  events  predicted  are  not  always  the  same.  The 
city  in  Ezekiel  seems  to  be  the  church  in  a  day  of  great  spiritual  prosperity ; 
this  in  a  state  of  immortality.  Her  high  wall  denotes  her  complete  security; 
her  twelve  gates,  on  which  were  inscribed  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel,  denote  that  none  but  Israelites  indeed,  who  have  the  seal  of  God  in 
their  foreheads,  will  enter  into  it;  her  twelve  foundations  may  refer  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  apostles  on  which  she  stands;  the  pearls  and  precious  stones 
with  which  she  is  adorned  are  her  spiritual  riches  and  glory ;  there  being 
"  no  temple,  nor  sun,  nor  moon,"  denotes  that  there  will  be  no  need  of  those 
means  of  grace  which  we  now  attend  upon  ;  what  we  now  receive  mediately, 
we  shall  then  receive  immediately;  finally,  the  nations  of  the  saved  walking 
in  the  light  of  it  may  allude  to  the  interest  which  surrounding  nations  take 
in  a  metropolitan  city,  and  denotes  that  the  saved,  who  have  been  gathered 
from  all  nations,  will  rejoice  in  the  honour  that  God  will  have  bestowed 
upon  his  church. 

To  complete  the  description  of  the  city,  and  to  finish  the  phophecy,  we 
must  consider  the  first  five  verses  of  the  twenty-second  chapter  in  connexion 
with  the  foregoing. 

Chap.  xxii.  1-5.  There  is  doubtless  an  allusion  in  these  verses  to  the 
waters  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  trees  of  life,  described  in  Ezek.  xlvii.  1-12. 
Both  Ezekiel  and  John  make  mention  of  a  city — of  a  river — of  trees  grow 


ATTESTATIONS  TO  THE  TRUTH  OP  THE  PROPHECr.  299 

ing  upon  the  banks  of  it — and  of  the  fruit  thereof  being  for  meat,  and  the  leaf 
for  medicine.  Ezekiel's  waters  flowed  from  the  temple,  near  the  altar;  those 
of  John  out  of"  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb."  The  city  is  doubtless 
the  same  in  both;  but  I  conceive  at  different  periods.  Ezekiel's  city  had  a 
temple,  but  that  of  John,  as  we  have  seen,  had  no  temple ;  for  "  the  Lord 
God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb  are  the  temple  of  it."  The  former  therefore 
describes  the  church  in  her  latter-day  glory ;  the  latter,  in  a  state  of  perfec- 
tion— and  which  answers  to  the  promise  in  chap.  ii.  7,  "  To  him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
paradise  of  God." 


DISCOURSE  XXXL 

ATTESTATIONS    TO    THE    TRUTH    OF    THE    PROPHECY,    ETC. 
Rev.  xxii.  6-21. 

We  have  gone  through  the  prophecy  :  all  that  remains  consists  of  attesta- 
tions, directions,  invitations,  and  warnings  concerning  it. 

Ver.  6.  Such  is  the  solemn  attestation  of  the  angel  to  the  truth  of  all  that 
he  had  made  known  to  the  apostle.  He  had  received  it  from  the  Son  of 
God,  even  the  Lord  God  of  the  holy  prophets,  who  had  sent  by  him  to  signify 
it  unto  his  servant  John,  chap.  i.  L 

Ver.  7.  After  the  attestation  of  the  angel  follows  that  of  him  that  sent 
him.  The  "coming  of  Christ"  refers  to  his  second  appearing.  His  de- 
claring that  this  would  be  "  quickly,"  is  declaring  that  the  things  which  had 
been  foretold  should  soon  be  accomplished.  Meanwhile  they  would  be  a 
guide  to  the  faithful,  and  a  blessing  should  attend  those  who  adhered  to 
them. 

Ver.  8.  This  is  the  attestation  of  the  writer.  He  not  only  saw  and  heard 
these  things,  but  such  was  their  effect  on  his  mind,  that  on  one  occasion  he 
conceived  the  angel  who  revealed  them  to  him  to  have  been  the  Son  of  God 
himself,  and  therefore  fell  down  to  worship  him.  Some  have  expressed 
surprise  that  the  apostle,  after  the  angel  had  once  refused  his  adoration, 
should  offer  it  a  second  time;  but  it  appears  to  me  that  what  is  here  related 
is  merely  a  repetition  of  what  was  said  and  done  before,  chap.  xix.  10.  He 
first  tells  of  his  having  "seen"  the  things  that  were  to  be  seen,  and  "heard" 
the  things  that  were  to  be  heard ;  and  now  of  his  having  been  so  overcome 
by  them  as  to  suppose  the  angel  from  whom  they  proceeded  to  be  the  Son 
of  God,  and  of  course  to  have  fallen  down  to  worship  him.  The  design  of 
the  repetition  is  merely  to  add  weight  to  the  attestation. 

Ver.  10-16.  He  who  speaketh  in  these  verses  is  not  the  angel,  but  the 
Son  of  God  himself,  whose  speech  is  resumed  from  verse  7.  The  eighth 
and  ninth  verses  are  a  parenthesis,  in  which  the  writer  expresses  his  own 
feelings.  He  who  in  verse  7  said,  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly,"  here  adds, 
"  Seal  not  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,  for  the  time  is  at  hand." 
As  if  he  should  say,  Do  not  conceal,  but  declare  them,  for  they  are  things 
of  immediate  concern. — To  this  is  added  a  solemn  declaration  of  the  near 
approach  of  that  period  when  the  characters  of  men  should  be  unalterably 
fixed.  Let  the  persecutors  and  corrupters  of  the  gospel  know  that  there  is 
no  change  but  on  earth,  no  Saviour  nor  Sanctifier  beyond  the  grave.     Let 


300  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  righteous  know  also,  who  have  faithfully  adhered  to  him  through  all  the 
temptations  and  persecutions  of  the  world,  that  the  time  draws  nigh  when 
their  conflicts  shall  be  ended,  and  they  shall  be  immutably  confirmed  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness.  And  now  the  solemn  warning  of  his  near 
approach  is  repeated,  accompanied  with  a  declaration  that  "  his  reward  is 
with  him,  and  that  he  will  give  every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be." 
The  character  assumed  by  the  Judge,  that  of  "Alpha  and  Omega,  the  be- 
ginning and  the  end,  the  first  and  the  last,"  while  it  ascertains  his  proper 
Divinity,  conveys  an  impressive  idea  of  the  proceedings  of  that  day.  It  is 
equal  to  saying.  He  that  shall  judge  the  world  will  be  possessed  of  a  Divine 
as  well  as  of  a  human  nature;  and,  where  God  is  judge  himself,  the  heavens 
will  declare  his  righteousness. — Blessed  shall  they  be  in  that  day  who  have 
"done  his  commandments,"  or  who,  amidst  the  temptations  and  persecutions 
of  the  world,  have  kept  his  sayings.  All  the  blessedness  contained  in  par- 
taking of  "  the  tree  of  life."  and  of  the  glory  of  "  the  new  Jerusalem,"  shall 
be  theirs. — On  the  other  hand,  "  dogs,  and  sorcerers,  and  whoremongers, 
and  murderers,  and  idolaters,  and  whosoever  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie,"  are 
"  without."  Nor  does  this  description  appear  to  refer  to  ordinary  sinners, 
of  which  the  world  is  full,  but  rather  to  the  enemies  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
corrupters  of  pure  religion.  Thus  "  dogs"  denote  false  teachers ;  "  sorcerers" 
those  who  have  been  employed  in  drawing  away  mankind  by  the  lures  of  the 
mother  of  harlots;  "whoremongers"  those  who  have  committed  spiritual 
fornication  with  her,  or  her  daughters;  "murderers"  those  who  have  entered 
into  her  persecuting  spirit;  "idolaters"  those  who  have  gone  into  the  wor- 
ship of  saints  and  images;  and  "he  that  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie"  is  one 
whose  heart  favouring  false  doctrine,  has  employed  himself  in  framing  and 
propagating  it. — See  chap.  xxi.  8. 

The  Lord  Jesus,  having  from  the  10th  to  the  16th  verse  addressed  him- 
self to  the  apostle,  here  turns  to  the  churches,  assuring  them  that  all  which 
was  revealed  in  the  foregoing  prophecy  was  for  their  use :  "  I,  Jesus,  have 
sent  mine  angel  to  testify  unto  you  these  things  in  the  churches."  Nor  was 
it  to  those  only  which  were  then  in  being,  but  to  all  the  churches  of  suc- 
ceeding ages.  The  things  contained  in  this  prophecy  therefore  are  a  mes- 
sage from  Christ  in  his  glorified  state  to  us.  And  as  in  reference  to  his 
second  coming  he  assumed  the  character  of  "  the  first  and  the  last,"  here  he 
is  "the  root  and  the  offspring  of  David,  the  bright  and  morning  star,"  which 
names  are  descriptive  of  Him  who  is  God  in  our  nature,  and  whose  coming 
will  introduce  an  everlasting  day  of  light,  and  joy,  and  gladness. 

Ver.  17-21.  Christ  does  not  only  assume  a  name  suited  to  the  revelations 
which  had  been  made,  but  draws  from  them  the  most  affecting  invitations 
and  solemn  warnings;  and  with  these  the  book  concludes. 

Reader,  as  if  he  should  say,  You  have  read  of  "The  water  of  life:"  you 
are  invited  to  "  come,"  and  drink  "  freely"  of  it.  You  have  read  or  heard 
of  "  the  Spirit"  that  spake  to  the  churches:  he  speaks  also  to  you  individu- 
ally, and  the  sum  of  what  he  saith  is,  "  Come."  You  have  heard  of  the 
"bride,"  and  of  the  glories  prepared  for  her:  she  does  not  covet  to  enjoy 
these  things  by  herself,  but  joins  Avith  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  in  inviting 
you  to  "  come."  Nay,  every  one  that  "  heareth"  and  believeth  these  things 
is  warranted  to  invite  his  neighbour.  And  let  every  one  who  has  any  regard 
for  his  own  soul  avoid  the  cup  of  the  mother  of  harlots,  and  come  to  these 
living  waters.  There  need  be  no  hesitation  on  the  score  of  qualifications, 
for  it  is  free  to  all  who  are  willing  to  receive  it. 

Know  also  that  the  words  of  this  prophecy  are  sacred.  If  any  man  add 
to  them,  God  will  add  to  him  its  plagues;  and  if  any  man  take  away  from 
^hem,  God  will  take  away  from  him  whatever  he  may  have  expected  to 


CONCLUSION.  301 

receive  of  its  blessings.     He  who  testifieth  these  things  saith,  the  third  time, 
"Surely  I  come  quickly." 

To  this  solemn  testimony  of  Christ  the  apostle  adds  his  cordial  "Amen. 
Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus!"  And  as  he  had  introduced  the  prophecy  with 
an  address  to  the  seven  churches,  so  he  concludes  it  with  the  apostolic  bene- 
diction :  "  The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all.     Amen." 


CONCLUSION. 


The  reader  may  ask,  What  are  the  signs  of  the  present  times? — What 
judgments  may  yet  be  expected  to  befall  the  nations? — and,  What  cheering 
prospects  await  the  church  ? 

If  the  outlines  of  the  foregoing  commentary  be  just,  we  are  now  under 
the  period  of  the  vials,  or  that  space  of  time  which  commences  with  the 
sounding  of  the  seventh  angel,  and  terminates  in  the  Millennium.  This  is 
a  period  which  appears  to  be  marked  in  the  prophecy;  particularly  in  chap. 
X.  7,  "  But  in  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  shall  begin 
to  sound,  the  mystery  of  God  shall  be  finished,  as  he  hath  declared  to  his 
servants  the  prophets."  That  is,  in  the  times  in  which  the  seven  vials  shall 
be  poured  out,  the  great  designs  of  Heaven  concerning  the  overthrow  of  the 
papal  antichrist,  and  the  establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  as  foretold 
by  the  prophets,  shall  be  accomplished. 

This  is  the  period  in  which,  according  to  Daniel,  "The  thrones  are 
pitched  down,  and  the  Ancient  of  days  doth  sit — in  which  they  shall  take 
away  the  dominion  of  the  little  horn,  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the 
end."  We  see  not  yet  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  become  the  kingdoms 
of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ ;  but  we  see  that  which  is  both  preparatory 
and  introductory  to  it. 

Moreover,  If  the  exposition  of  the  vials  by  the  trumpets,  adopted  from  Dr. 
Gill,  be  just,  we  are  as  yet  but  under  the  second  vial,  which  for  several 
years  has  been  pouring  out  upon  the  sea,  or  the  maritime  papal  nations  of 
Spain  and  Portugal ;  and  notwithstanding  what  has  taken  place,  it  may  be 
suspected  that  much  of  it  is  yet  to  come. 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  commencement  and  consequent  termina- 
tion of  the  1260  years  assigned  in  prophecy  for  the  continuance  of  the  anti- 
christian  power.  If  the  former  could  be  ascertained,  the  latter  would  follow 
of  course.  Some  think  that  they  have  already  terminated,  and  others  that 
they  are  on  the  point  of  doing  so.  But  of  this  I  think  we  may  be  certain, 
that  unless  the  vials  are  all  poured  out,  to  which  few  if  any  will  pretend,  the 
reign  of  the  papal  antichrist  cannot  have  terminated,  seeing  they  are  the 
appointed  means  of  its  destruction.  The  finishing  of  "the  mystery  of  God" 
(chap.  x.  7)  is  the  same  as  the  termination  of  the  12C0  years,  as  is  evident 
from  the  corresponding  passage  in  Dan.  xii.  7,  where  the  angel  swears  that 
it  shall  be  for  "  a  time,  times,  and  a  half"  The  pouring  out  of  the  last  vial 
is  the  termination  of  the  12C0  years:  accordingly,  a  great  voice  is  then  heard 
out  of  the  temple  of  heaven,  saying,  "  It  is  done,"  chap.  xvi.  17. 

It  may  be  questioned,  however,  whether  the  precise  time  of  the  commence- 
ment and  termination  of  this  period  be  not  purposely  concealed  from  us.  It 
does  not  appear  to  be  the  design  of  prophecy  so  to  fix  the  time  of  future 
events  as  that  we  should  know  them  beforehand,  to  a  day,  or  a  month,  or  a 
year.    It  deserves,  moreover,  to  be  particularly  noticed,  that  those  prophecies 

2C 


805J  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

in  wJiich  an  cract  number  of  years  is  specified  are  gencralhj,  if  not  ahoaySy 
covered  with  obscurity  in  respect  of  the  time  of  their  accomplishment,  and  in 
some  cases  have  appeared  to  have  had  different  accomplishments.  Seventy 
years,  for  instance,  were  determined  for  the  Babylonish  captivity ;  but  as  the 
captives  were  carried  away  and  restored  at  different  times,  it  was  hard  to  say 
when  it  began,  and  consequently  when  it  ended.  From  the  first  captivity  in 
the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  when  Daniel  and  others  were  carried  to  Baby- 
lon, to  the  first  restoration  by  the  decree  of  Cyrus,  was  seventy  years;  that 
is,  from  A.  M.  4108  to  4178,  2  Cron.  xxxvi.  5-7,  22,  23.  From  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  in  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  to  the 
decree  of  Darius  to  restore  it,  was  seventy  years ;  that  is,  from  A.  M.  4126  to 
4196,  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  14-21;  Ezra  vi.  And  from  the  captivity  by  Nebuzar- 
adan,  which  finished  the  desolations,  to  the  dedication  of  the  second  temple, 
which  completed  the  restoration,  was  seventy  years ;  that  is,  from  A.  M. 
4130  to  4200,  Jer.  lii.  30 ;  Ezra  vi.  16-22.    See  the  Tables  in  Prideaux. 

Again,  seventy  weeks  of  years  were  determined  for  the  coming  of  Messiah; 
but  things  were  so  ordered,  that  though  the  weeks  were  well  understood  to 
mean  490  years,  yet  the  exact  time  of  their  commencement  was  not  under- 
stood. A  general  expectation  of  him  certainly  did  prevail  about  the  time 
that  he  appeared,  but  that  was  all  that  was  gathered  from  the  prophecy,  and 
might  be  all  that  it  was  intended  should  be  gathered.  Those  who  enter- 
tained carnal  views  of  his  kingdom  were  so  blind  as  not  to  know  it  when  it 
did  appear.  The  Pharisees  demanded  of  him  when  the  kingdom  of  God 
should  come.  "The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  (answered  he)  not  with  obser- 
vation ;  neither  shall  they  say,  Lo  here!  or  lo  there  !  for,  behold,  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  among  you!"  As  if  he  should  say,  The  kingdom  of  God  will  not, 
like  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  rise  out  of  turbulence,  intrigue,  and  blood- 
shed, nor  be  accompanied  with  ostentation  and  parade.  Imperceptible  and 
gradual  in  its  operations,  it  comes  when  you  little  expect  it.  You  shall  not 
be  able  to  point  to  the  place  and  say,  Lo  it  is  here,  or  lo  it  is  there!  Nay, 
little  as  you  may  think  of  it,  it  is  already  in  the  midst  of  you ! 

In  some  such  manner  as  this  we  may  look  for  the  expiration  of  the  years 
of  antichrist,  and  the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  these  latter  days. 
While  curiosity  is  gaping  after  wonders,  and  demanding,  When  shall  these 
things  be?  behold,  it  will  be  amongst  us!  The  antichristian  cause  rose 
gradually,  and  will  probably  fall  gradually.  "  They  shall  take  away  his 
dominion  to  consume  and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end."  Its  temporal  power 
has  already  been  shaken  and  diminished ;  but  it  is  reserved  for  the  battle  of 
Armageddon,  that  "  great  day  of  God  Almighty,"  under  the  sixth  vial,  to 
accomplish  its  overthrow.  And  when  this  is  done,  the  seventh  will  purify 
the  moral  atmosphere  of  the  world  from  its  abominable  principles,  and  so 
make  way  for  the  Millennium. 

When  two  of  Christ's  disciples  were  inquiring  after  the  honours  of  his 
kingdom,  they  were  asked,  "Are  ye  able  to  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  shall 
drink  of,  and  to  be  baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with."  He 
would  himself  have  to  suffer  before  he  reigned,  and  they  must  expect  to 
suffer  with  him.  It  is  true  his  sufferings  would  be  but  for  a  short  time,  and 
so  might  theirs;  but  they  required  to  be  the  immediate  object  of  their  atten- 
tion. Something  similar  to  this  may  be  expected  in  what  is  before  us. 
Some  commentators  have  supposed  the  slaughter  of  the  toifnesses  in  chap, 
xi.  to  intimate  as  much  as  this.  I  have  already  given  my  reasons  for  un- 
derstanding that  part  of  the  prophecy  of  past  events ;  but  there  are  other 
passages  which  seem  to  give  us  to  expect  that  the  adversary  will  not  expire 
without  a  deadly  struggle.  Thus  towards  the  close  of  the  1260  years,  in 
which  the  church  is  described  as  being  in  the  wilderness,  the  dragon  is 


CONCLUSION.  303 

represented  as  casting  out  of  his  mouth  a  "  flood"  after  her,  and  as  making 
war  with  her  seed,  chap.  xii.  15-17.  Previously  to  "  the  harvest  and  the 
vintage" — which,  synchronizing  with  the  sixth  vial,  describe  the  utter  over- 
throw of  the  antichristian  powers — the  patience  of  the  saints  is  celebrated, 
and  a  blessing  pronounced  on  the  dead  that  die  in  the  Lord,  chap.  xiv.  13. 
Previously  to  the  battle  of  Armageddon,  the  kingdoms  are  gathered  together 
to  Jight  against  God,  chap.  xvi.  14.  The  beast,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
and  their  armies,  are  gathered  together  to  make  loar  with  him  that  sat  on  the 
horse,  and  against  his  army,  and  perish  in  an  attempt  to  crush  them,  chap, 
xix.  11-21. 

If  tliese  events  signify  war  between  the  nations,  as  possibly  they  may,  yet 
it  will  be  a  war  directed  against  Christ  and  true  religion,  and  in  which  the 
church  of  Christ  may  expect  a  sharp  persecution;  and  this  not  merely  from 
one,  but  all  parties,  who,  like  Herod  and  Pilate,  will  be  made  friends,  and 
unite  in  such  a  work  as  this.  We  may  think  that,  from  the  repeated  lalows 
which  popery  has  received  on  the  continent,  it  will  never  be  able  to  persecute 
to  any  considerable  degree  again;  that  from  the  antipathy  between  its  ad- 
herents and  the  patrons  of  infidelity,  they  can  never  again  coalesce ;  and  that, 
from  the  dishonour  which  public  opinion  attaches  to  intolerance,  persecution 
can  never  more  lift  up  its  head :  but  we  may  be  mistaken  in  all  these  par- 
ticulars. If  the  temporal  power  of  popery  has  diminished  on  the  continent, 
its  spiritual  power  has  increased  in  Britain.*  If  papists  and  the  avowed  ene- 
mies of  religion  have  fallen  out,  it  has  been  chiefly  on  political  subjects,  a 
union  in  which  would  bring  them  together  again.  We  have  lived  to  see 
both  whigs  and  tories  unite  in  opposing  a  free  toleration  of  Christian  mis- 
sionaries ;  and  an  English  writer  of  note,  who  professes  to  be  "  the  enthu- 
siastic friend  of  freedom,"  though  he  wishes  the  "  catholics  the  utmost  de- 
gree of  religious  liberty,"  yet  proposes  in  respect  of  tlie  evangelical  party, 
"by  well-concerted  and  well-applied  regulations  to  restrain  them!"t  The 
spirit  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  certainly  can  and  will  unite  with 
^at  of  the  dragon  in  the  war  with  God  Almighty. 

It  is  a  consolation  that  this  persecution,  or  this  war  against  religion,  will 
be  the  last,  and  of  short  duration :  this  very  effort  of  the  enemy  will  prove 
his  final  overthrow :  our  immediate  inquiry,  however,  seems  to  be,  Are  we 
able,  previously  to  our  entrance  on  the  Millennial  reign  of  Christ,  to  drink 
of  his  cup,  and  to  be  baptized  with  his  baptism? 

But  though  our  Lord  checked  the  aspiring  minds  of  his  disciples  concern- 
ing his  kingdom  by  presenting  to  them  a  time  of  trial,  yet  he  did  not  fail  to 
cheer  them  with  the  promise  of  glorious  things  beyond  it.  "  A  woman 
(saith  he)  when  she  is  in  travail  hath  sorrow  because  her  hour  is  come :  but 
as  soon  as  she  is  delivered  of  the  child,. she  remembereth  no  more  the  anguish, 
for  joy  tliat  a  man  is  born  into  the  world.  And  ye  now  therefore  have  sor- 
row :  but  I  will  see  you  again,  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy  no 
man  taketh  from  you."  The  glory  of  the  Millenium  will  more  than  balance 
all  the  trials  during  the  12G0  years  of  antichristian  usurpation. — Nor  shall 
we  have  to  wait  for  the  Millennium,  nor  even  for  the  ruin  of  the  antichristian 
cause,  ere  we  see  glorious  times.  Two  hundred  years  have  been  thought  to 
be  the  utmost  point  to  which  the  pouring  out  of  the  vials  can  extend  :  they 
may  terminate  in  less  time :  but  if  not,  there  is  great  encouragement  for  the 
friends  of  Christ  in  the  promised  progress  of  his  cause  during  this  period. 
We  shall  not  have  to  wait  for  the  Millennium,  I  say,  ere  we  see  glorious 
days  in  respect  of  the  success  of  the  gospel.     The  seventh  trumpet,  though 

*  Recent  events  have  also  revived  its  temporal  power.     N.  B.  Written  in  1814. 
t  Characters  of  the  late  Charles  James  Fox,     By  Philopatris  Varvicensis.    Eclectic  RB' 
view  for  December  1809,  p.  1128. 


304 


EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


it  includes  the  vials,  and  in  this  view  is  a  woe-trumpet,  yet  is  introductory 
of  good  tidings  to  the  church.  At  the  same  time  that  her  enemies  are  bleed- 
ing under  the  strokes  of  heaven,  the  "  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  becoming 
the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ."  The  pouring  out  of  the  vials 
will  be  to  the  Millennium  that  which  the  wars  of  David  were  to  the  pacific 
reign  of  Solomon.  The  servants  of  Christ  may  have  to  encounter  great 
opposition  ;  but  as  "  the  Lord  prospered  David  whithersoever  he  went,"  so  he 
will  prosper  them.  Paganism,  Mahomedism,  popery,  and  infidelity  shall  fall 
before  them.  Nor  shall  the  obstinacy  of  Judaism  maintain  its  ground.  The 
wall  shall  be  built,  though  it  be  in  troublous  times.  What  short  of  this  can 
be  intimated  by  the  "  angel  flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  having  the  ever- 
lasting gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  na- 
tion, and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people" — and  this  before  the  fall  of  the 
antichristian  Babylon  ?  chap.  xiv.  C-8. 

What  else  can  be  meant  by  the  song  preceding  the  pouring  out  of  the 
vials — "  All  nations  shall  come  and  worship  before  thee,  for  thy  judgments 
are  made  manifest?"  chap.  xv.  3,  4.  The  judgments  referred  to  are  those 
of  the  vials,  or  "seven  last  plagues"  (chap.  xv.  1);  the  efTect  of  which  on 
the  nations  will  be  to  induce  them  to  "come  and  worship"  before  God. 
They  shall  so  "  manifestly"  appear  to  be  the  judgments  of  God  against  the 
antichristian  powers,  that  the  nations  will  be  deeply  impressed  by  the  con- 
viction ;  and,  by  the  concurring  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  "  ever- 
lasting gospel,"  will  be  subdued  to  the  obedience  of  faith. 

To  the  same  purpose  is  that  remarkable  passage  in  Isa.  xxvi.  9,  "When 
thy  judgments  are  in  the  earth,  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  will  learn 
righteousness."  "  The  church  under  the  gospel  dispensation,"  says  an  able 
writer,  "  is  in  this  and  the  preceding  chapter  the  princijml  subject  of  pro- 
phecy. Zion  is  introduced  singing.  A  song  is  always  in  the  prophecies  a 
symbol  of  the  enlargement  of  the  church.  In  verses  17,  18,  she  complains 
of  feeble  and  ineffectual  efforts  in  extending  the  interests  and  kingdom  of 
her  Redeemer  :  '  We  have  not  wrought  any  deliverance  in  the  earth,  neither 
have  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  fallen.'  She  receives  in  answer  the  con- 
soling promise  of  a  period  when  she  shall  make  vigorous  and  successful  ex- 
ertions, and  no  longer  complain  of  abortive  labours;  when  converts  nume- 
rous as  the  morning  dew  shall  join  her  standard :  '  Thy  dead  shall  live.' — 
'Awake  and  sing — thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs.'  No  season  or  time  is 
particularly  ascertained  when  this  promise  will  be  accomplished ;  but  ano- 
ther event  is  foretold,  and  immediately  connected  with  this.  A  judgment, 
a  singular  judgment,  inflicted  as  the  punishment  of  a  peculiar  and  enormous 
crime,  is  mentioned.  The  event  is  represented  as  inevitable  ;  the  Lord's  peo- 
ple may  not  pray  for  its  removal,  but  are  directed  to  fly  to  their  chambers, 
and  hide  themselves  until  the  indignation  be  overpast.  '  For  behold  the  Lord 
Cometh  out  of  his  place  to  punish  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  for  their  ini- 
quity :  the  earth  also  shall  disclose  her  blood,  and  shall  no  more  cover  her 
slain!'  The  terms  here  used,  compared  with  parallel  expressions  in  the 
Revelation,  put  it  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  intended, 
and  the  punishment  predicated  is  the  avenging  of  that  blood.  This  is  intro- 
duced as  a  coetaneous  event  with  the  enlargement  of  the  church.  When- 
ever that  precious  blood  begins  to  be  avenged,  then  Zion  will  sing  of  mercy 
as  well  as  judgment ;  then  a  new  and  prosperous  ministry  will  arise  in  the 
church,  and  her  borders  be  widely  extended."* 

If  the  "punishment"  referred  to  at  the  close  of  the  twenty-sixth  chapter 
of  Isaiah  be  that  which  is  appointed  for  the  antichristian  Babylon  for  her 

•  Dr.  Livingstone's  Sermon  on  Rev.  xiv.  6,  before  the  New  York  Miss.  Soc,  April  3,  1804. 


CONCLUSION.  305 

having  shed  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  in  which  not  only  this  writer,  but 
almost  all  our  ablest  commentators,  are  agreed,  the  ninth  verse  doubtless 
refers  to  the  same  events.  The  pouring  out  of  the  vials  are  the  "judg- 
ments" which  while  they  are  in  the  earth  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  will 
learn  righteousness.  Many  judgments  have  been  in  the  earth  without  pro- 
ducing this  effect ;  but  the  Lord  will  in  this  instance  accompany  them  with 
his  word  and  Spirit,  and  so  render  them  effectual  to  salvation. 

The  same  things  in  substance  are  taught  us  in  Rev.  xix.  11-19,  where, 
prior  to  the  last  struggle  with  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet,  Christ  is  de- 
scribed as  "  going  forth  upon  a  white  horse,  and  as  being  followed  by  the 
armies  of  heaven  on  white  horses."  And  when  their  enemies,  provoked  by 
their  success,  shall  gather  together  in  order  to  oppose  their  progress,  they 
themselves  shall  fall  to  rise  no  more. 

The  period  of  the  vials  being  a  season  of  warfare,  it  is  in  this,  rather 
than  in  the  Millennium  itself,  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  most  distinguished 
VICTORIES  over  error,  superstition,  and  irreligion.  The  Millennium  is  a 
reign;  but  a  reign  presupposes  possession  of  the  throne,  and  that,  in  cases 
where  it  has  been  previously  occupied  by  an  enemy,  a  victory.  It  is  in  this 
period  therefore  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  overthrow  of  paganism,  Maho- 
medism,  popery,  and  infidelity;  and  towards  the  close  of  it  may  expect  the 
malignant  opposition  of  the  Jews  to  give  place  to  the  gospel.  The  glorious 
Millennial  rest  will  not  commence  while  such  an  enemy  remains  unsubdued. 
The  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  must  include  the  children  of  Abraham 
in  its  train.  The  return  of  this  long-lost  prodigal  will  heighten  the  joy  of 
the  feast,  and  be  as  life  from  the  dead. 

Supposing  the  period  of  the  vials  to  have  commenced  within  the  last  five- 
and-twenty  years,  let  it  be  considered  tchether  the  aspect  of  the  times  do  not 
correspond  tvith  what  ive  are  given  to  expect.  It  must  of  necessity  be  a 
period  of  unprecedented  ivars ;  and  if  those  wars  are  designed  of  God  to 
avenge  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  it  may  be  expected  they  should  have  a  kind 
of  special  direction  given  them  towards  the  countries  where  that  blood  has 
been  principally  shed.  How  far  this  is  applicable  to  late  events  it  is  easy  to 
judge.  It  must  also  be  a  period  oi  extraordinary  jtrayer  and  unprecedented 
exertion  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel.  It  is  during  this  period  that  "  the  king- 
doms of  the  world  are  to  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ."  But  the  accomplishment  of  such  mighty  moral  changes  is  not  to 
be  expected  by  any  other  than  the  means  above  mentioned.  When  the  Lord 
buildeth  up  Zion,  he  regards  the  prayer  of  the  destitute;  and  when  his  ser- 
vants take  pleasure  in  her  stones,  and  favour  her  dust,  then  the  tim.e  to  favour 
her,  even  the  set  time,  is  come,  Psal.  cii.  14-17.  Had  we  been  more  impor- 
tunate in  prayer,  we  might  have  been  more  successful ;  but,  with  all  our 
imperfections,  the  prayer  of  faith  has  been  presented  and  heard!  God  hath 
given  the  word,  and,  compared  with  former  times,  great  is  the  company  of 
those  that  publish  it.  Can  we  overlook  that  providence  which  has  been 
raising  up  numerous  societies  and  plans,  some  for  teaching  the  poor  to  read, 
and  others  for  furnishing  them  with  books,  especially  with  the  oracles  of 
God  ?  Ought  we  to  overlook  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the 
various  languages  of  the  east;  or  the  circulation  of  them  through  the  earth 
in  such  a  degree  as  perhaps  was  never  before  known?  Can  we  be  inatten- 
tive to  the  desire  after  evangelical  preaching  which  prevails,  not  in  one  or 
two  countries  only,  but  almost  every  where?  If  our  Lord  concluded,  from 
the  flocking  of  the  Samaritans  to  hear  the  word,  that  "  the  fields  were  white 
already  to  harvest,"  are  we  not  warranted  to  draw  the  same  conclusion? 

Let  us  observe  the  state  of  the  public  mind  a  little  before  the  coming  of 
Christ,  and  compare  it  whh  its  present  state.    "  The  people  were  in  expecta- 

VoL.  HI.— 39  2  c  2 


306  EXPOSITION  OF  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

tion,  and  all  men  mused  in  their  hearts  whether  John  were  the  Christ  oi 
not."  And  who  that  is  not  blind  to  the  operations  of  God's  hand  does  not 
muse  in  his  heart  whether  the  extraordinary  changes  which  have  of  late 
years  taken  place  in  the  world  do  not  indicate  something  great  to  be  pend- 
ing— whether,  notwithstanding  the  many  venders  of  false  prophecies,  and 
mistaken  comments  on  the  true,  there  be  not  a  body  of  genuine  and  impor- 
tant prophecies  fulfilling  and  about  to  be  fulfilled — whether  some  of  the 
convulsions  among  the  nations  may  not  issue  in  what  is  foretold  of  the 
restoration  of  the  Jews — and,  finally,  whether  all  that  is  going  on  be  not  a 
preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  making  straight  his  paths? 

Look  at  the  blessing  already  attending  the  various  attempts  to  propagate 
the  gospel.  To  some  it  may  appear  a  "  day  of  small  things ;"  but  if  God 
does  not  despise  it,  it  will  increase.  Already  have  we  been  provoked  to 
jealousy  by  Hindoos  and  Hottentots:  nor  is  this  all;  look  at  our  fleets  and 
armies :  did  we  ever  before  hear  of  so  many  lovely  groups  of  Christian  peo- 
ple amongst  them  ?  It  would  seem  as  if  God  had  begun  with  these  publi- 
cans and  sinners  to  shame  the  rest  of  the  nation. 

Finally,  If  these  be  not  sufficient,  look  at  the  state  of  mind  amongst  the 
enemies  of  religion.  Do  not  their  hearts  fail  them,  like  those  of  the  Canaan- 
ites  before  Joshua  and  his  army?  Why  do  the  Brahmans  tremble  for  their 
gods?  and  why  are  practical  unbelievers  afraid  of  godliness,  whether  in  or 
out  of  the  establishment?  It  is  pleasant  to  observe,  while  endeavouring  to 
stigmatize  it  under  the  name  of  "  Methodism,"  how  despondingly  they  con- 
fess their  inability  to  arrest  its  progress.*  Surely  these  are  tokens  for  good 
to  the  church  of  Christ. 

On  the  period  of  the  vials  being  closed,  that  of  the  Millennium  will  com- 
mence. "  The  Lord  gave  Solomon  rest  round  about  from  all  his  enemies ;" 
and  the  Lord  will  now  give  rest  to  his  people  from  theirs.  It  is  probably  in 
allusion  to  his  quiet  and  pacific  reign  that  that  of  the  Messiah  is  denomi- 
nated a  rest — "  His  rest  shall  be  glorious,"  Isa.  xi.  10.  Then  wars  and 
oppressions  will  cease ;  then  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the  silver,  and  the 
gold  of  the  image,  being  broken  to  pieces,  and  become  like  the  chaff  of  the 
summer  threshing-floors,  the  stone  that  smote  it  will  have  become  a  great 
mountain,  and  shall  fill  the  whole  earth  ;  then  the  judgment  having  sat  upon 
the  little  horn,  and  his  dominion  being  taken  away,  "  the  kingdom  and 
dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall 
be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose  kingdom  is  an 
everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and  obey  him.     Amen." 


ADDED  IN  1814, 


The  above  was  written  in  1810  or  1811,  since  which  time  the  tide  of 
human  affairs  has  taken  another  turn.  A  mighty  change  has  taken  place  in 
Europe,  in  favour  of  old  establishments,  and  so  in  favour  of  popery  We 
have  seen  the  inquisition,  which  had  been  suppressed  in  Spain,  revived;  and 
the  pope,  whose  temporal  power  had  been  taken  away,  restored.  But  as  the 
foregoing  exposition  rests  not  on  any  hypothesis  formed  from  passing  events, 
so  it  is  not  materially  affected  by  them.  The  direction  that  things  have 
taken  as  it  relates  to  the  liberation  of  nations,  and  their  restoration  to  peace 
and  independence,  must  needs  be  grateful  to  every  friend  of  humanity  and 

*  See  Edinburgh  Review,  No.  XXII.,  p.  241,  Art.  Methodism. 


CONCLUSION.  307 

justice ;  and  though  the  papal  cause  may  hereby  regain  some  of  its  former 
ascendency,  yet  this  may  be  but  for  a  short  time,  and  that  it  may  be  destroyed 
for  ever.  These  tides  in  human  affairs  may  be  permitted,  as  by  a  flux  and 
reflux  of  the  ocean,  to  wash  away  those  things  which  it  is  the  purpose  of 
Heaven  to  destroy.  The  antichristian  power  may  rise  and  fall  repeatedly 
before  it  falls  to  rise  no  more.  Irrespective  of  prophecy,  it  is  easy  for  an 
observant  mind  to  perceive  that,  notwithstanding  the  political  advantages 
which  have  arisen  from  recent  changes  to  most  of  the  papal  nations,  yet  they 
are  not  at  ease.  There  remain  in  them  the  seeds  of  discontent  and  of 
future  wars.  Look  at  the  state  of  Spain,  in  particular. — Popery  must  be 
what  it  always  has  been,  a  persecuting  enemy  of  true  religion,  or  nothing. 
The  preponderating  powers  of  Europe,  by  restoring  its  authority,  and  recom- 
mending it  to  exercise  a  liberal  government,  suited  to  the  times,  have  done 
all  perhaps  that  was  in  their  power  towards  lengthening  out  its  tranquillity ; 
but  it  is  in  vain.     We  would  have  healed  Babylon,  they  may  say,  but 

SHE    IS    NOT   healed! 


CmCULAE   LETTERS 

ADDRESSED  TO 

THE  CHURCHES  OF  THE 

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE    ASSOCIATION. 

1782—1815. 


1782. 

THE  EXCELLENCY  AND  UTILITY  OF  THE  GRACE  OF  HOPE. 

Dear  Brethren, 

On  this  delightful  subject,  we  feel  great  pleasure  in  addressing  you.  We 
congratulate  you,  amidst  all  your  sorrows,  on  your  possessing  such  a  hope; 
a  hope  which  has  foundations  the  most  solid,  and  objects  the  most  substan- 
tial. God  has  not  put  this  jewel  into  your  hands  to  be  made  light  of.  He 
would  have  you  to  understand  it  in  order  to  prize  it.  His  bestowing  upon 
you  a  spiritual  illumination  is  to  this  very  end.  He  does  not  open  your  eyes 
to  present  you  with  mere  spectacles  of  misery,  nor  call  you  by  his  grace  as 
having  nothing  to  bestow  upon  you :  no,  blessed  be  his  name,  "  the  eyes  of 
your  understandings  are  enlightened  that  ye  may  know  what  is  the  hope  of 
his  calling,  and  what  the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints." 

To  assisting  your  meditations  on  this  cheering  subject,  by  showing  its 
excellency  and  pointing  out  its  great  utility,  we  devote  this  epistle. 

We  trust  that  what  we  have  already  communicated  to  you,  on  various 
important  subjects,  has  not  been  received  in  vain.  We  would  not  wish  to 
trifle  with  you,  brethren,  and  we  trust  our  letters  to  you  have  not  been  trifled 
with.  Having  therefore  confidence  in  your  readiness  to  examine  and  receive 
what  we  communicate,  "  we  are  willing  to  impart  unto  you,  not  the  gospel 
of  God  only,  but  also  our  own  souls,  because  ye  are  dear  unto  usl" 

Hope,  or  an  expectation  of  future  good*  is  of  so  extensive  an  influence, 
that  whether  true  or  false,  well  or  ill  founded,  it  is  one  of  the  principal 
springs  that  keep  mankind  in  motion.    It  is  vigorous,  bold,  and  enterprising. 

*  Hope,  as  its  objects  are  future,  is  distinguished  from  enjoyment.  Herein  the  portion 
of  the  saints  is  unlike  that  of  the  worldling,  and  even  that  of  saints  in  glory.  Also  from 
love,  the  objects  of  which  are  past  and  present  as  well  as  future,  whereas  hope  is  confined 
to  the  last.  As  they  are  good  it  is  opposed  to  fear,  which  is  the  dread  of  evil.  As  they 
are  both  future  and  good,  and  merely  so,  it  is  distinct  from  faith.  We  may  be  said  to  be- 
lieve things  past,  as  that  the  worlds  were  made;  and  things  evil,  as  the  wrath  to  come; 
but  cannot  be  said  to  hope  in  either.  As  it  is  an  expectation,  it  is  distinguished  from  desire. 
We  may  be  said  to  desire  what  it  is  not  possible  we  should  ever  enjoy  ;  but  we  cannot  hope 
unless  there  appear  at  least  a  possibility,  and,  generally  speaking,  some  probability,  of  our 
possessing  the  object  hoped  for  ;  and,  in  proportion  as  this  probability  appears  to  the  mind 
great  or  small,  hope  or  expectation  is  strong  or  weak. 

308 


EXCELLENCr  AND  UTILITY  OF  HOPE.  309 

It  causes  men  to  encounter  dangers,  endure  hardships,  and  surmount  diffi- 
culties innumerable,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  desired  end.  In  religion  it 
is  of  no  less  consequence.  It  is  claimed  by  almost  all  ranks  and  parties  of 
men.  It  makes  a  considerable  part  of  the  religion  of  those  that  truly  fear 
God ;  for  though  in  all  true  religion  there  is  and  must  be  a  love  to  God  and 
Divine  things  for  their  own  excellency,  yet  God,  who  knows  our  frame,  and 
draws  us  with  the  cords  of  a  man,  condescends  also  to  excite  us  with  the 
promise  of  gracious  reward,  and  to  allure  us  with  the  prospect  of  a  crown 
of  glory. 

We  wish  you,  brethren,  seeing  God  has  given  you  everlasting  consola- 
tion and  good  hope  through  grace,  to  consider  well  the  goodness  or  excel- 
lency of  that  Divme  gift.  On  this  account  it  excels  every  other  hope  as 
much  as  a  pearl  excels  a  pebble.  A  great  part  of  its  excellency  consists  in 
its  being  so  tvell-foimdcd.  Though  our  hope  should  aspire  to  the  highest 
heavens,  and  could  grasp  in  all  the  bliss  of  an  eternal  world!  alas!  what 
would  it  avail  us  if  ill-founded?  The  hope  that  is  ill-founded  is  said  to 
make  ashamed,  and  so  terminates  in  disappointment.  It  is  to  be  feared  that 
many  (oh  that  there  may  be  none  of  us!)  who  are  now  towering  high  in 
expectation,  will  one  day  be  "  ashamed  and  confounded"  because  they  thus 
had  hoped. 

The  grand  foundation  of  all  good  hope  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  God's 
revealed  Mediator,  embraced  by  faith.  On  this  rock  the  people  of  God  in 
all  ages  have  built  their  hope,  whatever  other  foundations  sinners  have  de- 
vised. Of  old  God  laid  this  in  Zion.  This  was  the  subject  of  apostolic 
ministrations ;  they  held  forth  none  other  than  him  "  whom  God  had  set  forth 
to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in  his  blood." 

That  the  mediation  of  Christ  is  the  primary  ground  of  all  good  hope  will 
appear  evident,  if  we  do  but  recollect  (and  O  let  us  never  forget !)  the  hopeless 
condition  in  which  sin  involved  us.  By  our  breach  of  covenant  with  God, 
the  very  idea  of  future  good  for  us  was  totally  annihilated.  Nothing  but 
eternal  tribulation  and  anguish,  as  the  reward  of  evil-doers,  was  now  to  be 
expected.  The  image  of  God  being  totally  effaced  in  us,  his  favour  towards 
us  was  absolutely  forfeited.  Hence  the  least  idea  of  hope  from  any  other 
ground  than  the  mediation  of  Christ,  is  not  only  declarative  of  opposition  to 
God's  way  of  salvation,  but  is  altogether  a  wild  chimera.  By  the  state  of 
the  fallen  angels  we  may  learn  what  ground  is  left  for  hope  where  no  me- 
diation is  provided  ;  and  what  must  have  been  our  state  had  we  been  left  in 
their  condition.  These,  void  of  all  hope  whatever,  "  are  reserved  in  ever- 
lasting chains  under  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the  great  day." 

We  are  not  unacquainted  with  the  many  ftilse  grounds  on  which  sinners 
rest  their  hopes,  but  we  as  well  know  who  has  said,  "  Other  foundation  can 
no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ."  We  doubt  not, 
brethren,  but  you  have  perceived  the  vanity  of  a  multitude  of  those  things 
which  buoy  up  the  hopes  of  a  great  part  of  mankind.  Yourselves,  it  may 
be,  were  once  the  subjects  of  those  delusory  dreams  whereof  we  trust  ye  are 
now  ashamed.  It  yields  us  great  pain  to  see  such  numbers  of  our  fellow 
sinners  standing  on  such  slippery  places !  The  mere  mercy  of  God,  to  the 
exclusion  of  Christ's  mediation — not  being  so  bad  as  some  others — common 
honesty  and  civility  between  man  and  man — descent  from  pious  parents — 
a  place  and  a  name  among  the  godly — suffering  much  affliction  in  this  life 
— legal  convictions — superior  knowledge — superstitious  zeal — these  are 
some  of  the  dangerous  foundations  on  which  vast  numbers  of  deluded  mor- 
tals build  their  eternal  all!  But  ye,  brethren,  have  not  so  learned  Christ. 
Be  it  your  and  our  resolution,  with  holy  Paul,  to  "  know  nothing"  in  this 
matter  "  but  Christ  and  him  crucified !" 


310  CIRCULAR  LETTERS. 

You  will  remember,  dear  brethren,  it  was  necessary  that  this  glorious 
Mediator  should  be  revealed  ere  he  could  become  a  ground  of  hope.  The 
amazing  design  of  mercy  was  first  laid  in  the  eternal  council ;  hence  the 
blood  of  Christ  is  termed  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  through  which  pri- 
soners in  the  pit  become  prisoners  of  hope  :  but  whatever  design  of  mercy 
might  exist  in  the  mind  of  God,  that  could  not  become  a  ground  of  hope 
till  revealed  by  the  word  of  God.  Hence  the  promise  of  the  woman's  Seed 
afforded  the  first  and  only  dawn  of  hope  to  a  lost  world.  Hence  also  the 
word  of  God  is  frequently  represented  in  Scripture  as  that  whereon  our  hope 
resteth. 

Equally  necessary  is  it  that  the  mediation  of  Christ  should  be  embraced 
by  faith.  We  trust  you  need  not  be  told,  that  though  this  mediation  be  the 
sole  meritorious  ground  of  our  hope,  yet  a  special  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
must  take  place  in  us,  before  we  can  reasonably  put  in  our  claim  for  eternal 
bliss.  The  work  of  Christ  gives  to  the  elect  sinner  a  title  to  its  possession ; 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  gives  a  meetness  for  its  enjoyment.  If  we  experience 
the  latter,  we  may  lay  claim  to  a  personal  interest  in  the  former.  These 
God  has  joined  together,  and  let  no  man  dare  to  put  them  asunder.  Christ 
must  be  in  us,  ere  he  can  be  to  us  the  hope  of  glory.  The  hope  that  maketh 
not  ashamed  is  wrought  by  experience.  The  graces  of  the  Spirit,  however, 
become  a  ground  of  hope,  not  through  any  inherent  merit,  but  in  virtue  of 
the  promise  of  God ;  or  rather  they  are  the  evidence  of  our  interest  in  the 
promise.  In  numerous  passages  of  holy  writ,  God  has  promised  eternal  life 
to  all  such  as  bear  certain  characters ;  namely,  to  those  that  are  of  a  broken 
and  contrite  spirit,  that  mourn  for  sin,  believe  in  Christ,  love  him  in  sin- 
cerity, deny  themselves,  take  up  their  cross,  follow  him,  &.c.  Hence 'all 
who  through  grace  are  the  subjects  of  these  spiritual  dispositions  enjoy  a 
right,  founded  on  such  promises,  to  hope  for  eternal  bliss;  and  this  is  an- 
other reason  why  the  word  of  God  is  frequently  represented  in  Scripture  as 
that  whereon  our  hope  resteth. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  many  split  upon  this  rock.  We  cautioned  you 
against  those  who  professedly  build  on  other  foundations  than  Jesus  Christ ; 
but  these  are  not  the  only  self-deceivers.  There  is  a  more  refined  sort,  as 
to  their  professed  principles,  who  build  their  hope  on  something  more  spe- 
cious in  appearance,  but  not  a  whit  better  in  reality.  These,  brethren,  you 
have  more  reason  to  be  guarded  against,  since  they  are  more  frequent  in 
your  assemblies,  and  some  of  them  less  discernible,  though  not  less  dan- 
gerous, than  the  former.  These  will  frequently  abound  with  supercilious 
treatment  towards  those  who  profess  to  build  upon  their  own  works — will 
abundantly  exclaim  against  legal  books  and  legal  preaching,  which,  by  the 
way,  is  the  name  they  give  not  only  to  those  performances  wherein  men  are 
taught  to  expect  eternal  life  as  the  fruit  of  their  own  doings,  but  as  well  to 
all  those  wherein  practical  godliness  is  pressed  home.  These  much  value 
themselves  for  their  supposed  orthodoxy  or  soundness  in  the  doctrines  of 
grace ;  nay,  so  valiant  are  they,  many  of  them,  for  the  truth,  that  they  will 
contend  for  it  even  at  the  tavern  or  upon  the  ale-bench !  but  they  seem  to 
have  forgotten  that  part  of  sound  doctrine,  that  "faith  without  works  is 
dead,  being  alone."*  These  talk  loudly  of  building  their  hopes  on  Christ 
alone,  but  forget  that  he  must  be,  as  one  says,  a  Christ  believed  in,  loved, 
and  obeyed,  and  not  merely  a  Christ  talked  of     These  are  frequently  heard 

*  Besides,  it  would  be  no  great  difficulty  to  prove  that  these  people,  with  all  their  boasted 
soundness,  are  unbelievers  in  the  very  essentials  of  the  gospel.  That  is  an  essential  of  the 
gospel,  without  which  it  would  not  be  the  gospel.  Now  what  constitutes  it  gospel  is  its 
being  good  news;  but  whatever  faith  such  people  may  have  in  it  as  a  piece  of  news,  they 
have  none  in  the  goodness  of  it,  which  is  a  most  essential  thing  in  it,  and  without  which  it 
would  not  be  the  gospel. 


EXCELLENCY  AND  UTILITY  OF  HOPE.  311 

boasting  how  strong  their  hopes  are  of  their  being  delivered  from  slavish  fear, 
of  their  certainty  of  going  to  heaven,  die  when  they  may,  with  many  such 
presumptuous  things;  but  they  forget  surely  what  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
has  said,  "  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  •  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven."  These,  whatever  their  professions  may  be,  build  not  upon  the 
Rock  of  ages,  but  upon  a  concealed  part  of  self.  There  is  no  such  great 
difference  between  them  and  professed  legalists,  against  whom  they  so  bit- 
terly inveigh :  those  think  to  gain  heaven  by  doing,  and  these  by  knowing, 
which  they  think  to  be  believing.  Their  hope  is  but  the  hope  of  the  hypo- 
crite, which  will  in  the  end  prove  no  better  than  the  spider's  web.  Nor  do 
they  draw  their  evidences  for  glory  from  such  things  as  the  Scriptures  speak 
of  as  characterizing  the  godly,  but  from  their  supposed  orthodoxy  or  sound- 
ness in  religious  principles,  with  perhaps  some  texis  of  Scripture  which  may 
have  occurred  to  their  minds  with  a  certain  impulse,  tending  mightily  to 
lift  them  up  with  joy,  but  not  to  fill  them  with  holy  mourning,  or  self- 
loathing,  or  with  a  desire  and  endeavour  to  walk  humbly  with  their  God. 
Real  religion  has  no  worse  enemies  than  these.  By  approaching  near  unto 
it,  and  being  accounted  its  votaries,  they  are  capable  of  doing  it  much  more 
injury  than  its  professed  foes.  While,  Joab-like,  they  embrace  it  with  a 
dissimulating  kiss,  by  their  works  they  stab  it  as  under  its  fifth  rib! 

We  do  not  mean  to  suggest  but  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  often  of 
great  consolation  to  the  godly;  nor  yet  to  deny  that  some  passages  of  it  may 
be  more  consolatory  to  tiie  godly  than  others,  and  the  same  passages  at  one 
time  which  are  not  at  another:  these  are  things  which  we  freely  acknow- 
ledge and  happily  experience.  For  the  truth  or  duty  contained  in  any  pas- 
sage of  Scripture  to  be,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  opened  to  the  mind,  and 
impressed  upon  the  heart,  and  afford  strong  consolation  to  the  person,  is  a 
part  of  experience  which  we  can  set  seal  to,  as  both  reasonable  and  desirable. 
It  is  through  patience  and  comfort  of  the  Scriptures  that  we  have  hope.  But 
when  impressions  have  no  tendency  to  humble,  sanctify,  and  lead  the  soul 
to  God,  we  afiirm,  a*nd  are  ready  to  give  proof,  that  they  are  no  better  than 
"  lying  vanities,"  though  they  lie  at  the  bottom  of  some  mighty  fabrics.  Our 
having  certain  passages  of  Scripture  impressed  upon  our  minds  is  in  itself 
no  evidence  for  glory  at  all,  either  to  ourselves  or  others;  no,  not  though 
those  passages  should  be  promises  of  heaven  itself:  but  if  by  this  we  are 
humbled  and  sanctified — if  a  spirit  of  holy  mourning,  self-loathing,  watch- 
fulness, love  to  Christ  and  holiness,  as  well  as  joy,  be  hereby  wrought  in 
us,  that  is  an  evidence  for  glory. 

Many  persons  are  the  subjects  of  Scripture  impressions,  and,  to  the  great 
scandal  of  religion,  are  hence  supposed  to  have  God's  good  work  begun  in 
them,  when  it  appears  evident  by  their  spirit  and  conduct  that  they  are  utter 
strangers  to  real  Christianity.  Balaam  could  have  produced  plenty  of  such 
evidence  as  this.  All  those  things  of  his  speaking  are  recorded  as  a  part, 
and  an  excellent  part,  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  were  suggested  to  him  even  by 
God  himself  "The  Lord,"  we  are  told,  "put  a  word  in  Balaam's  mouth." 
But  as  none  of  these  things  had  any  tendency  to  sanctify  his  heart,  they  left 
him  but  where  they  found  him  !  Besides,  we  have  no  reason  to  think  but 
that  Satan  can  and  does  suggest  many  things  in  the  words  of  Scripture. 
We  know  he  did  thus  to  Christ  himself;  and  if  to  him,  why  not  to  us?  He 
has  ends  to  answer  in  so  doing ;  namely,  to  deceive  poor  souls  with  such 
airy  dreams,  to  draw  them  away  from  resting  their  hopes  on  Scriptural 
grounds,  and  to  substitute  these  illusory  foundations  in  their  room. — On  the 
other  hand,  whatever  be  the  means,  whether  hearing  the  word  preached, 
reading,  conversation,  prayer,  or  meditation;  and  whether,  in  so  meditating, 


312  CIRCULAR  LETTERS. 

any  part  of  the  word  be  suddenly  brought  to  our  mind,  and  impressed  upon 
our  heart,  or  whether  it  be  more  gradually — whether  we  have  never  thought 
of  the  passage  before,  or  whether  we  have  read  it  a  thousand  times  over — it 
matters  not.*  If  it  tend  to  produce  a  spirit  of  pure  love  to  Christ,  lowliness, 
and  holiness,  that  affords  us  a  ground  for  hope,  and  a  reason  for  thankful- 
ness. God  has  plentifully  promised  salvation  to  all  who  are  the  subjects  of 
these  spiritual  dispositions. 

Should  an  enemy  to  your  holy  religion,  after  all,  require  of  you  a  reason 
for  the  hope  that  is  in  you — should  he  demand  what  grounds  you  have  to 
conclude  that  the  things  you  hope  ioi  \vdve.  di  real  existence — we  trust  you 
would  not  be  at  a  loss  for  a  reply.  There  is  not  one  of  all  those  solid  argu- 
ments which  prove  the  Divinity  of  the  sacred  oracles,  (which,  for  brevity's 
sake,  we  forbear  to  enumerate,)  but  would  furnish  you  with  sufficient  reason 
to  give  an  answer  substantial  in  its  nature,  though  in  its  manner  "  with  meek- 
ness and  fear." 

The  glorious  objects  with  which  your  hope  is  conversant  next  demand 
your  attention,  brethren ;  as  they  much,  very  much,  contribute  to  its  excel- 
lency and  your  felicity. — You  may  be  assured  they  are  something  good. 
Hope  of  every  kind  has  to  do  with  nothing  but  what  in  the  view  of  the 
mind  appears  such ;  and  this  hope  has  to  do  with  nothing  but  what  is  really 
such.  That  which  we  hope  for  is  not  merely  an  apparent,  but  a  real  good ; 
and  not  only  a  good,  but  a  substantial  goodj  and  not  only  a  substantial,  but 
a  suitable,  a  great,  yea,  an  everlasting  good ! 

The  hope  of  worldlings  terminates  on  trifles;  on  things  which,  when 
enjoyed,  do  but  cloy,  and  cannot  satisfy. — Let  a  man  in  pursuit  of  happiness 
knock  at  the  door  of  every  created  good,  every  created  good  must  answer, 
"  It  is  not  in  me !"  Riches  make  themselves  wings  and  fly  away  ;  honour 
is  empty  as  the  wind;  mirth,  what  is  it  but  madness?  Crowns  of  earthly 
glory  commonly  j)rove  crowns  of  thorns  to  them  that  wear  them ;  all  are 
lying  vanities,  promising  what  they  cannot  perform.  O  brethren,  let  the 
resolve  of  the  church  made  wise  by  affliction  be  our  resolve:  "  The  Lord  is 
my  portion,  saith  my  soul,  therefore  will  I  hope  in  him." 

Here  we  find  what  the  wisest  of  men  well  termed  substance. — Only  a 
taste  thereof  affords  substantial  bliss.  Oh  to  enjoy  God!  To  enjoy  God  in 
Christ  I  To  enjoy  him  with  the  society  of  the  blessed  !  To  enjoy  him  with 
soul  and  body,  the  latter  raised  and  reunited  to  the  former!  To  enjoy  him 
to  all  eternity !  To  enjoy  him,  and  be  changed  into  the  same  image ! 
These,  brethren,  these  are  the  things  on  which  our  hope  centres ;  nor  is  it 
a  matter  of  small  consolation  that  God  himself  has  pledged  his  faithfulness 
for  their  bestovvment  on  all  his  faithful  followers.  However  desirable  these 
things  might  be,  we  should  have  little  reason  to  rejoice  therein,  if  he  on 
whose  word  it  rested  were  either  false  or  fickle ;  but,  blessed  be  his  name, 
we  live  "  in  hope  of  eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised  before 
the  world  began !" 

Nor  let  it  seem  the  less  glorious  that  it  is  di  future  good. — In  the  view  of 
infinite  wisdom,  "  it  is  good  that  a  man  should  both  hope  and  quietly  wait 
for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord."  It  seems  good  to  him  to  place  the  blessings 
he  means  to  bestow  upon  us  at  a  distance ;  so  at  a  distance  that  they  must 
be  hoped  in,  and  waited  for,  ere  they  are  enjoyed.  Doubtless,  God  could 
have  bestowed  all  his  blessings  on  us  as  quickly  as  he  did  paradise  on  the 
converted  thief:  but  he  has  not  seen  fit  in  common  so  to  do.  Certainly  by 
his  suspending  for  a  time  our  enjoyment  of  promised  favours,  and  at  length 
bestowing  them,  he  glorifies  his  faithfulness  in  the  end,  as  well  as  that  in  the 

*  See  Help  to  Ziorfs  Travellers,  a  piece  published  at  the  request  of  the  Association  by 
our  brother  Hall,  pp.  139-141. 


EXCELLENCY  AND  UTILITY  OF  HOPE.  313 

mean  time  he  exercises  our  faithfulness,  patience,  and  resignation  to  his 
will.  But  this  is  not  all ;  they  are  the  more  welcome  when  they  do  come. 
If  the  object  hoped  for  prove  less  in  value  than  we  expected,  then  indeed  its 
having  been  suspended  only  sinks  it  the  more  in  our  esteem ;  but  if  it  sur- 
pass all  expectation,  if  it  exceed  desire  itself  when  it  makes  its  appearance, 
then  its  having  been  so  long  in  coming  only  makes  it  the  more  welcome 
when  come.  "Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick"  for  a  time;  "but 
when  the  desire  cometh,  it  is  a  tree  of  life!"  Let  us  not  think  much  at 
waiting  a  little  while ;  no,  not  though  during  that  time  exposed  to  great 
tribulations;  since  our  dwelling  before  the  throne  will  by  this  be  rendered 
tjie  more  blissful,  and  our  weight  of  glonj  by  this  increased.  With  what 
sacred  pleasure  did  the  patriarch  Jacob  resign  his  life,  having  umitcd  for 
God's  salvation  I  With  what  unspeakable  joy  did  good  old  Simeon  embrace 
the  long-looked-for  blessing!  With  what  raptures  of  bliss  will  the  Lord 
again  be  welcomed  on  an  approaching  period,  when  all  who  love  his  appear- 
ing will  unite,  saying,  "  Lo,  this  is  our  God,  we  have  waited  for  him !" 

Nay,  it  seems  to  be  a  glory  in  some  sense  peculiar  to  religion  to  reserve 
the  best  till  the  last. — That  you  may  enjoy  strong  consolation,  brethren,  in 
your  passage  through  life,  God  has  placed  his  favours  in  a  glorious  ascend- 
ing gradation.  The  inviting  language  of  every  one  of  them  is.  Press  for- 
ward. The  pleasures  of  the  world  and  sin,  if  they  speak  truth,  can  afford 
no  such  encouragement  to  their  admirers:  no,  Ezekiel's  roll  is  descriptive 
of  their  utmost  prospects ;  that  roll  which  had  written  within  and  without 
"lamentations,  mourning,  and  woe."  But  religion  presents  a  train  of  rising 
glories:  he  that  enters  it  aright  will  find  it  like  the  waters  of  the  sanctuary; 
first  to  his  ancles,  then  to  his  knees,  then  to  his  loins,  and  at  last  a  river  to 
swim  in ! — The  different  stages  of  the  church  maintain  the  same  idea ;  the 
Mosaic  dispensation  contained  greater  discoveries  than  the  patriarchal ;  the 
gospel  contains  greater  than  the  Mosaic ;  latter-day  glory  will  outshine  this ; 
and  ultimate  bliss  will  exceed  them  all.  "  Who  is  she  that  looketh  forth  as 
the  morning,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with 
banners?" 

Give  us  your  attention,  brethren,  while  we  next  attempt  to  point  out  the 
UTILITY  of  this  heavenly  grace  throughout  the  Christian  life. — Truly  this  is 
beyond  expression.  If  hope  in  general  is  of  so  much  use  among  men  as  to 
stimulate  them  in  all  their  labours,  support  them  in  their  sorrows,  and  extri- 
cate them  from  a  thousand  labyrinths  in  life — if  by  it  they  brave  dangers, 
encounter  hardships,  and  endure  difficulties — if,  in  short,  it  be  that  by  which, 
as  a  means,  even  God  himself  as  it  were  bears  up  the  pillars  of  the  world- 
then  what  must  be  the  use  of  that  hope  which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  so 
much  surpasses  this  in  excellence!  As  far  as  the  objects  of  Christian  hope 
exceed  in  value,  and  its  grounds  in  solidity,  those  of  natural  hope,  so  far 
does  the  use  of  one  exceed  that  of  the  other.  Its  special  use  will,  however, 
be  best  ascertained  by  taking  a  view  of  some  of  those  exercises,  cases,  and 
circumstances  wherein  you  are  concerned  in  your  passage  through  life. — 
Particularly, 

You  have  known  its  value  from  the  time  when  you  were  first  converted 
unto  God,  when  in  that  time  of  need  it  presented  before  you  an  all-sufficient 
refuge. — You  remember,  dear  brethren,  it  may  be  some  of  you  particularly, 
"the  wormwood  and  gall"  in  that  great  work,  which  is  commonly  begun 
with  a  painful  conviction  of  sin.  You  remember  when  a  sense  of  the  nature 
and  demerit  of  sin,  of  7/our  sin,  was  such  that  your  souls  had  almost  dwelt 
in  silence!  Ah,  you  remember  when  the  glorious  character  of  God  ap- 
peared, though  excellent,  yet  terrible,  approaching  judgment  unavoidable, 
and  the  Judge  at  the  door!     And  have  you  forgotten  the  "  door  of  hope" 

Vol.  III.— 40  2D 


314  CIRCULAR  LETTERS. 

which  then  was  opened  to  you  ?  Have  you  forgotten  the  sound  of  the  great 
trumpet  which  invited  you  to  come  when  you  were  ready  to  perish?  No, 
surely.  While  many,  like  Cain  and  Judas,  despair  of  mercy,  and  so  "  die 
in  the  pit,"  you  have  reason  to  bless  God  for  having  enabled  you  to  "  turn 
to  the  strong  hold  as  prisoners  of  hope !" 

Moreover,  as  servants  of  God,  you  have  a  great  work  to  do. — Though  the 
meritorious  part  of  your  salvation  has  been  long  since  finished,  yet  there  is 
a  salvation  for  you  still  to  work  out.  By  prayer,  by  patience,  by  watchful- 
ness, and  holy  strife,  you  have  to  overcome  the  world,  mortify  sin,  and  run 
the  race  set  before  you.  Hope  is  of  excellent  use  in  this  great  work.  It  is 
well  denominated  a  "  lively  hope."  Its  tendency  is  not  to  lull  the  soul 
asleep,  but  to  rouse  it  to  action.  We  trust,  dear  brethren,  that  the  hope  of 
which  you  are  partakers  will  more  and  more  animate  your  breasts  with 
generous  purposes,  and  prompt  your  souls  to  noble  pursuits.  For  this  you 
have  the  greatest  encouragements  surely  that  a  God  can  give !  God  will 
employ  none  in  his  service  without  making  it  their  inestimable  privilege. 
They  that  plough  for  him  shall  plough  in  hope.  Mansions  of  bliss  stand 
ready  to  receive  you,  and  crowns  of  unfading  glory  to  reward  you;  therefore, 
beloved  brethren,  "  be  ye  steadfast,  immovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord." 

Again,  You  are  attended  with  indioelling  sin:  a  "body  of  sin,"  which,  in 
the  account  of  every  one  that  loves  and  longs  for  purity,  is  a  body  of  death  ; 
yea,  worse  than  death  itself! — You  wish  to  think  spiritually,  pray  fervently, 
hear  profitably,  and,  in  a  word,  grow  in  grace;  but  this  proves  a  dead  weight 
to  all :  "  the  good  that  ye  would,  that  ye  do  not!" — You  wish  to  hate  and 
avoid  evil,  and  all  its  detestable  appearances;  but  you  find  it  in  ten  thou- 
sand forms  haunting,  surprising,  and  drawing  you  aside,  so  that  too  often 
"  the  evil  that  ye  would  not,  that  ye  do!"  We  doubt  not,  dear  brethren,  but 
that  in  secret  you  frequently  groan  with  the  apostle,  "  O  wretched  man  that 
I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death?"  Now  we  ask 
what  can  afford  relief  in  this  case,  but  a  good  hope  through  grace  of  being 
freed  at  the  hour  of  death?  This  proves  a  helmet  in  your  spiritual  warfare. 
This  will  inspire  you  with  courage  in  every  conflict:  nothing  invigorates  the 
soldier  like  the  hope  of  conquering  at  last.  With  this  you  will  tread  down 
strength,  and,  in  prospect  of  approaching  victory,  sing  with  the  apostle,  "Z 
thank  God  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ^ 

Again,  You  are  subject  to  many  fears  and  despondings  of  mind  ere  you 
reach  your  desired  haven.  Too  often,  through  an  unwatchful,  unholy  con- 
duct, the  Spirit  of  God  is  grieved.  His  presence  once  withdrawn,  darkness 
will  overspread  the  mind,  and  evidences  for  glory  seem  blotted  out.  Satan 
is  often  permitted  at  such  seasons  to  stand  as  at  your  right  hand,  accusing 
you  of  your  filthy  garments ;  suggesting  that  such  a  one  cannot  be  "  a  brand 
plucked  out  of  the  burning."  Under  these  exercises  the  mind  is  apt  to  be 
depressed  beyond  measure;  the  soul,  afraid  of  acting  presumptuously,  in 
laying  hold  of  consolation,  is  ready,  strangely  ready,  to  sink  beneath  the 
waves  of  dark  despair.  If  any  offer  consolation,  like  Rachel  on  the  loss  of 
her  children,  he  "  refuseth  to  be  comforted."  The  spirit,  at  some  such  sea- 
sons, is  so  dejected,  it  is  as  if  all  must  be  given  up.  The  painful  language 
of  the  heart  is,  "  The  Lord  hath  forsaken  me,  and"  he  whom  I  once  thought 
"  my  God  hath  forgotten  me  !" — "  My  hope  is  dried  up,  and  I  am  cut  off  for 
my  part !"  Ah,  farewell  hope!  farewell  heaven!  farewell  Christ! — No,— 
no, — nor  Christ,  nor  heaven,  nor  hope  will  suffer  this !  Let  deep  call  to  deep, 
let  waves,  let  billows  overflow,  deliverance  shall  arise,  hope  will  not  fail,  but 
will  afford  relief     It  will  prove  "  an  anchor  to  your  soul,  sure  and  steadfast.*' 


EXCELLENCY  AND  UTILITY  OP  HOPE.  315 

Yes,  it  will  cheer  your  heart,  and  enable  you  to  sing,  "  Why  art  thou  cast 
down,  O  my  soul]  and  why  art  thou  disquieted  within  me?  hope  thou  in 
God,  for  I  shall  yet  praise  him,  who  is  the  health  of  my  countenance,  and 
my  God !"  Again, 

You  are  subject  to  various  trying  providences  in  your  passage  through  life. 
— Enjoyments  in  this  life  are  very  precarious.  While  we  are  feathering  our 
nests,  and  promising  ourselves  that  we  shall  die  therein  unmolested,  how 
soon  are  we  disappointed  1  yea,  how  many  have  been  nearly  stripped  of  their 
earthly  all !  These,  being  deprived  of  almost  every  comfort  of  this  life,  have 
then  tasted  the  sweetness  of  hope  in  another.  These  look  to  their  Maker, 
and  their  eyes  have  respect  to  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  for  the  reparation  of 
their  losses.  Thus  sang  the  church  in  affliction,  stripped,  and  bound  ia 
Babel's  yoke,  "  The  Lord  is  my  portion,  saith  my  soul,  therefore  will  I  hope 
in  him." 

Some  of  you  are  poor  in  this  world,  and  are  subject  to  numerous  hard- 
ships.—  You  are  often  entangled  in  mazes  of  difficulty  ;  you  have  a  thousand 
fears  that  you  shall  never  get  honourably  through  life.  Especially  at  times, 
God  seems  to  have  set  you  in  "dark  places;"  your  hopes  confounded,  your 
fears  come  upon  you,  and  your  prospects  at  an  end !  Yes,  say  you,  "  Surely 
against  me  is  he  turned ;  he  turneth  his  hand  against  me  all  the  day.  He 
hath  builded  against  me,  and  compassed  me  with  gall  and  travail.  He  hath 
enclosed  my  ways  with  hewn  stone.  He  hath  hedged  me  about  that  I  can- 
not get  out ;  he  hath  made  my  chain  heavy  !"  Poor  people,  we  feel  for  you! 
wherewith  shall  we  comfort  you  ?  Shall  we  recommend  and  exercise  bene- 
volence towards  you  in  our  respective  churches  1  Shall  we  exhort  you  "  to 
trust  in  the  Lord,  and  do  good  ;"  and  assure  you,  in  God's  name,  that  "  so 
shall  ye  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  ye  shall  be  fed?"  Or  shall  we  hold  up 
before  you  a  kingdom  to  which  ye  are  heirs ;  a  period  -.vhen  "  every  tear  shall 
be  wiped  away?"  O  brethren,  the  hope  of  the  gospel  furnishes  you  with 
these  strong  consolations  1  Again. 

You  are  members  of  Christian  societij;  and  though  by  your  letters  it  appears 
you  enjoy  peace  in  general,  yet  you  are  not  unacquainted  with  many  things 
of  a  grieving  tendency.  Li  this  state  of  imperfection  offences  will  come. 
Unhappy  feuds  will  sometimes  arise,  and  grievous  scandals  will  take  place. 
When  church  members  become  self-sufficient,  and  cease  to  be  afraid  of  en- 
tering into  temptation — when  carnal  ease  is  substituted  in  the  room  of  gospel 
peace — when  love  grows  cold,  and  complaisance  takes  its  place — when  we 
are  so  watchful  over  one  another  as  to  forget  ourselves — when  godly  jealousy 
is  exchanged  for  an  uncharitable  temper,  "more  cruel  than  the  grave" — 
when,  instead  of  "  submitting  to  one  another  in  the  fear  of  God,"  each  one 
becomes  headstrong  and  resolved  to  have  his  own  way — when  superior  gifts 
are  envied,  and  inferior  ones  despised — when  zeal  for  the  truth  degenerates 
into  vain  jangling — when  we  are  very  apt  to  take  an  offence,  but  not  to  for- 
give one — when  talebearers  are  encouraged,  and  a  spirit  of  animosity  cherish- 
ed— then,  brethren,  then  expect  "  confusion,  and  every  evil  work."  We  are 
happy  that  we  can  say  (and  blessed  be  God  for  it)  that  such  a  spirit  is  far 
from  generally  prevailing  among  you ;  yet,  so  far  as  it  does  prevail,  (which 
the  all-seeing  God  knows  is  too  far,)  it  dishonours  the  great  Head  of  the 
church,  and  wounds  every  upright  member!  However,  this  should  be  far 
from  discouraging  religious  society  itself;  not  to  mention  that  these  are 
things  that  must  always  be  expected,  more  or  less,  in  this  state  of  trial,  and 
that  they  always  existed  even  in  the  purest  ages ;  we  can  affirm,  and  ye  are 
our  witnesses,  that  it  has  pleasures  which  abundantly  outweigh  all  these  un- 
happinesses.  Nor  is  this  all :  hope  holds  up  a  period,  even  within  the  limits 
of  time,  a  heaven  compared  with  the  present  state  of  things,  when  "  holiness 


316  CIRCULAR  LETTERS. 

to  the  Lord  shall  be  written  as  upon  the  bells  of  the  horses,  and  Zion  shall 
become  a  quiet  habitation  !"  But  this,  say  you,  is  a  period  that  wc  have  but 
little  hope  of  living  to  see.  Perhaps  so  :  still  you  live  in  prospect  of  a  better. 
Blessed  society,  where  purity  and  amity  for  ever  reign!  Yes,  brethren, 
immediately  on  entering  members  of  the  church  triumphant,  you  will  "  enter 
into  peace,"  and  each  one  of  you  "  walk"  for  ever  "  in  his  uprightness !" 
Moreover, 

You  are  members  of  civil  society. — You  wish  well  to  your  country,  and 
must  have  been  the  subjects  of  grief  to  see  what  you  have  of  late  years  seen 
— its  glory  eclipsed  by  unhappy  wars  and  dissensions;  to  see  it  conspired 
against  by  surrounding  nations  and  divided  by  domestic  feuds,  forsaken  by 
its  friends  and  derided  by  its  enemies.  It  may  be,  at  times,  fear  has  been 
ready  to  seize  you,  and  tempted  you  to  ask,  What  will  be  the  end  of  these 
things?  The  sounds  of  "Nineveh  is  fallen,"  "  Babylon  is  fallen,"  yea,  of 
"Jiulah  is  fallen,"  has  been  long  since  heard  in  the  world ;  and  what,  say 
you,  are  we  better  than  they?  Under  these  exercises,  brethren,  we  trust  you 
have  found,  and  will  yet  find,  hope  of  excellent  use  to  you.  Great  have  been 
the  deliverances  your  God  has  wrought  in  former  ages,  which  afford  a  ground 
of  hope  to  us.  He  can  defend  our  coasts,  and  still  preserve  our  country ; 
yea,  he  can,  and  blessed  be  his  name  for  any  encouragement  afforded  us. 
Let  us  then  hope  and  pray :  "  It  may  be  the  Lord  God  of  hosts  will  be  gra- 
cious to  the'  remnant  of  his  people."  Or  should  he  refuse  that,  should  a  con- 
sumption be  decreed  to  overflow,  in  righteousness,  still  he  can  preserve  his 
faithful  followers  as  he  did  Baruch,  and  those  who  "  sighed  and  cried"  in 
the  day  of  Jerusalem's  ruin.  Nay,  suppose  him  to  refuse  that ;  suppose  that 
not  only  your  country  must  sink,  but  you  must  sink  with  it,  and  perish  in 
the  general  wreck !  Still  all  is  not  lost.  Did  your  portion  lie  in  this  world, 
then,  indeed,  like  the -owner  of  a  vessel  whose  all  is  on  board,  you  might 
dread  its  sitiking;  but  seeing  your  inheritance  is  far  beyond  the  reach  of 
these  vicissitudes,  there  is  reason  for  you  to  mingle  joy  with  trembling.  Yes, 
brethren,  we  trust  there  is  reason  for  you  to  unite  with  holy  David,  "  God 
is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble — therefore  will  we 
not  fear,  though  the  earth  be  moved,  and  though  the  mountains  be  carried 
into  the  midst  of  the  sea !" 

Once  more.  You  and  we  all,  by  some  means,  must  shortly  die. — Be  it  so 
that  no  untimely  end  befall  us,  the  hour  cometh  when  we  must  bid  farewell 
to  every  creature  comfort;  when  every  created  union  must  be  dissolved,  and 
we  appear  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ !  Oh,  then  to  be  without  hope! 
better  had  we  never  been  born!  Let  the  reluctance  and  horror  of  those  who 
are  driven  away  in  their  wickedness  teach  us  the  value  of  a  well-grounded 
hope  in  that  awful  hour.  Verily,  words  cannot  describe  it,  nor  thoughts 
conceive  it!  Here  is  a  rock  when  all  beside  sinks  under  us!  With  this, 
brethren,  like  the  priests  that  bore  the  ark  of  God,  your  feet  will  stand  firm 
amidst  all  the  swellings  of  Jordan !  With  this  you  can  behold  the  ghastly 
spectre,  yea,  the  horrors  of  the  grave  itself,  with  a  cheerful  countenance,  and 
sing  with  holy  Job,  "Although  after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet 
in  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God :  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself;  mine  eyes  shall 
behold,  and  not  another,  though  my  reins  be  consumed  within  me!" 

Upon  the  whole,  permit  us  to  advise  and  exhort  you,  dear  brethren,  to  a 
few  things  which  become  persons  who  have  expectations  like  yours. — While 
you  guard  against  presumption,  beware  of  despair.  The  latter,  as  well  as 
the  former,  is  dangerous  to  men,  and  offensive  to  God.  Despair  is  the  death 
of  action.  To  despair  of  mercy,  and  so  never  apply  for  it,  is  to  act  like  the 
wicked  and  slothful  servant,  than  which  nothing  tends  more  to  cast  reproach 
on  the  character  of  God.     Even  a  man  of  honour  cannot  bear  to  be  dis. 


EXCELLENCr  AND  UTILITY  OP  HOPE  317 

trusted.  While  fear  keeps  you  from  presumption,  let  hope  preserve  you 
from  despair.  As  condemned  criminals  in  yourselves  considered,  cast  your- 
selves on  him  for  mercy;  as  servants,  serve  him  cheerfully  and  rely  on  his 
bounty;  and  as  suffering  the  loss  of  all  things  for  him,  trust  him,  like  Moses, 
to  make  up  your  losses.  Remember,  "  the  Lord  taketh  pleasure  in  them 
that  fear  him,  in  those  that  hope  in  his  mercy." 

Observe,  also,  he  that  has  this  hope  must  purify  himself  as  Christ  is  pure. 
— He  must  take  him  for  his  example,  and  aim  at  no  less  than  a  complete 
conformity  to  his  temper  and  spirit.  That  which  true  hope  centres  in  is  not 
only  to  see  him  as  he  is,  but  to  be  "like  him."  Be  constant,  then,  dear 
brethren,  in  holy  exercises.  We  trust  your  hope  is  not  of  that  kind  which, 
in  proportion  as  it  increases,  slackens  the  hand  of  diligence.  Neglect  neither 
public  nor  private  duties;  it  is  at  the  peril  of  your  souls'  welfare  if  you  do. 
Shame  may  keep  you  to  the  one,  but  rather  let  the  love  of  Christ  constrain 
you  to  both.  Think  nothing  too  great  to  perform,  too  much  to  lose,  or  too 
hard  to  endure,  that  you  may  obtain  so  blessed  a  hope.  O  brethren,  be  it 
our  daily  concern  and  earnest  endeavour  to  grow  in  every  grace,  to  excel  in 
every  virtue.  Remember,  he  whose  eyes  are  flames  of  fire  surveys  our  heart 
and  life:  how  transporting  the  thought,  could  we  conceive  him  addressing 
each  of  us  as  he  did  the  Thyatiran  church,  •'  I  know  thy  works,  and  charity, 
and  service,  and  faith,  and  thy  patience,  and  thy  works ;  and  the  last  to  be 
more  than  the  first !" 

Finally,  Use  all  means  to  cultivate  this  heavenly  grace. — Remember  sin 
is  its  worst  enemy ;  beware  of  that.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  its  best  friend ;  see 
that  you  grieve  not  him.  Tribulations  themselves,  though  they  may  seem  to 
destroy  it,  in  the  end  cherish  it.  They  "work  patience,  and  patience  ex- 
perience, and  experience  hope ;"  therefore  be  reconciled  to  them.  Read  the 
Holy  Scriptures;  pray  in  secret  as  well  as  openly;  though  sojourners  on 
earth,  let  your  conversation  be  in  heaven;  learn  to  set  light  by  this  world; 
court  not  its  smiles,  nor  fear  its  frowns ;  live  in  daily  expectation  of  dying, 
and  die  daily  in  humble  expectation  of  living  for  evermore;  realize  and  anti- 
cipate those  enjoyments  and  employments  to  which  ye  are  hastening:  in 
proportion  to  this,  your  desires  will  be  strong  and  your  hopes  lively.  Remem- 
ber, hope  is  one  of  those  graces  which  must  do  its  all  within  the  limits 
of  time;  "be  sober,"  therefore,  "and  hope  to  the  end;"  aim,  like  Enoch,  to 
"walk  with  God"  till  God  shall  take  you ;  "  let  your  loins  be  girt,  and  your 
lights  burning,  and  ye  yourselves  like  unto  men  that  wait  for  their  Lord. 
Blessed  are  those  servants  whom  the  Lord  when  he  cometh  shall  find  so 
doing!  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,"  said  this  blessed  Lord  of  yours,  (O  hearken, 
and  be  astonished,)  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  he  shall  gird  himself,  and 
make  them  sit  down  to  meat,  and  will  come  forth  and  serve  them !" 

Dearly  beloved  brethren,  farewell !  "  May  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself, 
and  God,  even  our  Father,  who  hath  loved  us,  and  given  us  everlasting  con- 
solation, and  good  hope  through  grace,  comfort  your  hearts,  and  stablish  you 
in  every  good  word  and  work !" 


2t>2 


318  CIRCULAR  LETTERS. 

1785 

causes  of  declension  in  religion,  and  means  of  revival. 

Dearlv  beloved  Brethren, 

Through  the  good  hand  of  our  God  upon  us  we  met  together  according 
to  appointment,  and  enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  an  agreeable  interview  with 
several  of  our  dear  friends  and  brethren  in  the  Lord.  We  trust  also  that  our 
God  was  with  us  in  the  different  stages  of  the  opportunity.  The  letters  from 
the  several  churches,  which  were  attended  to  the  first  evening  of  our  meet- 
ing together,  afforded  us  matter  for  pain  and  pleasure.  Two  of  the  associate 
churches  continue  destitute  of  the  stated  means  of  grace,  others  are  tried 
with  things  of  an  uncomfortable  nature,  and  most  complain  of  the  want  of  a 
spirit  of  fervour  and  constancy  in  the  ways  of  God.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand, 
we  met  with  some  things  which  afforded  us  pleasure.  Many  of  our  congre- 
gations are  well  attended  ;  a  spirit  of  desire  after  the  word  is,  we  think,  upon 
the  increase;  nor  are  our  labours,  we  hope,  altogether  in  vain,  as  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  in  a  way  of  conversion,  appears  to  be  carrying  on,  though  not 
in  instances  very  remarkable. 

'Tis  true  we  have  reason  to  bewail  our  own  and  others'  declensions,  yet 
we  are  not,  upon  the  whole,  discouraged.  It  affords  us  no  little  satisfaction 
to  hear  in  what  manner  the  monthly  prayer  meetings  which  were  proposed 
in  our  letter  of  last  year  have  been  carried  on,  and  how  God  has  been  evi- 
dently present  in  those  meetings,  stirring  up  the  hearts  of  his  people  to 
wrestle  hard  with  him  for  the  revival  of  his  blessed  cause.  Though  as  to 
the  number  of  members  there  is  no  increase  this  year,  but  something  of  the 
contrary;  yet  a  spirit  of  prayer  in  some  measure  being  poured  out  more  than 
balances  in  our  account  for  this  defect.  We  cannot  but  hope,  wherever  we 
see  a  spirit  of  earnest  prayer  generally  and  perseveringly  prevail,  that  God 
has  some  good  in  reserve,  which  in  his  own  time  he  will  graciously  bestow. 

But  while  we  rejoice  to  see  such  a  spirit  of  united  prayer,  we  must  not 
stop  here,  brethren,  lest  in  so  doing  we  stop  short.  If  we  would  hope  for 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  us,  there  must  be  added  to  this  a  spirit  of  earnest 
inquiry  into  the  causes  of  our  declensions,  and  a  hearty  desire  arid  endeavour 
for  their  removal.  When  Israel  could  not  go  forward,  but  were  smitten  by 
the  men  of  Ai,  Joshua  and  the  elders  of  the  people  prostrated  themselves 
before  the  Lord.  In  this  they  did  well ;  but  this  was  not  sufficient — "  Get 
thee  up,"  said  the  Lord  to  his  servant — "wherefore  liest  thou  thus  upon  thy 
face?  Israel  hath  sinned — Up,  sanctify  the  people — and  search  for  the  ac- 
cursed thing !" — This,  it  is  apprehended,  is  the  case  with  us,  as  well  as  it 
was  with  Israel ;  and  this  must  be  our  employment  as  well  as  theirs.  With 
a  view  to  assist  you,  brethren,  and  ourselves  with  you,  in  this  very  necessary 
inquiry,  we  appropriate  the  present  letter  to  the  pointing  out  of  some  of 

THOSE  EVILS  WHICH  WE  APPREHEND    TO    BE    CAUSES  OF  THAT  DECLENSION  OF 
WHICH  SO  MANY  COMPLAIN,  AND  THE  MEANS  OF  THEIR  REMOVAL. 

The  first  thing  that  we  shall  request  you  to  make  inquiry  about  is,  whether 
there  is  not  a  great  degree  of  contentedness  with  a  mere  superficial  acquaint- 
ance with  the  gospel,  loithout  entering  into  its  spirit  and  end  ;  and  tvhether 
this  he  not  one  great  cause  of  the  declension  complained  of — In  the  apostles' 
time,  and  in  all  times,  grace  and  peace  have  ever  been  multiplied  by  the 
knowledge  of  God;  and,  in  proportion  as  this  has  been  neglected,  those  have 
always  declined.     If  we  are  sanctified  by  the  word  of  truth,  then,  as  this 


RELIGIOUS    DECLENSION.  319 

word  is  received  or  disrelished,  the  work  of  sanctification  must  be  supposed 
to  rise  or  fall.  We  may  give  a  sort  of  idle  assent  to  the  truths  of  God,  which 
amounts  to  little  more  than  taking  it  for  granted  that  they  are  true,  and  think- 
ing no  more  about  them,  unless  somebody  opposes  us ;  but  this  will  not  in- 
fluence the  heart  and  life,  and  yet  it  seems  to  be  nearly  the  whole  of  what 
many  attain  to,  or  seek  after. 

We  maintain  the  doctrine  of  one  infinitely  glorious  God;  but  do  we 
realize  the  amiableness  of  his  character?  If  we  did,  we  could  not  avoid 
loving  him  with  our  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and  strength. — We  hold  the 
doctrine  of  the  universal  depravity  of  mankind ;  but  do  we  enter  into  its  evil 
nature  and  awful  tendency?  If  we  did  the  one,  how  much  lower  should  we 
lie  before  God,  and  how  much  more  should  we  be  filled  with  a  self-loathing 
spirit!  If  the  other,  how  should  we  feel  for  our  fellow  sinners!  how  earnest 
should  we  be  to  use  all  means,  and  have  all  means  used,  if  it  might  please 
God  thereby  to  pluck  them  as  brands  out  of  the  burning ! — We  hold  the 
doctrine  of  a  trinity  of  Persons  in  the  Godhead ;  but  do  we  cordially  enter 
into  the  glorious  economy  of  redemption,  wherein  the  conduct  of  the  sacred 
Three  is  most  gloriously  displayed?  Surely  if  we  did,  the  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  would 
be  with  us  more  than  it  is. — We  avow  the  doctrines  of  free,  sovereign,  and 
efficacious  grace;  but  do  we  generally yee/  the  grace  therein  discovered?  If 
we  did,  how  low  should  we  lie !  how  grateful  should  we  be !  We  should 
seldom  think  of  their  sovereign  and  discriminating  nature,  without  consider- 
ing how  justly  God  might  have  left  us  all  to  have  had  our  own  will,  and  fol- 
lowed our  own  ways;  to  have  continued  to  increase  our  malady,  and  despise 
the  only  remedy!  Did  we  properly  enter  into  these  subjects,  we  could  not 
think  of  a  great  Saviour,  and  a  great  salvation,  without  loathing  ourselves 
for  being  such  great  sinners;  nor  of  what  God  had  done  for  and  given  to 
us,  without  longing  to  give  him  our  little  all,  and  feeling  an  habitual  desire 
to  do  something  for  him. — If  we  realized  our  redemption  by  the  blood  of 
Christ,  it  would  be  natural  for  us  to  consider  ourselves  as  bought  with  a 
price,  and  therefore  not  our  own ;  "  a  price,  all  price  beyond !"  O,  could 
we  enter  into  this,  we  should  readily  discern  the  force  and  propriety  of  our 
body  and  spirit  being  his;  his  indeed!  dearly  bought,  and  justly  due! — 
Finally,  we  all  profess  to  believe  the  vanity  of  this  life  and  its  enjoyments,  and 
the  infinitely  superior  value  of  that  above;  but  do  we  indeed  enter  into  these 
things?  If  we  did,  surely  we  should  have  more  of  heavenly-mindedness, 
and  less  of  criminal  attachment  to  the  world. 

It  is  owing  in  a  great  degree  to  this  contentment  with  a  superficial  know- 
ledge of  things,  without  entering  into  the  spirit  of  them,  that  we  so  often 
hear  the  truths  of  the  gospel  spoken  of  with  a  tone  of  disgust,  calling  them 
"dry  doctrines!"  Whereas  gospel  truths,  if  preached  in  their  native  sim- 
plicity, and  received  with  understanding  and  cordiality,  are  the  grand  source 
of  all  well-grounded  consolation.  We  know  of  no  consolation  worth  re- 
ceiving but  what  arises  from  the  influence  of  truth  upon  the  mind.  Christ's 
words  are  spirit  and  life  to  them  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  them,  or  have 
a  heart  to  live  upon  them ;  and  could  we  but  more  thoroughly  enter  into 
this  way  of  living,  we  should  find  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  instead  of 
being  dry,  to  be  what  they  were  in  the  days  of  Moses,  who  declared,  "  My 
doctrine  shall  drop  as  the  rain,  my  speech  shall  distil  as  the  dew ;  as  the 
small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb,  and  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass,"  Deut. 
xxxii.  2.  O  brethren,  may  it  be  our  and  your  concern  not  to  float  upon  the 
surface  of  Christianity,  but  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  it!  "For  this  cause" 
an  apostle  bowed  his  knees  "  to  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  that 
we  might  "  comprehend  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height"  of 


330  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

things ;  and  for  this  cause  we  also  wish  to  bow  our  knees,  knowing  that  it  ia 
by  this,  if  at  all,  that  we  are  "  filled  all  the  fulness  of  God,"  Eph.  iii.  14-19. 

Another  thing  which  we  apprehend  to  be  a  great  cause  of  declension  is, 
a  contenttdness  loith  present  ottainments,  without  aspiring  after  eminence  in 
grace  and  holiness. — If  we  may  judge  of  people's  thoughts  and  aims  by  the 
general  tenor  of  their  conduct,  there  seems  to  be  much  of  a  contentment 
with  about  so  much  religion  as  is  thought  necessary  to  constitute  them  good 
men,  and  that  will  just  suffice  to  carry  them  to  heaven ;  without  aiming  by  a 
course  of  more  than  ordinary  services  to  glorify  God  in  their  day  and  genera- 
tion. We  profess  to  do  what  we  do  with  a  view  to  glorify  God,  and  not  to 
be  saved  by  it;  but  is  it  so  indeed?  Do  these  things  look  like  it?  How  is 
it,  too,  that  the  positive  institutions  of  Christ  are  treated  with  so  little  regard? 
Whence  is  it  that  we  hear  such  language  as  this  so  often  as  we  do — "  Such 
a  duty,  and  such  an  ordinance,  is  not  essential  to  salvation — we  may  never 
be  baptized  in  water,  or  become  church  members,  and  yet  go  to  heaven  as 
well  as  they  that  are  ?" 

It  is  to  be  feared  the  old  puritanical  way  of  devoting  ourselves  wholly  to 
be  the  Lord's,  resigning  up  our  bodies,  souls,  gifts,  time,  property,  with  all 
we  have  and  are  to  serve  him,  and  frequently  renewing  these  covenants 
before  him,  is  now  awfully  neglected.  This  was  to  make  a  busijiess  of  reli- 
gion, a  life's  work,  and  not  merely  an  accidental  affair,  occurring  but  now 
and  then,  and  what  must  be  attended  to  only  when  we  can  spare  time  from 
other  engagements.  Few  seem  to  aim,  pray,  and  strive  after  eminent  love  to 
God  and  one  another.  Many  appear  to  be  contented  if  they  can  but  remem- 
ber the  time  when  they  had  such  love  in  exercise,  and  then,  tacking  to  it  the 
notion  of  perseverance  without  the  thing,  they  go  on  and  on,  satisfied,  it 
seems,  if  they  do  but  make  shift  just  to  get  to  heaven  at  last,  without  much 
caring  how.  If  we  were  in  a  proper  spirit,  the  question  with  us  would  not 
so  much  be,  What  must  I  do  for  God  ?  as,  What  can  I  do  for  God  ?  A  servant 
that  heartily  loves  his  master  counts  it  a  privilege  to  be  employed  by  him, 
yea,  an  honour  to  be  intrusted  with  any  of  his  concerns. 

If  it  is  inquired.  What  then  is  to  be  done?  wherein  in  particular  can  we 
glorify  God  more  than  we  have  done  ?  We  answer  by  asking,  Is  there  no 
room  for  amendment?  Have  we  been  sufficiently  earnest  and  constant  in 
private  prayer?  Are  there  none  of  us  that  have  opportunities  to  set  apart 
particular  times  to  pray  for  the  effiision  of  the  Holy  Spirit?  Can  we  do  no 
more  than  we  have  done  in  instructing  our  families?  Are  there  none  of 
our  dependants,  workmen,  or  neighbours  that  we  might  speak  to,  at  least  so 
far  as  to  ask  them  to  go  and  hear  the  gospel  ?  Can  we  rectify  nothing  in 
our  tempers  and  behaviour  in  the  world,  so  as  better  to  recommend  religion? 
Cannot  we  watch  more?  Cannot  we  save  a  little  more  of  our  substance  to 
give  to  the  poor?  In  a  word,  is  there  no  room  or  possibility  left  for  our 
being  more  meek,  loving,  and  resembling  the  blessed  Jesus  than  we  have 
been? 

To  glorify  God,  and  recommend  by  our  example  the  religion  of  the  meek 
and  lowly  Jesus,  are  the  chief  ends  for  which  it  is  worth  while  to  live;  but 
do  we  sufficiently  pursue  these  ends?  Even  these  chief  ends  of  our  exist- 
ence, are  they  in  any  good  degree  so  much  as  kept  in  view?  Ah,  what 
have  we  done  for  God  in  the  towns,  villages,  and  families  where  we  reside? 
Christians  are  said  to  be  the  light  of  the  world,  and  the  salt  of  the  earth — 
do  we  answer  these  characters?  Is  the  world  enlightened  by  us?  Does  a 
savour  of  Christ  accompany  our  spirit  and  conversation?  Our  business,  as 
Christians,  is  practically  to  be  holding  forth  the  word  of  life.  Have  we,  by 
our  earnestness,  sufficiently  held  forth  its  importance?  or  by  our  chaste  con- 
versation, coupled  with  fear,  its  holy  tendency?     Have  we  all  along,  by  a 


RELIGIOUS    DECLENSION.  321 

becoming  firmness  of  spirit,  made  it  evident  that  religion  is  no  lotD,  mean, 
or  dastardly  business?  Have  we  by  a  cheerful  complacency  in  God's  service, 
gospel,  and  providence  sufficiently  held  forth  the  excellency  of  his  govern- 
ment and  the  happy  tendency  of  his  holy  religion? — Doubtless,  the  most 
holy  and  upright  Christians  in  these  matters  will  find  great  cause  for  reflec- 
tion, and  room  for  amendment ;  but  arc  there  not  many  who  scarcely  ever 
think  about  them,  or,  if  they  do,  it  only  amounts  to  this,  to  sigh,  and  go 
backward,  resting  satisfied  with  a  few  lifeless  complaints,  without  any  real 
and  abiding  efforts  to  have  things  otherwise? 

Another  cause  of  declension,  we  apprehend,  is  making  the  religion  of 
others  our  standard,  instead  ofjhe  word  of  God. — The  word  of  God  is  the 
only  safe  rule  we  have  to  go  by,  either  in  judging  what  is  real  religion,  or 
what  exertions  and  services  for  God  are  incumbent  upon  us.  As  it  is  unsafe 
to  conclude  ourselves  real  Christians  because  we  may  have  such  feelings  as 
we  have  heard  spoken  of  by  some  whom  we  account  good  men,  so  it  is  un- 
just to  conclude  that  we  have  religion  enough  because  we  may  suppose  our- 
selves to  be  equal  to  the  generality  of  those  that  now  bear  that  character. 
What  if  they  be  good  men  ?  they  are  not  our  standard — and  what  if  their 
conversation  in  general  be  such  as  gives  them  a  reputation  in  the  religious 
world?  Christ  did  not  say.  Learn  of  them,  but.  Learn  of  me.  Or  if  in  a 
measure  we  are  allowed  to  follow  them  who  through  faith  and  patience  in- 
herit the  promises,  still  it  is  with  this  restriction,  as  far  as  they  are  followers 
of  Christ. 

Alas,  how  much  is  the  professing  part  of  mankind  governed  by  ill  ex- 
ample! If  the  question  turns  upon  religious  diligence,  as.  How  often  shall 
I  attend  at  the  house  of  God — once  or  twice  on  the  Lord's  day  ?  or  how  fre- 
quently shall  I  give  my  company  at  church  meetings,  opportunities  for  prayer, 
and  such  like?  is  not  the  answer  commonly  governed  by  what  others  do  in 
these  cases,  rather  than  by  what  is  right  in  itself? — So,  if  it  turns  on  liberality, 
the  question  is  not.  What  am  I  able  to  spare  in  this  case,  consistent  with  all 
other  obligations?  but.  What  does  Mr.  such  a  one  give?  I  shall  do  the  same 
as  he  does. — Something  of  this  kind  may  not  be  wrong,  as  a  degree  of  pro- 
portion among  friends  is  desirable ;  but  if  carried  to  too  great  lengths,  we 
must  beware  lest  our  attention  to  precedent  should  so  far  exclude  principle 
in  the  affair  as  to  render  even  what  we  do  unacceptable  in  the  sight  of  God. 
— So  if  the  question  turns  on  any  particular  piece  of  conduct,  whether  it  be 
defensible  or  not,  instead  of  searching  the  Bible,  and  praying  to  be  led  in 
the  narrow  way  of  truth  and  righteousness,  how  common  is  it  to  hear  such 
language  as  this — Such  and  such  good  men  do  so;  surely,  therefore,  there 
can  be  no  great  harm  in  it! — In  short,  great  numbers  appear  to  be  quite 
satisfied  if  they  are  but  about  as  strict  and  as  holy  as  other  people  with  whom 
they  are  connected. 

Many  ill  effects  appear  evidently  to  arise  from  this  quarter.  Hence  it  is 
that,  for  the  want  of  bringing  our  religion  and  religious  life  to  the  test  of 
God's  holy  word,  we  are  in  general  so  wretchedly  deficient  in  a  sense  of  our 
vast  and  constant  defects,  have  no  spirit  to  press  forward,  but  go  on  and  on, 
tvithout  repentance  for  them,  or  so  much  as  a  thought  of  doing  otherwise. — 
Hence  also  there  is  so  much  vanity  and  spiritual  pride  among  us.  While 
we  content  ourselves  with  barely  keeping  pace  with  one  another,  we  may  all 
become  wretched  idlers,  and  loose  walkers;  and  yet,  as  one  is  about  as  good 
as  another,  each  may  think  highly  of  himself;  whereas,  bring  him  and  his 
companions  with  him  to  the  glass  of  God's  holy  word,  and  if  they  have  any 
sensibility  left,  they  must  see  their  odious  picture,  abhor  themselves,  and 
feel  theiir  former  conduct  as  but  too  much  resembling  that  of  a  company  of 
evil  conspirators  who  keep  each  other  in  countenance. — Finally,  to  this  it 

Vol.  III.— 41 


322  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

may  be  ascribed  in  part  that  so  many  are  constantly  waxing  worse  and  worse 
more  and  more  loose  and  careless  in  their  spirit  and  conduct. — For  those 
who  are  contented  not  to  do  better  than  other  people,  generally  allow  them- 
selves to  do  a  little  worse.  An  imitator  is  scarcely  ever  known  to  equal  an 
original  in  the  good,  but  generally  exceeds  him  in  the  bad ;  not  only  in 
imitating  his  feelings,  but  adding  others  to  their  number.  If  we  would  re- 
semble any  great  and  good  man,  we  must  do  as  he  does,  and  that  is,  keep 
our  eye  upon  the  mark,  and  follow  Christ  as  our  model.  It  is  by  this  means 
that  he  has  attained  to  be  what  he  is.  Here  we  shall  be  in  no  danger  of 
learning  any  thing  amiss;  and  truly  we  have  failings  enow  of  our  own,  in 
not  conforming  to  the  model,  without  deriving  any  more  from  the  imperfec- 
tions of  the  model  itself 

Once  more, —  The  ivant  of  considering  the  consequences  or  our  own 
GOOD  AND  EVIL  CONDUCT  IS,  ice  apprehend,  another  great  cause  of  declension 
in  many  people. — It  is  common  for  people  on  many  occasions  to  think 
within  themselves  in  some  such  manner  as  this — "  What  signify  ?«^  faults, 
or  my  efforts?  They  can  weigh  but  little  for  or  against  the  public  good. 
What  will  my  prayers  avail  ?  and  what  great  loss  will  be  sustained  by  an  in- 
dividual occasionally  omitting  the  duty  of  prayer,  or  attendance  on  a  church 
meeting,  or  it  may  be  the  public  worship  and  ordinances  of  God?  And 
what  consequences  will  follow  if  one  be  a  little  now  and  then  off  one's 
watch — nobody  is  perfect,"  &c.  &c.  This,  and  a  great  deal  more  such 
horrid  atheism,  it  is  to  be  feared,  if  a  thorough  search  were  made,  would  be 
found  to  lie  at  the  bottom  of  our  common  departures  from  God. 

If,  when  an  army  goes  forth  to  engage  the  enemy,  every  soldier  were  to 
reason  with  himself  thus — Of  what  great  consequence  will  my  services  be? 
it  is  but  little  execution  that  I  can  do;  it  will  make  but  very  little  difference, 
therefore,  if  I  desert  or  stand  neuter — there  are  enow  to  fight  without  me, — 
what  would  be  the  consequence?  Would  such  reasoning  be  admitted? 
Was  it  admitted  in  the  case  of  the  Reubcnites,  who  cowardly  abode  by  their 
sheep-folds  while  their  brethren  jeoparded  their  lives  upon  the  high  places 
in  the  field  ?  Was  not  Mcroz  cursed  with  a  bitter  curse  because  its  inhabit- 
ants came  not  forth  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  in  the  day  of  the  mighty?  Judg 
V.  15,  IG,  23.  If  an  army  would  hope  to  obtain  the  victory,  every  man 
should  act  as  if  the  whole  issue  of  the  battle  depended  upon  his  conduct : 
so,  if  ever  things  go  well  in  a  religious  view,  it  will  be  when  every  one  is 
concerned  to  act  as  if  he  were  the  only  one  that  remained  on  God's  side. 

We  may  think  the  efforts  of  an  individual  to  be  trifling;  but,  dear  brethren, 
let  not  this  atheistical  spirit  prevail  over  us.  It  is  the  same  spawn  with  that 
cast  forth  in  the  days  of  Job,  when  they  asked  concerning  the  Almighty, 
"  What  profit  shall  we  have  if  we  pray  unto  him?"  At  this  rate  Abraham 
might  have  forborne  interceding  for  Sodom,  and  Daniel  for  his  brethren  of 
the  captivity.  James  also  must  be  mistaken  in  saying  that  the  prayer  of  a 
single,  individual  righteous  man  availeth  much.  Ah,  brethren,  this  spirit  is 
not  from  above,  but  cometh  of  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief  departing  from  the 
living  God!  Have  done  with  that  bastard  humility,  that  teaches  you  such  a 
sort  of  thinking  low  of  your  own  prayers  and  exertions  for  God  as  to  make 
you  decline  them,  or  at  least  to  be  slack  and  indifferent  in  them!  Great 
things  frequently  rise  from  small  beginnings.  Some  of  the  greatest  good 
that  has  ever  been  done  in  the  world  has  been  set  a  going  by  the  efforts  of 
an  individual. — Witness  the  Christianizing  of  a  great  part  of  the  heathen 
world  by  the  labours  of  a  Paid,  and  the  glorious  reformation  from  popery 
began  by  the  struggles  of  a  Luther. 

It  is  impossible  to  tell  what  good  may  result  from  one  earnest  wrestling 
with  God,  from  one  hearty  exertion  in  his  cause  or  from  one  instance  of  a 


RELIGIOUS    DECLENSION.  323 

meek  and  lowly  spirit,  overcoming  evil  with  good.  Though  there  is  nothing 
in  our  doings  from  which  we  could  look  for  such  great  things,  yet  God  is 
pleased  frequently  to  crown  our  poor  services  with  infinite  reward.  Such 
conduct  may  be,  and  often  has  been,  the  means  of  the  conversion  and  eternal 
salvation  of  souls;  and  who  that  has  any  Christianity  in  him  would  not  reckon 
this  reward  enough  ?  A  realizing  sense  of  these  things  would  stir  us  all  up  ; 
ministers  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  private  Christians,  situated 
in  this  or  that  dark  town  or  village,  to  use  all  means  to  have  it  preached, 
and  both  to  recommend  it  to  all  around  by  a  meek  and  unblemished  con- 
versation. 

Again,  We  may  think  the  faults  of  an  individual  to  be  trifling,  but  Ihey 
are  not  so.  For  the  crime  of  Achan  the  army  of  Israel  suffered  a  defeat, 
and  the  whole  camp  could  not  go  forward.  Let  us  tremble  at  the  thought 
of  being  a  dead  weight  to  the  society  of  which  we  are  members !  Besides, 
the  awful  tendency  of  such  conduct  is  seen  in  its  contagious  influence.  If 
people  continue  to  be  governed  by  example,  as  they  certainly  will  in  a  great 
degree,  then  there  is  no  knowing  what  die  consequences  will  be,  nor  where 
they  will  end.  A  single  defect  or  slip,  of  which  we  may  think  but  little  at 
the  time,  may  be  copied  by  our  children,  servants,  neighbours,  or  friends, 
over  and  over  again ;  yea,  it  may  be  transmitted  to  posterity,  and  pleaded 
as  a  precedent  for  evil  when  we  are  no  more!  Thus  it  may  kindle  a  fire 
which,  if  we  ourselves  are  saved  from  it,  may  nevertheless  burn  to  the  lowest 
hell,  and  aggravate  the  everlasting  misery  of  many  around  us,  who  are 
"  flesh  of  our  flesh,  and  bone  of  our  bone !" 

These,  brethren,  we  apprehend,  are  some  of  the  causes,  among  many 
others,  which  have  produced  those  declensions  which  you  and  we  lament. 
But  what  do  we  say?  Do  we  indeed  lament  them?  If  we  do,  it  will  be 
natural  for  us  to  inquire,  What  shall  we  do  ?  What  means  can  be  used  to- 
wards their  removal,  and  a  happy  revival?  If  this  be  now  indeed  the  object 
of  our  inquiry,  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  attend  to  the  advice  of  the  great 
Head  of  the  church  to  a  backsliding  people — "Remember  from  whence  thou 
art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  thy  first  works." — "  Be  watchful,  and  strengthen 
the  things  that  remain  that  are  ready  to  die." — "  Remember  how  thou  hast 
received  and  heard,  and  hold  fast,  and  repent !"  Rev.  ii.  5 ;  iii.  2,  3.  Par- 
ticularly, 

First,  Let  us  recollect  the  best  periods  of  the  Christian  church,  and  com,- 
pare  them  with  the  present ;  and  the  best  parts  of  our  own  life,  if  we  know 
token  they  were,  and  compare  them  with  lohat  we  now  are. — A  recollection 
of  the  disinterestedness  zeal  and  godly  simplicity  of  the  primitive  Christians, 
and  their  successors  in  after-ages,  millions  of  whom,  in  Christ's  cause,  loved 
not  their  lives  unto  death,  would  surely  make  us  loathe  ourselves  for  our 
detestable  lukewarmness !  As  Protestants,  let  us  think  of  the  fervent  zeal 
and  holy  piety  of  our  Reformers — think  what  objects  they  grasped,  what 
difficulties  they  encountered,  and  what  ends  they  obtained !  As  Protestant 
Dissenters,  let  us  reflect  on  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  our  puritan  and  non- 
conforming ancestors.  Think  how  they  served  Goa  at  the  expense  of  all 
that  was  dear  to  them  in  this  world,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  our  churches 
in  woods,  and  dens,  and  caves  of  the  earth  !  Say,  too,  was  their  love  to  God 
more  than  need  be?  Is  the  importance  of  things  abated  since  their  death? 
Might  not  they  have  pleaded  the  danger  and  cruelty  of  the  times  in  excuse 
for  a  non-appearance  for  God,  with  much  more  seeming  plausibility  than  we 
can  excuse  our  spirit  of  hateful  indifference?  O  let  us  remember  whence 
we  are  fallen,  and  repent! 

As  to  our  own  lives,  if  we  are  real  Christians,  probably  we  can  remember 
times  wherein  the  great  concerns  of  salvation  seemed  to  eclipse  all  other 


324  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

objects.  We  covenanted  with  God — we  resigned  over  all  to  him — we  loved 
to  be  his,  wholly  his,  rather  than  our  own — we  were  willing  to  do  any  thing, 
or  become  any  thing,  that  should  glorify  his  name.  And  is  it  so  now  ?  No ! 
but  why  not?  what  iniquity  have  we  found  in  him,  that  we  are  gone  away 
backward?  "O  my  people,  saith  the  Lord,  what  have  I  done  unto  thee? 
wherein  have  I  wearied  thee?  Testify  against  me!"  Have  I  been  a  hard 
master,  or  a  churlish  father,  or  a  faithless  friend  ?  Have  I  not  been  patient 
enough  with  you,  or  generous  enough  towards  you  ?  Could  I  have  done 
any  thing  more  for  you  that  1  have  not  done?  Was  the  covenant  you  made 
with  me  a  hard  bargain  ?  Was  it  hard  on  your  side  for  me  to  be  made  sin, 
who  knew  no  sin,  that  you  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  me? 
Were  the  rewards  of  my  service  such  as  you  could  not  live  upon?  Is  it 
better  with  you  now  than  then  1 — O  Christian  reader !  pause  awhile ;  lay 
aside  the  paper,  and  retire  before  God!  reflect,  and  pour  out  thy  soul  before 
him. — Say  unto  him,  "  O  Lord,  righteousness  belongeth  unto  thee,  but  unto 
us  confusion  of  face!"  Thus,  thus,  remember  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and 
repent ! 

But  do  not  stop  here — think  it  not  sufficient  that  we  lament  and  mourn 
over  our  departures  from  God ;  we  must  return  to  him  with  full  purpose  of 
heart — "  Strengthen  the  things  that  remain  which  are  ready  to  die."  Cherish 
a  greater  love  to  the  truths  of  God — pay  an  invariable  regard  to  the  discipline 
of  his  house — cultivate  love  to  one  another — frequently  mingle  souls  by  fre- 
quently assembling  yourselves  together — encourage  a  meek,  humble,  and 
savoury  spirit,  rather  than  a  curious  one.  These  are  some  of  the  things 
among  us  that  are  "  ready  to  die!"     To  this  it  is  added, 

"Do  thy  Jirst  ivorks." — Fill  up  your  places  in  God's  worship  with  that 
earnestness  and  constancy  as  when  you  were  first  seeking  after  the  salvation 
of  your  souls — flee  from  those  things  which  conscience,  in  its  most  tender 
and  best  informed  state,  durst  not  meddle  with,  though  since  perhaps  they 
may  have  become  trifling  in  your  eyes — walk  in  your  family,  in  the  world, 
and  in  the  church,  with  God  always  before  you — live  in  love,  meekness,  and 
forbearance  with  one  another — whatever  your  hands  find  you  to  do,  "  do  it 
with  all  your  might ;"  seeking  to  promote,  by  all  means,  the  present  and 
eternal  welfare  of  all  around  you. 

Finally,  brethren,  let  us  not  forget  to  intermingle  prayer  with  all  we  do. 
Our  need  of  God's  Holy  Spirit  to  enable  us  to  do  any  thing,  and  every  thing, 
truly  good,  should  excite  us  to  this.  Without  his  blessing  all  means  are 
without  efficacy,  and  every  effort  for  revival  will  be  in  vain.  Constantly  and 
earnestly,  therefore,  let  us  approach  his  throne.  Take  all  occasions  espe- 
cially for  closet  prayer ;  here,  if  any  where,  we  shall  get  fresh  strength,  and 
maintain  a  life  of  communion  with  God.  Our  Lord  Jesus  used  frequently 
to  retire  into  a  mountain  alone  for  prayer :  he,  therefore,  that  is  a  follower 
of  Christ,  must  follow  him  in  this  important  duty. 

Dearly  beloved  brethren,  farewell !  "  Unto  him  that  is  able  to  keep  you 
from  falling,  and  to  present  you  faultless  before  the  presence  of  his  glory 
with  exceeding  joy — to  the  only  wise  God  our  Saviour,  be  glory  and  majesty, 
dominion  and  power,  both  now  and  ever.  Amen." 


WHY  MODERN  CHRISTIANS  ARE  DEFICIENT  IN  JOY.  325 


1795 

why  christians  in  the  present  day  possess  less  joy  than  the  pri- 
mitive disciples. 
Dear  Brethren, 

While  the  judgments  of  God  are  abroad  in  the  earth,  and  multitudes  are 
trembling  for  the  fate  of  nations,  and  dreading  lest  famine,  or  war,  or  pesti- 
lence, which  have  desolated  other  countries,  should  receive  a  commission  to 
lay  waste  our  own,  we  have  reason  to  bless  God  that  he  has  manifested  his 
care  of  his  churches,  by  continuing  the  gospel  among  us,  and  granting  it  to 
be  attended  with  some  increasing  success.  The  wall  of  Jerusalem  is  built 
up  even  in  troublous  times;  and  we  were  not  only  permitted  to  assemble 
in  peace,  but  received  tidings  from  most  of  the  churches  of  a  peculiarly 
pleasing  nature. 

In  our  letter  of  last  year  we  addressed  you  on  the  nature  and  grounds  of 
joy  ill  God.  In  pursuance  of  the  resolution  of  the  last  association,  we  shall 
in  this  attempt  an  answer  to  the  following  inquiry :  Why  is  it  that  Chris- 
tians IN  the  present  day  COME  SO  FAR  SHORT  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRIS- 
TIANS IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  JOY  ? 

That  the  thing  itself  is  a  fact  can  admit  but  little  doubt.  It  is  true,  the 
joy  of  the  primitive  Christians  was  not  always  the  same :  previous  to  the 
resurrection  and  ascension  of  Christ  they  appeared  to  possess  it  in  a  far  less 
degree  than  afterwards;  and  in  their  brightest  days  they,  no  doubt,  as  well 
as  we,  occasionally  experienced  intervening  clouds.  The  account,  never- 
theless, which  is  given  of  them,  intimates  that  a  vein  of  sacred  enjoyment 
ran  through  their  lives.  No  sooner  had  they  beheld  the  Lord  Jesus  taken 
up  into  heaven  than  they  returned  to  Jeusalem  with  great  joy,  and  were 
continually  in  the  temple,  praising  and  blessing  God.  And  after  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  and  the  addition  of  three  thousand  souls  by  the  preaching  of  Peter, 
they  are  described  as  "  continuing  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and 
eating  their  meat  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart."  Persecution  itself 
did  not  destroy  their  happiness,  but  helped,  on  some  considerations,  to  increase 
it.  Having  been  summoned  before  the  Jewish  council  for  preaching  Christ, 
they  "  departed,  rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for 
his  name's  sake."  Covered  with  stripes,  thrust  into  an  inner  prison,  and  with 
their  feet  made  fast  in  the  stocks,  "at  midnight  Paul  and  Silas  prayed,  and 
sang  praises  to  God  !"  Nor  was  this  happy  frame  of  mind  confined  to  the 
apostles,  or  to  the  first  few  years  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity  :  Peter 
could  say  of  the  generality  of  Christians  at  the  time  when  he  wrote  his  First 
Epistle,  "  Whom  having  not  seen,  ye  love ;  in  whom,  though  now  ye  see  him 
not,  yet,  believing,  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of  glory." 

Such  accounts  of  the  primitive  disciples  afford  an  affecting  view  of  the 
great  disparity  between  them  and  the  generality  of  modern  Christians.  The 
following  particulars,  amongst  others,  must  needs  strike  an  attentive  ob- 
server : — First,  They  rejoiced  in  all  their  labours,  complying  with  the  com- 
mands of  Christ  rather  as  an  honour  and  a  privilege  than  as  mere  matter  of 
duty.  The  prompt  and  cheerful  manner  in  which  they  attended  to  Divine 
institutions  exhibits  a  lovely  picture  of  genuine  Christianity.  "  They  that 
gladly  received  the  word  were  baptized. — And  they  continued  steadfastly  in 
the  apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in 
prayers."  There  is  not  a  single  instance  in  all  the  New  Testament  of  an 
avowed  Christian  living  iu  the  neglect  of  the  ordinances  of  Christ.     Such 

2E 


326  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

an  idea  seems  never  to  have  entered  into  their  minds;  but  it  is  unnecessary 
to  say  that  with  us  it  is  a  common  case. — Secondly,  They  rejoiced,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  tmbulation,  considering  the  reproaches  of  the  world  as  an 
honour,  and  counting  it  all  joy  when  they  fell  into  divers  temptations :  but 
the  highest  exercises  of  grace  that  are  common  amongst  us  fall  short  in  this 
particular ;  instead  of  rejoicing  in  tribulation,  we  are  ready  to  account  it 
pretty  much  if  we  rejoice  notwithstanding  it. — Thirdly,  They  experienced 
an  habitual  consciousness  of  their  being  the  subjects  of  gracious  disposi- 
tions, and  consequently  enjoyed  a  settled  persuasion  of  their  interest  in 
Christ.  In  all  the  New  Testament  we  have  scarcely  an  instance  of  a  Chris- 
tian being  at  a  loss  to  perceive  the  evidence  of  his  Christianity.  What  are 
called  doubts  and  fears  amongst  us,  and  which  make  up  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  our  religious  experiences,  seem  to  have  occupied  scarcely  any  place 
amongst  them.  This  fact,  if  there  were  no  other,  calls  for  serious  inquiry 
into  the  cause  or  causes  of  it.  The  language  that  we  are  in  the  habit  of 
using,  when  speaking  of  our  love,  or  faith,  or  obedience,  betrays  a  sad  de- 
fect in  the  exercise  of  these  heavenly  graces.  Instead  of  being  able  to  say, 
"Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee" — "I  have 
believed,  and  therefore  have  I  spoken" — "God,  whom  I  serve  in  the  gos- 
pel,"— and  the  like,  we  are  ready  to  be  startled  at  such  professions,  and  feel 
ourselves  under  a  kind  of  necessity  to  soften  the  language  into  a  wish,  a 
willingness,  or  a  desire.  I  desire  to  love,  I  tvoidd  believe,  I  wish  to  be  obe- 
dient, are  expressions  which  frequently  occur  in  our  prayers  and  hymns ; 
but  wishing  to  love,  and  desiring  to  obey,  when  substituted  in  the  place  of 
love  and  obedience  themselves,  are  inadmissible.  Such  language  is  un- 
known in  the  Scriptures,  unless  it  be  found  in  the  character  of  the  slothful, 
whose  desire  is  said  to  kill  him ;  and  indicates,  to  say  the  least,  but  a  small 
degree  of  real  religion. 

To  account  for  this  disparity  is  of  importance,  as  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
causes  of  a  malady  we  may  be  directed  to  the  proper  means  of  a  cure. 
Peculiar  dejection  in  individuals  may  often  be  accounted  for  from  the  pecu- 
liarity of  their  habits,  constitution,  circumstances,  opportunities,  and  con- 
nexions; but  when  it  affects  a  body  or  generation  of  men,  it  must  be  traced 
to  other  causes.  Why  should  not  we  go  on  our  way  rejoicing  in  the  same 
manner,  and  to  the  same  degree,  as  the  primitive  Christians  1  We  have  the 
same  gospel,  the  same  promises,  and  the  same  hopes.  The  joy  and  peace 
which  they  experienced  was  in  believing :  the  great,  interesting,  and  trans- 
porting truths  of  the  gospel  were  the  source  whence  they  derived  their  bliss. 
The  Lord  Messiah  was  come  according  to  promise,  and  by  laying  down  his 
life  had  delivered  all  who  should  believe  in  him  from  the  wrath  to  come. — 
Through  his  death  also  they  were  freed  from  the  spirit  of  bondage  attendant 
on  the  former  dispensation,  and  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby 
they  cried,  Abba,  Father. — The  thunders  of  Sinai  gave  place  to  the  blessings 
of  Zion,  the  city  of  the  living  God ;  to  the  holy  society  of  which,  as  to  a 
kind  of  heaven  upon  earth,  they  were  introduced. — Commissioned  to  pub- 
lish these  glad  tidings  to  every  creature,  and  persuaded  that  the  cause  in 
which  they  had  engaged  would  sooner  or  later  universally  prevail,  they 
laboured  with  courage  and  unwearied  assiduity,  and  the  work  of  the  Lord 
prospered  in  their  hands. — Finally,  in  hope  of  eternal  life,  the  joy  set  before 
them,  like  their  Lord  and  Master,  they  endured  the  cross,  despised  the 
shame,  and  went  and  sat  down  with  him  on  his  throne,  as  he  had  overcome, 
and  sat  down  with  his  Father  on  his  throne. 

Now  which  of  these  sources  of  joy  has  been  exhausted?  Are  not  Christ 
and  the  gospel,  and  its  promises,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever? 
Is  not  God  as  willing  now  that  the  heirs  of  promise  should  have  strong  con- 


WHY  MODERN  CHRISTIANS  ARE   DEFICIENT  IN  JOY.  327 

solation  as  he  was  formeily  ?  Are  not  the  great  blessings  of  eternal  life  as 
real  and  as  interesting  in  the  present  age  as  in  any  that  have  gone  before? 
and  being  promised  to  the  smallest  degree  of  real  grace,  even  to  the  giving 
of  a  cup  of  cold  water  to  a  disciple  of  Jesus  because  he  belongs  to  him,  can 
it,  in  ordinary  cases,  be  a  difficult  matter  for  a  decided  friend  of  Christ  to 
obtain  a  clear  satisfaction  of  his  interest  in  them?  Wherefore  is  it  then,  if 
the  Son  hath  made  us  free,  that  we  are  not,  in  the  most  extensive  meaning 
of  the  term,  free  indeed? 

Some  would  probably  attribute  the  whole  to  Divine  sovereigntij,  alleging 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  divideth  to  every  age  and  generation,  as  well  as  to  every 
man,  severally  as  he  will.  It  is  allowed  that  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  all  his  gifts 
and  operations,  acts  in  a  way  of  sovereignty,  since  we  have  no  claim  upon 
him  for  any  thing  which  he  bestows;  but  it  does  not  belong  to  the  idea  of 
sovereignty  that  there  be  no  reason  for  it,  or  wisdom  in  it.  The  Holy  Spirit 
divideth  to  every  age  and  every  man  severally  as  he  will,  but  he  always 
willeth  what  is  wise  and  good,  or  what  is  best  upon  the  whole.  The  sove- 
reignty of  creatures  may  degenerate  into  caprice ;  but  this  cannot  be  sup- 
posed of  God.  Now  it  belongs  to  the  wisdom  of  God  to  bestow  his  favours 
in  such  a  way  as  to  encourage  righteousness,  and  stamp  an  honour  upon  the 
means  of  his  own  appointment;  hence  it  is  that  the  joys  of  salvation,  though 
bestowed  in  a  way  of  sovereignty,  are  generally  connected  with  a  close  walk 
with  God,  and  communicated  through  means  adapted  to  the  end. 

It  has  been  thought  by  others  that  the  difference  betwixt  us  and  the  pri- 
mitive Christians,  in  these  things,  may  be  accounted  for,  at  least  in  some 
degree,  by  a  difference  o(  circumstances.  Life  and  immortality  were  brought 
to  tight,  as  the  Scriptures  express  it,  by  the  gospel.  The  wonderful  transi- 
tion therefore  which  they  experienced,  some  of  them  from  the  darkness  of 
Judaism,  and  others  from  the  still  grosser  darkness  of  paganism,  together 
with  the  great  success  of  their  labours,  must  have  forcibly  impressed  their 
minds  with  both  surprise  and  joy.  There  is  some  truth,  no  doubt,  in  this 
observation ;  but  it  ought  to  be  considered,  on  the  other  hand,  that  our  cir- 
cumstances are  in  some  respects  more  favourable  to  joy  than  theirs ;  suffi- 
ciently so  perhaps  to  balance,  if  not  overbalance,  those  in  which  theirs  were 
superior  to  ours.  Let  the  following  things  be  considered  in  connexion 
with  each  other:  First,  Glorious  things  are  spoken  in  prophecy  of  what  shall 
be  done  for  the  church  in  the  last  periods  of  time.  AH  the  light  and  glory 
that  have  ever  yet  appeared  will  be  eclipsed  by  what  is  to  come.  One  pecu- 
liar characteristic  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is,  that  it  is  progressive.  God 
is  saying  to  his  church  under  every  new  dispensation,  or  period  of  her  exist- 
ence, "Remember  not  the  former  things,  neither  consider  the  things  of  old* 
behold,  I  do  a  new  thing  in  the  earth." — As  if  he  should  say.  You  may  for- 
get the  past,  and  yet  have  enough  to  fill  you  with  joyful  admiration.  The 
Jewish  dispensation  contained  a  greater  display  of  God  than  had  ever  been 
made  before;  yet,  compared  with  the  dawn  of  gospel  glory,  it  was  but  as  the 
moon  to  the  sun ;  and  glorious  as  this  was,  with  regard  to  all  that  had  gone 
before,  it  will  bear  no  comparison  to  that  which  is  to  follow  after.  Not  only 
shall  "  the  moon  be  confounded,"  but  "  the  sun  ashamed,  when  the  Lord  of 
hosts  shall  reign  in  Mount  Zion,  and  before  his  ancients  gloriously!" 
Secondly,  The  time  when  things  shall  be  accomplished  cannot  be  very  far 
off".  The  sacred  writers  of  the  New  Testament  frequently  intimate  that  they 
had  passed  the  meridian  of  time,  and  were  entered,  as  it  were,  into  the  after- 
noon of  the  world.  They  speak  of  their  times  as  the  last  days,  and  of  them- 
selves as  those  "  on  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  were  come."  They  declared 
that  "the  end  of  all  things  was  at  hand;"  that  the  Judge  was  "at  the  door;" 
and  the  concluding  warning  of  the  book  of  God  is  couched  in  this  strong 


328  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

expression,  "Surely  I  come  quickly!"  But  if  the  end  of  all  things  was 
then  at  hand,  what  must  we  think  of  it  after  a  lapse  of  nearly  1800  years? 
Thirdly,  It  is  highly  probable,  if  not  more  than  probable,  that  in  the  ages 
yet  to  come  there  may  be  much  more  effected  than  in  all  preceding  ages 
put  together.  Some  of  the  greatest  events  in  prophecy  we  know  remain  to 
be  accomplished ;  particularly,  the  utter  downfall  of  antichrist,  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Jews,  and  the  universal  spread  of  true  religion :  but  if  the  end 
of  all  things  be  at  hand,  and  such  great  events  are  first  to  be  accomplished, 
we  have  every  reason  to  expect  great  changes,  in  quick  succession,  and  at 
no  great  distance  of  time.  The  convulsions  of  the  present  day  may,  for 
aught  we  know,  be  some  of  the  throes  of  creation  travailing  in  pain  for  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  At  all  events,  the  day  of  the  church's 
redemption  draweth  nigh ;  it  is  time  therefore  to  "  lift  up  our  heads,"  and  to 
go  forth  in  prayer,  and  praise,  and  joyful  exertion  to  meet  the  Bridegroom. 
Could  the  apostles  and  primitive  Christians  have  been  placed  in  our  situa- 
tion, they  would  have  rejoiced  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory. — We 
must  turn  our  attention  then  to  some  other  objects  besides  the  circumstances 
in  which  we  are  placed  as  the  causes  of  our  want  of  joy. 

We  pass  over  the  cases  of  such  as  indulge  themselves  in  known  sin,  or 
live  in  the  neglect  of  known  duty,  as  cases  easily  accounted  for,  at  one 
period  of  time  as  well  as  another;  and  confine  our  inquiry  to  those  whose 
conversation  is  allowed  in  general  to  be  regular  and  circumspect ;  so  much 
so,  at  least,  as  to  be  equal  to  that  of  the  body  of  professing  Christians  around 
them. 

In  the  first  place,  Let  it  be  considered  whether  it  does  not  arise  from  the 
want  of  a  greater  degree  of  religion  in  general. — Joy  is  a  grace  which  can- 
not thrive  by  itself;  it  is  a  kind  of  appendage  to  the  lively  exercise  of  other 
graces.  "With  joy  shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells  of  salvation." — 
"  Hitherto  ye  have  asked  nothing  in  my  name ;  ask,  and  receive,  that  your 
joy  may  be  full." — "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost."  From  these  passages,  and  many  others  which  might 
be  cited,  it  is  apparent  that  holy  joy  stands  connected  with  appropriating  the 
great  truths  of  the  gospel  to  our  particular  cases — with  importunate  prayer 
in  the  name  of  Christ — and  with  the  practice  of  righteousness  and  peace. 
The  same  persons  who  were  daily  employed  in  praising  and  blessing  God 
have  this  testimony  given  of  them,  "  and  great  grace  was  upon  them  all." 

Secondly,  Let  it  be  considered  whether  another  reason  be  not  our  neglect 
of  a  more  frequent  and  intense  application  to  those  objects  lohence  joy  arises. 
We  have  seen  already,  that  the  sources  from  which  the  primitive  Christians 
derived  their  joy  were  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel ;  but  it  is  a  lament- 
able fact,  that  the  generality  of  professing  Christians  amongst  us  content 
themselves  with  a  very  superficial  knowledge  of  these  things.  There  are 
but  kw  even  amongst  the  godly  in  our  day,  that  so  enter  into  the  spirit  and 
glory  of  the  gospel  as  clearly  to  distinguish  it  from  error  speciously  disguised. 
Hence,  if  a  minister  who  is  much  respected  by  his  people  turn  aside  from 
even  important  truth,  it  is  common  for  many  of  them  to  go  off  with  him.  If 
Christians  were  properly  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  gospel — if  they  under- 
stood not  only  ivhat  they  believe,  but  wherefore  they  believe  it — they  would 
not  be  shaken  with  every  wind  of  doctrine ;  nor  would  many  of  the  princi- 
ples which  prevail  in  the  present  age  excite  even  a  momentary  hesitation  in 
their  minds.  But  if  we  do  not  so  understand  the  truth  as  clearly  to  distin- 
guish it  from  error,  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  we  should  be  greatly  affected 
by  it.  It  is  by  drawing  waters  from  the  wells  of  salvation  that  we  have  joy ; 
but  these  wells  are  deep,  and,  in  proportion  as  we  are  wanting  in  an  under- 
standing of  Divine  things,  we  may  be  said  to  have  nothing  to  draw  with. 


WHY  MODETiN  CHFaSTIANS  ARE  DEFICIENT  IN  JOr.  329 

Thirdly,  To  this  may  be  added  the  icant  of  'public  spirit. — The  primitive 
Christians  were  all  intent  on  disseminating  the  gospel  through  the  world ; 
and  it  was  in  the  midst  of  this  kind  of  employment,  and  the  persecutions 
which  attended  it,  that  they  are  said  to  have  been  "  filled  with  joy  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  Acts  xiii.  52.  Much  of  the  joyful  part  of  religion  is  lost  by 
rendering  it  the  immediate  object  of  our  pursuit.  The  chief  end  for  which 
great  numbers  read  their  Bibles,  and  hear  the  word,  is  that  they  may  be  com- 
forted, and  obtain  some  satisfaction  of  their  being  in  a  state  of  salvation  ;  but 
this  is  not  the  way  in  which  the  comforts  of  the  gospel  are  obtained.  There 
are  things  which,  if  pursued  as  our  chief  end,  will  elude  our  grasp  and  vanish 
from  our  sight:  such  is  reputation  amongst  men,  and  such  is  religious  joy. 
If  we  pursue  the  public  good,  not  for  the  sake  of  applause,  but  from  a  dis- 
interested regard  to  the  well-being  of  our  species,  reputation  will  follow  us; 
and  if  the  glory  of  God  and  the  prosperity  of  his  cause  occupy  the  first  place 
in  our  affection,  we  shall  not  in  ordinary  cases  be  wanting  in  peace  and 
heavenly  consolation.  If  a  portion  of  that  time  which  we  spend  in  ransack- 
ing for  evidence  in  the  mass  of  past  experiences,  were  employed  in  promoting 
the  cause  of  God  in  the  world,  and  seeking  the  welfare  of  the  souls  and 
bodies  of  men,  it  would  turn  to  a  better  account.  In  seeking  the  salvation 
of  others  we  should  find  our  own.  The  love  of  Zion  has  the  promise  of 
personal  prosperity.  Ardently  to  promote  the  honour  of  God,  and  the  good 
of  mankind,  is  itself  an  evidence,  and  the  highest  evidence,  of  true  religion* 
while,  therefore,  we  feel  conscious  of  the  purity  of  our  present  motives,  we 
have  less  occasion  for  reflections  on  the  past.  There  is  a  much  greater 
satisfaction  too  in  this  way  of  obtaining  comfort  than  in  the  other;  for  how- 
ever former  exercises  of  grace  might  be  strong  and  decisive  at  the  time,  yet 
it  must  be  difficult  to  realize  them  merely  by  a  distant  recollection.  It  is 
much  better  also,  and  more  for  our  profit,  to  live  in  the  exercise  of  grace, 
than  barely  to  remember  that  we  did  so  at  some  former  period  of  our  lives. 
We  appeal  to  your  own  hearts,  brethren,  with  respect  to  your  late  disinterested 
exertions  for  carrying  the  gospel  amongst  the  heathen, — we  appeal  to  those 
of  you  especially  who  have  had  the  undertaking  most  at  heart,  whether, 
since  your  own  comfort  has  in  a  sort  been  overlooked,  and  swallowed  up  in 
concern  for  the  salvation  of  others,  you  have  not  felt  more  of  the  joyful  part 
of  religion  than  you  did  before;  yea,  may  we  not  add,  more  than  at  any 
former  period  in  your  remembrance? 

Fourthly,  Much  may  be  owing  to  our  viewing  the  mixture  of  evils  lohich 
pervade  creation  on  a  contracted  scale. — If  the  evils  which  befall  creatures 
be  considered  merely  as  evils,  and  our  minds  are  disposed  to  pore  upon  them, 
we  must  necessarily  feel  dejected ;  but  if  every  partial  evil  contribute  to  the 
general  good — if  every  adversity,  whether  it  respect  our  persons,  families, 
Christian  connexions,  country,  or  species,  be  but  as  a  wheel  acting  upon 
other  wheels,  and  all  necessary  to  complete  the  vast  but  well-ordered  ma- 
chinery— the  contemplation  of  evil  itself  in  this  view  must  raise  the  heart 
instead  of  depressing  it.  The  miseries  of  the  present  and  of  the  future  life, 
if  contemplated  by  a  good  man  merely  as  evils,  must  overwhelm  him  and 
destroy  his  present  peace.  What  can  he  do?  He  cannot  shun  the  abodes 
of  the  wretched  in  this  world,  and  so  put  the  thoughts  of  their  miseries  far 
from  him,  for  that  weie  inhumanity;  neither  can  he  allow  himself  to  doubt 
of  the  execution  of  Divine  threatenings  in  the  world  to  come,  for  that  were 
to  arraign  the  justice,  goodness,  wisdom,  and  veracity  of  God  in  denouncing 
them :  but  he  may  view  things  on  an  enlarged  scale,  and  thus  perceive  that 
all  is  right  and  best  upon  the  tvhole.  This  is  to  be  of  one  mind  with  God, 
and  so  to  be  truly  happy.  It  is  in  this  way  that  we  are  reconciled  to  our 
own  adversities:  could  Jacob  have  seen  through  the  gracious  designs  of  God 

Vol.  III.— 42  2  e  2 


330  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

with  regard  to  his  children,  or,  though  lie  might  be  unable  to  do  this,  had 
he  properly  recollected  the  Divine  promise,  "I  will  surely  do  thee  good,"  he 
would  not  have  concluded,  as  he  did,  that  all  these  things  tvere  against  him. 
It  is  thus  that  upon  some  occasions  we  are  reconciled  to  the  miseries  of  a 
public  execution.  Awful  beyond  conception  it  must  be  to  the  party  who 
suffer ;  but  justice  may  require  the  sacriiice.  However  natural  affection, 
therefore,  may  for  a  moment  revolt  at  the  idea  of  inflicting  death,  all  concern 
for  a  suffering  individual  is  absorbed  by  the  love  of  our  species,  and  a  rcg  rd 
for  the  general  good.  It  is  thus  that  the  heavenly  inhabitants  are  described 
as  being  not  only  reconciled  to  the  overthrow  of  mystical  Babylon,  but  as 
rejoicing  in  it.  While  the  merchants  who  traded  in  her  wares  bitterly  lament 
her  fall,  crying,  "Alas!  alas!  that  great  city!  In  one  hour  is  she  made  deso- 
late!" the  friends  of  God  are  called  to  a  very  different  employment:  "Re- 
joice over  her,  thou  heaven,  and  ye  holy  apostles  and  prophets,  for  God  hath 
fivenged  you  on  her.  And  after  these  things  I  heard  a  great  voice  of  much 
people  in  heaven  saying,  Hallchijah! — true  and  righteous  are  his  judgments, 
for  he  hath  judged  the  great  whore,  which  did  corrupt  the  earth  with  her 
fornication,  and  hath  avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants  at  her  hand.  And 
again  they  said.  Hallelujah — and  her  smoke  rose  up  for  ever  and  ever!" 
Was  there  any  malevolence  or  unchristian  bitterness  in  all  this?  No:  it  was 
only  viewing  things  on  a  large  scale;  viewing  them  as  God  views  them,  and 
feeling  accordingly. 

The  primitive  Christians  were  in  tlie  habit  of  considering  all  things  as 
working  together  for  good,  and  so  of  deriving  joy  from  every  occurrence. 
If  the  world  smiled  upon  them,  they  rejoiced,  and  availed  themselves  of  the 
opportunity  for  spreading  the  gospel ;  or  if  it  frowned  on  them  for  their 
attachment  to  Christ,  they  rejoiced  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer 
shame  for  his  name's  sake.  By  thus  converting  every  thing  into  food  for 
joy,  they  answered  to  the  exhortations  of  the  apostles,  "  Let  the  brother  of 
low  degree  rejoice  that  he  is  exalted ;  but  the  rich  in  that  he  is  made  low." 
— "  Beloved,  count  it  all  joy  when  ye  fall  into  divers  temptations." — "  Re- 
joice evermore. — In  every  thing  give  thanks."  If  we  would  feel  like  them, 
we  must  enter  into  their  views ;  we  must  have  less  of  the  complaining 
patriarch,  as  well  as  of  the  whining  merchants ;  and  more  of  that  temper 
which  prompted  the  holy  inhabitants  of  heaven,  on  every  new  dispensation 
of  providence,  to  cry,  "Amen,  Hallelujah!" 

Fifthly,  Much  is  owing,  no  doubt,  to  a  spirit  of  conformity  to  the  present 
world,  by  which  many  Christians,  especially  those  in  prosperous  circum- 
stances, are  influenced.  It  was  a  complaint  made  by  one  of  the  fathers 
(Cyprian)  in  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  a  time  when  the  church  had 
enjoyed  a  considerable  respite  from  persecution,  that  "  each  one  studied  how 
to  increase  his  patrimony,  and,  forgetting  what  the  faithful  had  done  in  apos- 
tolic times,  or  what  they  ought  always  to  do,  their  great  passion  was  an 
insatiable  desire  of  enlarging  their  fortunes." 

This  complaint,  every  one  knows,  is  too  applicable  to  our  times.  The 
primitive  Christians  were  persecuted.  The  Waldenses,  the  Reformers,  the 
puritans,  and  the  non-conformists  were  the  same;  and,  having  but  little 
security  for  property,  they  had  but  little  motive  to  increase  it:  being  driven 
also  from  the  society  of  their  persecutors,  they  were  under  very  little  tempta- 
tion to  imitate  their  manners;  their  trials  were  great,  but  they  were  of  a 
different  kind  from  ours.  Having  long  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  religious 
liberty,  we  have  relaxed  in  watchfulness,  and  the  world  has  seemed  in  a  mea- 
sure to  have  lost  its  enmity,  and  to  smile  upon  us.  In  consequence  of  this 
we  have  become  upon  more  friendly  terms  with  it ;  not  merely  by  behaving 
courteously  and  affectionately  to  men  in  common,  which  is  our  duty ;  but 


DISCIPLINE  OP  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES.  331 

by  imbibing  their  spirit,  courting  their  company,  and  subjecting  ourselves 
to  a  servile  compliance  with  their  customs. 

These  things  were  extremely  unfriendly  to  true  religion.  If  the  cares  of 
this  world  be  compared  to  thorns,  which  choke  the  word,  the  alluring  plea- 
sures of  it  are  with  no  less  propriety  compared  to  the  burning  sun,  through 
whose  influence  many  a  promising  plant  has  withered  away.  Or,  should  the 
root  of  the  matter  be  found  in  us,  yet  if  our  heads  and  hearts  are  occupied 
with  appearance,  dress,  entertainments,  and  the  like,  there  can  be  but  little 
room  for  heaven  or  heavenly  things ;  and  consequently  this  joyful  part  of 
religion  will  be  slighted  and  lost. 

Finally,  It  is  not  to  be  dissembled  that  much  is  to  be  traced  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  gospel  is  preached.  The  Holy  Spirit  ordinarily  works  by  means 
of  the  word.  It  is  the  office  of  ministers  to  be  "  helpers  of  your  joy  ;"  but 
if  they  partake  of  the  spirit  common  to  the  age  in  which  they  live,  their 
preaching  will  partake  of  it  too.  If  the  great  and  interesting  truths  of  the 
gospel  are  not  thoroughly  understood,  and  felt,  they  cannot,  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  things,  be  communicated  in  such  a  manner  as  greaUy  to  interest 
the  hearts  of  others.  While,  therefore,  we  recommend  serious  reflection  to 
you,  brethren,  you  also  have  a  right  to  expect  the  same  of  us;  and  we  trust 
we  are  willing  to  receive  as  well  as  to  administer  the  word  of  exhortation. 
Dear  brethren,  farewell ! 


1799. 

the  discipline  of  the  primitive  churches  illustrated  and  enforced. 

Dear  Brethren, 

When  the  apostles,  by  the  preaching  of  the  word,  had  gathered  in  any 
place  a  sufficient  number  of  individuals  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  it  was  their 
uniform  practice,  for  the  further  promotion  of  his  kingdom  in  that  place,  to 
proceed  to  the  forming  of  them  into  a  religious  society,  or  Christian  church. 
Being  thus  associated,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  Divine  worship  was  carried  on, 
Christian  ordinances  observed,  holy  discipline  maintained,  and  the  word  of 
life,  as  the  light  by  the  golden  candlesticks,  exhibited.  Amongst  them  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  is  represented  as 
walking;  observing  the  good,  and  applauding  it ;  pointing  out  the  evil,  and 
censuring  it;  and  holding  up  life  and  immortality  to  those  that  should  over- 
come the  temptations  of  the  present  state. 

Let  us  suppose  him  to  walk  amongst  our  churches,  and  to  address  us  in 
the  manner  he  addressed  the  seven  churches  in  Asia.  We  trust  he  would 
find  some  things  to  approve ;  but  we  are  also  apprehensive  he  would  find 
many  things  to  censure.  Let  us,  brethren,  look  narrowly  into  the  discipline 
of  the  primitive  churches,  and  compare  our  own  with  it. 

By  discipline  we  do  not  mean  to  include  the  whole  of  the  order  of  a  Chris- 
tian church.  We  have  already  touched  on  these  subjects  in  the  course  of  our 
annual  address  to  you.  The  particular  object  to  which  we  shall,  at  this  time, 
request  your  attention,  is  that  part  of  church  government  which  consists  in  a 

MUTUAL  WATCH  OVER  ONE  ANOTHER,  AND  THE  CONDUCT  WE  ARE  DIRECTED  TO 

PURSUE  IN  CASES  OF  DISORDER.  A  great  part  of  our  duty  consists  in  cultivating 
what  is  lovely,  but  this  is  not  the  whole  of  it;  we  must  prune  as  well  as 
plant,  if  we  would  bear  much  fruit,  and  be  Christ's  disciples.     One  of  the 


332  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

things  applauded  in  the  church  of  Ephesus  was,  that  they  could  not  hear  them 
that  were  evil. 

Yet  we  are  not  to  suppose  from  hence  that  no  irregularity  or  imperfection 
whatever  is  an  object  of  forbearance.  If  uniformity  be  required  in  such  a 
degree  as  that  every  difference  in  judgment  or  practice  shall  occasion  a  sepa- 
ration, the  churches  may  be  always  dividing  into  parties,  which  we  are  per- 
suaded was  never  encouraged  by  the  apostles  of  our  Lord,  and  cannot  be 
justified  in  trivial  or  ordinary  cases.  A  contrary  practice  is  expressly  taught 
us  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (chap,  xiv.) ;  and  the  cases  in  which  it  is  to 
be  exercised  are  there  pointed  out.  An  object  of  forbearance,  however, 
must  be  one  that  may  exist  without  being  an  occasion  of  dispute  and  wrang- 
ling in  the  church;  it  must  "not  be  to  doubtful  disputations,"  ver.  1.  It 
must  also  respect  things  which  do  not  enter  into  the  essence  of  God's  khig- 
dom,  the  leading  principles  of  which  are  "  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  ver.  16,  17.  That  which  does  not  subvert  the  gospel  of 
the  kingdom,  nor  set  aside  the  authority  of  the  King,  though  it  be  an  imper- 
fection, is  yet  to  be  borne  with.  Finally,  it  must  be  something  which  does 
not  "  destroy  the  work  of  God,"  or  which  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  pro- 
gress of  vital  religion  in  the  church,  or  in  one's  own  soul,  ver.  20.  In  all 
such  cases  we  are  not  to  judge  one  another,  but  every  man's  conscience  is 
to  be  his  judge,  ver.  23. 

In  attending  to  those  things  which  are  the  proper  objects  of  discipline, 
our  first  concern  should  be  to  see  that  all  our  measures  are  aimed  at  the 
good  of  the  party,  and  the  honour  of  God.  Both  these  ends  are  pointed  out 
in  the  case  of  the  Corinthian  ofl^ender.  All  was  to  be  done  "  that  his  spirit 
might  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord,"  and  to  clear  themselves  as  a  church 
from  being  partakers  of  his  sin.  If  these  ends  be  kept  in  view,  they  will 
preserve  us  from  much  error  ;  particularly  from  the  two  great  evils  into  which 
churches  are  in  danger  of  falling — false  lenity,  and  unchristian  severity. 
There  is  often  a  party  found  in  a  community,  who,  under  the  name  of  ten- 
derness, are  for  neglecting  all  wholesome  discipline ;  or,  if  this  cannot  be 
accomplished,  for  delaying  it  to  the  utmost.  Such  persons  are  commonly 
the  advocates  for  disorderly  walkers,  especially  if  they  be  their  particular 
friends  or  relations.  Their  language  is,  "  He  that  is  without  sin,  let  him  cast 
the  first  stone."  My  brother  hath  fallen  to-day,  and  I  may  fall  to-morrow. 
This  spirit,  though  it  exists  only  in  individuals,  provided  they  be  persons  of 
any  weight  or  influence,  is  frequently  known  to  impede  the  due  execution 
of  the  laws  of  Christ;  and  if  it  pervade  the  community,  it  will  soon  reduce 
it  to  the  lowest  state  of  degeneracy.  Such  for  a  time  was  the  spirit  of  the 
Corinthians ;  but  when  brought  to  a  proper  sense  of  things,  "  what  careful- 
ness it  wrought  in  them,  yea,  what  clearing  of  themselves,  yea,  what  indigna- 
tion, yea,  what  fear,  yea,  what  vehement  desire,  yea,  what  zeal,  yea,  what 
revenge !" — In  opposing  the  extreme  of  false  tenderness,  others  are  in  danger 
of  fidling  into  unfeeling  severity.  This  spirit  will  make  the  worst  of  every 
thing,  and  lead  men  to  convert  the  censures  of  the  church  into  weapons  of 
private  revenge.  Persons  of  this  description  know  not  of  what  manner  of 
spirit  they  are.  They  lose  sight  of  the  good  of  the  offender.  It  is  not  love 
that  operates  in  them  ;  for  love  worketh  no  evil.  The  true  medium  between 
these  extremes  is  a  union  oi  mercy  and  truth.  Genuine  mercy  is  combined 
with  faitlifulness,  and  genuine  faithfulness  with  mercy;  and  this  is  the  only 
spirit  that  is  likely  to  "  purge  iniquity,"  Prov.  xvi.  C.  Connivance  will  pro- 
duce indifference;  and  undue  severity  will  arm  the  offender  with  prejudice, 
and  so  harden  him  in  his  sin  :  but  the  love  of  God  and  of  our  brother's  soul 
is  adapted  to  answer  every  good  end.  If  we  love  God,  like  Levi,  we  shall 
know  no  man  after  the  flesh,  nor  acknowledge  our  nearest  kindred  ;  but  shall 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES.  333 

observe  his  word,  and  keep  his  covenant.  And  if  we  love  the  soul  of  our 
brother,  we  shall  say.  He  is  fallen  to-day,  and  I  will  reprove  him  for  his  good  : 
I  may  fall  to-morrow,  and  then  let  him  deal  the  same  with  me.  Love  is  the 
grand  secret  of  church  discipline,  and  will  do  more  than  all  other  things  put 
together  towards  insuring  success. 

In  the  exercise  of  discipline  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  between  faults 
which  are  the  consequence  of  sudden  temptation,  and  such  as  are  the  result 
of  premeditation  and  habit.  The  former  require  a  compassionate  treatment, 
the  latter  a  greater  portion  of  severity.  The  sin  of  Peter  in  denying  his  Lord 
was  great,  and,  if  noticed  by  the  enemies  of  Christ,  might  bring  great  reproach 
upon  his  cause;  yet,  compared  with  the  sin  of  Solomon,  it  was  little.  He 
first  gave  way  to  licentiousness,  then  to  idolatry,  and  on  finding  that  God,  as 
a  punishment  for  his  sin,  had  given  ten  tribes  to  Jeroboam,  he  sought  to  kill 
him.  Cases  like  this  are  imminently  dangerous,  and  require  a  prompt  and 
decided  treatment,  like  that  which  we  should  use  towards  a  child  fallen  into 
the  fire;  in  which  a  moment's  delay  might  be  fatal,  and  in  which  hesitating 
tenderness  would  be  the  height  of  cruelty.  "  Of  some  have  compassion, 
making  a  difference:  others  save  with  fear,  pulling  them  out  of  the  fire; 
hating  even  the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh,"  Jude  22,  23.  See  also  Gal. 
vi.  1. 

In  all  our  admonitions  regard  should  be  had  to  the  age  and  character  of 
the  party.  An  elder,  as  well  as  other  men,  may  be  in  a  fault,  and  a  fault 
that  may  require  to  be  noticed ;  but  let  him  be  told  of  it  in  a  tender  and 
respectful  manner.  While  you  expostulate  with  younger  men  on  a  footing 
of  equality,  pay  a  deference  to  age  and  office.  "  Rebuke  not  an  elder,  but 
entreat  him  as  a  father,  and  the  younger  men  as  brethren,"  1  Tim.  v.  L 

In  the  due  execution  of  Christian  discipline  there  are  many  things  to  be 
done  by  the  members  of  churches  individaally ;  and  it  is  upon  the  proper 
discharge  of  these  duties  that  much  of  the  peace  and  purity  of  a  church 
depends.  If  we  be  faithful  to  one  another,  there  will  be  but  few  occasions 
for  public  censure.  Various  improprieties  of  conduct,  neglects  of  duty,  and 
declensions  in  the  power  of  godliness,  are  the  proper  objects  of  pastoral  ad- 
monition. It  is  one  essential  branch  of  this  office  to  "  rebuke,  and  exhort 
with  all  long-suffering,"  2  Tim.  iv.  2.  Nor  is  this  work  confined  to  pastors ; 
Christians  are  directed  to  "  admonish  one  another,"  Rom.  xv.  14.  Indeed 
there  are  things  which  a  wise  and  affectionate  people  will  be  concerned  to 
take  upon  themselves,  lest  a  prejudice  should  be  contracted  against  the 
ministry,  which  may  prevent  its  good  effects.  This  is  peculiarly  necessary 
in  the  settling  of  differences  in  which  whole  families  may  be  interested,  and 
in  which  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  avoid  the  suspicion  of  partiality. 

In  all  cases  of  personal  offence  the  rule  laid  down  by  our  Lord  in  the 
eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew  ought  to  be  attended  to ;  and  no  such  offence 
ought  to  be  admitted  before  a  church  till  the  precept  of  Christ  has  been  first 
complied  with  by  the  party  or  parties  concerned. 

In  many  cases  where  faults  are  not  committed  immediately  against  us,  but 
which  are  unknown  except  to  a  few  individuals,  love  will  lead  us  to  endea- 
vour to  reclaim  the  party,  if  possible,  without  any  further  exposure.  A  just 
man  loill  not  be  icilling  unnecessarily  to  make  his  brother  a  public  example. 
The  Scriptures  give  peculiar  encouragement  to  these  personal  and  private 
attempts.  "  If  any  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth,  and  one  convert  him,  let 
him  know  that  he  who  converteth  a  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall 
save  a  soul  from  death,  and  hide  a  multitude  of  sins,"  James  v.  19,  20. 

In  cases  of  evil  report,  where  things  are  said  of  a  brother  in  our  hearing 
which  if  true  must  affect  his  character,  and  the  purity  of  the  church,  it  cannot 
be  right  to  go  on  to  report  it.     Love  will  not  lead  to  this.     Many  reports  we 


^4  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

know  are  unfounded  ;  or,  if  true  in  the  main,  they  may  have  been  aggravated; 
or  there  may  be  circumstances  attending  tlie  case  which,  if  fully  understood, 
would  make  things  appear  very  different  from  the  manner  in  which  they  have 
been  represented.  Now  it  is  ahnost  impossible  that  any  one  but  the  party 
himself  should  be  acquainted  with  all  these  circumstances,  or  able  to  give  a 
full  account  of  them.  No  time  therefore  should  be  lost  ere  we  inquire  at 
the  hand  of  our  brother,  or  if  on  any  consideration  we  feel  that  to  be  unsuit- 
able, it  would  be  proper  to  apply  to  an  officer  of  the  church,  who  may  con- 
duct it  with  greater  propriety. 

There  are  also  cases  of  a  still  more  public  nature,  in  which  much  of  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  a  church  depends  upon  the  conduct  of  its  members 
in  their  individual  capacity.  The  charge  given  by  the  apostle  to  the  Romans, 
(chap.  xvi.  ]7,  18,)  though  applicable  to  a  church,  yet  seems  to  be  rather 
addressed  to  the  individuals  who  compose  it : — "  Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren, 
mark  them  which  cause  divisions  and  offences  contrary  to  the  doctrine  which 
ye  have  learned,  and  avoid  them.  For  they  that  are  such  serve  not  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  but  their  own  belly ;  and  by  good  words  and  fair  speeches 
deceive  the  hearts  of  the  simple."  The  characters  to  be  avoided  appear  to 
be  persons  whose  object  it  is  to  set  up  a  party  in  the  church,  of  which  they 
may  be  the  heads  or  leaders — a  kind  of  religious  demagogues.  Such  men 
are  found,  at  one  time  or  other,  in  most  societies;  and  in  some  cases  the 
peace  of  the  churches  has  been  invaded  by  strangers,  who  are  not  of  their 
own  community.  Let  the  "  brethren"  have  their  eye  upon  such  men.  "Mark 
them."  Trace  their  conduct,  and  you  will  soon  discover  their  motives.  Stand 
aloof  from  them,  and  "  avoid"  striking  in  with  their  dividing  measures.  In 
case  of  their  being  members,  the  church  collectively  considered  ought,  no 
doubt,  to  put  away  from  amongst  them  such  wicked  persons ;  but  as  every 
collective  body  is  composed  of  individuals,  if  those  individuals  suffer  them- 
selves to  be  drawn  away,  the  church  is  necessarily  thrown  into  confusion, 
and  rendered  incapable  of  a  prompt,  unanimous,  and  decided  conduct.  Let 
members  of  churches  therefore  beware  how  they  listen  to  the  insinuations 
of  those  who  would  entice  them  to  join  their  party.  Men  of  this  stamp  are 
described  by  the  apostle,  and  therefore  may  be  known,  particularly  by  three 
things  : — First,  By  their  doctrine :  it  is  contrary  to  that  ichich  has  been  learned 
of  Christ.  Secondly,  By  their  selfish  pursuits  :  "  they  serve  not  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  but  their  own  bellies."  Thirdly,  By  their  insinuating  whining 
pretences  of  affectionate  regard  towards  their  partisans  :  "  by  good  words  and 
fair  speeches  they  deceive  the  hearts  of  the  simple." 

To  this  may  be  added,  there  are  duties  incumbent  on  individuals  in  their 
behaviour  towards  persons  who  lie  under  the  censure  of  the  church.  If  they 
still  continue  in  a  state  of  impenitence,  persist  in  their  sin,  or  be  unrecon- 
ciled to  the  church's  proceedings  with  them,  it  is  of  the  utmost  consequence 
that  every  member  should  act  a  uniform  part  towards  them.  We  may,  it  is 
true,  continue  our  ordinary  and  necessary  intercourse  with  them  as  men,  in 
the  concerns  of  this  life;  but  there  must  be  no  familiarity,  no  social  inter- 
change, no  visitings  to  them  nor  receiving  visits  from  them,  nothing,  in 
short,  that  is  expressive  of  connivance  at  their  conduct.  "  If  any  man  that 
is  called  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a  railer,  or 
a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner,  we  must  not  keep  company  with  such  a  one, 
no,  not  to  eat,"  1  Cor.  v.  IL  If  individual  members  act  contrary  to  this 
rule,  and  carry  it  freely  towards  an  offender,  as  if  nothing  had  taken  place, 
it  will  render  the  censure  of  the  church  of  none  effect.  Those  persons  also 
who  behave  in  this  manner  will  be  considered  by  the  party  as  his  friends, 
and  others  who  stand  aloof  as  his  enemies,  or  at  least  as  being  unreasonably 
severe;  which  will  work  confusion,  and  render  void  the  best  and  most  whole- 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES.  335 

some  discipline.  We  must  act  in  concert,  or  we  may  as  well  do  nothing. 
Members  who  violate  this  rule  are  partakers  of  other  men's  sins,  and  deserve 
the  rebukes  of  the  church  for  counteracting  its  measures. 

With  respect  to  those  things  which  fall  under  the  cognizance  of  a  church 
in  its  collective  capacity,  we  earnestly  recommend,  in  general,  that  every  thing 
be  done  not  only  with  a  view  to  the  honour  of  God  and  the  good  of  the 
party,  as  before  observed,  but  urith  a  special  regard  to  the  revealed  will  of 
Christ.  That  some  kind  of  order  be  preserved  in  every  community  is 
necessary  to  its  existence.  Decency,  reputation,  and  even  worldly  policy, 
will  induce  us  to  take  some  notice  of  gross  immoralities;  but  this  is  not 
Christian  discipline,  nor  will  it  be  productive  of  its  salutary  eifects.  In  the 
choice  of  officers  few,  if  any,  churches  would  elect  a  profligate;  but  if  opu- 
lence be  allowed  to  supply  the  place  of  spirituality,  or  ambitious  or  litigious 
characters  be  preferred  on  the  principle  of  expediency,  as  a  means  of  keep- 
ing them  in  better  humour,  is  it  not  carnal?  So  in  matters  of  discipline, 
few  churches  would  suffer  a  grossly  immoral  or  litigious  character  to  con- 
tinue amongst  them  unnoticed ;  but  if,  instead  of  a  calm,  impartial,  and 
decided  procedure,  we  enter  into  pusillanimous  compromises  with  the 
offender,  consenting  that  he  should  withdraw  of  his  own  accord — if  the 
crimes  of  rich  men  be  either  entirely  overlooked  or  but  slightly  touched, 
lest  the  cause  should  suffer  from  their  being  offended — or  if  the  misconduct 
of  poor  men  be  disregarded  on  the  ground  of  their  being  persons  of  little  or 
no  account — "are  we  not  carnal,  and  walk  as  men?"  Brethren,  are  there 
any  such  things  amongst  us?  Search  and  consider.  Such  things  ought  not 
to  be.  The  private  withdrawment  of  an  individual,  if  it  be  without  good 
reasons,  may  justify  a  church  in  admonishing  him,  and,  if  he  cannot  be  re- 
claimed, in  excluding  him ;  but  it  cannot  itself  dissolve  the  relation.  Till 
such  exclusion  has  taken  place  he  is  a  member,  and  his  conduct  affects  their 
reputation  as  much  as  that  of  any  other  member.  With  regard  to  a  neglect 
of  discipline  lest  it  should  injure  the  cause,  what  cause  must  that  be  which 
requires  to  be  thus  supported?  Be  it  our  concern  to  obey  the  laws  of  Christ, 
and  leave  him  to  support  his  own  cause.  If  it  sink  by  a  fulfilment  of  his 
commandments,  let  it  sink.  He  will  not  censure  us  for  not  supporting  the 
ark  with  unhallowed  hands.  And  if  it  be  criminal  to  fear  the  rich,  it  cannot 
be  less  so  to  despise  the  poor.  Let  brotherly  love  abound  towards  both.  Do 
all  things  without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy. 

We  cannot  enumerate  all  the  particular  cases  which  fall  under  the  cogni- 
zance of  a  Christian  church,  but  shall  mention  a  few  which  are  recorded  in 
the  Scriptures  for  our  imitation. 

A  DEPARTURE    FROM   THE    FAITH    OF   THE   GOSPEL,  OR  ANY  OF  ITS  LEADING 

DOCTRINES,  is  an  object  of  Christian  discipline.  "  I  would  they  were  even 
cut  off  that  trouble  you." — "  I  have  a  few  things  against  thee,  because  thou 
hast  them  who  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam — so  hast  thou  also  them  that 
hold  the  doctrine  of  the  Nicolaitans,  which  thing  I  hate." — "  A  man  that  is 
an  heretic,  after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  reject,  knowing  that  he 
that  is  such  is  subverted  and  sinneth,  being  condemned  of  himself" 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  only  passage  in  the  New  Testament 
wherein  heresy  is  introduced  as  an  object  of  discipline  makes  no  mention 
of  any  thing  as  composing  it  but  what  relates  to  the  principles  of  the  party. 
It  may  be  supposed  that  those  who  were  accounted  heretics  by  the  apostles 
were  as  impure  in  their  lives  as  they  were  antichristian  in  their  doctrine, 
and  that  they  were  commonly  disturbers  of  the  peace  and  unity  of  the 
churches ;  but  however  this  might  be,  neither  of  these  evils  is  alleged  as  the 
ground  for  which  the  heretic  was  to  be  rejected.  All  that  is  mentioned  is 
this:  He  is  "subverted  and  sinneth,  being  condemned  of  himself" 


336  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

He  13  "  subverted ;"  that  is,  his  professed  faith  in  the  gospel  is  in  effect 
overturned,  or  rendered  void ;  consequently  he  requires  to  be  treated  as  an 
unbeliever.  He  is  "condemned  of  himself;"  that  is,  the  gospel  being  a 
consistent  whole,  he  that  rejects  some  of  its  leading  principles,  while  he 
professes  to  retain  others,  is  certain  to  fall  into  self-contradiction;  which  if 
clearly  pointed  out  in  "a  first  and  second  admonition,"  he  will  be  compelled, 
if  he  persist,  obstinately  to  shut  his  eyes  against  the  light,  and  thus  sin 
against  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 

It  has  been  asked,  by  persons  who  disapprove  of  all  church  proceeding's 
on  account  of  difference  in  religious  principles,  who  is  to  judge  what  is 
heresy?  We  answer,  those  who  are  to  judge  w'hat  is  immorality  m  dealing 
with  loose  characters.  To  suppose  it  impossible  to  judge  what  heresy  is,  or 
to  deny  that  the  power  of  so  deciding  rests  in  a  Christian  church,  is  to 
charge  the  apostolic  precept  with  impertinence.  It  is  true  the  judgment  of 
a  church  may  be  erroneous,  as  well  as  that  of  an  individual;  and  it  becomes 
them  in  their  decisions  to  consider  that  they  will  all  be  revised  at  the  great 
day;  but  the  same  may  be  said  of  all  human  judgment,  civil  or  judicial,  to 
which  no  one  is  so  void  of  reason  as  on  this  account  to  object. 

It  has  been  further  objected,  that  censuring  a  person  on  account  of  his 
religious  sentiments  invades  the  right  of  private  judgment,  is  inconsistent 
with  the  liberty  of  the  gospel,  and  contrary  to  the  leading  principles  on 
which  protestants  have  separated  from  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  Protestant 
Dissenters  from  the  Church  of  England.  The  right  of  private  judgment, 
while  we  claim  no  connexion  with  others,  is  an  undoubted  right.  We  may 
be  Christians,  infidels,  or  atheists,  and  none  but  God  has  any  control  over 
us ;  but  if  we  desire  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  good  men  notwithstanding, 
or  claim  admission  to  a  Christian  church,  or  should  we  be  in  it  already,  and 
claim  to  continue  our  situation,  surely  they  would  not  be  obliged  to  comply. 
If  so,  our  right  of  private  judgment  must  interfere  with  that  of  others  whose 
judgment  tells  them  that  there  can  be  no  fellowship  between  light  and 
darkness,  or  communion  between  him  that  believeth  and  an  infidel.  If  the 
liberty  of  the  gospel  consist  in  a  right  of  fellowship  with  Christian  churches 
whatever  be  our  principles,  it  will  follow  not  only  that  unbelievers  may  claim 
visible  communion  with  believers,  but  that  no  exclusions  for  immorality  can 
be  justified,  provided  the  party  insists  that  his  sentiments  are  in  harmony 
with  his  practice.  There  is  a  great  variety  of  opinion  as  to  what  is  morality, 
as  well  as  to  what  is  truth.  One  loose  character  believes  in  polygamy, 
another  in  concubinage,  and  a  third  can  see  no  harm  in  fornication,  nor 
even  in  adultery,  provided  it  be  undiscovered.*  If  the  Churches  of  Rome 
and  England  had  done  nothing  more  than  exclude  from  their  society  charac- 
ters whom  they  considered  as  deviating  from  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel, 
without  subjecting  them  to  civil  penalties  or  disabilities,  however  we  might 
have  disputed  the  truth  of  their  doctrine,  we  could  not  have  justly  objected 
to  their  discipline.  And  on  the  other  hand,  we  should  suppose  that  the 
separation  of  protestants  from  the  one,  and  of  Protestant  Dissenters  from  the 
other,  was  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  a  purer  church  state,  wherein  they  might 
act  up  to  the  laws  of  Zion's  King;  and  not  that  they  might  live  as  though 
there  were  no  King  in  Israel,  which  is  the  case  where  every  man  does  that 
which  is  right  in  his  own  eyes. 

In  CASES  OF  NOTORIOUS  AND  COMPLICATED  WICKEDNESS  it  appears  that  in 
the  primitive  churches  immediate  exclusion  was  the  consequence.  In  the 
case  of  the  incestuous  Corinthian,  there  are  no  directions  given  for  his  being 
admonished,  and  excluded  only  in  case  of  his  being  incorrigibly  impenitent. 

*  Such  was  the  morality  taught  by  Mr,  Hume. 


DISCIPLINE   OF  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHURCHES.  337 

The  apostle  determined  what  should  be  done — "  In  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  when  ye  are  gathered  together,  to  deliver  such  a  one  unto  Satan." 
We  cannot  but  consider  it  as  an  error  in  the  discipline  of  some  churches, 
where  persons  have  been  delected  of  gross  and  aggravated  wickedness,  that 
their  exclusion  has  been  suspended,  and  in  many  cases  omitted,  on  the 
ground  of  their  professed  repentance.  While  the  evil  was  a  secret,  it  was 
persisted  in,  but,  when  exposed  by  a  public  detection,  then  repentance  is 
brought  forward,  as  it  were,  in  arrest  of  judgment.  But  can  that  repentance 
be  genuine  that  is  pleaded  for  the  purpose  of  warding  off  the  censures  of  a 
Christian  church  1  We  are  persuaded  it  cannot.  The  eye  of  a  true  peni- 
tent will  be  fixed  upon  the  greatness  of  his  sin,  and  he  will  be  the  last  to 
discern  or  talk  of  his  repentance  for  it.  So  far  from  pleading  it  in  order  to 
evade  censure,  he  will  censure  himself,  and  desire  nothing  more  than  that 
testimony  may  be  borne  against  his  conduct  for  the  honour  of  Christ. 

But,  allowing  that  repentance  in  such  cases  is  sincere,  still  it  is  not  of  such 
account  as  to  set  aside  the  necessity  of  exclusion.  The  end  to  be  answered 
by  this  measure  is  not  merely  the  good  of  the  party,  but  the  clearing  of  a 
Christian  church  from  the  very  appearance  of  conniving  at  immorality,  and 
which  cannot  be  accomplished  by  repentance  only.  Though  Miriam  might 
be  truly  sorry  for  her  sin  in  having  spoken  against  Moses,  and  though  she 
might  be  healed  of  her  leprosy;  yet  "the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  If  her  father 
had  but  spit  on  her  face,  should  she  not  be  ashamed  seven  days?  Let  her 
be  shut  out  from  the  camp  seven  days ;  and  after  that  let  her  be  received  in 
again,"  Numb.  xii.  14. 

We  do  not  suppose,  however,  that  every  notorious  fault  requires  imme- 
diate exclusion.  The  general  rule  given  is  that  notorious  evils  should 
MEET  WITH  A  PUBLIC  RERUKE.  "  Them  that  siu  rebuke  before  all,  that 
others  also  may  fear,"  1  Tim.  v.  20.  But  this  proceeding  does  not  appear 
to  amount  to  exclusion;  it  is  rather  of  the  nature  of  a  censure  or  reprimand, 
accompanying  an  admonition.  To  us  it  appears  that  the  circumstances 
attending  a  sin  ought  to  determine  whether  it  require  immediate  exclusion 
or  not.  If  these  be  highly  aggravating — if  there  appear  to  have  been  pre- 
meditation, intention,  and  perseverance  in  the  crime  —  "put  away  from 
amongst  yourselves  that  wicked  person;"  but  if  circumstances  extenuate 
rather  than  heighten  the  evil,  solemn  admonition,  accompanied  with  rebuke, 
ought  to  suffice,  and  no  exclusion  to  follow  but  in  case  of  incorrigible  im- 
penitence. 

There  are  also  faults  which  do  not  come  under  the  denomination  of  noto- 
rious sins,  wherein  directions  are  given  for  recovering  the  offenders  without 

ANY  mention   being   MADE  OF  EXCLUSION,  EITHER  IMMEDIATE  OR  ULTIMATE. 

There  is  perhaps  in  all  the  churches  a  description  of  men  whose  characters 
are  far  from  being  uniformly  circumspect,  and  yet  not  sufficiently  irregular 
to  warrant  their  being  separated  from  communion.  They  are  disorderly 
walkers ;  busybodies  in  other  men's  matters,  while  negligent  of  their  own  ; 
in  a  word,  unamiable  characters.  Now  those  that  are  such  we  are  directed 
to  exhort,  and  charge  that  they  conduct  themselves  as  becometh  Christians. 
If  after  this  they  continue  disorderly,  observe  a  degree  of  distance  in  your 
conduct  towards  them;  withdraw  your  intimacy;  let  them  feel  the  frowns 
of  their  brethren :  yet  be  not  wholly  reserved,  but  occasionally  explain  to 
them  the  reasons  of  your  conduct,  affisctionately  admonishing  them  at  the 
same  time  to  repentance  and  amendment  of  life.  "  Now  we  command  you, 
brethren,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  withdraw  yourselves 
from  every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly,  and  not  after  the  tradition  which 
ye  received  of  us. — For  we  hear  that  there  are  some  who  walk  among  you 
disorderly,  working  not  at  all,  but  are  busybodies.  Now  them  that  are  such 
Vol.  111.-4:5  2  F  " 


338 


CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 


we  command,  and  exhort  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  with  quietness  they 
work  and  eat  tlieir  own  bread.  And  if  any  man  obey  not  our  word  by  this 
epistle,  note  that  man,  and  have  no  company  with  him,  that  he  may  be 
ashamed.  Yet  count  him  not  as  an  enemy,  but  admonish  him  as  a  brother." 
2  Thess.  iii.  6-15.  If  churches  were  to  consult  only  their  own  reputation, 
they  would  often  discard  such  persons  at  an  early  period ;  but  where  there 
is  reason  to  hope  that  the  heart  is  right  in  the  main,  great  forbearance  must 
be  exercised,  and  long  perseverance  in  endeavouring  to  recover.  How 
many  imperfections  were  discovered  in  the  conduct  of  the  twelve  apostles, 
while  their  Lord  was  with  them,  and  what  an  example  of  forbearance  has  he 
left  us!  One  character  reclaimed  is  of  greater  account,  and  more  to  the 
honour  of  a  Christian  church,  than  many  discarded. 

Finally,  A  watchful  eye  upon  the  state  of  the  church,  and  of  particular 
members,  with  a  seasonable  interposition,  may  do  more  towards  the  preser- 
vation of  good  order  than  all  other  things  put  together.  Discourage  whis- 
perings, backbitings,  and  jealousies.  Frown  on  talebearers,  and  give  no  ear 
to  their  tales.  Nip  contentions  in  the  bud.  Adjust  differences  in  civil 
matters  amongst  yourselves.  Bring  together  at  an  early  period  those  in 
whom  misconception  and  distrust  have  begun  to  operate,  ere  ill  opinion 
ripen  into  settled  dislike.  By  a  frank  and  timely  explanation,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  common  friend,  that  may  be  healed  in  an  hour,  which,  if  per- 
mitted to  proceed,  a  series  of  years  cannot  eradicate.  Be  aftectionately  free 
with  one  another.  Give  tender  and  faithful  hints  where  it  appears  to  you 
that  one  of  your  brethren  is  in  danger  of  being  drawn  aside  from  the  prin- 
ciples or  spirit  of  the  gospel.  Let  all  be  given,  from  their  first  entering  into 
connexion  with  you,  to  expect  them.  If  any  one  take  offence  at  such  treat- 
ment, give  him  to  understand  that  he  who  cannot  endure  a  caution,  or  a 
reproof,  is  unfit  for  Christian  society,  and  is  in  the  utmost  danger  of  falling 
into  mischief. 

Brethren,  consider  what  we  say,  and  the  Lord  give  you  understanding  in 
all  things!  The  free  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  the  proper  discharge  of 
all  the  animal  functions,  are  not  more  necessary  to  the  health  of  the  body, 
than  good  discipline  is  to  the  prosperity  of  a  community. 

If  it  were  duly  considered  how  much  the  general  interests  of  religion,  and 
even  the  salvation  of  men,  may  be  affected  by  the  purity  and  harmony  of 
Christian  churches,  we  should  tremble  at  the  thought  of  their  being  inter- 
rupted by  us.  The  planting  of  a  church  in  a  neighbourhood,  where  the  gos- 
pel is  preached,  and  the  ordinances  qf  Christ  administered  in  their  purity,  is 
a  great  blessing.  It  is  a  temple  reared  for  God,  in  which  he  deigns  to  re- 
cord his  name,  to  meet  with  his  humble  worshippers,  and  to  bless  them. 
We  have  seen  churches  of  this  description,  in  the  midst  of  a  career  of  spi- 
ritual prosperity,  edifying  one  another  in  love,  and  gathering  souls  to  the 
Redeemer's  standard,  all  in  a  little  time  blasted  and  ruined  by  some  unhappy 
event  that  has  thrown  them  into  disorder.  One  of  the  members,  it  may  be, 
has  acted  unworthily — he  is  reproved — his  relations  or  particular  acquaint- 
ances take  on  his  side — discipline  is  interrupted — the  church  is  divided  into 
parties — hard  things  are  said  on  both  sides — the  bond  of  love  is  broken — 
tender  minds  are  grieved,  and  retire — worship  is  but  thinly  attended,  and 
the  enjoyment  of  it  is  vanished — God's  friends  mourn  in  secret,  and  his 
enemies  triumph,  saying,  "Aha!  aha!  so  would  we  have  it!"  O  brethren, 
it  is  a  serious  thing  to  occasion  the  ruin  of  a  church  of  Christ!  "If  any 
man  defile  the  temple  of  God,  him  shall  God  destroy !"  Dearly  beloved, 
farewell.     Grace  and  peace  be  with  you. 


PRACTICAL  USES  OF  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  339 

1802. 

the  practical  uses  of  christian  baptism. 

Dear  Brethren, 

In  connexion  with  our  last  general  letter,  and  agreeably  to  the  appoint- 
ment made  at  the  yearly  meeting,  we  now  address  you  on  a  subject,  not  only 
of  general  interest,  but  which  more  immediately  relates  to  that  solemn  pro- 
fession which  you  have  made  of  Christianity;  namely,  the  practical  uses 

OF  THE  ORDINANCE  OF  BAPTISM. 

That  Christian  baptism  is  properly  administered  only  by  immersion,  and 
to  those  who  make  a  credible  profession  of  faith  in  Christ,  it  is  no  part  of 
our  present  design  to  prove.  Addressing  yoxt,  we  shall  take  each  of  these 
particulars  for  granted.  The  only  subject  to  which  we  now  request  your 
attention  is  the  infiuence  of  this  ordinance,  where  it  produces  its  proper 
effects,  in  promoting  piety  in  individuals,  and  purity  in  the  church. 

There  is  no  part  of  true  religion  that  is  merely  speculative;  the  whole  is 
designed  and  adapted  to  sanctify  the  soul.  We  may  presume,  therefore, 
that  if  baptism  be  an  ordinance  of  God,  and  of  perpetual  obligation  in  the 
church,  it  is  of  importance  to  Christian  practice. 

But  it  is  not  on  presumptive  evidence  that  we  wish  to  rest  the  improvement 
of  this  institution,  any  more  than  the  institution  itself;  neither  shall'  we  go 
about  to  connect  with  it  acknowledged  duties  by  imaginary  alliances ;  but 
shall  confine  ourselves  to  those  uses  of  the  ordinance  which  are  actually 
made,  or  suggested,  in  the  New  Testament.  We  could  address  many  things 
to  parents,  and  things  of  importance  too,  on  bringing  up  their  children  in 
the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord :  we  could  also  urge  it  upon  the 
children  of  believers  that  they  were  committed  to  God  from  their  earliest 
infancy;  but  as  we  find  nothing  of  this  kind  in  the  Scriptures  connected  with 
baptism,  however  important  these  things  would  be  in  their  place,  they  would 
be  altogether  irrelevant  while  treating  on  this  ordinance. 

Baptism  is  a  Divine  institution,  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah, 
or  the  gospel  dispensation.  John  received  it  from  heaven,  and  administered 
it  to  the  Jews,  who,  on  his  proclaiming  that  the  Icingdom  of  heaven  was  at 
hand,  confessed  their  sins.  Jesus  gave  sanction  to  it  by  his  example;  and 
after  his  resurrection,  when  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  was  committed  to 
him,  he  confirmed  and  extended  it  to  believers  of  all  nations.  Whatever 
circumstantial  differences  there  might  be,  therefore,  between  the  baptism  of 
John  and  that  of  Christ,  they  were  substantially  the  same.  There  were 
things  in  former  ages  which  bore  a  resemblance  to  it ;  as  the  salvation  of 
Noah  and  his  family  in  the  ark,  the  passage  of  the  Israelites  through  the  sea, 
divers  washings  or  bathings  prescribed  by  the  Mosaic  ritual,  &c. ;  but  the 
thing  itself  existed  not,  till  it  was  revealed  to  the  immediate  forerunner  of 
Christ. 

The  principal  design  of  it  appears  to  be,  A  solemn  and  practical  profession 
of  the  Christian  religion.  Such  was  the  baptism  of  John,  who  "  said  unto 
the  people,  that  they  should  believe  on  him  who  should  come  after  him; 
that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus."  And  such  was  that  in  the  times  of  the  apostles. 
Paul  addressing  himself  to  the  churches  in  Galatia,  who,  after  having  pro- 
fessed to  believe  in  Christ,  cleaved  to  the  Mosaic  law  as  a  medium  of  justifi- 
cation, thus  speaks:  "The  law  was  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ, 
that  we  might  be  justified  by  faith ;  but  after  that  faith  is  come,  we  are  no 


040  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

longer  under  a  schoolmaster.  For  ye  are  all  the  children  of  God  by  faith  in 
Christ  Jesus.  For  as  many  of  you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have 
PUT  ON  Christ."  The  allusion  is  to  the  putting  on  of  apparel,  as  when 
one  that  enters  into  the  service  of  a  prince  puts  on  his  distinguishing  attire; 
and  the  design  of  the  sacred  writer  is  to  remind  those  of  them  who  had  be- 
fore professed  the  Jewish  religion,  that  by  a  solemn  act  of  their  own  they 
had,  as  it  were,  put  off  Moses,  and  put  on  Christ.  There  is  a  putting  on  of 
Christ  which  is  internal,  and  consists  in  relinquishing  the  former  lusts,  and 
being  of  the  mind  of  Christ;  but  that  which  is  here  referred  to  appears  to  be 
an  open  profession  of  his  name,  to  the  renouncing  of  every  thing  that  stood 
in  competition  with  him.  It  was  therefore  true  of  as  many  as  had  been  bap- 
tized, whether  they  abode  in  the  truth  or  not.  And  even  their  being  "the 
children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus"  seems  to  express  what  they  were  in 
profession,  rather  than  what  they  were  in  fact.  They  had  by  their  baptism 
disowned  all  dependence  on  the  privileges  of  birth,  and  the  adoption  which 
pertained  to  them  as  the  children  of  Abraham ;  and  declared  their  acqui- 
escence in  that  power,  or  privilege,  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  which  the 
gospel  imparts  to  them  that  believe.  The  mention  of  this  was  perfectly  in 
point,  as  it  greatly  heightened  the  evil  of  their  defection.  The  amount  is, 
7%^!^  as  many  as  were  baptized  in  the  primitive  ages  were  voluntary  agents, 
and  submitted  to  this  ordinance  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  solemn  and 
practical  prof ession  of  the  Christian  faith.  It  was  their  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  King  of  Zion ;  that  by  which  they  avowed  the  Lord  to  be  their  God. 
Hence  a  rejection  of  it  involved  a  rejection  of  the  counsel  of  God.  The  sin 
of  the  Pharisees  and  lawyers  consisted,  not  in  their  refusing  to  submit  to 
baptism  as  unbelievers;  but  in  not  embracing  the  Messiah,  and  so  putting  on 
the  badge  of  his  profession.  Their  rejection  of  the  sign  was  justly  construed 
as  a  rejection  of  the  thing  signified;  as  when  a  rebel  refuses  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  it  is  construed  as  a  refusal  of  submission  and  subjection  to 
his  rightful  prince. 

Such,  brethren,  is  the  profession  we  have  made.  We  have  not  only  de- 
clared in  words  our  repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  towards  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  but  have  said  the  same  things  by  our  baptism.  We  have 
solemnly  surrendered  ourselves  up  to  Christ,  taking  him  to  be  our  Prophet, 
Priest,  and  King;  engaging  to  receive  his  doctrine,  to  rely  on  his  atonement, 
and  to  obey  his  laws.  The  vows  of  God  are  upon  us.  We  have  even  sworn 
to  keep  his  righteous  judgments;  and,  without  violating  the  oath  of  God,  we 
cannot  go  back.  If  it  be  a  sin  not  to  confess  the  Lord  Jesus,  through  fear 
or  shame,  it  is  a  still  greater  sin,  after  we  have  confessed  him,  to  turn  from 
the  holy  commandment. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  consists  partly  of  truths  to  be  believed,  and  partly 
of  precepts  to  be  obeyed ;  and  the  ordinance  of  baptism  furnishes  motives 
for  a  faithful  adherence  to  both. 

We  have  been  baptized  "in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;"  and  have  thus  practically  avowed  our  belief  in  them. 
It  was  at  Jordan  that  the  Father  bore  witness  to  his  well-beloved  Son,  and 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  descended  upon  him ;  hither,  therefore,  in  the  early 
ages,  men  were  directed  to  repair,  that  they  might  learn  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity.  If  we  relinquish  this  doctrine,  we  virtually  relinquish  our  baptism. 
Of  this  there  need  not  be  a  more  convincing  proof,  than  the  inclination 
which  has  been  discovered  by  those  who  have  renounced  the  doctrine  to 
disuse  the  form  of  baptizing  in  the  name  of  the  Sacred  Three. 

We  have  also  professed  by  our  baptism  to  embrace  that  great  salvation 
which  is  accomplished  by  the  united  influence  of  the  Sacred  Three.  We 
have  in  effect  declared  our  acquiescence  in  the  freeness  of  the  Father's 


PRACTICAL  USES  OF  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM.  341 

grace,  in  the  all-sufficient  atonement  of  the  Son,  and  in  the  sanctifying  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit;  for  these  are  the  principal  things  by  which,  in  the 
New  Testament  account  of  the  economy  of  grace,  each  is  distinguished. 
Nor  can  we  renounce  them,  without  virtually  renouncing  our  baptism. 

The  immersion  of  the  body  in  water,  which  is  a  purifying  element,  con- 
tains a  profession  of  our  faith  in  Christ,  through  the  shedding  of  whose  blood 
we  are  cleansed  from  all  sin.  Hence,  baptism  in  the  name  of  Christ  is  said 
to  be  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Not  that  there  is  any  such  virtue  in  the 
element,  whatever  be  the  quantity;  nor  in  the  ceremony,  though  of  Divine 
appointment:  but  it  contains  a  sign  of  the  way  in  which  we  must  be  saved. 
Sin  is  washed  away  in  baptism  in  the  same  sense  as  Christ's  flesh  is  eaten, 
and  his  blood  drank,  in  the  Lord's  supper:  the  sign,  when  rightly  used,  leads 
to  the  thing  signified.  Remission  of  sins  is  ascribed  by  Peter  not  properly 
to  baptism,  but  to  the  name  in  which  the  parties  were  to  be  baptized.  Thus 
also  Saul  was  directed  to  wash  away  his  sins,  calling  on  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  Nearly  akin  to  this  is  the  idea  conveyed  to  us  in  the  First  Epistle 
of  Peter:  "The  long-suffering  of  God  waited  in  the  days  of  Noah,  while  the 
ark  was  preparing,  wherein  few,  that  is,  eight  souls,  were  saved  by  toater. 
The  like  figure  whereunto  baptism  doth  now  save  us  (not  the  putting  away 
of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  tiie  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God) 
by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ."  The  salvation  of  Noah  and  his  family 
by  the  ark  was  a  figure  of  our  salvation  by  the  death  and  resurrection  of 
Jesus  Christ.  The  ark  for  a  time  was  surrounded,  as  it  were,  with  waters 
from  above,  and  from  beneath;  but  it  survived  its  trial,  and  those  who  were 
in  it  were  at  length  brought  safe  to  land.  Christ,  also,  for  a  time  sustained 
the  deluge  of  wrath  due  to  our  sins;  but  survived  the  trial,  rising  triumphantly 
from  tlie  dead,  and  thereby  saved  us  from  everlasting  death.  Of  this  great 
transaction  baptism  is  a  like  figure.  It  is  another  sign  of  the  same  thing. 
The  resemblance  of  baptism  by  immersion  to  the  death  and  resurrection  of 
Christ,  and  the  suitableness  of  the  one  to  signify  our  faith  in  the  other,  are 
manifest.  It  is  thus  that  baptism  does  now  save  us;  not  as  putting  away  the 
filth  of  the  flesh,  (for  all  the  virtue  contained  in  the  ordinance  itself  is  •'  the 
answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God,")  but  as  affording  a  sign  of  our 
salvation  by  the  victorious  resurrection  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

And  as  we  are  taught  by  our  baptism  to  adhere  to  the  doctrine  of  God  our 
Saviour,  so  we  are  furnished  with  motives  to  adorn  it  by  a  holy  conversation. 
Thus  it  is  introduced  in  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Colossians,  as  a 
sign  of  our  being  dead  and  buried  to  the  principles  and  pursuits  of  the  pre- 
sent world ;  and,  by  faith  in  Christ,  raised  as  into  a  new  world.  The  death 
of  Christ  is  emphatically  mentioned  as  that  into  which  we  are  baptized — 
"  Know  ye  not  that  so  many  of  us  as  were  baptized  into  Jesus  Christ  were 
baptized  into  his  deatli  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him  by  baptism  into 
death ;  that  like  as  Christ  died,  and  was  raised  up  from  the  dead  by  the  glory 
of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should  walk  in  newness  of  life."  Christ's 
dying  for  sin  afforded  a  most  powerful  motive  for  our  dying  to  it;  and  the 
immersion  of  the  body  in  baptism,  being  in  the  likeness  of  the  former,  fur- 
nishes an  additional  motive  to  the  latter. 

The  leading  idea  suggested  by  a  death  and  burial  seems  to  be  that  of 
separation  from  the  world.  There  is  no  greater  line  of  separation  than  that 
which  is  drawn  between  the  dead  and  the  living.  "  The  dead  know  not  any 
thing;  and  have  no  portion  in  all  that  Is  done  under  the  sun."  Such  is  the 
line  which  is  drawn  by  the  faith  of  the  operation  of  God  between  the  world 
renewed  and  the  world  depraved,  of  which  baptism  is  the  appointed  sign. 
If,  after  this,  we  are  found  among  evil-doers,  we  may  well  be  considered  and 

o  F  o 


342  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

shunned  as  a  kind  ot  apparitions,  which  have  no  proper  concern  in  the 
affairs  of  mortals. 

The  apostle  applied  this  reasoning  against  a  conformity  to  abrogated  cere- 
monies.    "  If  ye  be  dead  with  Christ  from  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  why, 
as  tliough  living  in  the  world,  are  ye  subject  to  ordinances?"     The  same 
reasoning  is  applicable  to  other  things.  If  we  be  dead  with  Christ,  why,  as 
though  living,  are  we  subject  to  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and 
the  pride  of  life,  which  are  of  the  world  1     Why  are  any  of  us  conformed  to 
this  world;  and  not  rather  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  our  minds'?     If 
we  be  dead,  and  our  life  be  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  why  are  not  our  affec- 
tions set  on  things  above,  and  not  on  things  on  the  earth?     We  cannot  but 
express  our  concern  that  persons  professing  godliness  should  be  carried  away 
by  the  course  of  this  world,  as  many  are;  aieanly  imitating  the  ungodly, 
whose  conduct  they  ought  rather  to  reprove.     Such  imitation,  so  far  as  it 
operates,  contains  a  virtual  renunciation  of  our  baptism.     The  ideas  of  bap- 
tism and  a  separation  from  the  world,  whether  connected  by  us  or  not,  are 
strongly  associated  in  the  minds  of  men  in  general.     After  this,  we  cannot 
unite  with  them  in  evil,  without  drawing  upon  ourselves  their  most  pointed 
censures.     They  may  labour  to  seduce  us  for  the  sake  of  comforting  them- 
selves ;  and  while  accomplishing  their  purpose  may  suppress  their  private 
thoughts  of  us,  and  even  compliment  us  for  our  liberality  ;  but  if  we  comply, 
their  pretended  esteem  will  be  turned  into  reproach.     Nor  ought  we  to  con- 
sider this  as  an  evil ;  but  rather  as  a  mercy.     God  has  hereby  set  a  hedge 
about  us,  which  tends  more  than  a  little  to  preserve  us  from  temptation.    If 
any  think  otherwise,  and  feel  uneasy  that  they  cannot  act  like  other  men, 
without  drawing  upon  themselves  the  censures  of  mankind,  it  is  a  dark  sign 
that  their  hearts  are  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Nor  is  this  ordinance  adapted  merely  to  separate  between  believers  and 
unbelievers  individually  considered;  its  design  is  also  to  draw  a  line  of  dis- 
tinction between  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  the  kingdom  of  Satan.  What- 
ever may  be  said  of  baptism  as  it  is  now  generally  understood  and  practised, 
and  of  the  personal  religion  of  those  who  practise  it,  it  was  originally 
appointed  to  be  the  boundary  of  visible  Christianity.  This  is  a  principle 
which,  if  properly  acted  upon,  would  go  far  to  prevent  the  confounding  of 
the  church  and  the  world ;  and  which,  consequently,  tends  more  than  any 
thing  of  the  kind  to  counteract  ecclesiastical  degeneracy  and  corruption. 
Had  the  Christian  church  in  all  ages  admitted  none  to  baptism,  from  whom- 
soever descended,  but  those  who  professed  to  repent  and  believe  the  gospel, 
it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  any  others  would  have  been  admitted  to  the 
Lord's  supper;  and  if  so,  a  stream  of  corruption  which  has  actually  deluged 
it  with  antichrislianism  would  have  been  diverted  at  the  spring-head.  The 
church  might,  indeed,  have  been  corrupted  from  other  causes,  but  these  would 
have  been  merely  accidental.  Hypocrites  and  formalists  might  have  imposed 
themselves  upon  it,  as  they  did  in  some  degree  in  the  apostolic  age ;  but  they 
would  have  been  intruders.  Whatever  of  this  kind  might  have  existed, 
believers  could  not  have  been  constitutionally  yoked  together  with  unbe- 
lievers. The  carnal  descendants  of  godly  people  could  not  have  claimed  a 
place  in  Christ's  visible  kingdom.  The  church  could  not  have  become 
national,  embracing  as  its  children  all  who  are  born  in  a  christianized  coun- 
try, without  any  profession  of  personal  religion.  Princes  and  nobles,  if 
worthy,  would  have  been  received  into  its  communion  as  brethren;  but  not 
as  rulers  or  patrons:  and,  if  unworthy,  refused ;  even  though  an  exposure 
to  persecution  had  been  the  consequence.  But  if  persons  be  admitted  to 
baptism  without  any  profession  of  personal  religion,  or  upon  the  profession 
of  others  on  their  behalf,  their  admission  to  the  Lord's  supper  will  in  most 


PRACTICAL  USES  OF  CHRISTIAN  BAPTISM. 


34^ 


cases  follow  as  a  matter  of  course.  Indeed  it  oiighl  to  follow ;  for  though 
among  evangelical  Dissenters  these  things  are  separated,  yet  from  the  begin- 
ning it  was  not  so.  Neither  Scripture  nor  the  practice  of  the  ancient  churches 
affords  a  single  example  of  a  baptized  person,  unless  his  conduct  was  grossly 
immoral,  being  ineligible  to  communion.  And  if  all  who  are  now  baptized 
be  admitted  to  the  supper,  the  line  of  separation  will  be  broken ;  the  church 
will  be  no  longer  a  garden  enclosed,  but  an  open  wilderness,  where  every 
beast  of  prey  can  range  at  pleasure.  Thus,  indeed,  it  was  foretold  it  should 
be.  The  writer  of  the  Apocalypse,  describing  the  corruptions  which  should 
prevail  in  the  visible  church  during  the  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years'  reign 
of  antichrist,  represents  it  under  the  form  of  the  outer  court  of  the  temple 
being  left  out  of  the  measurement  as  profane,  and  given  to  the  Gentiles  to  be 
trodden  under  font,  in  like  manner  as  the  holy  place  and  holy  city  had  been 
trodden  down  by  the  heathen,  in  the  time  of  Antiochus. 

As  the  principle  of  believers'  baptism,  properly  acted  upon,  would  prevent 
the  admission  of  all  unconverted  characters,  except  hypocrites  and  self- 
deceivers,  so  it  would  have  its  influence  in  repelling  them.  The  habits  of 
some  hypocritical  characters,  it  is  true,  would  render  it  an  easy  thing  to 
overleap  this  boundary;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  to  others  it  would  be  an 
effectual  bar.  There  are  not  a  few  in  the  religious  world  who  like  well  to 
be  members  of  a  Christian  church,  especially  where  the  pastor  is  a  man  of 
respectability,  provided  they  could  be  admitted  without  drawing  upon  them- 
selves the  laugh  of  the  irreligious.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many 
persons  of  genteel  connexions,  who  wish  to  be  thought  religious,  and  whose 
consciences  approve  of  believers'  baptism,  are  withheld  by  this  kind  of  shame 
from  offering  themselves  to  our  churches.  An  ordinance  which  thus  operates 
possesses  a  mark  of  its  pertaining  to  that  kingdom  which  is  not  of  this  icorld, 
and  into  which  it  is  hard  for  a  rich  man  to  enter. 

As  the  leading  idea  suggested  by  a  death  and  burial  is  that  of  separation 
from  the  world,  so  the  principal  thing  denoted  by  a  resurrection  is  an  en- 
trance into  a  neto  state  of  being.  Such  is  that  newness  of  life  of  which  the 
emersion  of  the  body  from  the  waters  of  baptism  is  a  sign,  and  to  which  it 
furnishes  an  important  motive.  The  religion  of  Jesus  does  not  consist  in 
mere  negatives.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  be  dead  to  the  world;  we  must 
be  alive  to  God.  With  real  Christians  old  things  are  passed  away,  and  all 
things  are  become  new.  Unless  our  baptism,  therefore,  be  merely  a  sign, 
or  an  unmeaning  ceremony,  our  hopes,  fears,  sorrows,  joys,  companions, 
principles,  and  pursuits  are  opposite  to  those  of  this  world.  Even  a  partial 
return  to  it  is  inconsistent  with  our  baptismal  vows.  If  those  who  profess 
to  be  dead  to  the  world  cannot  walk  in  the  course  of  it  without  being  con- 
sidered and  shunned  as  a  kind  of  apparitions,  those  who  are  alive  from  the 
dead  cannot  return  without  resembling  a  living  character  who  should  take 
up  his  abode  m  a  sepulchre. 

A  few  general  reflections  will  conclude  this  epistle. 

The  baptism  of  a  number  of  serious  Christians  is  an  interesting  and  im- 
pressive spectacle!  Often  on  such  solemn  occasions  have  we  witnessed  the 
falling  tear;  not  only  from  the  parties  baptized,  and  others  immediately  con- 
nected with  them,  but  from  indifferent  spectators.  We  could  appeal  to  the 
consciences  of  many  serious  Christians,  whether  they  did  not  receive  their 
first  convictions  of  the  reality  of  religion  at  such  opportunities.  We  could 
appeal  to  all  of  you,  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  attending  the  administra- 
tion of  this  ordinance,  whether  it  has  not  fretjuently  furnished  you  with  the 
most  solemn  and  tender  reflections.  Has  not  the  sight  of  a  number  of 
young  Christians,  offering  themselves  willingly  to  the  Lord,  touched  the 
secret  springs  of  holy  sensibility  ?     Yes ;  you  have  been  reminded  by  it  of 


344  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

your  own  solemn  engagements,  and  led  to  inquire  in  what  manner  they 
liave  been  fulfilled.  You  have  remembered  the  days  of  your  espousals,  when 
you  first  went  after  your  Saviour  as  in  the  wilderness,  and  have  been  sweetly 
impelled  to  renew  the  solemn  surrender.  Nor  have  your  reflections  been 
confined  to  yourselves ;  you  have  considered  these  new  accessions  to  the 
church  of  God  as  supplying  the  place  of  others  that  were  taken  away,  and 
as  fulfilling  the  promise,  "  Instead  of  thy  fathers,  shall  be  thy  children." 
When  a  number  of  dear  friends  and  useful  characters  have,  one  after  an- 
other, been  removed  by  death,  you  have  been  ready  to  ask.  Who  shall  fill  up 
their  place;  and  by  whom  shall  Jacob  arise?  But  when  others  of  promising 
gifts  and  graces  have  come  forward  and  yielded  up  themselves  to  the  Lord 
in  baptism,  they  have  seemed  in  a  manner  to  be  "  baptized  for  the  dead." 
Thus,  when  the  ranks  of  an  army  in  a  besieged  city  are  thinned  by  repeated 
engagements,  and  the  hearts  of  survivors  are  ready  to  faint,  a  reinforce- 
ment arrives :  a  body  of  new  companions  throw  themselves  in  to  its  relief, 
and  inspire  them  with  new  vigour. 

Further,  If  the  foregoing  remarks  be  just,  the  importance  of  believers' 
baptism  must  appear  in  a  very  different  light  from  that  in  which  some  have 
represented  it.  If  the  ordinary  acknowledgments  of  many  who  live  in  the 
neglect  of  this  ordinance,  and  disapprove  of  the  zeal  of  others  who  submit 
to  it,  may  be  considered  as  expressive  of  their  principles,  their  conduct  is 
not  owing  to  a  solid  conviction,  arising  from  impartial  inquiry  accompanied 
with  prayer,  that  it  is  unscriptural,  or  that  they  have  already  been  baptized 
according  to  the  institution  of  Christ;  but  to  a  notion  that  it  is  of  little  or 
no  account.  If  it  be  of  little  or  no  account  to  bind  ourselves  to  the  Lord  in 
the  ioay  of  his  own  jivcscribing — to  confess  his  name  before  men — to  avow 
our  being  dead  to  the  world,  and  alive  to  him — to  preserve  the  church  from 
being  constitutionally  corrupted,  and  yoked  together  with  unbelievers — to 
obey  his  commandments  who  saith,  "  Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of 
you ;"  and  to  follow  his  example  who  yielded  obedience  to  this  institute, 
saying,  "  Thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfil  all  righteousness" — then  may  this  ex- 
cuse be  admitted.  But  if  these  things  be  important,  then  is  believers'  bap- 
tism important ;  and  all  attempts  to  depreciate  it  are  offensive  in  the  sight 
of  Him  who  is  the  Lord  and  Lawgiver  of  Zion. 

Finally,  brethren,  it  becomes  us  to  beware  lest  that  which  is  good  in 
itself  should,  through  the  corruption  of  our  nature,  become  an  occasion  of 
evil.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  temptation  more  common  among  religious 
people  than  to  think  too  highly  of  themselves  on  account  of  their  advantages. 
Where  such  a  spirit  is  cherished,  baptism  may  become  an  idol,  and  the  table 
of  the  Lord  itself  a  snare.  It  is  more  than  possible  that  some  may  so  value 
themselves  on  account  of  their  baptism,  as  to  make  it  a  substitute  for  a  life 
of  holiness  and  universal  righteousness.  It  appears  that  some  among  the 
Corinthians  approached  too  near,  at  least,  to  this  spirit.  They  had  been  bap- 
tized ....  they  had  eaten  and  drank  at  the  table  of  the  Lord  ....  yet  they 
trifled  with  idolatry,  and  worldly  lusts.  "  I  would  not  that  ye  should  be 
ignorant,"  said  Paul,  "how  that  all  our  fathers  were  under  the  cloud,  and  all 
passed  through  the  sea ;  and  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud,  and 
in  the  sea;  and  did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat;  and  did  all  drink  the 
same  spiritual  drink  (for  they  drank  of  that  .spiritual  Rock  that  followed 
them,  and  that  Rock  was  Christ).  But  with  many  of  them  God  was  not 
well  pleased ;  for  they  were  overthrown  in  the  wilderness.  Now  these 
things  were  our  examples." — "Wherefore  let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth 
take  heed  lest  he  fail!"  As  if  he  had  said, — Are  you  members  of  a  com- 
munity which  has  the  promised  presence  of  Christ?  Our  fathers  also  were 
"  under  the  cloud."     Has  God  interposed  in  your  favour  ?     They  "  passed 


CHRISTIANS  ENTREATED  TO  PROMOTE  THE  CAUSE  OF  CHRIST.   345 

through  the  sea,"  as  on  dry  land.  Have  you  been  baptized?  So  were  they. 
They  "descended"  in  a  body  into  the  sea;  were  "buried,"  as  it  were,  by 
the  cloud  above  thetn  and  the  waters  on  each  hand  of  them ;  and  afterwards 
"ascended"  on  the  other  side.  Have  you  been  admitted  to  the  holy  supper? 
They  also  ate  of  that  food,  and  drank  of  that  stream,  the  spiritual  intent  of 
which  was  much  the  same.  Yet  all  this  afforded  them  no  security,  when 
they  provoked  the  Divine  jealousy.  Notwithstanding  these  privileges  they 
fell,  and  were  destroyed  of  the  destroyer.  These  things  are  recorded  for 
our  admonition. — Of  what  account  then  will  our  baptism  be  to  us,  if,  instead 
of  being  dead  to  the  world  and  alive  to  God,  we  be  the  reverse?  Will  bap- 
tism save  us  ?     No  :  it  will  bear  witness  against  us ! 

And  though  we  may  not  fall  into  so  fatal  an  error  as  to  substitute  baptism 
in  the  place  of  holiness,  righteousness,  and  godliness;  yet  if  we  cherish  a 
fond  conceit  of  ourselves,  magnifying  our  advantages  to  the  neglect  of  a 
spirit  of  humble  watchfulness,  our  baptism,  instead  of  aiding  us,  will  become 
a  snare.  We  do  not  always  act  up  to  our  advantages.  It  is  very  possible 
that  Christians  who  are  behind  us  in  this  particular,  may  notwithstanding  be 
before  us  in  their  general  character.  It  were  vain  and  foolish  to  imagine 
that  our  possessing  the  truth  in  one  instance  will  secure  us  from  error  in 
every  other;  or  that  our  fulfilling  this  command  of  Christ,  however  im- 
portant, will  insure  a  course  of  universal  obedience. 

Let  us  never  forget,  that  however  adapted  this  or  that  ordinance,  form,  or 
mode  of  church  government  may  be  to  promote  our  spiritual  interests,  yet 
if  we  rest  in  the  means,  they  will  deceive  us;  or  rather  we  shall  deceive 
ourselves.  It  is  the  presence  of  Christ  only  that  can  keep  us  alive,  either 
as  individuals  or  as  churches.  While,  therefore,  we  recommend  the  means 
which  he  has  prescribed,  we  devoutly  add,  with  the  apostle,  "  The  grace  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  be  with  you  all !"     Amen. 


1806. 


the   pastors  address  to  his    christian   hearers,  entreating  their 
assistance  in  promoting  the  interest  of  christ. 

Beloved  Brethren, 

The  ministry  to  which  God  by  your  election  has  called  us  forms  a  distin- 
guished part  of  the  gospel  dispensation.  Divine  instruction  was  communi- 
cated under  the  Old  Testament,  and  an  order  of  men  appointed  of  God  for 
the  purpose ;  but  their  work  can  scarcely  be  denominated  prcachivg.  They 
foretold  the  good  news  ;  but  it  is  for  us  to  proclaim  it.  The  poor  having 
the  gospel  preached  to  them  is  alleged  in  proof  that  the  Messiah  was  come, 
and  that  they  were  not  to  look  for  another. 

The  very  existence  of  Christian  churches  is  in  subserviency  to  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel ;  or  they  would  not  have  been  described  as  "  golden  can- 
dlesticks," the  use  of  which  is  to  impart  light  to  those  around  them.  We 
speak  not  thus,  brethren,  to  magnify  ourselves.  There  is  an  important  dif- 
ference between  Christian  ministers  and  the  Christian  ministry.  The  for- 
mer, we  are  ready  to  acknowledge,  exist  for  your  sakes.  "  Whether  Paul, 
Apollos,  or  Cephas — all  are  yours ;"  but  the  latter,  as  being  the  chosen 

Vol  ni.~44 


346  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

means  of  extending  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  is  that  for  which  both  we 
and  you  exist.     "  Ye  are  Christ's,  and  Chnst  is  God's." 

These  considerations  will  enable  us  to  account  for  the  joy  which  the 
apostle  expressed  in  "  Christ's  being  preached,"  even  though  it  were  from 
"  envy;"  and  may  teach  us  to  rejoice  in  the  same  thing,  though  it  be  in  the 
most  corrupt  communities,  or  even  from  the  most  suspicious  motives.  But 
though  God  may  cause  his  truth  to  triumph  wherever  and  by  whomsoever  it 
is  taught,  yet  it  should  be  our  concern  to  publish  it  willingly,  and  to  the  best 
advantage. 

The  primitive  churches  were  not  mere  assemblies  of  men  who  agreed  to 
meet  together  once  or  twice  a  week,  and  to  subscribe  for  the  support  of  an 
accomplished  man  who  should  on  those  occasions  deliver  lectures  on  reli- 
gion. They  were  men  gathered  out  of  the  world  by  the  preaching  of  the 
cross,  and  formed  into  society  for  the  promotion  of  Christ's  kingdom  in 
their  own  souls  and  in  the  world  around  them.  It  was  not  the  concern  of 
the  ministers  or  elders  only;  the  body  of  the  people  were  interested  in  all 
that  was  done,  and,  according  to  their  several  abilities  and  stations,  took 
part  in  it.  Neither  were  they  assemblies  of  heady,,  high-minded,  conten- 
tious people,  meeting  together  to  argue  on  points  of  doctrine  or  discipline, 
and  converting  the  worship  of  God  into  scenes  of  strife.  They  spoke  the 
truth;  but  it  was  in  love:  they  observed  discipline;  but,  like  an  army  of 
chosen  men,  it  was  that  they  might  attack  the  kingdom  of  Satan  to  greater 
advantage.  Happy  were  it  for  our  churches  if  we  could  come  to  a  closer 
imitation  of  this  model  1 

We  trust  it  is  our  sincere  desire  as  ministers  to  be  more  intent  upon  our 
work ;  but  allow  us  to  ask  for  your  assistance.  Nehemiah,  zealous  as  he 
was,  could  not  have  built  the  wall  if  the  people  had  not  had  a  mind  to  work. 
Nor  could  Ezra  have  reformed  the  abuses  among  the  people  if  nobody  had 
stood  with  him.  But  in  this  case  the  elders,  when  convinced  of  the  neces- 
sity of  the  measure,  offered  themselves  willingly  to  assist  him.  "Arise," 
said  they,  "  for  this  matter  belongeth  unto  thee :  we  also  will  be  with  thee : 
be  of  good  courage,  and  do  it."  Such  is  the  assistance,  brethren,  which  we 
solicit  at  your  hands. 

We  might  enumerate  the  different  ways  in  which  your  assistance  in  pro- 
moting the  interest  of  Christ  is  needed.  We  might  ask  for  your  prayers, 
your  early  attendance,  your  counsels,  your  contributions,  and  your  example ; 
but  what  we  have  to  offer  will  arise  from  a  review  of  the  different  branches 
of  our  own  labours. 

In  the  discharge  of  our  work  we  have  to  do  with  four  descriptions  of 
people,  and  in  dealing  with  each  we  stand  in  need  of  your  assistance  • 
namely,  serious  and  humble  Christians — disorderly  walkers — persons  under 
concern  about  salvation — and  persons  manifestly  unconverted. 

First,  It  may  be  supposed  that  in  every  church  of  Christ  there  will  be  a 
considerable  proportion  of  serious  and  humble  Cliristians. — Our  work  in 
respect  of  them  is  to  feed  them  with  the  wholesome  doctrine  of  the  word, 
and  to  teach  them  the  mind  of  Christ  in  all  things.  The  assistance  which 
we  ask  of  you,  brethren,  in  this  part  of  our  ministry,  is,  that  you  would  not 
only  pray  for  us,  but  be  free  to  impart  to  us  the  state  of  your  minds,  and 
whether  our  labours  be  edifying  to  you  or  not.  It  is  not  so  much  by  a  sys- 
tematical statement  and  defence  of  Christian  doctrines  that  believers  are 
edified,  as  by  those  doctrines  being  applied  to  their  respective  cases.  This 
is  the  way  in  which  they  are  ordinarily  introduced  in  the  Scriptures,  and  in 
which  they  become  "  words  in  due  season."  But  we  cannot  well  preach  to 
the  cases  of  people  unless  we  know  them.  Add  to  this,  the  interest  which 
you  discover  in  the  things  of  God  has  a  more  than  ordinary  influence  on 


CHRISTIANS  ENTREATED  TO  PROMOTE  THE  CAUSE  OF  CHRIST.    347 

our  minds  in  the  delivery  of  them.  You  cannot  conceive  the  difference 
between  addressing  a  people  full  of  tender  and  affectionate  attention,  whose 
souls  appear  in  tlieir  eyes,  and  answer,  as  it  were,  to  the  word  of  God ;  and 
preaching  to  those  who  are  either  half  asleep,  or  their  thoughts  manifestly 
occupied  by  other  things.  By  looking  at  the  one,  our  hearts  have  expanded 
like  the  flowers  before  the  morning  sun :  thoughts  have  occurred,  and  sen- 
sations have  been  kindled,  which  the  labours  of  the  study  could  never  have 
furnished.  But,  by  observing  the  other,  our  spirits  are  contracted  like  tlie 
flowers  by  the  damps  of  the  evening,  and  thoughts  which  were  interesting 
when  alone  have  seemed  to  die  as  they  proceeded  from  our  lips. 

It  will  tend  not  a  little  to  increase  your  interest  in  hearing,  if  you  exercise 
yourselves  on  other  occasions  in  reading  and  reflection.  If  you  attend  to 
the  things  of  God  only,  or  chiefly,  while  hearing  us,  we  shall  preach  to  you 
under  great  disadvantage.  The  apostle  complained  of  many  things  being 
hard  to  be  uttered,  owing  to  the  Hebrews  being  dull  of  hearing;  and  that, 
when  for  the  time  they  ought  to  have  been  teachers,  they  had  need  that  one 
should  teach  them  again  which  were  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of 
God.  Thinking  hearers  give  a  ficility  to  preaching,  even  upon  the  most 
difficult  subjects ;  while  those  whose  minds  are  seldom  occupied  at  other 
times  can  scarcely  understand  the  most  easy  and  ftmiliar  truths. 

Secondly,  In  every  church  we  must  expect  a  greater  or  less  proportion  of 
disorderli/  walkers. — Our  work,  in  respect  of  them,  is  to  warn,  admonish, 
and,  if  possible,  to  reclaim  diem ;  or,  if  that  cannot  be,  to  separate  them, 
lest  the  little  leaven  should  leaven  the  whole  lump.  But  in  these  cases, 
more  than  in  many  others,  we  stand  in  need  of  your  assistance.  It  is  not 
ministers  only,  but  all  "  who  are  spiritual,"  that  the  apostle  addresses  on  this 
subject;  and  spiritual  characters  may  always  expect  employment  in  restoring 
others  in  the  spirit  of  meekness.  It  is  of  great  importance  to  the  well-being 
of  a  church  that  men  are  not  wanting  who  will  watch  over  one  another  in 
love,  observe  and  counteract  the  first  symptoms  of  declension,  heal  differ- 
ences at  an  early  period,  and  nip  disturbances  in  Uie  bud.  By  such  means 
there  will  be  but  few  diings  of  a  disagreeable  nature,  which  will  require 
either  the  censures  of  the  church  or  the  interference  of  the  pastor. 

There  will  be  instances,  however,  in  which  both  the  pastor  and  the  church 
must  interfere;  and  here  it  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  that  they  each  pre- 
serve a  right  spirit,  and  act  in  concert.  There  are  two  errors  in  particular 
into  which  individuals  have  frequently  fallen  in  these  matters.  One  is  a 
harsh  and  unfeeling  conduct  towards  the  offender,  tending  only  to  provoke 
his  resentment,  or  to  drive  him  to  despair ;  the  other  is  that  of  siding  with 
him,  apologizing  for  him,  and  carrying  it  so  familiarly  towards  him  in  pri- 
vate as  to  induce  him  to  think  others  who  reprove  him  his  enemies  Be- 
ware, brethren,  of  both  these  extremes,  which,  instead  of  assisting  us  in  our 
work,  would  be  doing  the  utmost  to  counteract  us.  We  may  almost  as  well 
abandon  discipline  as  not  to  act  in  concert.  It  was  on  this  principle  that 
the  apostle  enjoined  it  on  the  Corinthians  "  not  to  keep  company,  if  any 
man  that  is  called  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or  covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a 
railer,  or  a  drunkard,  or  an  extortioner;  with  such  a  one,  no,  not  to  eat.'' 

Your  assistance  is  particularly  necessary  to  resist  and  overcome  those  un- 
lovely partialities  which  are  too  often  found  in  individuals  towards  their 
relations  or  favourites.  We  have  seen  and  heard  of  disorderly  walkers, 
whose  connexions  in  a  church  have  been  so  extensive,  that,  when  they 
should  have  been  censured  or  admonished,  eitner  a  strong  opposition  was 
raised  in  their  favour,  or  at  least  a  considerable  number  have  chosen  to  stand 
neuter,  and  so  to  leave  the  officers  of  the  church  to  act  in  a  manner  alone. 
It  is  glorious  to  see  a  people  in  such  cases  acting  in  the  spirit  of  Levi,  who 


348  CIRCULAR   LETTERS. 

"  did  not  acknowledge  his  brethren,  nor  know  his  own  children ;  but 
observed  God's  word,  and  kept  his  covenant!" 

It  is  often  extremely  difficult  for  a  pastor  to  go  through  with  such  p.iatters 
without  injury  to  his  character  and  ministry.  He,  being  by  his  office  obliged 
to  take  the  lead,  becomes  the  principal  object  of  resentment ;  and  every 
idle  story  is  raked  up  by  the  party  and  their  adherents  which  may  wound  his 
reputation,  and  impute  his  conduct  to  suspicious  motives.  If,  in  such  cir- 
cumstances, his  brethren  stand  by  him,  he  will  disregard  the  slander  of  his 
enemies :  but  if  they  be  indifferent,  it  will  be  death  to  him.  Should  such  a 
conduct  issue  in  his  removal,  it  is  no  more  than  might  be  expected. 

Thirdly,  In  every  church  of  Christ  we  may  hope  to  find  some  persons 
inquiring  after  the  icay  of  salvation. — This  may  be  the  case  much  more  at 
some  periods  than  at  others;  but  we  may  presume,  from  the  promise  of  God 
to  be  with  his  servants,  that  the  word  of  truth  shall  not  be  any  length  of 
time  without  effect.  Our  work  in  this  case  is  to  cherish  conviction,  and  to 
direct  the  mind  to  the  gospel  remedy.  But  if,  when  men  are  inquiring  the 
way  to  Zion,  there  be  none  but  the  minister  to  give  them  information, 
things  must  be  low  indeed.  It  might  be  expected  that  there  should  be  as 
many  persons  capable  of  giving  direction  on  this  subject  as  there  are  serious 
Christians;  for  who  that  has  obtained  mercy  by  believing  in  Jesus  should  be 
at  a  loss  to  recommend  him  to  another?  It  is  matter  of  fact,  however,  that 
though,  as  in  cases  of  bodily  disease,  advisers  are  seldom  wanting:  yet, 
either  for  want  of  being  interested  in  the  matter,  or  sufficiently  skilful  in  the 
word  of  righteousness,  there  aie  but  few,  comparatively,  whose  advice  is  of 
any  value;  and  this  we  apprehend  to  be  one  great  cause  of  declension  in 
many  churches.  Were  we  writing  on  ministerial  defects,  we  should  not 
scruple  to  acknowledge  that  much  of  the  preaching  of  the  present  day  is 
subject  to  the  same  censure;  but  in  the  present  instance  we  must  be  allowed 
to  suppose  ourselves  employed  in  teaching  the  good  and  the  right  way,  and 
to  solicit  your  assistance  in  the  work.  When  the  apostle  tells  the  Hebrews 
that,  considering  the  time,  "  they  ought  to  have  been  teachers,"  he  does  not 
mean  that  they  ought  all  to  have  been  ministers;  but  able  to  instruct  any 
inquirer  in  the  great  principles  of  the  gospel. 

It  has  been  already  intimated  that,  to  give  advice  to  a  person  under  con- 
cern about  salvation,  it  is  necessary,  in  the  first  place,  that  we  be  interested 
on  his  behalf,  and  treat  him  in  a  free  and  affectionate  manner.  Some  mem- 
bers of  churches  act  as  if  they  thought  such  things  did  not  concern  them, 
and  as  if  their  whole  duty  consisted  in  sending  the  party  to  the  minister.  A 
church  composed  of  such  characters  may  be  opulent  and  respectable ;  but 
they  possess  nothing  inviting  or  winning  to  an  awakened  mind.  To  cherish 
conviction,  and  give  a  right  direction  to  such  a  mind,  we  must  be  free  and 
affectionate.  When  a  sinner  begins  to  think  of  his  condition,  such  ques- 
tions as  the  following  will  often  cross  his  mind : — Was  there  ever  such  a 
case  as  mine  before  ?  Are  there  any  people  in  the  world  who  have  been 
what  I  am,  and  who  are  in  the  way  to  eternal  life?  If  there  be,  who  are 
they?  Where  are  they?  But  if,  while  he  is  thinking  what  he  must  do  to 
be  saved,  he  neither  sees  nor  hears  any  thing  among  you  which  renders  it 
probable  that  such  was  ever  your  concern — if,  as  soon  as  a  sermon  is  ended, 
he  sees  merely  an  exchange  of  civilities,  and,  on  leaving  the  place,  observes 
that  all  the  congregation  immediately  fall  into  conversation  about  worldly 
things,  what  can  he  think?  Either  that  there  is  nothing  in  religion,  or,  if 
there  be,  that  he  must  seek  elsewhere  for  it.  The  voice  of  a  Christian 
church  to  those  who  attend  upon  their  ministry  should  be  that  of  Moses  to 
Hobab :  "  We  are  journeying  to  the  place  of  which  the  Lord  hath  said,  I 


CHRISTIANS  ENTREATED  TO  PROMOTE  THE  CAUSE  OF  CHRIST.    343 

will  give  it  you.  Come  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  do  thee  good :  for  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  good  concerning  Israel." 

It  is  of  great  consequence  to  the  well-being  of  a  church,  that  there  be 
persons  in  particular  in  it  who  are  accessible  to  characters  of  this  descrip- 
tion, and  who  would  take  a  pleasure  in  introducing  themselves  to  them. 
Barnabas,  who,  by  a  tender  and  affectionate  spirit,  was  peculiarly  fitted  for 
this  employment,  was  acquainted  with  Saul  while  the  other  disciples  were 
afraid  of  him.  It  was  he  that  introduced  him  to  the  apostles,  and  declared 
unto  them  how  he  had  seen  the  Lord  in  the  way,  and  that  he  had  spoken 
to  him,  and  how  he  had  preached  boldly  at  Damascus  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

Affection,  however,  is  not  the  only  qualification  for  this  work  :  it  requires 
that  you  be  skilful  in  the  word  of  righteousness ;  else  you  will  administer 
false  consolation,  and  may  be  instrumental  in  destroying,  instead  of  saving 
souls.  Not  that  it  requires  any  extraordinary  talents  to  give  advice  in  such 
cases;  the  danger  arises  principally  from  inattention  and  erroneous  views 
of  the  gospel. 

If,  brethren,  you  would  assist  us  in  this  delightful  work,  allow  us  to  cau- 
tion you  against  one  prevailing  error,  and  to  recommend  one  important  rule. 
The  error  to  which  we  allude  is.  Taking  it  for  granted  that  the  party 

HAS  NO  DOUBTS  AS  TO  THE  GOSPEL  WAY  OF  SALVATION,  AND  NO  UNWILLING- 
NESS   TO   BE   SAVED    BY  IT,  PROVIDED  GoD  WERE    BUT  WILLING  TO  SAVE    HIM. 

Such  are  probably  his  thoughts  of  himself;  and  the  only  question  with  him 
is,  whether  he  have  an  interest  in  Christ  and  spiritual  blessings.  Hence  he 
is  employed  in  searching  for  something  in  his  religious  experience  which 
may  amount  to  an  evidence  of  his  conversion ;  and  in  talking  with  you  he 
expects  you  to  assist  him  in  the  search.  But  do  not  take  this  account  of 
things  as  being  the  true  one :  it  is  founded  in  self-deception.  If  he  under- 
stood and  believed  the  gospel  way  of  salvation,  he  would  know  that  God  was 
willing  to  save  any  sinner  who  is  willing  to  be  saved  by  it.  A  willingness 
to  relinquish  every  false  confidence,  every  claim  of  preference  before  the 
most  ungodly  character,  and  every  ground  of  hope  save  that  which  God  has 
laid  in  the  gospel,  is  all  that  is  wanting.  If  he  have  this,  there  is  nothing 
in  heaven  or  earth  in  the  v.'ay  of  his  salvation.  In  conversing  with  such  a 
character  we  should  impress  this  truth  upon  him,  assuring  him  that  if  he  be 
straitened  it  is  not  of  God,  but  in  his  own  bowels — that  the  doubts  which 
he  entertains  of  the  willingness  of  God,  especially  on  account  of  his  sinful- 
ness and  unworthiness,  are  no  other  than  the  workings  of  a  self-righteous 
opposition  to  the  gospel  (as  they  imply  an  opinion,  that  if  he  were  less  sinlul 
and  more  worthy,  God  might  be  induced  to  save  him) — and  that  if  he  be 
not  saved,  it  will  be  owing  to  his  thus  continuing  to  stumble  at  the  stumbling- 
stone.  Instead  of  allowing  that  he  believes  the  gospel,  and  is  willing  to  be 
saved  in  the  gospel  way,  whUe  yet  his  very  moans  betray  the  contrary,  we 
should  labour  to  persuade  him  that  he  does  not  yet  understand  the  deceit  of 
his  own  heart — that  if  he  were  willing  to  come  to  Christ  for  life,  there  is  no 
doubt  of  his  being  accepted ;  in  short,  that,  whenever  he  is  brought  to  be 
of  this  mind,  he  will  not  only  ask  after  the  good  way,  but  walk  in  it,  and 
will  assuredly  find  rest  unto  his  soul. 

The  rule  we  recommend  is  this:  Point  them  directly  to  the  Saviour. 
It  may  be  thought  that  no  Christian  can  misunderstand  or  misapply  this 
important  direction,  which  is  every  where  taught  in  the  New  Testament. 
Yet  if  you  steer  not  clear  of  the  above  error,  you  will  be  unable  to  keep  to 
it.  So  long  as  you  admit  the  obstruction  to  believing  in  Christ  to  consist 
in  something  distinct  from  disaffection  to  the  gospel  way  of  salvation,  it  will 
be  next  to  impossible  for  you  to  exhort  a  sinner  to  it  in  the  language  of  the 
New  Testament.     For  how  can  you  exhort  a  man  to  that  which  you  think 

2G 


350  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

he  desires  with  all  his  heart  to  comply  with,  but  cannot?  You  must  feel 
that  such  exhortations  would  be  tantalizing  and  insulting  him.  You  may, 
indeed,  conceive  of  him  as  ignorant,  and  as  such  labour  to  instruct  him  • 
but  your  feelings  will  not  suffer  you  to  exhort  him  to  any  thing  in  which  he 
is  involuntary.  Hence,  you  will  content  yourselves  with  directing  him  to 
wait  at  the  pool  of  ordinances,  and  it  may  be  to  pray  for  grace  to  enable  him 
to  repent  and  believe,  encouraging  him  to  hope  for  a  happy  issue  in  God's 
due  time.  But  this  is  not.  pointing  the  sinner  directly  to  Christ.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  furnishing  him  with  a  resting-place  short  of  him,  and  giving 
him  to  imagine  that  duties  performed  while  in  unbelief  are  pleasing  to 
God. 

If  you  point  the  awakened  sinner  direcdy  to  the  Saviour,  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  New  Testament,  you  will  not  be  employed  in  assisting  him  to 
analyze  the  distresses  of  his  mind,  and  administering  consolation  to  him 
from  the  hope  that  they  may  contain  some  of  the  ingredients  of  true  con- 
version, or  at  least  the  signs  that  he  will  be  converted.  Neither  will  you 
consider  distress  as  ascertaining  a  happy  issue,  any  otherwise  than  as  it  leads 
to  Christ.  If  the  question  were.  Do  I  believe  in  Jesus  for  salvation?  then, 
indeed,  you  must  inquire  what  effects  have  been  produced.  But  it  is  very 
different  where  the  inquiry  is.  What  shall  we  do?  or.  What  shall  I  do  to  be 
saved?  The  murderers  of  Christ  were  distressed  ;  but  Peter  did  not  attempt 
to  comfort  them  by  alleging  that  this  was  a  hopeful  sign  of  their  conversion, 
or  by  any  way  directing  their  attention  to  what  was  within  them.  On  the 
contrary,  he  exhibited  the  Saviour,  and  exhorted  them  to  repent  and  be 
baptized  in  his  name.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  Philippian  jailer.  He 
was  in  great  distress,  yet  no  comfort  was  administered  to  him  from  this 
quarter,  nor  any  other,  except  the  salvation  of  Christ.  Him  Paul  and  Silas 
exhibited,  and  in  him  directly  exhorted  him  to  believe.  The  promise  of 
rest  is  not  made  to  the  weary  and  heavy  laden,  but  to  those  who  come  to 
Christ  under  their  burdens. 

Once  more.  If  you  keep  this  rule,  though  you  will  labour  to  make  the 
sinner  sensible  of  his  sin,  (as  till  this  is  the  case  he  will  never  come  to  the 
Saviour,)  yet  you  will  be  far  from  holding  up  this  his  sensibility  as  affording 
any  warrant,  qualification,  or  title  to  believe  in  him,  which  he  did  not  possess 
before.  The  gospel  itself  is  the  warrant,  and  not  any  thing  in  the  state  of 
the  mind ;  though,  till  the  mind  is  made  sensible  of  the  evil  of  sin,  it  will 
never  comply  with  the  gospel. 

Fourthly,  There  is  in  all  congregations  and  neighbourhoods  a  considera- 
ble number  of  people  who  are  living  in  their  sins,  and  in  a  state  of  nncon- 
cernedness  about  salvation. — Our  work  in  respect  of  them  is,  whether  they 
will  hear  or  whether  they  will  forbear,  to  declare  unto  them  their  true  cha- 
racter, to  exhibit  the  Saviour  as  the  only  refuge,  and  to  warn  them  to  flee  to 
him  from  the  wrath  to  come.  In  this  also  there  are  various  ways  in  which 
you  may  greatly  assist  us.  If,  as  heads  of  families,  you  were  to  inquire  ot 
your  children  and  servants  what  they  have  heard  and  noticed  on  the  Lord's 
day,  you  would  often  find  occasion  to  second  the  impressions  made  by  our 
labours.  It  is  also  of  great  consequence  to  be  endued  with  that  wisdom 
from  above  which  dictates  a  word  in  season  to  men  in  our  ordinary  concerns 
with  them.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  recommend  the  fulsome  practice  of  some 
professors,  who  are  so  full  of  what  they  call  religion  as  to  introduce  it  on  all 
occasions,  and  that  in  a  most  offensive  manner.  Yet  there  is  a  way  of  drop- 
ping a  hint  to  a  good  purpose.  It  is  admirable  to  observe  the  easy  and 
inoffensive  manner  in  which  a  patriarch  introduced  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant truths  to  a  heathen  prince,  merely  in  answer  to  the  question.  How 
old  art  thou?     "The  days  of  the  years  of  my  pilgrimage,"  said  he,  "are  a 


CHRISTIANS  ENTREATED  TO  PROMOTE  THE  CAUSE  OF  CHRIST.    351 

hundred  and  tliirty  years;  few  and  evil  have  the  days  of  the  years  of  my  life 
been,  and  have  not  attained  unto  the  days  of  the  years  of  the  life  of  my 
fathers,  in  the  days  of  their  pilgrimage."  This  was  insinuating  to  Pharaoh 
that  he  and  his  fathers  before  him  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  upon  the 
earth — that  their  portion  was  not  in  this  world,  but  in  another — that  the  life 
of  man,  though  it  extended  to  a  hundred  and  thirty  years,  was  but  a  few 
days — and  that  those  few  days  were  mixed  with  evil — all  which,  if  the  king 
reflected  on  it,  would  teach  him  to  set  light  by  the  earthly  glory  with  which 
he  was  loaded,  and  to  seek  a  crown  which  fadeth  not  away. 

You  are  acquainted  with  many  who  do  not  attend  the  preaching  of  the 
word.  If,  by  inviting  them  to  go  with  you,  an  individual  only  should  be 
caught,  as  we  say,  in  the  gospel  net,  you  would  save  a  soul  from  death.  Such 
examples  have  frequently  occurred.  It  is  an  established  law  in  the  Divine 
administration,  that  men,  both  in  good  and  evil,  should  iu  a  very  great  degree 
draw  and  be  drawn  by  each  other.  The  ordinary  way  in  which  the  know- 
ledge of  God  is  spread  in  the  world  is,  by  every  man  saying  to  his  neigh- 
bour and  to  his  brother,  Know  the  Lord.  It  is  a  character  of  gospel  times, 
that  "  Many  people  shall  go  and  say.  Come,  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of 
the  Lord,  to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob ;  and  he  will  teach  us  of  his 
ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his  paths;  for  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law, 
and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jerusalem."  Add  to  this,  by  visiting  your 
neighbours  under  affliction  you  would  be  furnished  with  many  an  opportunity 
of  conversing  with  them  to  advantage.  Men's  consciences  are  commonly 
awake  at  such  seasons,  whatever  they  have  been  at  others.  It  is  as  the 
month  to  the  wild  ass,  in  which  they  that  seek  her  may  find  her. 

Finally,  Enable  us  to  use  strong  language  when  recommending  the  gos- 
pel by  its  holy  and  happy  effects. — Unbelievers  constantly  object  to  the  doc- 
trine of  grace  as  licentious  ;  and  if  they  can  refer  to  your  unworthy  conduct, 
they  will  be  confirmed,  and  we  shall  find  it  impossible  to  vindicate  the  truth 
of  God  without  disowning  such  conduct,  and  it  may  be  you  on  account  of  it : 
but  if  we  can  appeal  to  the  upright,  the  temperate,  the  peaceable,  the  bene- 
volent, the  holy  lives  of  those  among  whom  we  labour,  it  will  be  of  more 
weight  than  a  volume  of  reasonings,  and  have  a  greater  influence  on  the 
consciences  of  men.  A  congregation  composed  of  kind  and  generous  mas- 
ters, diligent  and  faithful  servants,  affectionate  husbands,  obedient  wives, 
tender  parents,  dutiful  children,  and  loyal  subjects,  will  be  to  a  minister  what 
children  of  the  youth  are  said  to  be  to  a  parent:  As  arrows  in  the  hand  of  a 
mighty  man  : — "  Happy  is  the  man  that  hath  his  quiver  full  of  them  :  they 
shall  not  be  ashamed,  but  they  shall  speak  with  the  enemies  in  the  gate." 

These,  brethren,  are  some  of  the  principal  ways  in  which  we  affectionately 
solicit  your  assistance  in  promoting  the  interest  of  Christ.  In  doing  this,  we 
virtually  pledge  ourselves  to  be  ready  on  all  occasions  to  engage  in  it.  We 
feel  the  weight  of  this  implication.  Let  each  have  the  other's  prayer,  that 
we  may  both  be  assisted  from  above,  without  which  all  the  assistance  we  can 
render  each  other  will  be  unavailing.  Should  this  address  fall  into  the 
hands  of  one  who  is  yet  in  his  sins,  let  him  consider  that  the  object  of  it  is 
his  salvation ;  let  him  reflect  on  the  case  of  a  man  whom  many  are  endea- 
vouring to  save,  but  he  himself,  with  hardened  unconcern,  is  pressing  for- 
ward to  destruction ;  and  finally,  should  he  bethink  himself,  and  desire  to 
escape  the  wrath  to  come,  let  him  beware  of  false  refuges,  and  flee  to  Jesus. 
the  hope  set  before  him  in  the  gospel. 


352  CIRCULAR    lETTERS. 

1807. 

on  moral  and  positive  obedience. 

Dear  Brethren, 

In  addressing  these  our  annual  letters  to  you,  it  is  our  desire  to  lead  you 
on  in  the  Divine  life,  that,  not  contented  with  a  superficial  acquaintance  with 
religion,  you  may  clearly  understand  its  most  discriminating  principles.  The 
winds  of  doctrine  which  ahound,  by  which  many,  like  children,  are  tossed 
to  and  fro  and  carried  away,  require  that  you  grow  up  into  Him  in  all  things 
who  is  the  Head,  even  Christ. 

Concerning  the  subject  of  our  present  address,  namely,  moral  and  positive 
obedience,  suffice  it  to  say,  we  think  we  perceive  some  serious  evils  growing 
up  in  certain  parts  of  the  Christian  world  for  want  of  distinct  ideas  concern- 
ing it,  and  wish  to  arm  your  minds  against  them.  All  we  shall  attempt  will 
be  to  give  a  clear  statement  of  this  distinction,  and  to  point  out  the  use  of  it 
in  the  Christian  religion. 

An  unreserved  obedience  to  the  revealed  will  of  God,  in  whatever  form  it 
is  delivered,  is  the  Scriptural  test  of  faith  and  love.  You  have  professed  to 
believe  in  Christ  for  salvation,  and  have  been  baptized  in  his  name;  but  this 
is  not  all ;  the  same  commission  which  requires  this  directs  also  that  the 
disciples  should  be  instructed  in  the  whole  mind  of  Christ :  "  Teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  As  the  com- 
mandments of  Christ,  however,  are  not  all  of  the  same  kind,  so  neither  is 
our  obedience  required  to  be  yielded  in  all  respects  on  the  same  principles. 

The  distinction  of  obedience  into  moral  and  positive  is  far  from  being 
novel.  It  has  been  made  by  the  ablest  writers,  of  various  denominations, 
and  must  be  made  if  we  would  understand  the  Scriptures.  Without  it,  we 
should  confound  the  eternal  standard  of  right  and  wrong  given  to  Israel  at 
Sinai  (the  sum  of  which  is  love  to  God  and  our  neighbour)  with  the  body  of 
"  carnal  ordinances  imposed  on  them  until  the  time  of  reformation."  We 
should  also  confound  those  precepts  and  examples  of  the  New  Testament 
which  arise  from  the  relations  we  stand  in  to  God  and  to  one  another,  with 
positive  institutions  which  arise  merely  from  the  sovereign  will  of  the  Law- 
giver, and  could  never  have  been  known  had  he  not  expressly  enjoined  them. 
Concerning  the  former,  an  inspired  writer  does  not  scruple  to  refer  the  pri- 
mitive Christians  to  that  sense  of  right  and  wrong  which  is  implanted  in  the 
minds  of  men  in  general;  saying,  "  Whatsoever  things  are  true,  whatsoever 
things  are  honest,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  pure, 
whatsoever  things  are  lovely,  whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there 
be  any  virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  praise,  think  on  these  things."  But  con- 
cerning the  latter,  he  directs  their  whole  attention  to  Christ,  and  to  those 
who  acted  under  his  authority.  "  Be  ye  followers  of  me  as  I  also  am  of 
Christ." — "  Now  I  praise  you,  brethren,  that  ye  remember  me  in  all  things, 
and  keep  the  ordinances  as  I  delivered  them  to  you."  The  one  is  com- 
manded because  it  is  right ;  the  other  is  right  because  it  is  commanded. 
The  great  principles  of  the  former  are  of  perpetual  obligation,  and  know  no 
other  variety  than  that  which  arises  from  the  varying  of  relations  and  condi- 
tions; but  those  of  the  latter  may  be  binding  at  one  period  of  time,  and 
utterly  abolished  at  another. 

We  can  clearly  perceive  that  it  were  inconsistent  with  the  perfections  of 
God  not  to  have  required  us  to  love  him  and  one  another,  or  to  have  allowed 


MORAL  AND  POSITIVE  OBEDIENCE.  353 

of  the  contrary.  Children  also  must  needs  be  required  to  "  obey  their 
parents,  fur  this  is  right."  But  it  is  not  thus  in  positive  institutions.  What- 
ever wisdom  there  may  be  in  them,  and  whatever  discernment  in  us,  we 
could  not  have  known  them  had  they  not  been  expressly  revealed ;  nor  are 
they  ever  enforced  as  being  i-ight  in  themselves,  but  merely  as  being  of 
Divine  appointment.  Of  them  we  may  say,  Had  it  pleased  God,  he  might 
in  various  instances  have  enjoined  the  opposites;  but  of  the  other  we  are  not 
allowed  to  suppose  it  possible,  or  consistent  with  righteousness,  to  require 
any  thing  different  from  that  which  is  required. 

The  design  of  moral  obligation  is  to  preserve  order  in  the  creation ;  that 
of  positive  institutions,  among  other  things,  to  prove  us,  whether,  like  Abra- 
ham in  offering  up  his  son,  we  will  yield  implicit  obedience  to  God's  com- 
mandments, or  whether  we  will  hesitate  till  we  perceive  the  reason  of  them. 
The  obligation  of  man  to  love  and  obey  his  Creator  was  coeval  with  his 
existence;  but  it  was  not  till  God  had  planted  a  garden  in  Eden,  and  there 
put  the  man  whom  he  had  formed,  and  expressly  prohibited  the  fruit  of  one 
of  the  trees  on  pain  of  death,  that  he  came  under  a  positive  law.  The  former 
would  approve  itself  to  his  conscience  as  according  with  the  nature  of  things; 
the  latter  as  being  commanded  by  his  Creator. 

Having  briefly  stated  our  views  of  the  subject,  we  proceed  to  point  out  the 
uses  to  which  it  is  applicable  in  the  exercise  of  Christian  obedience. 

Far  be  it  from  us  to  amuse  the  churches  we  represent  with  useless  dis- 
tinctions, or  speculations  which  apply  not  to  the  great  purposes  of  practical 
godliness.  If  we  mistake  not,  brethren,  a  clear  view  of  the  subject,  as  stated 
above,  will  furnish  you  with  much  important  instruction. 

We  need  only  remind  you  of  the  use  of  this  distinction  in  reducing  to  a 
narrow  compass  the  baptismal  controversy.  Your  ablest  writers  have  shown 
from  hence  the  fallacy  of  all  reasonings  in  favour  of  infant  baptism  from  the 
Abrahamic  covenant,  from  circumcision,  or  from  any  ground  of  mere 
analogy:  and  not  your  writers  only;  for  the  principle  is  conceded  by  a  con- 
siderable number  of  our  most  learned  opponents.*  In  instituted  worship, 
we  have  only  to  understand  the  will  of  our  Divine  Lawgiver  in  relation  to 
the  subject  in  question,  and  to  obey  it. 

But  this  is  not  the  sole,  nor  perhaps  the  principal  use  to  be  made  of  the 
distinction.  We  are  not  only  taught  by  it  to  look  for  express  precept  or 
example,  in  things  positive,  but  not  to  look  for  them  in  things  moral.  In 
obedience  of  the  latter  description  there  is  not  that  need  of  minute  rules  or 
examples  as  in  the  former;  but  merely  of  general  principles,  which  naturally 
lead  to  all  the  particulars  comprehended  in  them.  To  require  express  pre- 
cept or  example,  or  to  adhere  in  all  cases  to  the  literal  sense  of  those  precepts 
which  are  given  us,  in  things  of  a  moral  nature,  would  lead  to  very  injurious 
consequences.  We  may,  by  a  disregard  of  that  for  which  there  is  no  express 
precept  or  precedent,  omit  what  is  manifesdy  right;  and,  by  an  adherence 
to  the  letter  of  Scriptural  precepts,  overlook  the  spirit  of  them,  and  do  that 
which  is  manifestly  wrong. 

If  we  do  nothing  without  express  precept  or  precedent,  we  must  build  no 
places  for  Christian  worship,  form  no  societies  for  visiting  and  relieving  the 
afflicted  poor,  establish  no  schools,  endow  no  hospitals,  nor  contribute 
any  thing  towards  them,  nor  any  thing  towards  printing  or  circulating  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  Whether  any  person  pretending  to  serious  religion  would 
deny  these  things  to  be  the  duty  of  Christians,  we  cannot  tell ;  some,  how- 
ever, on  no  better  ground,  have  thought  themselves  at  liberty  to  lay  aside 
family  worship,  and  the  sanciif  cation  of  the  Lord's  day.     There  is  no 

*  See  Booth's  Padobaptism  Examined,  Vol.  I.  Chap.  I. 

Vol.  III.— 45  2g2 


354  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

express  precept  or  precedent  for  either,  that  we  recollect,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. But  the  worship  of  God,  being  of  moral  obligation,  extends  to  the 
various  relations  and  situations  in  life.  In  duties  of  this  description,  it  is 
not  God's  usual,  at  least  not  his  universal  method,  to  furnish  us  with  minute 
precepts,  but  rather  with  general  principles  which  will  naturally  lead  us  to 
the  practice  of  them.  We  have  no  account  of  any  particular  injunction 
given  to  Abraham  respecting  the  order  of  his  family,  God  had  said  to  him 
in  general,  "Walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect;"  and  this  was  sufficient. 
"  I  know  Abraham,  said  the  Lord,  that  he  will  command  his  children,  and 
his  household  after  him,  tliat  they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  and  do 
justice  and  judgment."  And  with  respect  to  "the  sanctification  of  the 
Lord's  day,"  so  far  as  it  relates  to  its  being  the  day  appointed  for  Christian 
worship,  rather  than  the  seventh — that  is  to  say,  so  far  as  it  is  positive — 
though  we  have  no  express  precept  for  it,  yet  there  are  not  wanting  prece- 
dents, which  amount  to  the  same  thing.  As  to  the  keeping  of  the  day 
"  holy  to  the  Lord,"  this  is  moral,  and  not  positive,  and  is  therefore  left  to 
be  inferred  from  general  principles.  If  God  be  publicly  worshipped,  there 
must  be  a  time  for  it ;  and  that  time  requires  to  be  devoted  to  him.  What- 
ever was  moral  in  the  setting  apart  of  the  seventh  day  for  Divine  worship 
(and  that  something  was  so  may  be  presumed  from  its  being  one  of  the  ten 
commandments)  applies  to  any  day  that  shall  be  appointed  for  the  like  pur- 
pose. Positive  institutions  have  all  something  moral  pertaining  to  them,  as 
it  respects  the  holy  manner  in  which  they  are  to  be  observed.  It  was  on 
this  principle  that  Paul  censured  as  immoral  the  manner  in  which  the  Corin- 
thians attended  to  a  positive  institute.  His  reasoning  on  that  subject  applies 
to  the  Lord's  day.  He  argued  from  the  ordinance  of  breaking  bread  being 
the  Lord's  supper  that  eating  thdr  own  supper  while  attending  to  it  was  ren- 
dering it  null  and  void.  And,  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  it  follows,  from  the 
first  day  of  the  week  being  the  Lord's  day,  that  to  do  our  oum  work,  find  our 
own  pleasure,  or  speak  our  oien  words  on  that  day,  is  to  render  it  null  and 
void.  Of  the  former  the  apostle  declared,  "  This  is  not  to  eat  the  Lord's 
SUPPER ;"  and  of  the  latter  he  would,  on  the  same  principle,  have  declared, 
This  is  not  to  keep  the  Lord's  DAr.  After  all,  it  is  surprising  if  any 
who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  can  feel  this  to  be  a  burden. 
"Why,  even  of  your  own  selves,  judge  ye  not  what  is  right?" 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  do  every  thing  according  to  the  letter  of  moral 
precepts,  we  shall  often  overlook  the  true  intent  of  them,  and  do  that  which 
is  manifestly  wrong.  Our  Lord's  precepts,  in  his  sermon  on  the  mount,  if 
so  understood,  would  contain  a  prohibition  of  all  public  prayers,  and  public 
contributions,  and  require  such  an  acquiescence  in  injuries  as  he  himself, 
when  smitten  before  Pilate,  did  not  exemplify.  The  right  hand,  in  certain 
cases,  must  be  cut  off,  and  the  right  eye  plucked  out.  If  God  prosper  our 
lawful  undertakings,  we  must  not  only  avoid  all  increase  of  property,  but 
must  retain  no  part  of  what  we  have.  No  beggar  nor  borrower  that  asks 
assistance,  whether  he  need  it  or  not,  must,  on  any  consideration,  be  refused. 

We  believe  self-love  will  be  a  sufficient  preservative  against  such  exposi- 
tions being  reduced  to  practice;  but  if  the  principle  be  retained,  it  will  be 
at  work  in  some  other  form,  diverting  the  attention  from  weightier  matters, 
and  reducing  religion  to  ceremony  and  litigious  trifling. 

It  was  not  our  Lord's  design,  in  these  precepts,  to  regulate  external  ac- 
tions so  much  as  motives.  Many  of  his  precepts,  it  is  true,  mention  the  act, 
and  the  act  only ;  but  their  aim  is  at  the  principle.  It  was  the  spirit  of 
ostentation  in  prayer  and  almsgiving,  of  selfish  resentment  in  cases  of  injury, 
and  o^  the  love  of  the  world  in  cases  of  accumulating  and  retaining  property, 
that  he  meant  to  censure. 


MORAL  AND   POSITIVE  OBEDIENCE.  355 

Neither  is  it  by  attending  to  a  ceremony  which  the  country  and  climate 
ordinarily  render  unnecessary,  that  we  comply  with  our  Lord's  precept,  "Ye 
ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet;"  but  "  by  love  serving  one  another."  We 
may  wash  the  saints'  feet,  and  neglect  to  dry  their  clothes,  or  administer  ne- 
cessary comfort  to  them  when  cold  and  weary.  We  may  give  a  disciple  a 
cup  of  cold  water,  and  keep  back  what  is  more  valuable  for  our  own  use. 
If  we  be  taught  of  God  to  love  one  another,  we  shall  find  little  difficulty  in 
understanding  and  practising  these  precepts. 

By  confounding  moral  and  positive  obedience,  some  have  reasoned  thus : 
"  You  agree  to  take  your  children  to  family  and  public  worship,  teach  them 
to  read  the  Bible  with  seriousness  and  attention,  instruct  them  in  catechisms, 
&c.,  and  why  do  you  not  take  than  to  the  Lord's  supper  ?"  We  answer, 
The  former  are  moral  obligations;  but  the  latter  is  not.  These  are  binding 
on  all  mankind,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  inculcated  from  the  earliest  dawn 
of  knowledge,  even  though  we  had  never  been  told  to  "  bring  up  our  chil- 
dren in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord ;"  but  this  is  the  immediate 
duty  of  believers  only.  Others,  on  the  same  principle,  have  argued  thus,  or 
to  this  effect:  "You  withhold  the  unconverted  from  joining  at  the  Lord's 
table,  and  why  not  also  from  joining  in  family  and  public  prayer?"  Our 
answer  is  the  same.  The  Lord's  supper  is  the  immediate  duty  of  believers 
only;  but  prayer  is  binding  on  men  in  general,  however  far  they  may  be 
from  perforining  it  in  an  acceptable  manner.  To  join  with  unbelievers  in 
what  is  not  their  immediate  duty  is  to  become  partakers  of  their  sin;  but  to 
allow  them  to  join  with  us  in  what  is  the  duty  of  every  one  is  not  so.  We 
ought  to  pray  for  such  things  as  both  we  and  they  stand  in  need  of,  and  if 
Ihey  unite  with  us  in  desire  it  is  well  for  them ;  if  not,  the  guilt  remains 
with  themselves,  and  not  with  us. 

If  we  be  not  greatly  mistaken,  many  disputes  which  have  divided  Chris- 
tians on  the  form,  order,  and  government  of  the  church  of  Christ,  might  at 
least  have  been  considerably  diminished  by  a  proper  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject. While  one  party  contends  for  an  Erastian  latitude,  or  that  no  Divine 
directions  are  left  us  on  these  subjects,  and  that  the  church  must  be  modelled 
and  governed  according  to  circumstances,  the  other  seems  to  have  considered 
the  whole  as  a  system  of  positive  institutions,  requiring  in  all  things  the  most 
literal  and  punctilious  observance.  The  truth  lies,  we  apprehend,  between 
these  extremes ;  and  the  way  to  find  it  is  to  ascertain  on  ivhat  principles  the 
apostles  proceeded  in  forming  and  organizing  Christian  churches,  positive 
or  MORAL.  If  the  former,  they  must  have  been  furnished  with  an  exact 
model,  or  pattern,  like  that  which  was  given  to  Moses  in  the  mount,  and 
have  done  all  things  according  to  it ;  but  if  the  latter,  they  would  only  be 
furnished  with  general  principles,  comprehending,  but  not  specifying,  a  great 
variety  of  particulars. 

That  the  framing  of  the  tabernacle  was  positive  there  can  be  no  doubt; 
and  that  a  part  of  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament  is  so  is  equally  evident. 
Concerning  this,  the  injunctions  of  the  apostle  are  minute  and  very  express. 
"  Be  ye  followers  (imitators)  of  me,  as  I  also  am  of  Christ." — "  In  this  I 
praise  you,  brethren,  that  ye  remember  me  in  all  things,  and  keep  the  ordi- 
nances  as  I  delivered  them  to  you." — "  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that 
which  also  I  delivered  unto  you."  But  were  we  to  attempt  to  draw  up  a 
formula  of  church  government,  worship,  and  discipline,  which  should  in- 
clude any  thing  more  than  general  outlines,  and  to  establish  it  upon  express 
New  Testament  authorities,  we  should  attempt  what  is  impracticable. 

We  doubt  not  but  the  apostles  acted  under  Divine  direction;  but  in  things 
of  a  moral  nature  that  direction  consisted,  not  in  providing  them  with  a 
model,  or  pattern,  in  the  manner  of  that  given  to  Moses,  but  in  furnishing 


356  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

them  with  general  principles,  and  enduing  them  with  holy  wisdom  to  apply 
them  as  occasions  required. 

We  learn  from  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles  that  the  churches  were  congre- 
gations of  f\iithful  men,  voluntarily  united  together  for  the  stated  ministration 
of  the  word,  the  administration  of  Christian  ordinances,  and  the  mutually 
assisting  each  other  in  tlie  cause  of  Christ;  that  they  were  governed  by 
bishops  and  deacons;  that  a  bishop  was  an  overseer,  not  of  other  ministers, 
but  of  the  flock  of  God;  that  the  government  and  discipline  of  each  church 
was  within  itself;  that  the  gifts  of  the  different  members  were  so  employed 
as  to  conduce  to  the  welfare  of  the  body;  and  that,  in  cases  of  disorder,  all 
proper  means  were  used  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  Christ,  and  reclaim  the 
party. 

These,  and  others  which  might  be  named,  we  call  general  principles. 
They  are  sometimes  illustrated  by  the  incidental  occurrence  of  examples, 
and  which,  in  all  similar  cases,  are  binding;  but  it  is  not  always  so.  That 
a  variety  of  cases  occur  in  our  times,  in  which  we  have  nothing  more  than 
general  principles  to  direct  us,  is  manifest  to  every  person  of  experience  and 
reflection.  We  know  that  churches  were  formed,  elders  ordained,  and 
prayer  and  praise  conducted  with  "the  understanding,"  or  so  as  to  be  under- 
stood by  others;  but  in  what  particular  manner  they  proceeded  in  each  we 
are  not  told.  We  have  no  account  of  the  formation  of  a  single  church,  no 
ordination  service,  nor  any  such  thing  as  a  formula  of  worship.  If  we  look 
for  express  precept  or  example  for  the  removal  of  a  pastor  from  one  situation 
to  another,  we  shall  find  none.  We  are  taught,  however,  that  for  the  church 
to  grow  unto  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord  it  requires  to  be  "  fidy  framed  to- 
gether." The  want  of  "  fitness"  in  a  connexion,  therefore,  especially  if  it  im- 
pede the  growth  of  the  spiritual  temple,  may  justify  a  removal.  Or  if  there 
be  no  want  of  fitness,  yet,  if  the  material  be  adapted  to  occupy  a  more  im- 
portant station,  a  removal  of  it  may  be  very  proper.  Such  a  principle  may 
be  misapplied  to  ambitious  and  interested  purposes ;  but  if  the  increase  of 
the  temple  be  kept  in  view,  it  is  lawful,  and  in  some  cases  attended  with 
great  and  good  effects. 

This  instance  may  suffice  instead  of  a  hundred,  and  goes  to  show  that  the 
forms  and  orders  of  the  New  Testament  church,  much  more  than  of  the  Old, 
are  founded  on  the  reason  of  things.  They  appear  to  be  no  more  than  what 
men  who  were  possessed  of  the  wisdom  from  above  would,  as  it  were  instinc- 
tively, adopt,  even  though  no  specific  directions  should  be  given. 

But  to  place  the  matter  beyond  all  doubt,  let  us  refer  to  the  professions 
and  practices  of  the  apostles  themselves.  The  principles  on  which  they  pro- 
fessed  to  act,  and  which  they  inculcated  on  others,  were  these :  "  Let  all 
things  be  done  to  edifying." — "  Let  all  things  be  done  decently,  and  in 
order."  Whatever  measures  had  a  tendency  to  build  up  the  church  of  God 
and  individuals  in  their  most  holy  faith,  these  they  pursued.  Whatever 
measures  approved  themselves  to  minds  endued  with  holy  wisdom  as  fit 
and  lovely,  and  as  tending,  like  good  discipline  in  an  army,  to  the  enlarge- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom,  these  they  followed,  and  inculcated  on  the 
churches.  And  however  worldly  minds  may  have  abused  the  principle,  by 
introducing  vain  customs  under  the  pretence  of  decency,  it  is  that  which, 
understood  in  its  simple  and  original  sense,  must  still  be  the  test  of  good 
order  and  Chiistian  discipline. 

The  way  in  which  the  apostles  actually  proceeded  in  the  forming  and 
organizing  of  churches  corresponds  with  this  statement  of  things.  When  a 
number  of  Christians  were  assembled  together  in  the  days  of  Pentecost,  they 
were  considered  as  a  Christian  church.  But  at  first  they  had  no  deacons, 
and  probably  no  pastors,  except  the  apostles.     And  if  the  reason  of  things 


MORAL  AND  POSITIVE  OBEDIENCE.  35? 

had  not  required  it,  they  might  have  continued  to  have  none.  But  in  the 
course  of  things  new  sernice  rose  upon  their  hands,  therefore  they  must  have 
new  servants  to  perform  it ;  for,  said  the  apostles,  "  It  is  not  7-eason  that  we 
should  leave  the  word  of  God,  and  serve  tables.  Wherefore,  brethren,  look 
ye  out  among  you  seven  men  of  honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
of  wisdom,  whom  ye  may  appoint  over  this  business."  In  this  process  we 
perceive  nothing  of  the  air  of  a  ceremony,  nothing  like  that  of  punctilious 
attention  to  forms,  which  marks  obedience  to  a  positive  institute  ;  but  merely 
the  conduct  of  men  endued  with  the  wisdom  from  above;  servants  appointed 
when  service  required  it,  and  the  number  of  the  one  regulated  by  the  quan- 
tity of  the  other.  All  things  are  done  "decently  and  in  order;"  all  things 
are  done  "  to  edifying." 

It  is  not  difficidt  to  perceive  the  wisdom  of  God  in  thus  varying  the  two 
dispensations.  The  Jewish  church  was  an  army  of  soldiers  who  had  to  go 
through  a  variety  of  forms  in  learning  their  discipline ;  the  Christian  church 
is  an  army  going  forth  to  battle.  The  members  of  the  former  were  taught 
punctilious  obedience,  and  led  with  great  formality  through  a  variety  of  reli- 
gious evolutions;  but  those  of  the  latter  (though  they  also  must  keep  their 
ranks,  and  act  in  obedience  to  command  whenever  it  is  given)  are  not  re- 
quired to  be  so  attentive  to  the  mechanical  as  to  the  mental,  not  so  much  to 
the  minute  observance  of  forms  as  to  the  spirit  and  design  of  them.  The 
order  of  the  one  would  almost  seem  to  have  been  appointed  for  order's  sake; 
but  in  that  of  the  other  the  utility  of  every  thing  is  apparent.  The  obedi- 
ence of  the  former  was  that  of  children ;  the  latter  that  of  sons  arrived  at 
mafurer  age. 

As  our  Saviour  abolished  the  Jewish  law  of  divorce,  and  reduced  marriage 
to  its  original  simplicity;  so,  having  abolished  the  form  and  order  of  the 
church  as  appointed  by  Moses,  he  reduced  it  to  what,  as  to  its  first  prin- 
ciples, it  was  from  the  beginning,  and  to  what  must  have  corresponded  with 
the  desires  of  believers  in  every  age.  It  was  natural  for  "  the  sons  of  God," 
in  the  days  of  Seth,  to  assemble  together,  and  to  "call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord ;"  and  their  unnatural  fellowship  with  unbelievers  brought  on  the 
deluge.  And  even  under  the  Jewish  dispensation,  wicked  men,  though 
descended  from  Abraham,  were  not  considered  as  Israelites  indeed,  or  true 
citizens  of  Zion.  The  friends  of  God  were  then  "the  companions  of  those 
that  feared  him."  They  "  spoke  often  one  to  another,"  and  assembled  for 
mutual  edification.  What  then  is  gospel  church  fellowship,  but  godliness 
ramified,  or  the  principle  of  holy  love  reduced  to  action?  There  is  scarcely 
a  precept  on  the  subject  of  church  discipline,  but  what  may,  in  substance, 
be  found  in  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

Nor  does  it  follow  that  all  forms  of  worship  and  church  government  are 
indifferent,  and  left  to  be  accommodated  to  times,  places,  and  circumstances. 
The  principles,  or  general  outlines  of  things,  are  marked  out,  and  we  are 
not  at  liberty  to  deviate  from  them ;  nor  are  they  to  be  filled  up  by  worldly 
policy,  but  by  a  pure  desire  of  carrying  them  into  effect  according  to  their 
true  intent. 

It  does  follow,  however,  that  Scripture  precedent,  important  as  it  is,  is 
not  binding  on  Christians  in  things  of  a  moral  nature,  unless  the  reason  of 
the  thing  be  the  same  in  the  case  to  be  proved  as  in  the  case  adduced.  The 
first  Christians  met  in  an  "  upper  room ;"  for  they  had  no  proper  places  of 
worship.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  we  who  have  more  convenient  houses 
should  do  so.  The  first  Christians  were  exhorted  to  "salute  one  another 
with  a  holi/  kiss."  The  reason  was,  it  was  the  custom  in  the  East  for  men 
in  general  in  this  manner  to  express  their  affection :  and  all  that  the  apostle 
did  was  to  direct  that  this  common  mode  of  affectionate  salutation  should 


358  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

be  used  in  a  religious  way.  In  places  where  it  is  a  common  practice,  it 
may  still  be  used  to  express  the  strength  of  Christian  affection  ;  but  in  a 
country  where  the  practice  is  nearly  confined  to  the  expression  of  affection 
between  the  sexes,  it  is  certainly  much  more  liable  to  misconstruction  and 
abuse.  And  as  it  was  never  a  Divine  institution,  but  merely  a  human  cus- 
tom applied  to  a  religious  use,  where  this  custom  has  ceased,  though  the 
spirit  of  the  precept  remains,  yet  the  form  of  it  may  lawfully  be  dispensed 
with,  and  Christian  affection  expressed  in  the  ordinary  modes  of  salutation. 

Again,  The  Corinthian  men  were  forbidden  to  pray  or  prophesy  with 
their  heads  covered.  The  reason  was,  the  head  being  uncovered  was  then 
the  sign  of  authority,  and  its  being  covered  of  subjection.  But  in  our  age 
and  country  each  is  a  sign  of  the  contrary.  If,  therefore,  we  be  obliged  to 
wear  any  sign  of  the  one  or  the  other,  in  our  religious  assemblies,  it  requires 
to  be  reversed. 

It  also  follows  that,  in  attending  to  positive  institutions,  neither  express 
precept  nor  precedent  is  necessary  in  what  respects  the  holy  manner  of  per- 
forming them,  nor  binding  in  regard  of  mere  nccichntal  circumstances,  which 
do  not  properly  belong  to  them.  It  required  neither  express  precept  nor 
precedent  to  make  it  the  duty  of  the  Corinthians,  when  they  met  to  cele- 
brate the  Lord's  supper,  to  do  it  soberly  and  in  the  fear  of  God,  nor  to  ren- 
der the  contrary  a  sin.  There  are  also  circumstances  which  may  on  some 
occasions  accompany  a  positive  institution,  and  not  on  others ;  and  which, 
being  therefore  no  part  of  it,  are  not  binding.  It  is  a  fact  that  the  Lord's 
supper  was  first  celebrated  with  "  unleavened  bread ;"  for  no  leaven  was 
found  at  the  time  in  all  the  Jewish  habitations :  but  no  mention  being  made 
of  it,  either  in  the  institution  or  in  the  repetition  of  it  by  the  apostle,  we 
conclude  it  was  a  mere  accidental  circumstance,  no  more  belonging  to  the 
ordinance  than  its  having  been  in  "  a  large  upper  room."  It  is  a  fict,  too, 
that  our  Lord  and  his  disciples  sat  in  a  reclining  posture  at  the  supper,  after 
the  manner  of  sitting  at  their  ordinary  meals  ;  yet  none  imagine  this  to  be 
binding  upon  us.  It  is  also  a  fact,  with  regard  to  the  time,  that  our  Saviour 
first  sat  down  with  his  disciples  on  the  evening  of  the  "fifth  day"  of  the 
week,  "  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed;"  but  though  that  was  a  memo- 
rable night,  and  worthy  to  be  noticed  as  a  circumstance  tending  to  show  the 
strength  of  his  love,  yet  seeing  the  words  of  the  institution  decide  not  how 
often  it  shall  be  attended  to,  and  no  mention  is  made  of  its  being  afterwards 
a  rule,  but,  on  the  contrary,  of  the  church  at  Troas  meeting  for  the  purpose 
on  another  day,  no  one  imagines  it  to  be  a  rule  of  conduct  to  us. 

The  same  might  be  said  of  females  being  admitted  to  communion,  a  sub- 
ject on  which  a  great  deal  has  been  written  of  late  years  in  the  baptismal 
controversy.  Whether  there  be  express  precept  or  precedent  for  it,  or  not, 
is  of  no  consequence;  for  the  distinction  of  sex  is  a  mere  circumstance,  m 
no  wise  affecting  the  qualifications  required,  and  therefore  not  belonging  to 
the  institution.  It  is  of  just  as  much  account  as  whether  a  believer  be  a 
Jew  or  a  Greek,  a  slave  or  a  free  man ;  that  is,  it  is  of  no  account  at  all. — 
"  For  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  bond  nor  free,  male  nor  female  ;  but 
all  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  Express  precept  or  precedent  might  as  well  be 
demanded  for  the  parties  being  tall  or  low,  black  or  white,  sickly  or  healthy, 
as  for  their  being  male  or  female.  If  the  difference  between  a  professed 
believer  and  an  unconscious  infant,  with  respect  to  baptism,  were  no  greater 
than  this  is  with  respect  to  the  supper,  we  would  allow  it  to  be  lawful  to 
baptize  the  latter,  though  neither  express  precept  nor  precedent  be  found  for 
the  practice. 

It  follows,  lastly,  that  many  disputes  on  which  Christians  have  divided 
and  crumbled  into  parties  might  well  have  been  spared,  and  that  without 


PROMISE  OF  THE  SPIRIT.  359 

any  disadvantage  to  the  cause  of  pure  religion.  Whatever  necessity  there 
may  be  for  withdrawing  from  those  who  walk  disorderly,  we  have  no  war- 
rant to  consider  those  things  as  the  standard  of  order,  and  to  censure  our 
brethren  for  deviating  from  them,  which  belong  not  to  the  laws  of  Christ, 
but  either  to  a  mere  difference  of  opinion  respecting  their  application,  or  to 
some  accidental  circumstance  which  may  or  may  not  attend  them. 

Finally,  brethren,  while  you  guard  against  the  extremes  of  certain  disci- 
plinarians on  the  one  hand,  avoid  tliose  of  anti-disciplinarians  on  the  other. 
Allow  us  to  repeat,  what  was  observed  at  the  beginning,  that  an  unreserved 
obedience  to  the  revealed  will  of  God,  in  whatever  form  it  is  delivered,  is  the 
Scriptural  test  of  faith  and  love.  "  Prove  what  that  good,  perfect,  and  ac- 
ceptable will  of  the  Lord  is."  "Do  all  things  without  murmurings  and  dis- 
putings."  Remember  that  '•  the  wisdom  which  is  from  above  is  first  pure, 
then  peaceable,  gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits, 
without  partiality,  and  without  hypocrisy."  Dearly  beloved,  farewell.  The 
God  of  love  and  peace  be  with  you. 


1810. 

the  promise  of  the  spirit  the  grand  encouragement  in  promoting 

the  gospel. 

Dear  Brethren, 

In  our  last  public  letter,  we  addressed  you  on  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit;  in  this  we  would  direct  your  attention  to  the  promise  of  the 
Spirit  as  the  grand  encouragement  in  promoting  the  spread  of  the 
gospel. 

We  take  for  granted  that  the  spread  of  the  gospel  is  the  great  object  of 
your  desire.  Without  this  it  will  be  hard  to  prove  that  you  are  Christian 
churches.  An  agreement  in  a  few  favourite  opinions,  or  on  one  side  of  a 
disputed  subject,  or  even  a  disagreement  with  others,  will  often  induce  men 
to  form  themselves  into  religious  societies,  and  to  expend  much  zeal  and 
much  property  in  accomplishing  their  objects ;  but  this  is  not  Christianity. 
We  may  be  of  what  is  called  a  sect,  but  we  must  not  be  of  a  sectarian  spirit, 
seeking  only  the  promotion  of  a  party.  The  true  churches  of  Jesus  Christ 
travail  in  birth  for  the  salvation  of  men.  They  are  the  armies  of  the  Lamb, 
the  grand  object  of  whose  existence  is  to  extend  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 

About  eighteen  years  ago  God  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  a  number  of  your 
ministers  and  members  to  do  something  for  his  name  among  the  heathen ; 
the  effect  of  which  has  been  to  give  an  impulse  to  those  labours  for  the 
attainment  of  the  same  object  in  our  several  stations  at  home.  The  success 
which  has  followed  is  sufficient  to  induce  us  to  press  forward  in  the  work, 
and  to  search  after  every  direction  and  every  consideration  that  may  aid  our 
progress. 

The  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  by  some  disowned,  by  others  abused  ; 
and  even  those  who  are  the  subjects  of  it,  from  various  causes,  enjoy  much 
less  of  it  than  might  be  expected. 

Those  who  disown  it  apply  all  that  is  said  in  the  Scriptures  on  the  sub- 
ject to  the  communication  of  miraculous  and  extraordinary  gifts,  as  though 
the  Lord  had  long  since  forsaken  the  earth,  and  men  were  now  to  be  con- 
verted by  the  mere  influence  of  moral  suasion.     It  is  on  this  principle  that 


360  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

writers,  according  to  the  leaning  which  they  have  felt  towards  the  opinions 
of  this  or  that  political  party,  have  represented  the  work  of  converting  the 
heathen  as  either  extremely  easy  or  absolutely  impossible.  It  is  not  for  us 
to  acquiesce  in  either;  but,  while  we  despair  of  success  from  mere  human 
efforts,  to  trust  in  Him  who,  when  sending  forth  his  servants  to  teach  all 
nations,  promised  to  be  with  them  "  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

There  are  those,  on  the  other  hand,  who  nhiii!.c  the  doctrine,  by  converting 
it  into  an  argument  for  sloth  and  avarice  God  can  convert  sinners,  say 
they,  when  he  pleases,  and  without  any  exertions  or  contributions  of  ours. — 
Yes,  he  can;  and  probably  he  will.  Deliverance  will  arise  from  other  quar- 
ters, and  they  who  continue  in  this  spirit  will  be  destroyed ! 

Even  those  in  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  is  enjoy  much  less  of  it  than  might 
he  expected i  and  this  principally  for  want  of  the  things  which  were  stated  in 
our  letter  of  last  year;  namely,  setting  a  proper  value  upon  it,  seeking  it 
with  fervent  prayer,  placing  an  entire  dependence  upon  it,  and  maintaining 
a  deportment  suitable  to  it.  In  proving,  therefore,  that  the  promise  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  the  grand  encouragement  in  promoting  the  spread  of  the 
gospel,  we  have  not  merely  to  oppose  the  adversaries  of  the  doctrine,  but  to 
instruct  and  impress  the  minds  of  its  friends.  With  these  ends  in  view,  let 
us  recommend  to  your  consideration  the  following  remarks. 

First,  The  success  of  God's  cause  under  the  Old  Testament  was  con- 
sidered by  believers  in  those  days  as  depending  entirely  upon  God. — God 
had  a  cause  in  the  world  from  the  earliest  ages,  and  this  it  was  which 
interested  the  hearts  of  his  servants.  It  was  for  the  setting  up  of  his  spiritual 
kingdom  in  the  world  that  he  blessed  the  seed  of  Abraham,  and  formed  them 
into  a  people.  This  was  the  imrk  that  he  carried  on  from  generation  to 
generation  among  them.  When,  therefore,  sentence  was  passed  on  the 
people  who  came  up  out  of  Egypt,  that  they  should  die  in  the  wilderness, 
Moses,  who  seems  on  that  occasion  to  have  written  the  90th  Psalm,  was 
deeply  concerned,  lest,  in  addition  to  temporal  judgments,  the  Lord  should 
withdraw  from  them  his  Holy  Spirit.  "  Let  thy  work,"  said  he,  "  appear 
unto  thy  servants,  and  thy  glory  unto  their  children;  and  let  the  beauty  of 
Jehovah  our  God  be  upon  us:  and  establish  thou  the  work  of  our  hands 
upon  us;  the  work  of  our  hands  establish  thou  it."  It  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  this  prayer  was  answered.  Though  the  first  generation  fell  in  the 
wilderness,  yet  the  labours  of  Moses  and  his  companions  were  blessed  to 
the  second.  These  were  the  most  devoted  to  God  of  any  generation  that 
Israel  ever  saw.  It  was  of  them  that  the  Lord  said,  "I  remember  thee,  the 
kindness  of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals,  when  thou  wentest  after 
me  in  the  wilderness,  in  a  land  that  was  not  sown.  Israel  was  holiness  unto 
the  Lord,  and  the  first-fruits  of  his  increase."  It  was  then  that  Balaam  could 
not  curse,  but,  though  desirous  of  the  wages  of  unrighteousness,  was  com- 
pelled to  forego  them,  and  his  curse  was  turned  into  a  blessing.  We  are 
taught  by  this  case,  amidst  temporal  calamities  and  judgments,  in  which  our 
earthly  hopes  may  be  in  a  manner  extinguished,  to  seek  to  have  the  loss 
repaired  by  spiritual  blessings.  If  God's  work  does  but  appear  to  us,  and 
our  posterity  after  us,  we  need  not  be  dismayed  at  the  evils  which  afflict  the 
earth. 

Similar  remarks  might  be  made  on  the  state  of  the  church  at  the  captivity. 
When  the  temple  was  burnt,  and  the  people  reduced  to  slavery  in  a  foreign 
land,  it  must  seem  as  if  the  cause  of  God  in  the  world  would  go  to  ruin. 
Hence  the  prayer  of  Habakkuk,  "O  Lord,  I  have  heard  thy  speech,  and 
was  afraid.  O  Lord,  revive  (or  preserve  alive)  thy  ivork  in  the  midst  of  the 
years:  in  the  midst  of  the  years  make  known;  in  wrath  remember  mercy." 
This  prayer  also  was  answered.     The  work  of  God  did  not  suffer,  but  was 


PROMISE  OF  THE  SPIRIT.  361 

protfloted  by  the  captivity.  The  church  was  purified,  and  the  world,  behold- 
ing the  Divine  interposition,  acknowledged,  "The  Lord  hath  done  great 
things  for  them." 

After  the  return  of  the  captives,  they  went  about  to  rebuild  the  temple ; 
but  they  had  many  adversaries,  and  no  military  force  to  protect  them.  On 
this  occasion  the  prophet  Zechariah  (who  with  Haggai  stood  to  strengthen 
the  builders)  had  a  vision.  He  saw,  and  behold  "a  candlestick,  all  of  gold, 
with  a  bowl  upon  the  top  of  it ;  and  his  seven  lamps  therein  ;  and  seven  pipes 
to  the  seven  lamps;  and  two  olive  trees  on  each  side  of  the  bowl,  which, 
through  the  golden  pipes,  emptied  the  golden  oil  out  of  themselves."  On 
inquiry  of  the  angel  what  these  meant,  he  was  answered,  "  This  is  the  word 
of  the  Lord  unto  ZerubbabeJ,  saying,  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by 
my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  As  if  he  had  said.  This  vision  contains 
a  message  of  encouragement  to  Zerubbabel,  the  purport  of  which  is,  Not  by 
army  or  by  power,  &c.  For,  like  as  the  candlestick  is  supplied  without  the 
hand  of  man,  so  God  will  prosper  his  cause,  nor  by  worldly  power  or  armies, 
but  by  his  gracious  influence  and  superintending  providence.  Here,  also,  a 
lesson  is  taught  us,  not  to  wait  for  legal  protection,  or  even  toleration,  before 
we  endeavour  to  introduce  the  gospel  into  a  country;  but  to  engage  in  the 
work,  trusting  in  God,  not  only  to  succeed  our  labours,  but,  while  acting  on 
Christian  principles,  either  to  give  us  favour  in  the  eyes  of  those  with  whom 
we  have  to  do,  or  strength  to  endure  the  contrary. 

Further,  The  success  of  the  gospel  in  the  times  of  the  apostles  is  ascribed 
to  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  its  first  or  primary  cause.  That  the 
truth  of  the  doctrine,  and  even  the  manner  in  which  it  was  delivered,  con- 
tributed as  second  causes  to  its  success,  is  allowed.  Such  appears  to  be  the 
meaning  of  Acts  xi?.  1,  "They  so  spake  that  a  great  multitude  believed." 
But  if  we  look  to  either  of  these  as  the  first  cause,  we  shall  be  unable  to 
account  for  the  litUe  success  of  our  Lord's  preaching  when  compared  with 
that  of  his  apostles.  He  spoke  as  never  man  spoke ;  yet  compared  with 
them  he  laboured  in  vain,  and  spent  his  strength  for  nought  and  in  vain.  It 
is  the  Holy  Spirit  to  which  the  difference  is  ascribed.  They  did  greater 
works  than  he,  because,  as  he  said,  "  I  go  to  the  Father." 

In  promising  to  "  be  with  his  disciples  to  the  end  of  the  world,"  he  could 
refer  to  no  other  than  his  spiritual  presence ;  to  this,  therefore,  he  taught 
them  to  look  for  encouragement.  To  this  cause  the  success  of  the  apostles 
is  uniformly  ascribed.  "  The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them,  and  a  great 
number  believed,  and  turned  to  the  Lord. — God  always causethus toinamph 
in  Christ,  and  maketh  manifest  the  savour  of  his  knowledge  by  us  in  every 
place. —  The  Lord  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  and  she  attended  unto  the 
things  which  were  spoken  of  Paul. — The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  mighty 
through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds." 

The  great  success  which  prophecy  gives  us  to  expect  in  the  latter  days  is 
ascribed  to  the  same  cause.  Upon  the  land  of  my  people  shall  be  thorns 
and  briers — "  until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  us  from  on  high."  Then  the 
wilderness  would  be  a  fruitful  field,  and  that  which  had  been  hitherto  con- 
sidered as  a  fruitfid  field  would  be  counted  a  forest. 

If  the  success  of  the  gospel  were  owing  to  the  pliability  of  the  people,  or 
to  any  preparedness,  natural  or  acquired,  for  receiving  it,  we  might  have 
expected  it  to  prevail  most  in  those  places  which  were  the  most  distinguished 
by  their  morality,  and  most  cultivated  in  their  minds  and  manners.  But  the 
fact  was,  that  in  Corinth,  a  sink  of  debauchery,  God  had  "  much  people;" 
whereas  in  Athens,  the  seat  of  polite  literature,  there  were  only  a  few  indi- 
viduals who  embraced  the  truth.  Nor  was  this  the  greatest  display  of  the 
freeness  of  the  Spirit:  Jerusalem,  which  had  not  only  withstood  the  preach- 

VoL.  III.— 46  2  H 


3G2  CIRCULAR   LETTERS. 

ing  and  miracles  of  the  Lord,  but  had  actually  put  him  to  death — Jerusalem 
bows  at  the  pouring  out  of  his  Spirit;  and  not  merely  the  common  people, 
but  "  a  great  company  of  the  priests,  were  obedient  to  the  faith." 

To  the  above  may  be  added,  the  experience  of  those  whose  ministry  has 
been  most  blessed  to  the  turning  of  sinners  to  God. — Men  of  light  and  spe- 
culative minds,  whose  preaching  produces  scarcely  any  fruit,  will  go  about 
to  account  for  the  renewal  of  the  mind  by  the  established  laws  of  nature; 
but  they  who  see  most  of  this  change  among  their  hearers  see  most  of  God 
in  it,  and  have  been  always  ready  to  subscribe  to  the  truth  of  our  Lord's 
words  to  Peter,  "  Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my 
Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

To  this  brief  statement  of  the  evidence  of  the  doctrine,  we  shall  only  add 
a  few  remarks  to  enforce  "  the  prayer  of  faith"  in  your  endeavours  to  pro- 
pagate the  gospel  both  at  home  and  abroad. — This  is  the  natural  consequence 
of  the  doctrine.  If  all  our  help  be  in  God,  to  him  it  becomes  us  to  look  for 
success.  It  was  from  a  prayer-meeting,  held  in  an  upper  room,  that  the  first 
Christians  descended,  and  commenced  that  notable  attack  on  Satan's  king- 
dom in  which  three  thousand  fell  before  them.  When  Peter  was  imprisoned, 
prayer  was  made  without  ceasing  of  the  church  unto  God  for  him.  When 
liberated  by  the  angel,  in  the  dead  of  night,  he  found  his  brethren  engaged 
in  this  exercise.  It  was  in  prayer  that  the  late  undertakings  for  spreading 
the  gospel  among  the  heathen  originated.  We  have  seen  success  enough 
attend  them  to  encourage  us  to  go  forward ;  and  probably  if  we  had  been 
more  sensible  of  our  dependence  on  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  more  importunate 
in  our  prayers,  we  should  have  seen  much  more.  The  prayer  of  faith  falls 
not  to  the  ground.  If  "  we  have  not,"  it  is  "  because  we  ask  not ;"  or,  if 
"  we  ask  and  receive  not,"  it  is  "  because  we  ask  amiss."  Joash  smote  thrice 
upon  the  ground  and  stayed,  by  which  he  cut  short  his  victories.  Some- 
thing analogous  to  this  may  be  the  cause  of  our  having  no  more  success 
than  we  have. 

Consider,  brethren,  the  dispensation  under  which  we  live. — We  are  under 
the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  fitly  called  "  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit," 
because  the  richest  effusions  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  reserved  for  his  reign, 
and  great  accessions  to  the  church  from  among  the  Gentiles  ordained  to 
grace  his  triumphs.  It  was  fit  that  the  death  of  Christ  should  be  followed 
by  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  that  it  might  appear  to  be  what  it  was,  its 
proper  effect ;  and  that  which  was  seen  in  the  days  of  Pentecost  was  but  an 
earnest  of  what  is  yet  to  come.  To  pray  under  such  a  dispensation  is  com- 
ing to  God  in  a  good  time.  In  asking  for  the  success  of  the  gospel,  we  ask 
that  of  the  Father  of  heaven  and  earth  in  which  his  soul  delighteth,  and  to 
which  he  has  pledged  his  every  perfection  ;  namely,  to  glorify  his  Son. 

Finally,  Compare  the  current  language  of  prophecy  with  the  state  of  things 
in  the  world,  and  in  the  church. — In  whatever  obscurity  the  minutife  of 
future  events  may  be  involved,  the  events  themselves  are  plainly  revealed. 
We  have  seen  the  four  monarchies,  or  preponderating  powers,  described  by 
Daniel  as  successively  ruling  the  world;  namely,  the  Babylonian,  the  Per- 
sian, the  Macedonian,  and  the  Roman.  We  have  seen  the  last  subdivided 
into  ten  kingdoms,  and  the  little  papal  horn  growing  up  among  them.  We 
have  seen  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  "  worn  out"  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years  by  his  persecutions.  We  have  seen  his  rise,  his  reign,  and,  in  a  con- 
siderable degree,  his  downfall.  "  The  judgment  is  set,"  and  they  have  begun 
to  "  take  away  his  dominion  ;"  and  will  go  on  "  to  consume  and  to  destioy 
it  unto  the  end."  And  when  this  is  accomplished,  "  the  kingdom  and  do- 
minion, and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  uuder  the  whole  heaven,  will  be 
given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High."     It  is  not  improbable 


WIDOWS  AND  ORPHANS   OF  CHRISTIAN  MINISTERS.  303 

that  "  the  days  of  the  voice  of  the  seventh  angel,  when  he  shall  begin  to 
sound,"  have  already  commenced;  vi'hich  voice,  while  it  ushers  in  the  vials 
or  seven  last  plagues  upon  the  antichristian  powers,  is  to  the  church  a  signal 
of  prosperity  :  for,  the  seventh  angel  having  sounded,  voices  are  heard  in  hea- 
ven, saying,  "  The  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  of  his  Christ ;  and  he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  The  glorious 
things  spoken  of  the  church  are  not  all  confined  to  the  days  of  the  millennium  ; 
many  of  them  will  go  before  it,  in  like  manner  as  the  victorious  days  of 
David  went  before  the  rest,  or  pacific  reign,  of  Solomon,  and  prepared  ita 
way.  Previous  to  the  fall  of  Babylon,  an  angel  is  seen  flying  in  the  midst 
of  heaven,  having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  to  them  that  dwell  on  the 
earth;  and  before  that  terrible  conflict  in  which  the  beast  and  the  false  pro- 
phet are  taken,  the  Son  of  God  is  described  as  riding  forth  on  a  white  horse, 
and  the  armies  of  heaven  as  following  him.  The  final  ruin  of  the  antichris- 
tian cause  will  be  brought  upon  itself  by  its  opposition  to  the  progress  of  the 
gospel. 

The  sum  is,  that  the  time  for  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel  is  come; 
and,  if  attended  to  in  a  full  dependence  on  the  promise  of  the  Spirit,  it  will, 
no  doubt,  be  successful. — The  rough  places  in  its  way  are  smoothing,  that 
all  flesh  may  see  the  salvation  of  God.  The  greatest  events  pertaining  to 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  have  occurred  in  such  a  way  as  to  escape  the  obser- 
vation of  the  unbelieving  world,  and,  it  may  be,  of  some  believers.  It  was 
so  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord,  and  probably  will  be  so  in  much  that  is  before 
us.  If  we  look  at  events  only  with  respect  to  instruments,  second  causes, 
and  political  bearings,  we  shall  be  filled  with  vexation  and  disquietude,  and 
shall  come  within  the  sweep  of  that  awful  threatening,  "  Because  they  regard 
not  the  works  of  the  Lord,  nor  the  operations  of  his  hands,  he  will  destroy 
them,  and  not  build  them  up."  But  if  we  keep  our  eye  on  the  kingdom  of 
God,  whatever  become  of  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  we  shall  reap  advan- 
tage from  every  thing  that  passes  before  us.  God  in  our  times  is  shaking 
the  heavens  and  the  earth :  but  there  are  things  which  cannot  be  shaken. 
"  Wherefore  we,  receiving  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved,  let  us  have 
grace  whereby  we  may  serve  God  acceptably,  with  reverence  and  godly  fear." 


1815. 

the  situation  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  christian  ministers,  etc. 

Dear  Brethren, 

The  subject  to  which  we  this  year  invite  your  attention,  is  the  situa- 
tion OF  THE  widows  AND  ORPHANS  OF  CHRISTIAN  MINISTERS,  AND  OF  MINIS- 
TERS THEMSELVES  WHO  BY  AGE,  OR  PERMANENT  AFFLICTION,  ARE  LAID  ASIDE 
FROM  THEIR  WORK. 

We  have  not  been  used  to  address  you  on  subjects  relating  to  our  own 
temporal  interests ;  nor  is  this  the  case  at  present ;  for  the  far  greater  part 
of  those  who  have  been  most  active  in  forming  the  institution  for  which  we 
plead  have  no  expectation  of  deriving  any  advantage  from  it,  but,  feeling  for 
many  of  their  brethren,  they  are  desirous  of  alleviating  their  condition. 

Mercy  is  a  distinguishing  character  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  espe- 
cially to  the  fafhej-less  and  the  widow.  The  great  God  claims  to  be  their 
Protector  and  Avenger.     "A  Father  of  the  fatherless,  and  a  Judge  of  the 


364  CIRCULAR    LETTERS. 

widow,  is  God  in  his  holy  habitation." — "  Ye  shall  not  afflict  any  widow  or 
fatherless  child.  If  thou  afflict  them  in  any  wise,  and  they  cry  ai  all  unto 
me,  I  will  surely  hear  their  cry.  And  my  wrath  shall  wax  hot,  and  I  will 
kill  you  with  the  sword:  and  your  wives  shall  be  widows,  and  your  children 
fatherless."  Mercy  to  the  fatherless  and  the  widow  is  introduced  as  a  test 
of  true  religion.  "  Pure  and  undeffled  religion  before  God  and  the  Father 
is  this.  To  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep 
ourselves  unspotted  from  the  world."  The  affliction  of  the  fatherless  and 
the  widow  is  a  subject  taken  for  granted.  From  the  day  of  their  bereave- 
ment, dejection  takes  possession  of  their  dwelling,  and  imprints  its  image 
on  every  object  around  them.  And  when  to  this  is  added,  that  from  time 
to  time  their  sources  of  the  necessaries  of  life  are  in  a  great  measure  dried 
up,  a  full  cup  of  affliction  must  needs  be  their  portion.  At  first  many  feel 
for  them,  and  weep  with  them :  but  time  and  a  number  of  similar  cases 
wear  away  these  impressions ;  and,  being  unprotected,  it  is  well  if  they  be 
not  exposed  to  oppression ;  and  even  where  there  is  no  particular  want  of 
kindness  towards  them,  yet  their  cases,  being  but  little  known,  are  often  but 
little  regarded. 

The  widow  and  fatherless  children  of  ministers  have  peculiar  claims  on 
the  benevolence  of  the  churches.  The  ministerial  profession,  like  that  of 
arms,  requires  the  subjects  of  it,  if  possible,  not  to  "  entangle  themselves 
with  the  affairs  of  this  life,  that  they  may  please  him  who  has  chosen  them 
to  be  soldiers."  On  this  ground,  a  large  proportion  of  ministers,  living 
entirely  on  the  contributions  of  their  hearers,  have  no  opportunity  of  pro- 
viding for  their  families  after  their  decease.  You,  brethren,  by  the  blessing 
of  God  on  your  diligent  attention  to  business,  are  generally  enabled  to  meet 
this  difficulty  You  have  business  in  which  to  bring  up  your  children  from 
their  early  years ;  but  they  seldom  have :  and  when  you  have  taught  them 
an  honourable  calling,  you  can  spare  something  to  set  them  up  in  trade;  but 
it  is  rarely  so  with  them. 

Yet  the  post  occupied  by  your  ministers  is  honourable  and  important. 
Regardless  of  the  sneers  of  the  irreligious,  they  feel  it  to  be  so.  To  be 
chosen  and  approved  by  a  Christian  congregation,  next  to  the  choice  and 
approbation  of  Christ,  is  their  highest  ambition.  This  honour,  however, 
involves  them  in  circumstances  which  require  your  consideration.  You 
expect  them  to  maintain  a  respectable  appearance,  both  in  their  persons  and 
families;  but  to  do  this,  and  at  the  same  time  to  pay  every  one  his  due, 
often  renders  it  impossible  to  provide  for  futurity. 

Our  churches,  when  in  want  of  ministers,  are  solicitous  to  obtain  men  of 
talent.  There  may  be  an  excess  in  this  desire,  especially  where  personal 
godliness  is  overlooked;  and  it  is  certain  that  great  talents  are  far  from  being 
common.  But  view  Christian  ministers  as  a  body,  and  we  may  appeal  to 
you  whether  they  be  not  possessed  of  talents,  which,  if  employed  in  busi- 
ness, would  with  the  blessing  of  God,  ordinarily  bestowed  on  honest  industry, 
have  rendered  both  them  and  their  families  equally  comfortable  with  you 
and  yours.  And  shall  their  having  relinquished  these  temporal  advantages 
to  serve  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  to  promote  your  spiritual  welfare,  be  at  the 
expense  of  the  comfort  of  their  widows  and  children  when  they  have  finished 
their  course? 

In  the  persecuting  times  which  preceded  the  revolution  of  1G88,  our 
Protestant  Dissenting  forefathers  had  but  little  encouragement  to  provide  for 
futurity,  as  the  fruits  of  their  industry  were  taken  from  them :  but  it  is  not 
so  with  us;  our  property  is  secure;  and  we  are  therefore  able  to  contribute 
to  those  benevolent  objects  which  tend  to  the  good  of  mankind. 

It  was  an  object  that  attracted  the  attention  of  our  fathers,  early  in  the 


WIDOWS  AND  ORPHANS  OF  CHRISTIAN  MINISTERS.  365 

last  century,  to  provide  for  the  widows  of  their  ministers;  and  a  noble  fund 
it  is  which  was  then  established  in  London  for  the  widows  of  the  three 
denominations.  Besides  this,  a  liberal  plan  has  been  pursued  within  the 
last  two-and-twenty  years  to  increase  the  sum,  by  an  addition  from  the  pro- 
fits of  a  magazine.  It  is  not  to  supersede  these  benevolent  means  of  relief, 
but  to  add  to  them  according  to  the  exigences  of  the  times,  and  to  include 
not  only  widows,  but  superannuated  ministers  and  orphans,  that  societies 
like  ours  have  of  late  been  formed  in  various  counties  and  religious  con- 
nexions. 

The  case  of  superannuated  ministers,  or  ministers  who  by  affliction  are 
permanently  laid  aside  from  their  work,  has  a  serious  influence  on  the  well- 
being  of  the  churches.  Where  no  provision  of  this  kind  is  made,  every 
humane  and  Christian  feeling  revolts  at  the  idea  of  dismissing  an  aged  and 
honourable  man,  even  though  his  work  is  done.  Yet  if  the  congregation 
continue  to  support  him,  they  may  be  able  to  support  another.  The  conse- 
quence is,  in  a  few  years  the  congregation  has  dwindled  almost  to  nothing. 
To  meet  these  cases,  along  with  those  of  the  fatherless  and  the  widow,  is 
the  object  of  this  institution. 

Brethren,  we  feel  it  an  honour  to  be  supported  by  the  free  contributions 
of  those  whom  we  serve  in  the  gospel  of  Christ.  To  receive  our  support 
as  an  expression  of  love  renders  it  doubly  valuable.  And  if  you  view  things 
in  a  right  light,  you  will  esteem  it  a  privilege  on  your  part.  If  your  places 
of  worship  were  ready  built  for  you,  your  ministers  supported,  and  their 
families  provided  for,  would  it  be  better?  Would  you  feel  equally  interested 
in  them?  Would  you  not  feel  as  David  did  when  Araunah  the  Jebusite 
offered  his  thrashing-floor,  his  oxen,  and  his  wood  ?  "  Nay,  but  I  will  not 
offer  burnt-offerings  unto  the  Lord  my  God  of  that  which  doth  cost  me 
nothing !" 

Should  any  object  that  ministers  ought  to  set  an  example  of  trust  in  their 
heavenly  Father,  who  knoweth  what  things  they  need,  and  of  leaving  their 
widows  and  fatherless  children  with  him ;  we  answer,  when  all  is  done  that 
can  be  done  to  alleviate  their  wants,  there  will  be  abundant  occasion  for 
these  graces.  The  trust  that  we  are  called  to  place  in  our  heavenly  Father 
does  not  however  preclude  the  exercise  of  prudent  foresight,  either  in  our- 
selves, or  in  the  friends  of  Christ  towards  us  for  his  sake. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  lovely  features  of  our  mission  in  the  East,  that, 
while  our  brethren  are  disinterestedly  giving  up  all  their  temporal  acquire- 
ments to  the  cause  in  which  they  are  engaged,  they  have  provided  an  asylum 
for  their  widows  and  orphans ;  so  that  when  a  missionary  dies,  he  has  no 
painful  anxiety  what  is  to  become  of  them.  They  have  a  home,  which 
some  have  preferred  to  their  native  country.  Is  it  any  distrust  of  the  Lord's 
goodness  to  be  thus  tender  of  those  who  are  flesh  of  their  flesh  and  bone  of 
their  bone,  and  who  have  helped  to  bear  the  burden  of  their  cares?  Say, 
rather,  is  it  not  a  truly  Christian  conduct?  But,  if  so,  why  should  we  not 
go  and  do  likewise? 

It  is  one  of  the  most  endearing  traits  in  the  character  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  that,  while  tne  salvation  of  the  world  was  pending,  he  did  not  neglect 
to  provide  for  his  aged  mother.  Joseph  is  thought  to  have  been  dead  for 
some  years,  and  Mary  seems  to  have  followed  Jesus,  who,  while  upon  earth, 
discharged  every  branch  of  filial  duty  and  affection  towards  her.  But  now 
that  he  is  going  to  his  Father,  who  shall  provide  for  her?  Looking  down 
from  the  cross  on  her,  and  on  his  beloved  disciple,  he  saith  to  the  one, 
"  Behold  thy  son  !"  and  to  the  other,  "  Behold  thy  mother !"  What  exqui- 
site sensibility  do  these  words  convey !  To  her  it  was  saying,  Consider  me 
as  living  in  my  beloved  disciple ;  and  to  him,  Consider  my  mother  as  your 

2h2 


366  CIRCULAR   LETTERS. 

own.     It  is  no  wonder  that  "  from  that  time  that  disciple  took  her  to  hia 
own  liome." 

We  live  in  times  very  eventful ;  and  it  cannot  have  escaped  your  observa- 
tion that  the  success  of  the  gospel  has  kept  pace  with  the  mighty  changes 
which  have  agitated  the  world.  Never,  perhaps,  were  there  such  great  calls 
on  our  liberality  as  of  late  years,  and  never  were  more  honourable  exertions 
made.  Yet  God,  that  giveth  us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy,  has  not  suffered 
us  to  want,  and  has  promised  to  supply  all  our  need  according  to  his  riches 
in  glory  by  Christ  Jesus. 


MEMOIRS 


REV.  SAMUEL  PEARCE,  M.A. 


TO  THE   FAMILY   AND   FRIENDS   OF  MR.    PEARCE,  THESE   MEMOIRS,   COMPILED  WITH 

THEIR  APPROBATION,   AND    FROM   A  TENDER  REGARD  TO   HIS  MEMORY, 

ARE  AFFECTIONATELY   AND  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED  BY 

THE  COMPILER 


367 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  was  observed  by  this  excellent  man,  during  his  affliction,  that 
he  never  till  then  gained  any  personal  instruction  from  our  Lord's 
telling  Peter  by  what  death  he  should  glorify  God.  To  die  by  a 
consumption  had  used  to  be  an  object  of  dread  to  him  ;  but,  "  0  my 
dear  Lord,"  said  he,  "  if  by  this  death  I  can  most  glorify  thee,  I 
nrefer  it  to  all  others."  The  lingering  death  of  the  cross,  by  which 
our  Saviour  himself  expired,  afibrded  him  an  opportunity  of  uttering 
some  of  the  most  affecting  sentences  which  are  left  on  sacred  record ; 
and  to  the  lingering  death  of  this  his  honoured  servant  we  are 
indebted  for  a  considerable  part  of  the  materials  which  appear  in 
these  Memoirs.  Had  he  been  taken  away  suddenly,  there  had  been 
no  opportunity  for  him  to  have  expressed  his  sentiments  and  feelings 
in  the  manner  he  has  now  done  in  letters  to  his  friends.  While  in 
health,  his  hands  were  full  of  labour,  and  consequently  his  letters 
were  written  mostly  upon  the  spur  of  occasion  ;  and  related  princi- 
pally to  business,  or  to  things  which  would  be  less  interesting  to 
Christians  in  general.  It  is  true,  even  in  them  it  was  his  manner  to 
drop  a  few  sentiments,  towards  the  close,  of  an  experimental  kind ; 
and  many  of  these  hints  will  be  interspersed  in  this  brief  account  of 
him ;  but  it  was  during  his  affliction,  when  being  laid  aside  nearly  a 
year,  and  obliged  to  desist  from  all  public  concerns,  that  he  gave 
scope  to  all  the  feelings  of  his  heart.  Here,  standing  as  on  an  emi- 
nence, he  reviewed  his  life,  re-examined  the  ground  of  his  hope,  and 
anticipated  the  crown  which  awaited  him,  with  a  joy  truly  unspeak- 
able and  full  of  glory. 

Like  Elijah,  he  has  lelt  the  "  chariot  of  Israel,"  and  ascended  as 

in  a  "  chariot  of  fire  ;"  but  not  without  having  first  communicated  of 

his  eminently  Christian  spirit.     Oh  that  a  double  portion  of  it  may 

rest  upon  us ! 
368 


MEMOIRS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

HIS  PARENTAGE.  CONVERSION    CALL   TO   THE    MINISTRY,  AND    SETTLEMENT  AT 

BIRMINGHAM. 

Mr.  Samull  Pearce  was  born  at  Plymouth,  on  July  20th,  1766.  His 
father,  who  survives  him,  is  a  respectable  silversmith,  and  has  been  many 
years  a  deacon  of  the  Baptist  church  in  that  place. 

When  a  child,  he  lived  with  his  grandfather,  who  was  very  fond  of  him, 
and  endeavoured  to  impress  his  mind  with  the  principles  of  religion.  At 
about  eight  or  nine  years  of  age  he  came  home  to  his  father  with  a  view  of 
learning  his  business.  As  he  advanced  in  life,  his  evil  propensities,  as  he 
has  said,  began  to  ripen;  and  forming  connexions  with  several  vicious  school- 
fellows, he  became  more  and  more  corrupted.  So  greatly  was  his  heart  at 
this  time  set  in  him  to  do  evil,  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  restraining  good- 
ness of  God,  which  somehow,  he  knew  not  how,  preserved  him  in  most 
instances  from  carrying  his  wicked  inclinations  into  practice,  he  supposed 
he  should  have  been  utterly  ruined. 

At  times  he  was  under  strong  convictions,  which  rendered  him  miserable; 
but  at  other  times  they  subsided,  and  then  he  would  return  with  eagerness 
to  his  sinful  pursuits.  When  about  fifteen  years  old  he  was  sent  by  his 
father  to  inquire  after  the  welfare  of  a  person  in  the  neighbourhood,  in  dying 
circumstances,  who  (though  before  his  departure  he  was  in  a  happy  state  of 
mind)  at  that  time  was  sinking  into  deep  despair.  While  in  the  room  of  the 
dying  man,  he  heard  him  cry  out  with  inexpressible  agony  of  spirit,  "  I  am 
damned  for  ever !"  These  awful  words  pierced  his  soul ;  and  he  felt  a  reso- 
lution at  the  time  to  serve  the  Lord ;  but  the  impression  soon  wore  off,  and 
he  again  returned  to  folly. 

When  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  it  pleased  God  effectually  to  turn  him 
to  himself  A  sermon  delivered  by  Mr.  Birt,  who  was  then  co-pastor  with 
Mr.  Gibhs  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Plymouth,  was  the  first  means  of  im- 
pressing his  heart  with  a  sense  of  his  lost  condition,  and  of  directing  him  to 
the  gospel  remedy.  The  change  in  him  appears  to  have  been  sudden,  but 
effectual ;  and  though  his  vicious  propensities  were  bitter  to  his  recollection, 
yet,  being  now  sensibly  subdued,  he  was  furnished  with  so  much  the  clearer 
evidence  that  the  work  was  of  God.  "  I  believe,"  he  says,  "  few  conversions 
were  more  joyful.  The  change  produced  in  my  views,  feelings,  and  con- 
duct was  so  evident  to  myself,  that  I  could  no  more  doubt  of  its  being  from 
God  than  of  my  existence.  I  had  the  witness  in  myself,  and  was  filled  with 
peace  and  joy  unspeakable." 

His  feelings  being  naturally  strong,  and  receiving  a  new  direction,  he 
entered  into  religion  with  all  his  heart;  but  not  having  known  the  devices 
of  Satan,  his  soul  was  injured  by  its  own  ardour,  and  he  was  thrown  into 
great  perplexity.    Having  read  Doddridge's  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion 

Vol.  hi.— 47  369 


370  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

in  the  Soul,"  he  determined  formally  to  dedicate  himself  to  the  Lord,  in  the 
manner  recommended  in  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  that  work.  The  form 
of  a  covenant,  as  there  drawn  up,  he  also  adopted  as  his  own ;  and,  that  he 
might  bind  himself  in  the  most  solemn  and  aflecting  manner,  signed  it  until 
his  blood.  But  afterwards,  failing  in  his  engagements,  he  was  plunged  into 
great  distress,  and  almost  into  despair.  On  a  review  of  his  covenant,  he 
seems  to  have  accused  himself  of  a  pharisaical  reliance  upon  the  strength 
of  his  own  resolutions;  and  therefore,  taking  the  paper  to  the  top  of  his 
father's  house,  he  tore  it  into  small  pieces,  and  threw  it  from  him  to  be 
scattered  by  the  wind.  He  did  not  however  consider  his  obligation  to  be 
the  Lord's  as  hereby  nullified;  but,  feeling  more  suspicion  of  himself,  he 
depended  solely  upon  the  blood  of  the  cross. 

After  this  he  was  baptized,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church 
at  Plymouth,  the  ministers  and  members  of  which,  in  a  few  years,  perceived 
in  him  talents  for  public  work.  Being  solicited  by  both  his  pastors,  he 
exercised  as  a  probationer;  and  receiving  a  unanimous  call  from  the  church, 
entered  on  the  work  of  the  ministry  in  November,  1786.  Soon  after  this  he 
went  to  the  academy  at  Bristol,  then  under  the  superintendence  of  Dr.  Caleb 
Evans. 

Mr.  Birt,  now  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church,  in  the  Square,  Plymouth  Dock, 
in  a  letter  to  the  compiler  of  these  Memoirs,  thus  speaksof  him: — "Though 
he  was,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  very  first-fruits  of  my  ministry  on  my  coming 
hither,  and  though  our  friendship  and  affection  for  each  other  were  great  and 
constant,  yet  previously  to  his  going  to  Bristol  I  had  but  few  opportunities 
of  conversing  with  him,  or  of  making  particular  observations  on  him.  All 
who  best  knew  him,  however,  well  remember  and  most  tenderly  speak  of  his 
loving  deportment;  and  those  who  attended  the  conferences  with  him  soon 
received  the  most  impressive  intimations  of  his  future  eminence  as  a  minister 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."* 

"  Very  few,"  adds  Mr.  Birt,  "  have  entered  upon  and  gone  through  their 
'  religious  profession  with  more  exalted  piety  or  warmer  zeal  than  Samuel 
Pearce ;  and  as  few  have  exceeded  him  in  the  possession  and  display  of  that 
eharity  which  'suffereth  long,  and  is  kind,  that  envieth  not,  that  vaunteth  not 
itself,  and  is  not  puffed  up,  that  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  that  seeketh 
not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil,  that  beareth  all  things, 
believeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things.'  But  why  should  I  say  this  to  you? 
You  know  him  yourself" 

While  at  the  academy  he  was  much  distinguished  by  the  amiableness  of 
his  spirit  and  behaviour.  It  is  sometimes  observable,  that  where  the  talents 
of  a  young  man  are  admired  by  his  friends,  and  his  early  efforts  flattered  by 
crowded  auditories,  effects  have  been  produced  which  have  proved  fatal  to 
his  future  respectability  and  usefulness.  But  this  was  not  the  case  with  Mr. 
Pearce.  Notwithstanding  the  popularity  which  even  at  that  early  period 
attended  his  ministerial  exercises,  his  tutors  have  more  than  once  remarked 
that  he  never  appeared  to  them  to  be  in  the  least  elated,  or  to  have  neglected 
his  proper  studies;  but  was  uniformly  the  serious,  industrious,  docile,  modest, 
and  unassuming  young  man. 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  1789,  he  came  to  the  church  in  Cannon  Street, 
Birmingham,  to  whom  he  was  recommended  by  Mr.  Hall,  now  of  Cambridge, 
at  that  time  one  of  his  tutors.     After  preaching  to  them  awhile  on  approba- 

*  The  excellent  and  venerable  Isaiah  Birt,  about  fourteen  years  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Pearce,  succeeded  him  in  the  pastoral  office  at  Birmingham.  His  piety,  public  spirit,  and 
success  endeared  him  to  a  very  large  circle  of  friends,  and  make  his  name  fragrant  now 
that  he  has  joined  Pearce,  and  Fuller,  Hall  and  Ryland,  and  the  rest  of  his  early  coni. 
panions  on  earth,  in  a  better  world. — B. 


SETTLEMENT  AT  BIRMINGHAM.  371 

tion  he  was  chosen  to  be  their  pastor.  His  ordination  was  in  August,  1790. 
Dr.  Evans  gave  the  charge,  and  the  late  venerable  Mr.  Hall,  of  Arnsby, 
delivered  an  address  to  the  church  on  the  occasion. 

About  two  months  after  this  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Mr.  Summers. 
Whether  the  sentiments  contained  in  that  letter  arose  from  the  recollection 
of  his  late  solemn  engagement  is  uncertain ;  but  they  were  certainly  very 
appropriate  to  the  occasion.  Requesting  his  friend  to  pray  for  him,  he  says, 
— "Paul  speaks  of  blessings  received  through  the  prayers  of  his  fellow  Chris- 
tians; no  wonder,  therefore,  he  so  often  solicits  their  continuance.  But  if  it 
be  well  to  be  interested  in  the  prayers  of  fellow  Christians,  how  much 
more  to  believe  the  great  High  Priest  of  our  profession,  Jesus  the  Son  of 
God,  is  gone  into  the  holy  of  holies,  with  our  names  on  his  breastplate,  ever 
to  plead  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us — for  us ;  O  transporting  thought ! 
Who  can  doubt  of  the  success  of  such  an  Intercessor? 

•'  I  have  of  late  had  my  mind  very  pleasantly,  and  I  hope  profitably,  exer- 
cised on  this  subject,  more  than  ever,  and  find  increasing  pleasure  from  a 
well-grounded  faith  in  the  Divinity  of  my  incarnate  Advocate.  I  see  the 
glory  of  his  office,  arising  from  the  infinite  extent  of  his  knowledge,  power, 
and  love,  as  well  as  from  the  efficacy  of  his  atoning  sacrifice.  I  do  not 
wonder  at  those  men  who  deny  the  priestly  office  of  Christ,  when  they  have 
refused  him  the  lionours  of  Deity.  I  rejoice  in  that  he  who  pleads  for  us 
knows  our  wants  individually,  as  well  as  the  necessities  of  the  whole  church 
collectively.  Through  his  intercession  alone  I  expect  my  sins  to  be  pardoned, 
my  services  accepted,  and  my  soul  preserved,  guided,  and  comforted ;  and, 
with  confidence  in  his  intercession,  I  cannot  doubt  but  I  shall  enjoy  all. 
Oh  how  sweet  is  it,  my  dear  friend,  to  exercise  a  lively  faith  in  a  living 
Saviour!  May  you  and  1  do  this  daily.  Thus  for  us  to  live  will  be  Christ, 
and  to  die  gain;  living  or  dying,  we  shall  be  the  Lord's." 

In  this  early  stage  of  his  ministry,  redemption  by  the  blood  of  Christ 
appears  to  have  been  his  chosen  theme.  Writing  to  the  same  friend  as 
above,  on  Sept.  30,  1791,  he  says, — "  I  have  for  my  evening  discourse  the 
best  subject  in  all  the  Bible — redemption,  Eph.  i.  7.  How  welcome  to  the 
captive !  Forgiveness,  how  delightful  to  the  guilty  !  Grace,  how  pleasing 
to  the  heart  of  a  saved  sinner !  O  my  dear  friend,  how  much  do  we  lose  of 
gospel  blessings  for  want  of  realizing  our  personal  concern  with  them! 
Hence  it  is  that  we  are  no  more  humble,  thankful,  watchful,  prayerful,  joyful. 
We  view  the  glories  of  the  gospel  at  a  distance;  and  for  want  of  that  faith 
which  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  evidence  of  things  not  seen, 
think  too  lightly  of  them.     'Lord  increase  our  faith!'" 

In  the  year  1791  he  married  Miss  Sarah  Hopkins,  daughter  of  Mr.  Joshua 
Hopkins  of  Alcester — a  connexion  which  appears  to  have  been  all  along  a 
source  of  great  enjoyment  to  him.  The  following  lines  addressed  to  Mrs. 
Pearce  when  he  was  on  a  journey,  a  little  more  than  a  year  after  their 
marriage,  seem  to  be  no  more  than  a  common  letter;  yet  they  show,  not 
only  the  tenderness  of  his  affection,  but  his  heavenly-mindedness,  his  gentle 
manner  of  persuading,  and  how  every  argument  was  fetched  from  religion, 
and  every  incident  improved  for  introducing  it : — 

^^Chipping  Norton,  August  15,  1792. 

"I  believe,  on  retrospection,  that  I  have  hitherto  rather  anticipated  tho 
proposed  time  of  my  return,  than  delayed  the  interview  with  my  dear  Sarah 
for  an  hour.  But  what  shall  I  say,  my  love,  now  to  reconcile  you  to  my 
procrastinating  my  return  for  several  days  more  ?  Why  I  will  say — It  appears 
I  am  called  of  God;  and  I  trust  the  piety  of  both  of  us  will  submit  and  say, 
'  Thy  will  be  done.' 


372  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

"  You  have  no  doubt  perused  Mr.  Ryland's  letter  to  me,  wherein  I  find 
he  solicits  an  exchange.  The  reason  he  assigns  is  so  obviously  important, 
that  a  much  greater  sacrifice  than  we  are  called  to  make  should  not  be  with- 
held to  accomplish  it.  I  therefore  propose,  God  willing,  to  spend  the  next 
Lord's  day  at  Northampton.  I  thought  of  taking  tea  with  you  this  evening  : 
that  would  have  been  highly  gratifying  to  us  both ;  but  it  must  be  our  meat 
and  drink  to  do  and  submit  to  the  will  of  our  heavenly  Father.  All  is  good 
that  comes  from  him,  and  all  is  done  right  which  is  done  in  obedience  to 
him.  Oh  to  be  perfectly  resigned  to  his  disposal — how  good  is  it!  May 
you,  my  dearest  Sarah,  and  myself,  daily  prove  the  sweetness  of  this  pious 
frame  of  soul :  then  all  our  duties  will  be  sweet,  all  our  trials  will  be  light, 
all  our  pleasures  will  be  pure,  and  all  our  hopes  sanctified. 

"  This  evening  I  hope  to  be  at  Northampton.  Let  your  prayers  assist  my 
efforts  on  the  ensuing  sabbath.  You  will,  I  trust,  find  in  Mr.  R.  a  ship  richly 
laden  with  spiritual  treasures.  Oh  for  more  supplies  from  the  exhaustless 
mines  of  grace  1" 

The  soul  of  Mr.  Pearce  was  formed  for  friendship ;  it  was  natural  there- 
fore to  suppose  that,  while  engaging  in  the  pursuit  of  his  studies  at  the  aca- 
demy, he  would  contract  religious  intimacies  with  some  of  his  brethren; 
and  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  grand  cement  of  his  friendship  was  kindred 
piety.  In  the  two  following  letters,  addressed  to  his  friend  Mr.  Steadman, 
the  reader  will  perceive  the  justness  of  this  remark,  as  well  as  the  encour- 
aging prospects  which  soon  attended  his  labours  at  Birmingham : — 

"  My  very  dear  Brother,  May  9,  1792. 

"  You  live  so  remote  that  I  can  hear  nothing  of  your  prosperity  at  Brough- 
ton.  I  hope  you  are  settled  with  a  comfortable  people,  and  that  you  enjoy 
much  of  your  Master's  presence,  both  in  the  study  and  in  the  pulpit.  For 
my  part,  I  have  nothing  to  lament  but  an  insensible,  ungrateful  heart,  and 
that  is  sufficient  cause  for  lamentation.  This,  only  this,  bows  me  down ; 
and  imder  this  pressure  I  am  ready  to  adopt  the  words  I  preached  from  last 
evening — '  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove!  for  then  would  I  fly  away  and 
be  at  rest.' 

"As  a  people  we  are  generally  united;  I  believe  more  so  than  most 
churches  of  the  same  dimensions.  Our  number  of  members  is  about  295, 
between  forty  and  fifty  of  whom  have  joined  us  since  I  saw  you,  and  most 
of  them  I  have  the  happiness  of  considering  as  my  children  in  the  faith. — 
There  is  still  a  crying  out  amongst  us  after  salvation ;  and  still,  through 
much  grace,  it  is  my  happiness  to  point  them  to  '  the  Lamb  of  God,  who 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.' 

"  In  preaching,  I  have  often  peculiar  liberty ;  at  other  times  barren.  I 
suppose  my  experience  is  like  that  of  most  of  my  brethren;  but  I  am  not 
weary  of  my  work,  t  hope  still  that  I  am  willing  to  spend  and  be  spent,  so 
that  I  may  win  souls  to  Christ,  and  finish  my  course  with  joy:  but  I  want 
more  heart  religion;  I  want  a  more  habitual  sense  of  the  Divine  presence; 
I  want  to  walk  with  God  as  Enoch  walked.  There  is  nothing  that  grieves 
rne  so  much,  or  brings  so  much  darkness  on  my  soul,  as  my  little  spirituality, 
and  frequent  wanderings  in  secret  prayer.  I  cannot  neglect  the  duty;  but 
it  is  seldom  that  I  enjoy  it. 

'Ye  that  love  the  Lord  indeed. 
Tell  me,  is  it  so  with  you  V 

When  I  come  to  the  house  of  God,  I  pray  and  preach  with  freedom.  Then 
I  think  the  presence  of  the  people  seems  to  weigh  more  with  me  than  the 
presence  of  God,  and  deem  myself  a  hypocrite,  almost  ready  to  leave  ray 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  STEADMAN.  373 

pulpit,  for  some  pious  preacher.  But  the  Lord  does  own  the  word ;  and 
again  I  say,  If  I  go  to  hell  myself,  I  will  do  what  I  can  to  keep  others  from 
going  thither ;  and  so  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  I  will. 

"An  observation  once  made  to  me  helps  to  support  me  above  water : — 
'  If  you  did  not  plough  in  your  closet,  you  would  not  reap  in  the  pulpit.' 
And  again  1  think,  *  the  Lord  dwdltth  in  Zion,  and  loveth  it  more  than  the 
dwellings  of  Jacob.'  " 

'Teh.  1,  1793. 

"  The  pleasure  which  your  friendly  epistle  gave  me  rises  beyond  expression ; 
and  it  is  one  of  the  first  wishes  of  my  heart  ever  to  live  in  your  valued  friend- 
ship. Accept  this,  and  my  former  letters,  my  dear  brother,  as  sufficient 
evidences  of  my  ardent  wishes  to  preserve,  by  correspondence,  that  mutual 
remembrance  of  each  other  which  on  my  part  will  ever  be  pleasurable,  and 
on  yours,  I  hope,  never  painful. 

"  But,  ah,  how  soon  may  we  be  rendered  incapable  of  such  an  intercourse! 
When  I  left  Bristol,  I  left  it  with  regret.  I  was  sorry  to  leave  my  studies  to 
embark,  inexperienced  as  I  am,  on  the  tempestuous  ocean  of  public  life, 
where  the  high  blowing  winds,  and  rude  noisy  billows,  must  more  or  less 
inevitably  annoy  the  trembling  voyager.  Nor  did  it  make  a  small  addition 
to  my  pain  that  I  was  to  part  with  so  many  of  my  dear  companions,  with 
whom  I  had  spent  so  many  hours,  either  in  furnishing  or  unburdening  the 
mind.  I  need  not  say,  amongst  the  first  of  these  I  considered  Josiah 
Evans.*  But  ah,  my  friend,  we  shall  see  his  face  no  more!  Through 
Divine  grace  I  hope  we  shall  go  to  him  ;  but  he  will  not  return  to  us.  '  He 
wasted  away,  he  gave  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he  V  I  was  prepared  for 
the  news  because  I  expected  it.  The  last  time  I  heard  directly  from  him 
was  by  a  very  serious  and  affectionate  letter,  which  I  received,  I  think,  last 
September.  To  it  I  replied ;  but  received  no  answer.  I  conjectured — I 
feared ;  and  now  my  conjectures  and  fears  are  all  realized.  Dear  departed 
youth!  Thy  memory  will  ever  be  grateful  to  this  affectionate  breast.  May 
thy  amiable  qualities  live  again  in  thy  surviving  friend,  that,  to  the  latest 
period  of  his  life,  he  may  thank  God  for  the  friendship  of  Josiah  Evans! 

"  I  assure  you,  my  dear  Steadman,  I  feel,  keenly  feel,  the  force  of  the 
sentiment  which  Blair  thus  elegantly  expresses : 

'Of  joys  departed,  ne'er  to  be  recalled, 
How  painful  the  remembrance!' 

"  But  I  sorrow  not  as  one  without  hope.  I  have  a  two-fold  hope ;  I  hope  he 
is  now  among  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  and  that  he  will  be  of  the 
blessed  and  holy  number  who  have  part  in  the  first  resurrection  ;  and  I  hope 
also,  through  the  same  rich,  free,  sovereign,  almighty,  matchless  grace,  to 
join  the  number  too.     Pleasing  thought!     Unite  to  divide  no  more! 

"  I  preached  last  night  from  Rev.  xxi.  6,  '  I  will  give  unto  him  that  is 
athirst  of  the  fountain  of  the  water  of  life  freely.'  I  took  occasion  to  expound 
the  former  part  of  the  chapter,  and  found  therein  a  pleasure  inexpressible; 
especially  when  speaking  from  the  first  verse — '  and  there  was  no  more  sea.' 
The  first  idea  that  presented  itself  to  me  was  this — There  shall  be  no  bar  to 
intercourse.  Whether  the  thought  be  just,  or  not,  I  leave  with  you  and  my 
hearers  to  determine;  but  I  found  happy  liberty  in  illustrating  it.  What  is 
it  that  separates  one  nation,  and  one  part  of  the  globe,  from  another?  Is  it 
not  the  sea?  Are  not  Christians,  though  all  of  one  family,  the  common 
Father  of  which  is  God,  separated  by  this  sea,  or  that  river,  or  the  other 
stream  below  ?     Yes ;  but  they  are  one  family  still.     There  shall  be  none  of 

*  See  a  brief  account  of  him,  given  in  part  by  Mr.  Pearce,  in  Dr.  Rippon'a  Register, 
Vol.  I.  pp.  512-516. 

21 


374  MEMOIRS  or  mr.  peakce. 

these  obstructions  to  communion,  of  these  bars  to  intercourse;  nothing  to 
divide  their  affections  or  disunite  their  praise  for  ever. — Forgive  my  free- 
doms.    I  am  writing  to  a  friend,  to  a  brother." 

There  are  few,  if  any,  thinking  men  but  who  at  some  seasons  have  had 
their  minds  perplexed  with  regard  to  religious  principles,  even  those  which 
are  of  the  greatest  importance.  In  the  end,  however,  where  the  heart  is  right, 
such  exercises  commonly  issue  in  a  more  decided  attachment  to  the  truth. 
Thus  it  was  with  Mr.  Pearce.  In  another  part  of  the  above  letter,  he  thus  writes 
to  his  friend  Steadman  : — "  I  have,  since  I  saw  you,  been  much  perplexed 
about  some  doctrinal  points,  both  Arminian  and  Socinian,  I  believe  through 
reading  very  attentively,  but  without  sufficient  dependence  on  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  several  controversies  on  those  subjects;  particularly  the  writings  of 
Whitby,  Priestley,  and  others.  Indeed,  had  the  state  of  mind  I  was  in  about 
ten  weeks  since  continued,  I  should  have  been  incapable  of  preaching  with 
comfort  at  all.  But  in  the  mount  of  the  Lord  will  he  be  seen.  Just  as  I 
thought  of  giving  up.  He  who  hath  the  hearts  of  all  men  in  his  hand,  and 
turneth  them  as  the  rivers  of  water  are  turned,  was  pleased,  by  a  merciful 
though  afflicting  providence,  to  set  me  at  a  happy  liberty. 

"  I  was  violently  seized  with  a  disorder  very  rife  here,  and  which  carried 
off  many,  supposed  to  be  an  inflammation  of  the  bowels.  One  sabbath 
evening  I  felt  such  alarming  symptoms  that  I  did  not  expect  to  see  the 
Monday  morning.  In  these  circumstances  I  realized  the  feelings  of  a  dying 
man.  My  mind  had  been  so  accustomed  to  reflect  on  virtue  and  moral 
goodness,  that  the  first  thing  I  attempted  was  a  survey  of  my  own  conduct; 
my  diligence  and  faithfulness  in  the  ministry,  my  unspotted  life,  &c.  &c. 
But,  ah,  vain  props  these  for  dying  men  to  rest  on!  Such  heart  sins,  such 
corruptions,  and  evil  propensities,  recurred  to  my  mind,  that  if  ever  I  knew 
the  moment  when  I  felt  my  own  righteousness  to  be  as  loathsome  and  filthy 
rags,  it  was  then.  And  where  should  I,  where  could  I,  where  did  I  flee,  but 
to  Him  whose  glory  and  grace  I  had  been  of  late  degrading,  at  least  in  my 
thoughts?  Yes,  there  I  saw  peace  for  guilty  consciences  was  to  be  aloiie 
obtained  through  an  almighty  Saviour.  And  oh,  wonderful  to  tell,  I  again 
came  to  him ;  nor  was  I  sent  away  without  the  blessing.  I  found  him  full 
of  all  compassion,  ready  to  receive  the  most  ungrateful  of  men. 

'  Oh  to  grace  how  great  a  debtor 
Daily  I'm  constrained  to  be  !' 

Thus,  my  dear  brother  was  the  snare  broken,  and  thus  I  escaped. 

'  A  debtor  to  mercy  alone,  ^ 

Of  covenant  mercy  I  sing.' 

Join  with  me  in  praising  Him  who  remembered  me  in  my  low  estate,  be- 
cause his  mercy  endureth  for  ever.  Yet  this  is  among  the  all  things.  I 
have  found  it  has  made  me  more  spiritual  in  preaching.  I  have  prized  the 
gospel  more  than  ever,  and  hope  it  will  be  the  means  of  guarding  me  against 
future  temptations." 

From  his  first  coming  to  Birmingham,  his  meekness  and  patience  were 
put  to  the  trial  by  an  Antinomian  spirit  which  infected  many  individuals, 
both  in  and  out  of  his  congregation.  It  is  well  known  with  what  affection 
it  was  his  practice  to  beseech  sinners  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  and  to  exhort 
Christians  to  the  exercise  of  practical  godliness;  but  these  were  things  which 
they  could  not  endure.  Soothing  doctrine  was  all  they  desired.  There- 
fore it  was  that  his  ministry  was  traduced  by  them  as  Arminian,  and  treated 
with  neglect  and  contempt.  But,  like  his  Divine  Master,  he  bore  the  con- 
tradiction of  sinners  against  himself,  and  this  while  he  had  the  strongest 


I-  ' 


CORRESPONDENCE   WITH  MR.  SUMMERS.  375 

satisfaction  that,  in  those  very  tilings  to  which  they  objected,  he  was 
pleasing  God.  And  though  he  plainly  perceived  the  pernicious  influence 
of  their  principles  upon  their  own  minds,  as  well  as  the  minds  of  others,  yet 
he  treated  them  with  great  gentleness  and  long  forbearance ;  and  when  it 
became  necessary  to  exclude  such  of  this  description  as  were  in  communion 
with  him,  it  was  with  the  greatest  reluctance  that  he  came  into  that  mea- 
sure, and  not  without  having  tirst  tried  all  other  means  in  vain.  He  was 
not  apt  to  deal  in  harsh  language ;  yet,  in  one  of  his  letters  about  that 
time,  he  speaks  of  the  principles  and  spirit  of  these  people  as  a  "  cursed 
leaven." 

Among  his  numerous  religious  friendships,  he  seems  to  have  formed  one 
for  the  special  purpose  of  spiritual  improvtment.  This  was  with  Mr.  Sum- 
mers, of  London,  who  often  accompanied  him  in  his  journeys;  to  whom, 
therefore,  it  might  be  expected  he  would  open  his  heart  without  reserve. 
Here,  it  is  true,  we  sometimes  see  him,  like  his  brethren,  groaning  under 
darkness,  want  of  spirituality,  and  the  remains  of  indwelling  sin;  but  fre- 
quently rising  above  all,  as  into  his  native  element,  and  pouring  forth  his 
ardent  soul  in  the  expression  of  joy  and  praise.  —  On  Aug.  19,  1793,  he 
writes  thus: — 

"  My  dear  Brother, 

"  When  I  take  my  pen  to  pursue  my  correspondence  with  yoti,  I  have  no 
concern  but  to  communicate  something  which  may  answer  the  same  end  we 
propose  in  our  annual  journeys,  viz.  lending  some  assistance  in  the  important 
object  of  getting  and  keeping  nearer  to  God.  This,  I  am  persuaded,  is  the 
mark  at  which  we  should  be  continually  aiming,  nor  rest  satisfied  until  we 
attain  that  to  which  we  aspire.  I  am  really  ashamed  of  myself,  when,  on  the 
one  hand,  I  review  the  time  that  has  elapsed  since  I  first  assumed  the  Chris- 
tian name,  with  the  opportunities  of  improvement  in  godliness  wliich  have 
crowded  on  my  moments  since  that  period  ;  and  when,  on  the  other,  I  feel 
the  little  advance  I  have  made!  More  light,  to  be  sure,  I  have;  but  light 
without  heat  leaves  the  Christian  half  dissatisfied.  Yesterday,  I  preached  on 
the  duty  of  engagedness  in  God's  service,  from  Jer.  xxx.  21,  'Who  is  this 
that  engaged  his  heart  to  approach  unto  me?  saith  the  Lord'  (a  text  for 
which  1  am  indebted  to  our  last  journey).  While  urging  the  necessity  of 
heart  religion,  including  sincerity  and  ardour,  I  found  myself  much  assisted 
by  reflectnig  on  the  ardour  which  our  dear  Redeemer  discovered  in  the 
cause  of  sinners.  'Ah,'  I  could  not  help  saying,  'if  our  Saviour  had  mea- 
sured his  intenseness  in  his  engagements  for  us,  by  our  fervency  in  fulfilling 
our  engagements  to  him, — we  should  have  been  now  further  from  hope  than 
we  are  from  perfection.' 

'  Dear  Lord,  the  ardour  of  thy  love 
Reproves  my  cold  returns.' 

"Two  things  are  causes  of  daily  astonishment  to  me: — The  readiness  of 
Christ  to  come  from  earth  to  heaven  for  me ;  and  my  backwardness  to  rise 
from  earth  to  heaven  with  him.  But,  oh,  how  animating  the  prospect!  A 
time  approaches  when  we  shall  rise  to  sink  no  more;  to  'be  for  ever  with 
the  Lord.'  To  be  with  the  Lord  for  a  week,  for  a  day,  for  an  hour ;  how 
sweetly  must  the  moments  pass !  But  to  be  for  ever  with  the  Lord, — that 
enstamps  salvation  with  perfection  ;  that  gives  an  energy  to  our  hopes,  and 
a  dignity  to  our  joy,  so  as  to  render  it  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory !  I 
have  had  a  few  realizing  moments  since  we  parted,  and  the  effect  has  been, 
I  trust,  a  broken  heart.  O  my  brother,  it  is  desirable  to  have  a  broken  heart, 
were  it  only  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure  it  feels  in  being  helped  and  healed 


376  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

by  Jesus!  Heart-affecting  views  of  the  cursed  effects  of  sin  are  highly  salu- 
tary to  a  Christian's  growth  in  humility,  confidence,  and  gratitude.  At  once 
how  abasing  and  exalting  is  the  comparison  of  our  loathsome  hearts  with 
that  of  the  lovely  Saviour !  In  Him  we  see  all  that  can  charm  an  angel's 
heart ;  in  ourselves  all  that  can  gratify  a  devil's.  And  yet  we  may  rest  per- 
fectly assured  that  these  nests  of  iniquity  shall,  ere  long,  be  transformed  into 
the  temples  of  God ;  and  these  sighs  of  sorrow  be  exchanged  for  songs  of 
praise. 

"  Last  Lord's  day  I  spent  the  most  profitable  sabbath  to  myself  that  I  ever 
remember  since  I  have  been  in  the  ministry;  and  to  this  hour  I  feel  the 
sweet  solemnities  of  that  day  delightfully  protracted.  Ah!  my  brother,  were 
it  not  for  past  experience  I  should  say, 

'My  heart  presumes  I  cannot  lose 
The  relish  all  my  days.' 

But  now  I  rejoice  with  trembling,  desiring  to  'hold  fast  what  I  have,  that  no 
man  take  my  crown.'     Yet  fearing  that  I  shall  find  how, 

— '  Ere  one  fleeting  hour  is  past, 

The  flattering  world  employs 
Some  sensual  bait  to  seize  my  taste, 

And  to  pollute  my  joys.'  " 

In  April,  1794,  dropping  a  few  lines  to  the  compiler  of  these  Memoirs, 
on  a  Lord's  day  evening,  he  thus  concludes: — "We  have  had  a  good  day. 
I  find,  as  a  dear  friend  once  said,  it  is  pleasant  speaking  for  God  when  we 
walk  loith  him.  Oh  for  much  of  Enoch's  spirit !  The  Head  of  the  church 
grant  it  to  my  dear  brother,  and  his  affectionate  friend — S.  P." 

In  another  letter  to  Mr.  Summers,  dated  June  24,  1794,  he  thus  writes:^ 
"We,  my  friend,  have  entered  on  a  correspondence  of  heart  with  heart;  and 
must  not  lose  sight  of  that  avowed  object.  I  thank  you  sincerely  for  con- 
tinuing the  remembrance  of  so  unworthy  a  creature  in  your  intercourse  with 
Heaven ;  and  I  thank  that  sacred  Spirit  whose  quickening  influences,  you 
say,  you  enjoy  in  the  exercise.  Yes,  my  brother,  I  have  reaped  the  fruits  of 
your  supplications.  I  have  been  indulged  with  some  seasons  of  unusual 
joy,  tranquil  as  solitude,  and  solid  as  the  Rock  on  which  our  hopes  are 
built.  In  public  exercises,  peculiar  assistance  has  been  afforded;  especially 
in  these  three  things : — The  exaltation  of  the  Redeemer's  glory — the  detec- 
tion of  the  crooked  ways,  false  refuges,  and  self-delusions  of  the  human 
heart — and  the  stirring  up  of  the  saints  to  press  onward,  making  God's  cause 
their  own,  and  considering  themselves  as  living  not  for  themselves,  but  for 
Him  alone. 

"  Nor  hath  the  word  been  without  its  effect :  above  fifty  have  been  added 
to  our  church  this  year,  most  of  whom  I  rejoice  in  as  the  seals  of  my  min- 
istry in  the  Lord.  Indeed,  I  am  surrounded  with  goodness;  and  scarcely  a 
day  passes  over  my  head  but  I  say.  Were  it  not  for  an  ungrateful  heart,  I 
should  be  the  happiest  man  alive ;  and  that  excepted,  I  neither  expect  nor 
wish  to  be  happier  in  this  world.  My  wife,  my  children,  and  myself,  are 
uninterruptedly  healthy;  my  friends  kind;  my  soul  at  rest;  my  labours  suc- 
cessful, &c.  Who  should  be  content  and  thankfid  if  I  should  not?  O  my 
brother,  help  me  to  praise !" 

In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Pearce,  from  Plymouth,  dated  Sept.  2,  1794,  the  dark 
side  of  the  cloud  seems  towards  him : — "  I  have  felt  much  barrenness,"  says 
he,  "  as  to  spiritual  things,  since  I  have  been  here,  compared  with  my  usual 
frame  at  home ;  and  it  is  a  poor  exchange  to  enjoy  the  creature  at  the 
expense  of  the  Creator's  presence !  A  few  seasons  of  spirituality  I  have 
enjoyed ;  but  my  heart,  my  inconstant  heart,  is  too  prone  to  rove  from  its 


CORRESPONDENCE   WITH  MR.  6UMMERS.  377 

proper  centre.    Pray  for  me,  my  dear,  my  dearest  friend :  I  do  for  you  daily. 

0  wrestle  for  me,  that  I  may  have  more  of  Enoch's  spirit!  I  am  fully  per- 
suaded that  a  Ciiristian  is  no  longer  really  happy,  and  inwardly  satisfied,  than 
whilst  he  walks  with  God;  and  I  would  this  moment  rejoice  to  abandon 
every  pleasure  here  for  a  closer  walk  with  him.  I  cannot,  amidst  all  the 
round  of  social  pleasure,  amidst  the  most  inviting  scenes  of  nature,yee/  that 
peace  with  God  which  passeth  understanding.  My  thirst  for  preaching 
Christ,  I  fear,  abates,  and  a  detestable  vanity  for  the  reputation  of  a  '  good 
preacher'  (as  the  world  terms  it)  has  already  cost  me  many  conflicts.     Daily 

1  feel  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  a  remark  which  my  friend  Summers 
made  on  his  journey  to  Wales,  that  '  it  is  easier  for  a  Christian  to  walk 
habitually  near  to  God  than  to  be  irregular  in  our  walk  with  him.'  But  I 
want  resolution;  I  want  a  contempt  for  the  world;  I  want  more  heavenly- 
mindedness;  I  want  more  humility;  I  want  much,  very  much,  of  that  which 
God  alone  can  bestow.     Lord,  help  the  weakest  Lamb  in  all  thy  flock ! 

"  I  preached  this  evening  from  Cant.  ii.  3,  '  I  sat  down  under  his  shadow 
with  great  delight,  and  his  fruit  was  sweet  to  my  taste.'  But  how  little  love 
for  my  Saviour  did  I  feel !  With  what  little  affection  and  zeal  did  I  speak ! 
I  am  by  some  praised.  I  am  followed  by  many.  I  am  respected  by  most 
of  my  acquaintance.  But  all  this  is  nothing,  yea,  less  than  nothing,  com- 
pared with  possessing  this  testimony,  that  I  please  God.  O  thou  Friend  of 
sinners,  humble  me  by  repentance,  and  melt  me  down  with  love! 

"  To-morrow  morning  I  set  oflT  for  Launceston.  I  write  to-night,  lest  my 
stay  in  Cornwall  might  make  my  delay  appear  tedious  to  the  dear  and  de- 
serving object  of  my  most  undissembled  love.  O  my  Sarah,  had  I  as  much 
proof  that  I  love  Jesus  Christ  as  I  have  of  my  love  to  you,  I  should  prize  it 
more  than  rubies !  As  often  as  you  can  find  an  hour  for  correspondence, 
think  of  your  more  than  ever  affectionate — S.  P." 

On  the  same  subject,  and  the  same  occasion,  about  three  weeks  afterwards, 
(Sept.  23,  1794,)  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Summers.  His  dissatisfaction  with  him- 
self while  spending  his  time  in  visits,  and  his  satisfaction  when  engaged  in 
his  proper  work,  are  well  worthy  of  attention.  "  I  was  pretty  much  engaged 
in  preaching,"  says  he,  "  and  often  felt  enlarged  in  public  work ;  but,  in  pri- 
vate, my  almost  daily  cry  was,  '  My  leanness,  my  leanness!'  Indeed  it  was 
a  barren  visit,  as  to  the  inward  exercises  of  grace.  Now  and  then  1  felt  a 
brokenness  of  spirit,  and  a  panting  after  God;  but  in  general  my  mind  was 
in  a  dissipated  state.  After  so  long  an  absence  from  so  large  an  acquaint- 
ance, I  was  always  crowded  with  company,  some  of  whom,  though  amiable, 
were  very  gay.  Their  politeness  and  cheerfulness,  joined  with  a  high  degi'ee 
of  indulgence,  were  too  fascinating  for  my  volatile  mind.  I  admired,  and 
was  too  much  conformed  to  their  spirit.  I  did  indeed  often  struggle  with 
myself,  and  watched  for  occasions  of  dropping  some  improving  hint;  but, 
either  through  want  of  opportunity  or  of  fortitude,  the  hint  seldom  produced 
a  long  conversation,  or  a  permanent  effect.  New  visits,  or  excursions,  were 
every  day  proposed,  and  my  heart  was  continually  divided  between  painful 
recollection  and  flattering  hopes.  One  lesson,  indeed,  I  have  thoroughly 
learned — that  real,  solid  satisfaction  is  to  be  found  in  nothing  but  God.  May 
I  have  grace  to  improve  it  throughout  my  future  life. 

"  The  last  week  I  have  known  more  of  the  power  of  inward  religion  than 
all  the  four  which  I  have  spent  from  home.  I  devoted  the  week  to  my 
Lord's  service  entirely,  and  I  found  in  keeping  his  commandments  great 
reward." 

In  another  letter  to  Mr.  Summers,  dated  Nov.  10,  1794,  he  says — "  I  sup- 
pose I  shall  visit  London  in  the  spring:  prepare  my  way  by  communion  both 
with  God  and  man.     I  hope  your  soul  prospers.     I  have  enjoyed  more  of 

Vol.  III.— 48  2  i  2 


378 


MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 


God  within  this  month  than  ever  since  the  day  of  my  espousals  with  him. 
O  my  brother,  help  me  to  praise !  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  quite  so  exalted 
in  my  frame  to-day ;  yet  still  I  acknowledge  what  I  have  lived  upon  for 
weeks — that  were  there  no  being  or  thing  in  the  universe  beside  God  and 
me,  I  should  be  at  no  loss  for  happiness.     Oh, 


'Tis  heaven  to  rest  in  his  embrace, 
And  no  wliere  else  but  there.'  " 


CHAPTER  II. 


HIS  LABORIOUS  EXERTIONS  IN  PROMOTING  MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN,  AND  HIS 
OFFERING   HIMSELF   TO   BECOME   A    MISSIONARY. 

Mr.  Pearce  was  uniformly  the  spiritual  and  the  active  servant  of  Christ ; 
but  neither  his  spirituality  nor  his  activity  would  have  appeared  in  the  man- 
ner they  have,  but  for  his  engagement  in  the  introduction  of  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen. 

It  was  not  long  after  his  settlement  at  Birmingham  that  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Carey,  in  whom  he  found  a  soul  nearly  akin  to  his  own. 
When  the  brethren  in  the  counties  of  Northampton  and  Leicester  formed 
themselves  into  a  missionary  society  at  Kettering,  in  October,  1792,  he  was 
there,  and  entered  into  the  business  with  all  his  heart.  On  his  return  to 
Birmingham,  he  communicated  the  subject  to  his  congregation  with  so 
much  effect,  that,  in  addition  to  the  small  sum  of  =£13  2^.  (id.,  with  which 
the  subscription  was  begun,  .£70  were  collected,  and  transmitted  to  the 
treasurer;  and  the  leading  members  of  the  church  formed  themselves  into 
an  assistant  society.  Early  in  the  following  spring,  when  it  was  resolved 
that  our  brethren,  Thomas  and  Carey,  should  go  on  a  mission  to  the  Hin- 
doos, and  a  considerable  sum  of  money  was  wanted  for  the  purpose,  he 
laboured  with  increasing  ardour  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom;  and  when 
the  object  was  accomplished,  he  rejoiced  in  all  his  labour,  smiling  in  every 
company,  and  blessing  God. 

During  his  labours  and  journeys  on  this  important  object  he  wrote  several 
letters  to  his  friends,  an  extract  or  two  from  which  will  discover  the  state  of 
his  mind  at  this  period,  as  well  as  the  encouragements  that  he  met  with  in 
his  work  at  home  : — 

To  Mr.  Steadman.* 
"My  VERY  DEAR  Brother,  Birmingham,  Feh.  S,  1793. 

"  Union  of  sentiment  often  creates  friendship  among  carnal  men,  and 
similarity  of  feeling  never  fails  to  produce  affection  among  pious  men,  as 
far  as  that  similarity  is  known.  I  have  loved  you  ever  since  I  knew  you. 
We  saw,  we  felt  alike,  in  the  interesting  concerns  of  personal  religion.  We 
formed  a  reciprocal  attachment.  We  expressed  it  by  words.  We  agreed  to 
do  so  by  correspondence ;  and  we  have  not  altogether  been  wanting  to  our 
engagements.  But  our  correspondence  has  been  interrupted,  not,  I  believe, 
through  any  diminution  of  regard  on  either  side ;  I  am  persuaded  not  on 

*  This  excellent  man  lived  to  a  good  old  age  ;  for  many  years  before  his  death  he  was  the 
beloved  and  eminently  successful  pastor  of  the  first  Baptist  church  at  Bradford,  Yorkshire, 
and  the  not  less  excellent  president  of  the  Baptist  College  near  that  town.  Not  a  few  of  his 
students  in  England,  in  these  states,  and  in  the  missionary  field,  bless  his  memory,  and  refer 
with  delight  to  the  man  whom  good  Dr.  Ryland,  in  his  own  peculiar  manner  and  voice,  used 
to  call  "  that  great  lump  of  goodness,  Dr.  Steadman." — B. 


SELF-DEVOTION  TO  THE  MISSIONARY  CAUSE.  379 

mine.  I  rather  condemn  myself  as  the  first  aggressor;  but  I  excuse  while 
I  condemn,  and  so  would  you,  did  you  know  half  the  concerns  which  de- 
volve upon  me  in  my  present  situation,  Birmingham  is  a  central  place;  the 
inhabitants  are  numerous ;  our  members  are  between  three  and  four  hun- 
dred. The  word  preached  has  lately  been  remarkably  blessed.  In  less 
than  five  months  I  baptized  nearly  forty  persons,  almost  all  newly  awakened. 
Next  Lord's  day  week  1  expect  to  add  to  iheir  number.  These  persons 
came  to  my  house  to  propose  the  most  important  of  all  inquiries — '  What 
must  we  do  to  be  saved?'  I  have  been  thus  engaged  some  weeks,  during 
the  greatest  part  of  most  days.  This,  with  four  sermons  a  week,  will  ac- 
count for  my  neglect.  But  your  letter,  received  this  evening,  calls  forth 
every  latent  afiection  of  my  heart  for  you.  We  are,  my  dear  brother,  not 
only  united  in  the  common  object  of  pursuit — salvation ;  not  only  rest  our 
hopes  on  the  same  foundation — Jesus  Christ;  but  we  feel  alike  respecting 
the  poor  heathens.  Oh  how  Christianity  expands  the  mind!  W^hat  tender- 
ness for  our  poor  fellow  sinners!  What  sympathy  for  their  moral  misery! 
What  desires  to  do  them  everlasting  good  doth  it  provoke!  How  satisfying 
to  our  judgments  is  this  evidence  of  grace!  How  gratifying  to  our  present 
taste  are  these  benevolent  breathings !  Oh  how  I  love  that  man  whose  soul 
is  deeply  affected  with  the  importance  of  the  precious  gospel  to  idolatrous 
heathens!  Excellently,  my  dear  brother,  you  observe,  that,  great  as  its 
blessings  are  in  the  estimation  of  a  sinner  called  in  a  Christian  country, 
inexpressibly  greater  must  they  shine  on  the  newly  illuminated  mind  of  a 
converted  pagan. 

"  We  shall  be  glad  of  all  your  assistance  in  a  pecuniary  way,  as  the  expense 
will  be  heavy.  Dear  brother  Carey  has  paid  us  a  visit  of  love  this  week. 
He  preached  excellently  to-night.  I  expect  brother  Thomas  next  week,  or 
the  week  after.  I  wish  you  would  meet  him  here.  I  have  a  house  at  your 
command,  and  a  heart  greatly  attached  to  you." 

To  Mr.  Fuller. 

''Feb.  23,  1793. 

"  I  am  willing  to  go  any  where,  and  do  any  thing  in  my  power,  but  I  hope 
no  plan  will  be  suffered  to  interfere  with  the  affecting — hoped  for — dreaded 
day,  March  13  (the  day  of  our  brethren  Carey  and  Thomas's  solemn  designa- 
tion at  Leicester).  Oh  how  the  anticipation  of  it  at  once  rejoices  and  afflicts 
me!  Our  hearts  need  steeling  to  part  with  our  much-loved  brethren,  who 
are  about  to  venture  their  all  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  I  feel  my 
soul  melting  within  me  when  I  read  the  20th  chapter  of  the  Acts,  and  espe- 
cially verses  30-38.  But  why  grieve?  We  shall  see  them  again.  Oh  yes; 
them  and  the  children  whom  the  Lord  will  give  them; — we  and  the  children 
whom  the  Lord  hath  given  us.  We  shall  meet  again,  not  to  weep  and  pray, 
but  to  smile  and  praise." 

Fropi  the  day  of  the  departure  of  the  missionaries,  no  one  was  more  im- 
portunate in  prayer  than  Mr.  Pearce;  and  on  the  news  of  their  safe  arrival, 
no  one  was  more  filled  with  joy  and  thankfulness. 

Hitherto  we  had  witnessed  his  zeal  in  promoting  this  important  under- 
taking at  home;  but  this  did  not  satisfy  him.  \n  October,  1794,  we  were 
given  to  understand  that  he  had  for  some  time  had  it  in  serious  contempla- 
tion to  go  himself,  and  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  his  brethren  in  India.  When 
his  designs  were  first  discovered,  his  friends  and  connexions  were  much 
concerned,  and  endeavoured  to  persuade  him  that  he  was  already  in  a  sphere 
of  usefulness  too  important  to  be  relinquished.  But  his  answer  was,  that 
they  were  too  interested  in  the  affair  to  be  competent  judges.  And  nothing 
would  satisfy  him  short  of  his  making  a  formal  offer  of  his  services  to  the 


380  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

committee :  nor  could  he  be  happy  for  them  to  decide  upon  it  without  their 
appointing  a  day  of  solemn  prayer  for  the  purpose,  and,  when  assembled, 
hearing  an  account  of  the  principal  exercises  of  his  mind  upon  the  subject, 
with  the  reasons  which  induced  him  to  make  the  proposal,  as  well  as  the 
reasons  alleged  by  his  connexions  against  it. 

On  October  4,  1794,  he  wrote  to  an  intimate  friend,  of  whom  he  enter- 
tained a  hope  that  he  might  accompany  him,  as  follows : — 

"  Last  Wednesday  I  rode  to  Northampton,  where  a  ministers'  meeting 
was  held  on  the  following  day.  We  talked  much  about  the  mission.  We 
read  some  fresh  and  very  encouraging  accounts.  We  lamented  that  we  could 
obtain  no  suitable  persons  to  send  out  to  the  assistance  of  our  brethren. 
Now  what  do  you  think  was  said  at  this  meeting?  My  dear  brother,  do  not 
be  surprised  that  all  present  united  in  opinion  that  in  all  our  connexion 
there  was  no  man  known  to  us  so  suitable  as  you,  provided  you  were  dis- 
posed for  it,  and  things  could  be  brought  to  bear.  1  thought  it  right  to  men- 
tion this  circumstance;  and  one  thing  more  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying, 
that,  were  it  manifestly  the  will  of  God,  I  should  call  that  the  happiest  hour 
of  my  life  which  witnessed  our  both  embarking  with  our  families  on  board 
one  ship,  as  helpers  of  the  servants  of  Jesus  Christ  already  in  Hindostan. 
Yes,  I  could  unreluctantly  leave  Europe  and  all  its  contents  for  the  pleasures 
and  perils  of  this  glorious  service.  Often  my  heart  in  the  sincerest  ardours 
thus  breathes  forth  its  desires  unto  God, — '  Here  am  I,  send  me.'  But  I 
am  ignorant  whether  you  from  experience  can  realize  my  feelings.  Perhaps 
you  have  friendship  enough  for  me  to  lay  open  your  meditations  on  this 
subject  in  your  next.  If  you'  have  had  half  the  exercises  that  I  have,  it  will 
be  a  relief  to  your  labouring  mind ;  or  if  you  think  I  have  made  too  free 
with  you,  reprove  me,  and  I  will  love  you  still.  Oh  if  I  could  find  a  heart 
that  had  been  tortured  and  ravished  like  my  own  in  this  respect,  I  should 
form  a  new  kind  of  alliance,  and  feel  a  friendship  of  a  novel  species.  With 
eagerness  should  I  communicate  all  the  vicissitudes  of  my  sensations,  and 
with  eagerness  listen  to  a  recital  of  kindred  feelings.  With  impatience  I  should 
seek,  and  with  gratitude  receive,  direction  and  support,  and  I  hope  feel  a 
new  occasion  of  thankfulness  when  I  bow  my  knee  to  the  Father  of  mercies 
and  the  God  of  all  comfort.  Whence  is  it  that  I  thus  write  to  you,  as  I  have 
never  written  to  any  one  before?  Is  there  a  fellowship  of  the  spirit;  or  is  it 
the  confidence  that  I  have  in  your  friendship  that  thus  directs  my  pen  ?  Tell 
me,  dear !  Tell  me  how  you  felt,  and  how  you  still  feel,  on  this  inte- 
resting subject,  and  do  not  long  delay  the  gratification  to  your  very  affec- 
tionate friend  and  brother — S.  P." 

About  a  month  preceding  the  decision  of  this  affair,  he  drew  up  a  narra- 
tive  of  his  experience  respecting  it;  resolving  at  the  same  time  to  set  apart 
one  day  in  every  week  for  secret  fasting  and  prayer  to  God  for  direction ; 
and  to  keep  a  diary  of  the  exercises  of  his  mind  during  the  month. 

When  the  committee  were  met  at  Northampton,  according  to  his  desire, 
he  presented  to  them  the  narrative,  which  was  as  follows : — 

"October  8,  1794.  Having  had  some  peculiar  exercises  of  mind  relative 
to  my  personally  attempting  to  labour  for  the  dear  Redeemer  amongst  the 
heathen,  and  being  at  a  loss  to  know  what  is  the  will  of  the  Lord  in  this 
matter  respecting  me,  I  have  thought  that  I  might  gain  some  satisfaction  by 
adopting  these  two  resolutions: — First,  That  I  will,  in  the  presence  of  God, 
faithfully  endeavour  to  recollect  the  various  workings  of  my  mind  on  this 
subject,  from  the  first  period  of  my  feeling  any  desire  of  this  nature  until 
now,  and  commit  them  to  writing ;  together  with  what  considerations  do 
now,  on  the  one  hand,  impel  me  to  the  work,  and,  on  the  other,  what  pre- 


SELF-DEVOTION  TO  THE  MISSIONARY  CAUSE.  381 

vent  me  from  immediately  resolving  to  enter  upon  it.  Secondly,  That  I  will 
from  this  day  keep  a  regular  journal,  with  special  relation  to  this  matter. 

"  This  account  and  journal  will,  I  hope,  furnish  me  with  much  assistance 
in  forming  a  future  opinion  of  the  path  of  duty ;  as  well  as  help  any  friends 
whom  I  may  hereafter  think  proper  to  consult  to  give  me  suitable  advice  in 
the  business.     Lord,  help  me ! 

"  It  is  very  common  for  young  converts  to  feel  strong  desires  for  the  con- 
version of  others.  These  desires  immediately  followed  the  evidences  of  my 
own  religion ;  and  I  remember  well  they  were  particularly  fixed  upon  the 
poor  heathen.  I  believe  the  first  week  that  I  knew  the  grace  of  God  in  truth 
I  put  up  many  fervent  cries  to  heaven  in  their  behalf,  and  at  the  same  time 
felt  a  strong  desire  to  be  employed  in  promoting  their  salvation.  It  was  not 
long  after  that  the  first  settlers  sailed  for  Botany  Bay.  I  longed  to  go  with 
them,  although  in  company  with  the  convicts,  in  hopes  of  making  known 
the  blessings  of  the  great  salvation  in  New  Zealand.  I  actually  had  thought 
of  making  an  effort  to  go  out  unknown  to  my  friends;  but,  ignorant  how  to 
proceed,  I  abandoned  my  purpose.  Nevertheless  I  could  not  help  talking 
about  it;  and  at  one  time  a  report  was  circulated  that  I  was  really  going, 
and  a  neighbouring  minister  very  seriously  conversed  with  me  upon  the 
subject. 

"  While  I  was  at  the  Bristol  academy,  the  desire  remained ;  but  not  with  that 
energy  as  at  first,  except  on  one  or  two  occasions.  Being  sent  by  my  tutor 
to  preach  two  sabbaths  at  Coleford,  I  felt  particular  sweetness  in  devoting 
the  evenings  of  the  week  to  going  from  house  to  house  among  the  colliers, 
who  dwelt  in  the  Forest  of  Dean,  adjoining  the  town,  conversing  and  praying 
with  them,  and  preaching  to  them.  In  these  exercises  I  found  tlie  most  solid 
satisfaction  that  I  have  ever  known  in  discharging  the  duties  of  my  calling. 
In  a  poor  hut,  with  a  stone  to  stand  upon,  and  a  three-legged  stool  for  my 
desk,  surrounded  with  thirty  or  forty  of  the  smutty  neighbours,  I  have  felt  such 
an  unction  from  above  that  luy  whole  auditory  have  been  melted  into  tears, 
whilst  directed  to  "  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;" 
and  I,  weeping  among  them,  could  scarcely  speak,  or  they  hear,  for  interrupt- 
ing sighs  and  sobs.  Many  a  time  did  I  then  think,  thus  it  was  with  the 
apostles  of  our  Lord,  when  they  went  from  house  to  house  among  the  poor 
heathen.  In  work  like  this  I  could  live  and  die.  Indeed,  had  I  at  that 
time  been  at  liberty  to  settle,  I  should  have  preferred  that  situation  to  any  in 
the  kingdom  with  which  I  was  then  acquainted. 

"  But  the  Lord  placed  me  in  a  situation  very  different.  He  brought  me 
to  Birmingham ;  and  here,  amongst  the  novelties,  cares,  and  duties  of  my 
station,  I  do  not  remember  any  wish  for  foreign  service,  till,  after  a  residence 
of  some  months,  I  heard  Dr.  Coke  preach  at  one  of  Mr.  Wesley's  chapels, 
from  Psal.  Ixviii.  31,  ^Ethiopia  shall  soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God.' 
Then  it  was  that,  in  Mr.  Home's  phrase,  'I  felt  a  passion  for  missions.' 
Then  I  felt  an  interest  in  the  state  of  the  heathen  world  for  more  deep  and 
permanent  than  before,  and  seriously  thought  how  I  could  best  promote  their 
obtaining  the  knowledge  of  the  crucified  Jesus. 

"As  no  way  at  that  time  was  open,  I  cannot  say  that  I  thought  of  taking  a 
part  of  the  good  work  among  the  heathen  abroad;  but  resolved  that  I  would 
render  them  all  the  assistance  I  could  at  home.  My  mind  was  employed 
during  tlie  residue  of  that  week  in  meditating  on  Psal.  Ixvii.  3,  '  Glorious 
things  are  spoken  of  thee,  O  city  of  God !' — and  the  next  sabbath  morning 
I  spoke  from  those  words,  on  the  promised  increase  of  the  church  of  God. 
I  had  observed  that  our  monthly  meetings  for  prayer  had  been  better  attended 
than  the  other  prayer-meetings,  from  the  time  that  I  first  knew  the  people  in 
Cannon  Street;  but  I  thought  a  more  general  attention  to  them  was  desirable. 


382  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

I  therefore  preached  on  the  sabbath  day  evening  preceding  the  next  monthly 
prayer-meeting  from  Matt.  vi.  10 — 'Thy  kingdom  come;'  and  urged  with 
ardour  and  affection  a  universal  union  of  the  serious  part  of  the  congregation 
in  this  exercise.  It  rejoiced  me  to  see  tliree  times  as  many  the  next  night 
as  usual ;  and,  for  some  time  after  that,  I  had  nearly  equal  cause  for  joy. 

"As  to  my  own  part,  I  continued  to  preach  much  upon  the  promises  of 
God  respecting  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  nations;  and  by  so  doing,  and 
always  communicating  to  my  people  every  piece  of  information  I  could 
obtain  respecting  the  present  state  of  missions,  they  soon  imbibed  the  same 
spirit;  and  from  that  time  to  this  they  have  discovered  so  much  concern  for 
the  more  extensive  spread  of  the  gospel,  that  at  our  monthly  prayer-meetings, 
both  stated  and  occasional,  I  should  be  as  much  surprised  at  the  case  of  the 
heathen  being  omitted  in  any  prayer  as  at  an  omission  of  the  name  and 
merits  of  Jesus. 

"Indeed  it  has  been  a  frequent  means  of  enkindling  my  languid  devotion, 
in  my  private,  domestic,  and  public  engagements  in  prayer.  When  I  have 
been  barren  in  petitioning  for  myself,  and  other  things,  often  have  I  been 
sweetly  enlarged  when  I  came  to  notice  the  situation  of  those  who  were 
perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge. 

"  Thus  I  went  on  praying  and  preaching,  and  conversing  on  the  subject, 
till  the  time  of  brother  Carey's  ordination  at  Leicester,  May  24,  1791.  On 
the  evening  of  that  day  he  read  to  the  ministers  a  great  part  of  his  manu- 
script, since  published,  entitled,  "An  Inquiry  into  the  Obligations  of  Chris- 
tians to  use  Means  for  the  Conversion  of  the  Heathen."  This  added  fresh 
fuel  to  my  zeal.  But  to  pray  and  preach  on  the  subject  was  all  I  could  then 
think  of  doing.  But  when  I  heard  of  a  proposed  meeting  at  Kettering, 
October  2,  1792,  for  the  express  purpose  of  considering  our  duty  in  regard 
to  the  heathen,  I  could  not  resist  my  inclination  for  going,  although  at  that 
time  I  was  not  much  acquainted  with  the  ministers  of  the  Northamptonshire 
association.  There  I  got  my  judgment  informed,  and  my  heart  increasingly 
interested.  I  returned  home  resolved  to  lay  myself  out  in  the  cause.  The 
public  steps  I  have  taken  are  too  well  known  to  need  repeating;  but  my 
mind  became  now  inclined  to  go  among  the  heathen  myself  Yet  a  con- 
sideration of  my  connexions  with  the  dear  people  of  God  in  Birmingham 
restrained  my  desires,  and  kept  me  from  naming  my  wishes  to  any  body,  (as 
I  remember,)  except  to  brother  Carey.  With  him  I  was  pretty  free.  We 
had  an  interesting  conversation  about  it  just  before  he  left  Europe.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  manner  of  his  saying,  'Well,  you  will  come  after  us.'  My 
heart  said.  Amen!  and  my  eagerness  for  the  work  increased;  though  I  never 
talked  freely  about  it,  except  to  my  wife,  and  we  then  both  thought  that  my 
relation  to  the  church  in  Cannon  Street,  and  usefulness  there,  forbad  any 
such  an  attempt.  However,  I  have  made  it  a  constant  matter  of  prayer, 
often  begging  of  God,  as  I  did  when  first  I  was  disposed  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  either  that  he  would  take  away  the  desire,  or  open  a  door  for  its 
fulfilment.  And  the  result  has  uniformly  been,  that  the  more  spiritual  I  have 
been  in  the  frame  of  my  mind,  the  more  love  I  have  felt  for  God ;  and  the 
more  communion  I  have  enjoyed  with  him,  so  much  the  more  disposed  have 
I  been  to  engage  as  a  missionary  among  the  heathen. 

"  Until  the  accounts  came  of  our  brethren's  entrance  on  the  work  in  India, 
my  connexions  in  Europe  pretty  nearly  balanced  my  desire  for  going  abroad; 
and  though  I  felt  quite  devoted  to  the  Lord's  will  and  work,  yet  I  thought 
the  scale  rather  preponderated  on  the  side  of  my  abiding  in  my  present 
situation. 

"But  since  our  brethren's  letters  have  informed  us  that  there  are  such 
prospects  of  usefulness  in  Hindostan,  and  that  preachers  are  a  thousand 


DECISION  OF  THE  COMMITTEE.  383 

times  more  wanted  than  people  to  preach  to,  my  heast  has  been  more  deeply 
affected  than  ever  with  their  condition ;  and  my  desires  for  a  participation 
of  the  toils  and  pleasures,  crosses  and  comforts,  of  which  they  are  the  sub- 
jects, are  advanced  to  an  anxiety  which  nothing  can  remove,  and  time  seems 
to  increase. 

"  It  has  pleased  God  also  lately  to  teach  me,  more  than  ever,  that  Himself 
is  the  fountain  of  happiness ;  that  likeness  to  him,  friendship  for  him,  and 
communion  with  him,  form  the  basis  of  all  true  enjoyment;  and  that  this 
can  be  attained  as  well  in  an  Eastern  jungle,  amongst  Hindoos  and  Moors, 
as  in  the  most  polished  parts  of  Europe.  The  very  disposition  which,  blessed 
be  my  dear  Redeemer!  he  has  given  me,  to  be  any  thing,  do  any  thing,  or 
endure  any  thing,  so  that  his  name  might  be  glorified, — I  say,  the  disposition 
itself  is  heaven  begun  below!  I  do  feel  a  daily  panting  after  more  devoted- 
ness  to  his  service,  and  I  can  never  think  of  my  suffering  Lord  without  dis- 
solving into  love — love  which  constrains  me  to  glorify  him  with  my  body 
and  spirit,  which  are  his. 

"  I  do  often  represent  to  myself  all  the  possible  hardships  of  a  mission, 
arising  from  my  own  heart,  the  nature  of  the  country,  domestic  connexions, 
disappointment  in  my  hopes,  &c.  &c. ;  and  then  I  set  over  against  them  all 
these  two  thoughts, —  T  am  God's  servant;  and  God  is  mi/ friend.  In  this  I 
anticipate  happiness  in  the  midst  of  suffering,  light  in  darkness,  and  life  in 
death.  Yea,  I  do  not  count  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  may  win 
some  poor  heathen  unto  Christ;  and  I  am  willing  to  be  offered  as  a  sacrifice 
on  the  service  of  the  faith  of  the  gospel, 

"  Mr.  Home  justly  observes,  '  that,  in  order  to  justify  a  man's  undertaking 
the  work  of  a  missionary,  he  should  be  qualified  for  it,  disposed  heartily  to 
enter  upon  it,  and  free  from  such  ties  as  exclude  an  engagement.' — As  to 
the  first,  others  must  judge  for  me;  but  they  must  not  be  men  who  have  an 
interest  in  keeping  me  at  home.  I  shall  rejoice  in  opportunities  of  attain- 
ing to  an  acquaintance  with  the  ideas  of  judicious  and  impartial  men  in  this 
matter,  and  with  them  I  must  leave  it.  A  willingness  to  embark  in  this 
cause  I  do  possess ;  and  I  can  hardly  persuade  myself  that  God  has  for  ten 
years  inclined  my  heart  to  this  work  without  having  any  thing  for  me  to  do 
in  it.  But  the  third  thing  requires  more  consideration ;  and  here  alone  I 
hesitate." — Here  he  goes  on  to  state  all  the  objections  from  this  quarter,  with 
his  answers  to  them,  leaving  it  with  his  brethren  to  decide,  when  they  had 
heard  the  whole. 

The  committee,  after  the  most  serious  and  mature  deliberation,  though 
they  were  fully  satisfied  as  to  brother  Pearce's  qualifications,  and  greatly 
approved  of  his  spirit,  yet  were  unanimously  of  opinion  that  he  otight  not  to 
go ;  and  that  not  merely  on  account  of  his  connexions  at  home,  which  might 
have  been  pleaded  in  the  case  of  brother  Carey,  but  on  account  of  the  mis- 
sion itself,  which  required  his  assistance  in  the  station  which  he  already 
occupied. 

In  this  opinion  brother  Carey  himself,  with  singular  disinterestedness  of 
mind,  afterwards  concurred  ;  and  wrote  to  brother  Pearce  to  the  same  effect.* 

On  receiving  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  he  immediately  wrote  to  Mrs. 
P.  as  follows  : — 

"  My  dear  Sarah,  Northampton,  Nov.  1.3,  1794. 

"  I  am  disappointed,  but  not  dismayed.  I  ever  wish  to  make  my  Saviour's 
will  myown.  I  am  more  satisfied  than  ever  I  expected  I  should  be  with  a 
negative  upon  my  earnest  desires,  because  the  business  has  been  so  con- 
ducted that  I  think  (if  by  any  means  such  an  issue  could  be  insured)  the 

*  See  Periodical  Accounts,  Vol.  I.  374. 


384  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

mind  of  Christ  has  been  obtained.  My  dear  brethren  here  have  treated  the 
affair  with  as  much  seriousness  and  affection  as  I  could  possibly  desire,  and 
I  think  more  than  so  insignificant  a  worm  could  expect.  After  we  had  spent 
the  former  part  of  this  day  in  fasting  and  prayer,  with  conversation  on  the 
subject,  till  nearly  two'clock,  brother  Potts,  King,  and  I  retired.  We  prayed, 
while  the  committee  consulted.  The  case  seemed  difficult,  and  I  suppose 
they  were  nearly  two  hours  in  deciding  it.  At  last,  time  forced  them  to  a 
point,  and  their  answer  I  enclose  for  your  satisfaction.  Pray  take  care  of 
it;  it  will  serve  for  me  to  refer  to  when  my  mind  may  labour  beneath  a  bur- 
den of  guilt  another  day.     I  am  my  dear  Sarah's  own — S.  P." 

The  decision  of  the  committee,  though  it  rendered  him  much  more  recon- 
ciled to  abide  in  his  native  country  than  he  could  have  been  without  it,  yet 
did  not  in  the  least  abate  his  zeal  for  the  object.  As  he  could  not  promote 
it  abroad,  he  seemed  resolved  to  lay  himself  out  more  for  it  at  home.  In 
March,  1795,  after  a  dangerous  illness,  he  says,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Fuller — 
"Through  mercy  I  am  almost  in  a  state  of  convalescence.  May  my  spared 
life  be  wholly  devoted  to  the  service  of  my  dear  Redeemer :  I  do  not  care 
where  1  am,  whether  in  England  or  in  India,  so  I  am  employed  as  he  would 
have  me;  but  surely  we  need  pray  hard  that  God  would  send  some  more 
help  to  Hindostan." 

In  January,  1796,  when  he  was  first  informed  by  the  secretary  of  a  young 
man  (Mr.  Fountain)  being  desirous  of  going,  of  the  character  that  was  given 
of  him  by  our  friend  Mr  Savage  of  London,  and  of  a  committee-meeting 
being  in  contemplation,  he  wrote  thus  in  answer : — "  Your  letter,  just  arrived, 
put — I  was  going  to  say — another  soul  into  my  little  body ;  at  least  it  has 
added  new  life  to  the  soul  I  have.  I  cannot  be  contented  with  the  thought 
of  being  absent  from  your  proposed  meeting.  No,  no ;  T  must  be  there, 
(for  my  own  sake  I  mean,)  and  try  to  sing  with  you,  '  O'er  the  gloomy  hills 
of  darkness.'  "* 

In  August,  the  same  year,  having  received  a  letter  from  India,  he  wrote 
to  Mr.  Fuller  as  follows : — "  Brother  Carey  speaks  in  such  a  manner  of  the 
effects  of  the  gospel  in  his  neighbourhood  as  in  my  view  promises  a  fair 
illustration  of  our  Lord's  parable,  when  he  compared  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
to  a  little  leaven,  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  which  insinuated  itself  so 
effectually  as  to  leaven  the  lump  at  last.  Blessed  be  God,  the  leaven  is 
already  in  the  meal ;  the  fermentation  is  begun ;  and  my  hopes  were  never 
half  so  strong  as  they  are  now  that  the  whole  shall  be  effectually  leavened. 

Oh  that   I  WERE  THERE  TO  WITNESS  THE    DELIGHTFUL  PROCESS  !        But  whi- 

ther  am  I  running? I  long  to  write  you  from  Hindostan!" 

On  receiving  other  letters  from  India,  in  January,  1797,  he  thus  writes: 
■ — "  Perhaps  you  are  now  rejoicing  in  spirit  with  me  over  fresh  intelligence 
from  Bengal.  This  moment  have  I  concluded  reading  two  letters  from  bro- 
ther Thomas  :  one  to  the  Society,  and  the  other  to  myself  t  He  speaks  of 
others  from  brother  Carey.  I  hope  they  are  already  in  your  possession.  If 
his  correspondence  has  produced  the  same  effects  on  your  heart  as  brother 
Thomas's  has  on  mine,  you  are  filled  with  gladness  and  hope.  I  am  grieved 
that  I  cannot  convey  them  to  you  immediately.  I  long  to  witness  the  plea- 
sure their  contents  will  impart  to  all  whose  hearts  are  with  us.  Oh  that  I 
were  accounted  worthy  of  the  Lord  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Booteas !" 

Being  detained  from  one  of  our  mission-meetings  by  preparing  the  Perio- 
dical Accounts  for  the  press,hesoon  after  wrote  asfollows:  "  We  shall  now  get 
out  No.  IV.  very  soon,    I  hope  it  will  go  to  the  press  in  a  very  few  days.    Did 

*  The  428th  hymn  of  Dr.  Rippon'a  Selection,  frequently  sung  at  our  committee-meetings, 
t  See  these  Letters  printed  in  Periodical  Accounts,  Vol.  I.  pp.  294,  301. 


EXTRACTS  PROM  HIS  DIARY.  385 

you  notice  that  the  very  day  on  which  we  invited  all  our  friends  to  a  day  of 
prayer  on  behalf  of  the  mission  (December  28,  179C)  was  the  same  in  which 
brother  Carey  sent  his  best  and  most  interesting  accounts  to  the  Society? 
I  hope  you  had  solemn  and  sweet  seasons  at  Northampton.  On  many 
accounts  I  should  have  rejoiced  to  have  been  with  you ;  yet  1  am  satisfied 
that  on  the  whole  I  was  doing  best  at  home.' 

It  has  been  already  observed,  that,  for  a  month  preceding  the  decision  of 
the  committee,  he  resolved  to  devote  one  day  in  every  week  to  secret  prayer 
and  fasting,  and  to  keep  a  diary  of  the  exercises  of  his  mind  during  the 
whole  of  that  period.  This  diary  was  not  shown  to  the  committee  at  the 
time,  but  merely  the  preceding  narrative.  Since  his  death  a  few  of  them 
have  perused  it,  and  have  been  almost  ready  to  think,  that  if  they  had  seen 
it  before,  they  would  not  have  dared  to  oppose  his  going.  But  the  Lord 
hath  taken  him  to  himself  It  no  longer  remains  a  question  now  whether 
he  shall  labour  in  England,  or  in  India.  A  few  passages,  however,  from  this 
transcript  of  his  heart,  while  contemplating  a  great  and  disinterested  under- 
taking, will  furnish  a  better  idea  of  his  character  than  could  be  given  by  any 
other  hand,  and  with  these  we  shall  close  the  present  chapter. 

"  Oct.  8,  1794. — Had  some  remarkable  freedom  and  affection  this  morn- 
ing, both  in  family  and  secret  prayer.  Wiih  many  tears  1  dedicated  myself, 
body  and  soul,  to  the  service  of  Jesus';  and  earnestly  implored  full  satisfac- 
tion respecting  the  path  of  duty. — I  feel  an  increasing  deadness  for  all  earthly 
comforts;  and  derive  my  happiness  immediately  from  God  himself  May 
I  still  endure,  as  Moses  did,  by  seeing  him  who  is  invisible. 

"  10. — Enjoyed  much  freedom  to-day  in  the  family.  Whilst  noticing  in 
prayer  the  state  of  the  millions  of  heathen  who  know  not  God,  I  felt  the 
aggregate  value  of  their  immortal  souls  with  peculiar  energy. 

"Afterwards  was  much  struck  whilst  (on  my  knees  before  God  in  secret) 
I  read  the  fourth  chapter  of  Micah.  The  ninth  verse  I  fancied  very  applica- 
ble to  the  church  in  Cannon  Street;  but  what  reason  is  there  for  such  a  cry 
about  so  insignificant  a  worm  as  I  am?  The  third  chapter  of  Habakkuk 
too  well  expresses  that  mixture  oi  solemnity  and  confidence  with  which  I  con- 
template the.  work  of  the  mission. 

"  Whilst  at  prayer-meeting  to-night,  I  learned  more  of  the  meaning  of 
some  passages  of  Scripture  than  ever  before.  Suitable  frames  of  soul  are 
like  good  lights,  in  which  a  painting  appears  to  its  full  advantage.  I  had 
often  meditated  on  Phil.  iii.  7,  8,  and  Gal.  vi.  14,  but  never  felt  crucifixion 
to  the  world,  and  disesteem  for  all  that  it  contains,  as  at  that  time.  All 
prospects  of  pecuniary  independence,  and  growing  reputation,  with  which 
in  unworthier  moments  I  had  amused  myself,  were  now  chased  from  my 
mind ;  and  the  desire  of  living  icholly  to  Christ  swallowed  up  every  other 
thought.  Frowns  and  smiles,  fulness  and  want,  honour  and  reproach,  were 
now  equally  indifferent ;  and  when  I  concluded  the  meeting,  my  whole  soul 
felt,  as  it  were,  going  after  the  lost  sheep  of  Christ  among  the  heathen, 

"I  do  feel  a  growing  satisfaction  in  the  proposal  of  spending  my  whole 
life  in  something  nobler  than  the  locality  of  this  island  will  admit.  I  long 
to  raise  my  Master's  banner  in  climes  where  the  sound  of  his  fame  hath  but 
scarcely  reached.  He  hath  said,  for  my  encouragement,  that  '  all  nations 
shall  flow  unto  it.' 

"  The  conduct  and  success  of  Stach,  Boonish,  and  other  Moravian  mis- 
sionaries in  Greenland,  both  confound  and  stimulate  me.  O  Lord,  forgive 
my  past  indolence  in  thy  service,  and  help  me  to  redeem  the  residue  of  my 
days  for  exertions  more  worthy  a  friend  of  mankind  and  a  servant  of  God. 

"  13. — Being  taken  up  with  visitors  the  former  part  of  the  day,  I  spent  the 
after  part  in  application  to  the  Bengal  lancruage,  and  found  the  difficulties  I 
Vol.  HI.— 49  2  K 


386  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

apprehended  vanish  as  fast  as  I  encountered  them.  I  read  and  prayed, 
prayed  and  read,  and  made  no  small  advances.     Blessed  be  God ! 

"15. — There  are  in  Birmingham  50,000  inhabitants;  and,  exclusive  of 
the  vicinity,  ten  ministers  who  preach  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel. 
In  Hindostan  there  are  twice  as  many  millions  of  inhabitants;  and  not  so 
many  gospel  preachers.  Now  Jesus  Christ  hath  commanded  his  ministers 
to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature:  why  should 
we  be  so  disproportionate  in  our  labours?  Peculiar  circumstances  must  not 
be  urged  against  positive  commands:  I  am  therefore  bound,  if  others  do  not 
go,  to  make  the  means  more  proportionate  to  the  multitude. 

"  To-night,  reading  some  letters  from  brother  Carey,  in  which  he  speaks 
of  his  wiie's  illness  when  she  first  came  into  the  country,  I  endeavoured  to 
realize  myself  not  only  with  a  sick,  but  a  dead  wife.  The  thought  was  like 
a  cold  dagger  to  my  heart  at  first;  but  on  recollection  I  considered  the  same 
God  ruled  in  India  as  in  Europe;  and  that  he  could  either  preserve  her,  or 
support  me,  as  well  there  as  here.  My  business  is  only  to  be  where  he 
would  have  me.  Other  things  I  leave  to  him.  O  Lord,  though  with  timidity, 
yet  I  hope  not  without  satisfaction,  I  look  every  possible  evil  in  the  face,  and 
say,  '  Thy  will  he  done!' 

"  17. — This  is  the  ^rst  day  I  have  set  apart  for  extraordinary  devotion  in 
relation  to  my  present  exercise  of  mind.  Rose  earlier  than  usual,  and  began 
the  day  in  prayer  that  God  would  be  with  me  in  every  part  of  it,  and  grant 
the  end  I  have  in  view  may  be  clearly  ascertained — the  knowledge  of  his 
will. 

"  Considering  the  importance  of  the  work  before  me,  I  began  at  the  foun- 
dation of  all  religion,  and  reviewed  the  grounds  on  which  I  stood, — The 
being  of  a  God,  the  relation  of  mankind  to  him,  with  the  Divine  inspiration 
of  the  Scriptures — and  the  review  afforded  me  great  satisfaction.*  I  also 
compared  the  different  religions  which  claimed  Divine  origin,  and  found 
little  difficulty  in  determining  which  had  most  internal  evidence  of  its 
Divinity.  I  attentively  read  and  seriously  considered  Doddridge's  three  ex- 
cellent Sermons  on  the  Evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion;  which  was 
followed  by  such  conviction  that  I  had  hardly  patience  to  conclude  the  book 
before  I  fell  on  my  knees  before  God,  to  bless  him  for  such  a  religion,  estab- 
lished on  such  a  basis :  and  I  have  received  more  solid  satisfaction  this  day 
upon  the  subject  than  ever  I  did  before. 

"  I  also  considered,  since  the  gospel  is  true,  since  Christ  is  the  Head  of 
the  church,  and  his  will  is  the  law  of  all  his  followers,  what  are  the  obliga- 
tions of  his  servants  in  respect  of  the  enlargement  of  his  kingdom.  I  here 
referred  to  our  Lord's  commission,  which  I  could  not  but  consider  as 
universal  in  its  object  and  permanent  in  its  obligations.  I  read  brother 
Carey's  remarks  upon  it ;  and  as  the  command  has  never  been  repealed — as 
there  are  millions  of  beings  in  the  world  on  whom  the  command  may  be 
exercised — as  I  can  produce  no  counter-revelation — and  as  I  lie  under  no 
natural  impossibilities  of  performing  it — I  concluded  that  I,  as  a  servant  of 
Christ,  was  bound  by  this  law. 

"  I  took  the  narrative  of  my  experience,  and  statement  of  my  views  on 
this  subject,  in  my  hand,  and,  bowing  down  before  God,  I  earnestly  besought 
an  impartial  and  enlightened  spirit.  I  then  perused  that  paper;  andean 
now  say  that  I  have  (allowing  for  ray  own  fallibility)  not  one  doubt  upon 

*  There  is  a  wide  difference  between  admitting;  these  principles  in  theory,  and  making 
use  of  them.  David  might  have  worn  Saul's  accoutrements  at  a  parade;  but,  in  meeting 
Goliah,  he  must  go  fortli  in  an  armour  that  had  been  tried.  A  mariner  may  sit  in  his  cabin 
at  his  ease,  while  the  ship  is  in  harbour;  but,  ere  he  undertakes  a  voyage,  he  must  examine 
its  soundness,  and  inquire  whether  it  will  endure  the  storms  which  may  overtake  him. 


EXTRACTS  PROM  HIS  DIARY.  387 

the  subject.  T  therefore  resolved  to  close  this  solemn  season  with  reading 
a  portion  of  both  Testaments,  and  earnest  prayer  to  God  for  my  family,  my 
people,  the  heathen  world,  the  Society,  and  particularly  for  the  success  of 
our  dear  brethren  Thomas  and  Carey,  and  his  blessing,  presence,  and  grace 
to  be  ever  my  guide  and  glory.  Accordingly  I  read  the  forty-ninth  chapter 
of  Isaiah ;  and  with  what  sweetness!  I  never  read  a  chapter  in  private  with 
such  feeling  since  I  have  been  in  the  ministry.  The  eighth,  ninth,  tenth, 
twentieth,  and  twenty-first  verses,  I  thought  remarkably  suitable. 

"  Read  also  part  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  and  the  first  chapter  to 
the  Philippians.  Oh  that  for  me  to  live  may  be  Christ  alone!  Blessed  be 
my  dear  Saviour !  in  prayer  I  have  had  such  fellowship  with  him  as  would 
warm  me  in  Greenland,  comfort  me  in  New  Zealand,  and  rejoice  me  in  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death ! 

"  18. — I  dreamed  that  I  saw  one  of  the  Christian  Hindoos.  Oh  how  I 
loved  him !  I  long  to  realize  my  dream.  How  pleasant  will  it  be  to  sit 
down  at  the  Lord's  table  with  our  swarthy  brethren,  and  hear  Jesus  preached 
in  their  language!  Surely  then  will  come  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written, 
In  Christ  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free, 
all  are  one  in  him. 

"  Have  been  happy  to-day  in  completing  the  manuscript  of  Periodical 
Accounts,  No.  I.  Any  thing  relative  to  the  salvation  of  the  heathen  brings 
a  certain  pleasure  with  it.  I  find  I  cannot  pray,  nor  converse,  nor  read,  nor 
study,  nor  preach  with  satisfaction,  without  reference  to  this  subject." 

"  20. — Was  a  little  discouraged  on  reading  Mr.  Zeigenbald's  conferences 
with  the  Malabarians,  till  I  recollected,  what  ought  to  be  ever  present  to  my 
mind,  in  brother  Carey's  words, — *  The  worlc  is  God's.' 

"In  the  evening  I  found  some  little  difficulty  with  the  language;  but, 
considering  how  merchants  and  captains  overcome  this  difficulty  for  the  sake 
of  wealth,  I  sat  confounded  before  the  Lord  that  I  should  ever  have  indulged 
such  a  thought;  and,  looking  up  to  him,  I  set  about  it  with  cheerfulness, 
and  found  that  I  was  making  a  sensible  advance,  although  I  can  never  apply 
till  eleven  o'clock  at  night  on  account  of  my  other  duties.* 

"  Preached  from  2  Kings  iv.  26,  '  It  is  well ;' was  much  enlarged 

both  in  thought  and  expression.  Whilst  speaking  of  the  satisfaction  enjoyed 
by  a  truly  pious  mind  when  it  feels  itself  in  all  circumstances  and  times  in 
the  hand  of  a  good  God,  I  felt  that  were  the  universe  destroyed,  and  I  the 
only  being  in  it  beside  God,  he  is  fully  adequate  to  my  complete  happiness; 
and  had  I  been  in  an  African  wood,  surrounded  with  venomous  serpents, 
devouring  beasts,  and  savage  men,  in  such  a  frame  I  should  be  the  subject 
of  perfect  peace  and  exalted  joy.  Yes,  O  my  God,  thou  hast  taught  me  that 
THOU  ALONE  art  worthy  of  my  confidence;  and,  with  this  sentiment  fixed  in 
my  heart,  I  am  free  from  all  solicitude  about  any  temporal  prospects  or  con- 
cerns. If  thy  presence  be  enjoyed,  poverty  shall  be  riches,  darkness  light, 
affliction  prosperity,  reproach  my  honour,  and  fatigue  my  rest;  and  thou  hast 
said,  '  My  presence  shall  go  with  thee.'  Enough,  Lord!  I  ask  for  nothing, 
nothing  more; 

"  But  how  sad  the  proofs  of  our  depravity ;  and  how  insecure  the  best 
frames  we  enjoy!  Returning  home,  a  wicked  expression  from  a  person  who 
passed  me  caught  my  ear,  and  recurred  so  often  to  my  thoughts  for  some 

*  Night  studies,  often  continued  till  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
were  the  first  occasion  of  impairing  Mr.  Pearce's  health,  and  brought  on  that  train  of  nervous 
sensations  with  which  he  was  afterwards  afflicted.  Though  not  much  accustomed  to  con- 
verse on  the  subject,  he  once  acknowledged  to  a  brother  in  the  ministry,  that,  owing  to  his 
enervated  state,  he  sometimes  dreaded  the  approach  of  public  services  to  such  a  degree 
that  he  would  rather  have  submitted  to  stripes  than  engage  in  them  ;  and  that  while  in  the 
pulpit  he  was  frequently  distressed  with  the  apprehension  of  falling  over  it. 


388  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

minutes  as  (o  bring  guilt  upon  my  mind,  and  overwhelm  me  with  shame 
before  God.  But  I  appealed  to  God  for  my  hatred  of  all  such  things,  secretly 
confessed  the  sin  of  my  heart,  and  again  ventured  to  the  mercy-seat.  On 
such  occasions  how  precious  a  Mediator  is  to  the  soul ! 

"  22. — I  did  not  on  the  former  part  of  the  day  feel  my  wonted  ardour  for 
the  work  of  a  missionary,  but  rather  an  inclination  to  consult  flesh  and  blood, 
and  look  at  the  worst  side  of  things.  I  did  so;  but  when  on  my  knees  be- 
fore God  in  prayer  about  it,  I  first  considered  that  my  judgment  was  still 
equally  satisfied,  and  my  conscience  so  convinced  that  I  durst  not  relinquish 
the  work  for  a  thousand  worlds!  And  then  I  thought  that  this  dull  frame 
had  not  been  without  its  use,  as  I  was  now  fully  convinced  that  my  desire  to 
go  did  not  arise  from  any  fluctuation  of  inconstant  passions,  but  the  settled 
convictions  of  my  judgment.  I  therefore  renewed  my  vows  unto  the  Lord, 
that,  let  what  difficulties  soever  be  in  the  way,  I  would,  provided  the  Society 
approved,  surmount  them  all.  T  felt  a  kind  of  unutterable  satisfaction  of 
mind  in  my  resolution  of  leaving  the  decision  in  the  hands  of  my  brethren. 
May  God  rightly  dispose  their  hearts.     I  have  no  doubt  but  he  will. 

"23. — Have  found  a  little  time  to  apply  to  the  Bengalee  language.  How 
pleasant  it  is  to  work  for  God  !  Love  transforms  thorns  to  roses,  and  makes 
pain  itself  a  pleasure.  I  never  sat  down  to  any  study  with  such  peculiar  and 
continued  satisfaction.  The  thought  of  exalting  the  Redeemer  in  this  lan- 
guage is  a  spur  to  my  application  paramount  to  every  discouragement  for 
want  of  a  living  tutor.  I  have  passed  this  day  with  an  abiding  satisfaction 
respecting  my  present  views. 

"24. — Oh  for  the  enlightening,  enlivening,  and  sanctifying  presence  of 
God  to-day  !  It  is  the  second  of  those  days  of  extraordinary  devotion  which 
I  have  set  apart  for  seeking  God  in  relation  to  the  mission.  How  shall  I 
spend  it?  I  will  devote  the  morning  to  prayer,  reading,  and  meditation; 
and  the  afternoon  to  visiting  the  wretched,  and  relieving  the  needy.  May 
God  accept  my  services,  guide  me  by  his  counsel,  and  employ  me  for  his 
praise ! 

"  Having  besought  the  Lord  that  he  would  not  suffer  me  to  deceive  myself 
in  so  important  a  matter  as  that  which  I  had  now  retired  to  consider,  and 
exercised  some  confidence  that  he  would  be  the  rewarder  of  those  who  dili- 
gently seek  him,  I  read  the  119th  Psalm  at  the  conclusion  of  my  prayer,  and 
felt  and  wondered  at  the  congruity  of  so  many  of  the  verses  to  the  breathings 
of  my  own  heart.  Often  with  holy  admiration  I  paused,  and  read,  and 
thought,  and  prayed  over  the  verse  again,  especially  verses  20,  31,  59,  60, 
112,  145,  146.  'My  soul  breaketh  for  the  longing  that  it  hath  unto  thy 
judgments  at  all  times.' — 'I  have  stuck  unto  thy  testimonies:  O  Lord,  put 
me  not  to  shame.' 

"Most  of  the  morning  I  spent  in  seriously  reading  Mr.  Home's  'Letters 
on  Missions,'  having  first  begged  of  the  Lord  to  make  the  perusal  profitable 
to  my  instruction  in  the  path  of  duty.  To  the  interrogation,  'Which  of  you 
will  forsake  all,  deny  himself,  take  up  his  cross,  and,  if  God  pleases,  die  for 
his  religion?'  I  replied  spontaneously.  Blessed  be  God,  I  am  willing!  Lord, 
help  me  to  accomplish  it! 

"Closed  this  season  with  reading  the  61st  and  62nd  chapters  of  Isaiah, 
and  prayer  for  the  church  of  God  at  large,  my  own  congregation,  the  heathen, 
.he  Society,  brethren  Thomas  and  Carey,  all  missionaries  whom  God  hath 
sent  of  every  denomination,  my  own  case,  my  wife  and  family,  and  for 
assistance  in  my  work. 

"The  after-part  of  this  day  has  been  gloomy  indeed.  All  the  painful  cir- 
cumstances which  can  attend  my  going  have  met  upon  my  heart,  and  formed 
a  load  almost  insupportable.     A  number  of  things  which  have  been  some 


EXTRACTS  FROM  HIS  DIARY.  389 

time  accumulating  have  united  their  pressure,  and  made  me  groan  being 
burdened.  Whilst  at  a  prayer-meeting  I  looked  round  on  my  Christian 
friends,  and  said  to  myself,  A  few  months  more,  and  probably  I  shall  leave 
you  all !  But  in  the  deepest  of  my  gloom  I  resolved,  though  faint,  yet  to 
pursue;  not  doubting  but  my  Lord  would  give  me  strength  equal  to  the  day. 
"I  had  scarcely  formed  this  resolution  before  it  occurred,  my  Lord  and 
Master  was  a  man  of  sorrows.  Oppressed  and  covered  with  blood,  he  cried, 
'  If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me.'  Yet  in  the  depth  of  his  agonies 
lie  added,  '  Thy  will  be  done.'  This  thought  was  to  me  what  the  sight  of 
the  cross  was  to  Bunyan's  pilgrim ;  I  lost  my  burden.  Spent  the  remainder 
of  the  meeting  in  sweet  communion  with  God. 

"  But,  on  coming  home,  the  sight  of  Mrs.  P.  replaced  my  load.  She  had 
for  some  time  been  much  discouraged  at  the  thoughts  of  going.  I  therefore 
felt  reluctant  to  say  any  thing  on  this  subject,  thinking  it  would  be  unpleasant 
to  her;  but  though  I  strove  to  conceal  it,  an  involuntary  sigh  betrayed  my 
uneasiness.  She  kindly  required  the  cause.  I  avoided  at  first  an  explana- 
tion, till  she,  guessing  the  reason,  said  to  this  effect : — '  I  hope  you  will  be 
no  more  uneasy  on  mij  account.  For  the  last  two  or  three  days  I  have  been 
more  comfortable  than  ever  in  the  thought  of  going.  I  have  considered  the 
steps  you  are  pursuing  to  know  the  mind  of  God,  and  I  think  you  cannot 
take  more  proper  ones.  When  you  consult  the  ministers,  you  should  repre- 
sent your  obstacles  as  strongly  as  your  inducements;  and  then,  if  they  advise 
your  going,  though  the  parting  from  my  friends  will  be  almost  insupportable, 
yet  I  will  make  myself  as  happy  as  I  can,  and  God  can  make  me  happy  any 
where.' 

"  Should  this  little  diary  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  man  having  the  soul  of  a 
missionary,  circumstanced  as  I  am,  he  will  be  the  only  man  capable  of 
sharing  my  peace,  my  joy,  my  gratitude,  my  rapture  of  soul.  Thus  at  even- 
ing tide  it  is  light ;  thus  God  brings  his  people  through  fire  and  through 
water  into  a  wealthy  place ;  thus  those  who  ask  do  receive,  and  their  joy  is 
full.   *0  love  the  Lord,  ye  his  saints :  there  is  no  want  to  them  that  fear  him  1' 

"26.  Had  much  enlargement  this  morning  whilst  speaking  on  the  nature, 
extent,  and  influence  of  Divine  love;  what  designs  it  formed — with  what 
energy  it  acted — with  what  perseverance  it  pursued  its  object — what  obstacles 
it  surmounted — what  difficulties  it  conquered — and  what  sweetness  it  im- 
parted under  the  heaviest  loads  and  severest  trials.  Almost  through  the  day  I 
enjoyed  a  very  desirable  frame;  and,  on  coming  home,  my  wife  and  I  had  some 
conversation  on  the  subject  of  my  going.  She  said.  Though  in  general  the 
thought  was  painful,  yet  there  were  some  seasons  when  she  had  no  prefer- 
ence, but  felt  herself  disposed  to  go  or  stay,  as  the  Lord  should  direct. 

"This  day  wrote  to  brother  Fuller,  briefly  stating  my  desires,  requesting 
his  advice,  and  proposing  a  meeting  of  the  committee  on  the  business.  I 
feel  great  satisfaction  arising  from  my  leaving  the  matter  to  the  determination 
of  my  honoured  brethren,  and  to  God  through  them. 

"27. — To-day  I  sent  a  packet  to  our  brethren  in  India.  I  could  not  for- 
bear telling  brother  Carey  all  my  feelings,  views,  and  expectations;  but 
without  saying  I  should  be  entirely  governed  by  the  opinion  of  the  Society. 

"28. — Still  panting  to  preach  Jesus  among  my  fellow  sinners  to  whom  he 
is  yet  unknown.  Wrote  to  Dr.  Rogers  of  Philadelphia,  to-day,  upon  the 
subject  with  freedom  and  warmth,  and  inquired  whether,  whilst  the  people 
of  the  United  States  were  forming  societies  to  encourage  arts,  liberty,  and 
emigration,  there  could  not  a  few  be  found  among  them  who  would  form  a 
society  for  the  transmission  of  the  word  of  life  to  the  benighted  heathen;  or, 
in  case  that  could  not  be,  whether  they  might  not  strengthen  our  hands  in 
Europe,  by  some  benevolent  proof  of  concurring  with  us  in  a  design  which 

2k2 


390  MEMOIRS  OF  MR,  PEARCE. 

they  speak  of  with  such  approbation.  With  this  I  sent  Home's  Letters.  I 
will  follow  both  with  my  prayers;  and  who  can  tell? 

"  29. — Looked  over  the  Code  of  Hindoo  Laws  to-day.  How  much  is 
there  to  admire  in  it,  founded  on  the  principles  of  justice!  The  most  salu- 
tary regulations  are  adopted  in  many  circumstances.  But  what  a  pity  that 
so  much  excellence  should  be  debased  by  laws  to  establish  or  countenance 
idolatry,  magic,  prostitution,  prayers  for  the  dead,  false-witnessing,  theft,  and 
suicide.  How  perfect  is  the  morality  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus ;  and  how  de- 
sirable that  they  should  embrace  it!  Ought  not  means  to  be  used?  Can 
we  assist  them  too  soon  ?  There  is  reason  to  think  that  their  shasters  were 
penned  about  the  beginning  of  the  Kollee  Jogue,  which  must  be  soon  after 
the  deluge :  and  are  not  4000  years  long  enough  for  100,000,000  of  men  to 
be  under  the  empire  of  the  devil  1 

"  '31. — I  am  encouraged  to  enter  upon  this  day  (which  I  set  apart  for  sup- 
plicating God)  by  a  recollection  of  his  promises  to  those  who  seek  him.  If 
the  sacred  word  be  true,  the  servants  of  God  can  never  seek  his  face  in 
vain ;  and  as  I  am  conscious  of  my  sincerity  and  earnest  desire  only  to 
know  his  pleasure  that  I  may  perform  it,  I  find  a  degree  of  confidence  that 
I  shall  realize  the  fulfilment  of  the  word  on  which  he  causeth  me  to  hope. 

'•  Began  the  day  with  solemn  prayer  for  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  my  present  exercise,  that  so  1  might  enjoy  the  spirit  and  power  of  prayer, 
and  have  my  personal  religion  improved,  as  well  as  my  public  steps  directed. 
In  this  duty  I  found  a  little  quickening. 

"  I  then  read  over  the  narrative  of  my  experience,  and  my  journal.  I 
find  my  views  are  still  the  same;  but  my  heart  is  much  more  established 
than  when  I  began  to  write. 

"  Was  much  struck  in  reading  Paul's  words  in  2  Cor.  i.  17,  when,  after 
speaking  of  his  purpose  to  travel  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  he  saith, 
'Did  I  then  use  lightness  when  I  was  thus  minded?  Or  the  things  that  I 
purpose,  do  I  purpose  according  to  the  flesh,  that  with  me  there  should  be 
yea,  yea,  nay,  nay?'  The  piety  of  the  apostle  in  not  purposing  after  the 
flesh,  the  sn-iousness  of  spirit  with  which  he  formed  his  designs,  and  his 
steadfast  adherence  to  them,  were  in  my  view  worthy  of  the  highest  admira- 
tion and  strictest  imitation. 

"  Thinking  that  I  might  get  some  assistance  from  David  Brainerd's  expe- 
rience, I  read  his  life  to  the  time  of  his  being  appointed  a  missionary  among 
the  Indians.  The  exalted  devotion  of  that  dear  man  almost  made  me  question 
mine.  Yet,  at  some  seasons,  he  speaks  of  sinking  as  well  as  rising.  His  sin- 
gular piety  excepted,  his  feelings,  prayers,  desires,  comforts,  hopes,  and  sor- 
rows are  my  own;  and  if  I  could  follow  him  in  nothing  else,  I  knew  I  had 
been  enabled  to  say  this  with  him,  '  I  feel  exceedingly  calm,  and  quite  resigned 
to  God  respecting  my  future  improvement  (or  station)  when  and  tvhcre  he 
pleased.  My  faith  lifted  me  above  the  world,  and  removed  all  those  moun- 
tains which  I  could  not  look  over  of  late.  I  thought  I  wanted  not  the  favour 
of  man  to  lean  upon  ;  for  I  knew  God's  favour  was  infinitely  better,  and  that 
it  was  no  matter  where,  or  when,  or  how  Christ  should  send  me,  nor  with' 
what  trials  he  should  still  exercise  me,  if  I  might  be  prepared  for  his  work 
and  will.' 

"  Read  the  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  chapters  of  the  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  Felt  a  kind  of  placidity,  but  not  much  joy.  On 
beginning  the  concluding  prayer  I  had  no  strength  to  wrestle,  nor  power 
with  God  at  all.  I  seemed  as  one  desolate  and  forsaken.  I  prayed  for  my- 
self, the  Society,  the  missionaries,  the  converted  Hindoos,  the  church  in 
Cannon  Street,  my  family,  and  ministry;  but  yet  all  was  dulness,  and  I 
feared  I  had  offended  the  Lord.  I  felt  but  litde  zeal  for  the  mission,  and  was 


EXTRACTS  FROM  HIS  DIARY.  391 

about  to  conclude  with  a  lamentation  over  the  hardness  of  my  heart,  when 
on  a  sudden  it  pleased  God  to  smite  the  rock  with  the  rod  of  his  Spirit,  and 
immediately  the  waters  began  to  flow.  Oh  what  a  heavenly,  glorious,  melt- 
ing power  was  it !  My  eyes,  almost  closed  with  weeping,  hardly  suffer  me 
to  write.  I  feel  it  over  again.  Oh  what  a  view  of  the  love  of  a  crucified 
Redeemer  did  I  enjoy !  the  attractions  of  his  cross,  how  powerful  I  I  was 
as  a  giant  refreshed  with  new  wine,  as  to  my  animation:  like  Mary  at  the 
Master's  feet,  weeping  for  tenderness  of  soul ;  like  a  little  child,  for  submis- 
sion to  my  heavenly  Father's  will ;  and  like  Paul,  for  a  victory  over  all  self- 
love,  and  creature  love,  and  fear  of  man,  when  these  things  stand  in  the  way 
of  my  duty.  The  interest  that  Christ  took  in  the  redemption  of  the  heathen, 
the  situation  of  our  brethren  in  Bengal,  the  worth  of  the  soul,  and  the  plain 
command  of  Jesus  Christ,  together  with  an  irresistible  drawing  of  soul, 
which  by  far  exceeded  any  thing  I  ever  felt  before,  and  is  impossible  to  be 
described  to  or  conceived  of  by  those  who  have  never  experienced  it — all 
compelled  me  to  vow  that  I  would,  by  his  leave,  serve  him  among  the  hea- 
then. The  Bible  lying  open  before  me,  (upon  my  knees,)  many  passages 
caught  my  eye,  and  confirmed  the  purposes  of  my  heart  If  ever  in  my  life 
I  knew  any  thing  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  I  did  at  this  time.  I 
was  swallowed  up  in  God.  Hunger,  fulness,  cold,  heat,  friends,  and  ene- 
mies, all  seemed  nothing  before  God.  I  was  in  a  new  world  All  was  de- 
lightful ;  for  Christ  was  all,  and  in  all.  Many  times  I  concluded  prayer,  but, 
when  rising  from  my  knees,  communion  with  God  was  so  desirable  that  I 
was  sweetly  drawn  to  it  again,  till  my  animal  strength  was  almost  exhausted. 
Then  I  thought  it  would  be  pleasure  to  burn  for  God  1 

"And  now  while  I  write  such  a  heavenly  sweetness  fills  my  soul  that  no 
exterior  circumstances  can  remove  it;  and  I  do  uniformly  feel  that  the  more 
I  am  thus,  the  more  I  pant  for  the  service  of  my  blessed  Jesus  among  the 
heathen.  Yes,  my  dear,  my  dying  Lord,  I  am  thine,  thy  servant;  and  if  I 
neglect  the  service  of  so  good  a  Master,  I  may  well  expect  a  guilty  con- 
science in  life,  and  a  death  awful  as  that  of  Judas  or  of  Spiral 

"  This  evening  I  had  a  meeting  with  my  friends.  Returned  much  de- 
jected. Received  a  letter  from  brother  Fuller,  which,  though  he  says  he  has 
many  objections  to  my  going,  yet  is  so  affectionately  expressed  as  to  yield 
me  a  gratification. 

"  Nov.  3. — This  evening  received  a  letter  from  brother  Ryland,  containing 
many  objections;  but  contradiction  itself  is  pleasant  when  it  is  the  voice  of 
judgment  mingled  with  affection.  I  wish  to  remember  that  I  may  be  mis- 
taken, though  I  cannot  say  I  am  at  present  convinced  that  it  is  so.  I  am 
happy  to  find  that  brother  Ryland  approves  of  my  referring  it  to  the  com- 
mittee. 1  have  much  confidence  in  the  judgment  of  my  brethren,  and  hope 
I  shall  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  their  advice.  I  do  think,  however,  if  they 
knew  how  earnestly  I  pant  for  the  work,  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to 
withhold  their  ready  acquiescence.  O  Lord,  thou  knowest  my  sincerity ; 
and  that  if  I  go  not  to  the  work,  it  will  not  be  owing  to  any  reluctance  on 
my  part!  If  I  stay  in  England,  I  fear  I  shall  be  a  poor  useless  drone;  or  if 
a  sense  of  duty  prompt  me  to  activity,  I  doubt  whether  I  shall  ever  know 
inward  peace  and  joy  again.  O  Lord,  I  am,  thou  knowest  I  am  oppressed, 
undertake  for  me ! 

"  5. — At  times  to-day  I  have  been  reconciled  to  the  thought  of  staying, 
if  my  brethren  should  advise;  but  at  other  times  I  seem  to  think  I  could 
not.  I  look  at  brother  Carey's  portrait  as  it  hangs  in  my  study  :  I  love  him 
in  the  bowels  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  long  to  join  his  labours:  every  look  calls 
up  a  hundred  thoughts,  all  of  which  inflame  my  desire  to  be  a  fellow  labourer 
with  him   in  the  work  of  the  Lord.     One  thing,  however,  I  have  resolved 


392  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

upon,  that,  the  Lord  helping  me,  if  I  cannot  go  abroad,  I  will  do  all  I  can 
to  serve  the  mission  at  home. 

"  7. — This  is  the  last  day  of  peculiar  devotion  before  the  deciding  meet- 
ing. May  I  have  strength  to  wrestle  with  God  to-day  for  his  wisdom  to  pre- 
side in  the  committee,  and  by  faith  to  leave  the  issue  to  their  determination! 

"  I  did  not  enjoy  much  enlargement  in  prayer  to-day.  My  mind  seems  at 
present  incapable  of  those  sensations  of  joy  with  which  I  have  lately  been 
much  indulged,  through  its  strugglings  in  relation  to  my  going  or  staying; 
yet  I  have  been  enabled  to  commit  the  issue  into  the  hands  of  God,  as  he 
may  direct  my  brethren,  hoping  that  their  advice  will  be  agreeable  to  his 
will." 

The  result  of  the  committee-meeting  has  already  been  related ;  together 
with  the  state  of  his  mind,  as  far  as  could  be  collected  from  his  letters,  for 
some  time  after  it.  The  termination  of  these  tender  and  interesting  exer- 
cises, and  of  all  his  other  labours,  in  so  speedy  a  removal  from  the  present 
scene  of  action,  may  teach  us  not  to  draw  any  certain  conclusion,  as  to  the 
designs  of  God  concerning  our  future  labours,  from  the  ardour  or  sincerity 
of  our  feelings.  He  may  take  it  well  that  "  it  was  in  our  hearts  to  build 
him  a  house,"  though  he  should  for  wise  reasons  have  determined  not  to 
gratify  us.  Suffice  it  that  in  matters  of  everlasting  moment  he  has  en- 
gaged to  "  perfect  that  which  concerns  us."  In  this  he  hath  condescended 
to  bind  himself,  as  by  an  oath,  for  our  consolation;  here,  therefore,  we  may 
safely  consider  our  spiritual  desires  as  indicative  of  his  designs:  but  it  is 
otherwise  in  various  instances  with  regard  to  present  duty.* 


CHAPTER  HI. 

HIS  EXERCISES  AND  LABOURS,  FROM  THE  TIME  OF  HIS  GIVING  UP  THE  IDEA  OP 
GOING  ABROAD  TO  THE  COMMENCEMENT  OF  HIS  LAST  AFFLICTION. 

Had  the  multiplied  labours  of  this  excellent  man  permitted  his  keeping 
a  regular  diary,  we  may  see,  by  the  foregoing  specimen  of  a  single  month, 
what  a  rich  store  of  truly  Christian  experience  would  have  pervaded  these 
Memoirs.  We  should  then  have  been  better  able  to  trace  the  gradual  open- 
ings of  his  holy  mind,  and  the  springs  of  that  extraordinary  unction  of  spirit, 
and  energy  of  action,  by  which  his  life  was  distinguished.  As  it  is,  we  can 
only  collect  the  gleanings  of  the  harvest,  partly  from  memory,  and  partly  from 
letters  communicated  by  his  friends. 

This  chapter  will  include  a  period  of  about  four  years,  during  which  he 
went  twice  to  London,  to  collect  for  the  Baptist  3Iission,  and  once  he 
visited  Dublin,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Evangelical  Society  in  that  city. 

There  appears  throughout  the  general  tenor  of  his  life  a  singular  submis- 
siveness  to  the  will  of  God ;  and,  what  is  worthy  of  notice,  this  disposition 
was  generally  most  conspicuous  when  his  own  will  was  most  counteracted. 
The  justness  of  this  remark  is  sufficiently  apparent  from  his  letter  to  Mrs. 
Pearce,  of  November  13, 1794,  after  the  decision  of  the  committee ;  and  the 

*  I  am  aware  that  it  becomes  us  to  be  extremely  cautious  in  interpreting  the  conduct  of 
Divine  Providence  ;  it  is,  however,  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  church  at  Birmingham  were 
unwilling  to  part  with  their  pastor  to  labour  in  the  missionary  field,  and  they  were  called  to 
witness  his  affliction  and  to  surrender  him  to  death:  while  the  church  at  Leicester  cheer- 
fully gave  up  their  beloved  Carey  to  the  work,  and  in  a  few  years  after  were  blest  with  the 
labours  of  Robert  Hall. — B. 


RESIGNATION  UNDER  AFFLICTIVE  PROVIDENCES.  393 

same  spirit  was  carried  into  the  common  concerns  of  life.  Thus,  about  a 
month  afterwards,  when  his  dear  Louisa  was  ill  of  a  fever,  he  thus  writes 
from  Northampton  to  Mrs.  Pearce : — 

'*  My  DEAR  Sarah,  Nurlhamptnn,  Dec.  13,  1794. 

"  I  am  just  brought  on  the  wings  of  celestial  mercy  safe  to  my  sabbath's 
station.  I  am  well ;  and  my  dear  friends  here  seem  healthy  and  happy  :  but 
I  feel  for  yoM.  1  long  to  know  how  our  dear  Louisa's  pulse  beats:  I  fear 
still  feverish.  We  must  not,  however,  suffer  ourselves  to  be  infected  with  a 
mental  fever  on  this  account.  Is  she  ill?  It  is  right.  Is  she  very  ill  ...  . 
dying?  It  is  still  right.  Is  she  gone  to  join  the  heavenly  choristers?  It 
is  all  right,  notwithstanding  our  repinings  ....  Repinings!  No;  we  will 
not  repine.  It  is  best  she  should  go.  It  is  best  for  her :  this  we  must  allow. 
It  is  best  for  us:  Do  we  expect  it?  Oh  what  poor,  ungrateful,  short-sighted 
worms  are  we  !  Let  us  submit,  my  Sarah,  till  we  come  to  heaven  :  if  we 
do  not  then  see  that  it  is  best,  let  us  then  complain.  But  why  do  1  attempt 
to  console?  Perhaps  an  indulgent  providence  has  ere  now  dissipated  your 
fears :  or  if  that  same  hind  -providence  has  removed  our  babe,  you  have  con- 
solation enough  in  Him  who  suffered  more  than  we  ;  and  more  than  enough 
to  quiet  all  our  passions  in  that  astonishing  consideration, — "God  so  loved 
the  world,  that  he  spared  not  his  own  Son."  Did  God  cheerfully  give  the 
holy  child  Jesus  for  us;  and  shall  we  refuse  our  child  to  him?  He  gave 
his  Son  to  suffer:  he  takes  our  children  to  enjoy.  Yes;  to  enjoy  Himself. 
Yours  with  the  tenderest  regard, — S.  P." 

In  June,  1795,  he  attended  the  association  at  Kettering,  partly  on  account 
of  some  missionary  business  there  to  be  transacted.  That  was  a  season  of 
great  joy  to  many,  especially  the  last  forenoon  previous  to  parting.  Thence 
he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Pearce  as  follows : — 

"  From  a  pew  in  the  house  of  God  at  Kettering,  with  my  cup  of  joy  run- 
ning over,  I  address  you  by  the  hands  of  brother  Simmons.  Had  it  pleased 
Divine  Providence  to  have  permitted  your  accompanying  me,  my  pleasures 
would  have  received  no  small  addition,  because  I  should  have  hoped  that 
you  would  have  been  filled  with  similar  consolation,  and  have  received  equal 
edification  by  the  precious  means  of  grace  on  which  I  have  attended.  In- 
deed, I  never  remember  to  have  enjoyed  a  public  meeting  to  such  a  high 
degree  since  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  attending  upon  them.  Oh  that  1 
may  return  to  you,  and  the  dear  church  of  God,  in  the  fulness  of  the  bless- 
ing of  the  gospel  of  Christ !  I  hope,  my  beloved,  that  you  are  not  without 
the  enjoyment  of  the  sweetness  and  the  supports  of  the  blessed  gospel.  Oh 
that  you  may  get  and  keep  near  to  God,  and  in  Him  find  infinitely  more  than 
you  can  possibly  lose  by  your  husband's  absence! 

"  Mr.  Hall  preached,  last  evening,  from  I  Pet.  i.  8.  A  most  evangelical 
and  experimental  season !  I  was  charmed  and  warmed.  Oh  that  Jesus 
may  go  on  to  reveal  himself  to  him  as  altogether  lovely  1  I  am  unable  to 
write  more  now.  To-day  I  set  off  for  Northampton,  and  preach  there  to- 
night.    The  Lord  bless  you  !" 

In  July,  1795,  he  received  a  pressing  invitation  from  the  General  Evan- 
gelical Society  in  Dublin  to  pay  them  a  visit,  and  to  assist  in  diffusing  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  in  that  kingdom.  To  this  invitation  he  replied 
in  the  following  letter,  addressed  to  Dr.  M'Dowal : — 

"Rev.  and  dear  Sir,  Birmingham,,  Jug.  3,  1795. 

"  I  received  your  favour  of  the  22nd  ult.,  and,  for  the  interesting  reason 
you  assign,  transmit  a '  speedy  answer.'  The  Society,  on  whose  behalf  you 
wrote,  I  have  ever  considered  with  the  respect  due  to  the  real  friends  of  the 

Vol.  hi.— 50 


394 


MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 


best  of  causes — the  cause  of  God  and  of  his  Christ — a  cause  which  embraces 
the  most  important  and  durable  interests  of  our  fellow  men  ;  and  your  name, 
dear  sir,  I  have  been  taught  to  hold  in  more  than  common  esteem  by  my 
dear  brother  and  father,  Messrs.  Birt  and  Francis.  The  benevolent  institu- 
tion which  you  are  engaged  in  supporting,  I  am  persuaded,  deserves  more 
than  the  good  wishes  or  prayers  of  your  brethren  in  the  kingdom  and  pa- 
tience of  Jesus,  on  this  side  the  Channel ;  and  it  will  yield  me  substantia] 
pleasure  to  afford  personal  assistance  in  your  pious  labours.  But  for  the 
present,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  I  must  decline  your  proposal,  being  engaged  to 
spend  a  month  in  London  this  autumn  on  the  business  of  our  missioii  society, 
of  which  you  have  probably  heard. 

"  When  I  formed  my  present  connexions  with  the  church  in  Birmingham, 
I  proposed  an  annual  freedom  for  six  weeks  from  my  pastoral  duties;  and 
should  the  *  Evangelical  Society'  express  a  wish  for  my  services  the  ensuing 
year,  I  am  perfectly  inclined,  God  willing,  to  spend  that  time  beneath  their 
direction,  and  at  what  part  of  the  year  they  conceive  a  visit  would  be  most 
serviceable  to  the  good  design.  I  only  request  that,  should  this  be  their 
desire,  I  may  receive  the  information  as  soon  as  they  can  conveniently 
decide,  that  I  may  withhold  myself  from  other  engagements,  which  may 
interfere  with  the  time  they  may  appoint.  I  entreat  you  to  make  my  Chris- 
tian respects  acceptable  to  the  gentlemen  who  compose  the  Society;  and 
assure  yourself  that  I  am,  dear  sir,  respectfully  and  affectionately,  your  bro- 
ther, in  our  Lord  Jesus, — S.  P." 

The  invitation  was  repeated,  and  he  complied  with  their  request,  engaging 
to  go  over  in  the  month  of  June,  1796. 

A  little  before  this  journey,  it  occurred  to  Dr.  Ryland  that  an  itinerating 
mission  into  Cornwall  might  be  of  use  to  the  cause  of  true  religion,  and  that 
two  acceptable  ministers  might  be  induced  to  undertake  it;  and  that,  if 
executed  during  the  vacation  at  the  Bristol  academy,  two  of  the  students 
might  supply  their  place.  He  communicated  his  thoughts  to  Mr.  Pearce. 
who  wrote  thus  in  answer  : — 

"My  very  dear  Brother,  May  30,  1796. 

"  I  thank  you  a  thousand  times  for  your  last  letter.  Blessed  be  God,  who 
hath  put  it  into  your  heart  to  propose  such  a  plan  for  increasing  the  boun- 
daries of  Zion  !  I  have  read  your  letter  to  our  wisest  friends  here,  and  they 
heard  it  with  great  joy.  The  plan,  the  place,  the  mode,  the  persons, — all, 
all  meet  our  most  affectionate  wishes.  How  did  such  a  scheme  never  enter 
our  minds  before?  Alas!  we  have  nothing  in  our  hearts  that  is  worth  hav- 
ing, save  what  God  puts  there.  Do  write  to  me  when  at  Dublin,  and  tell 
me  whether  it  be  resolved  on,  when  they  set  out,  &c.  I  hope,  ere  long,  to 
hear  that  as  many  disciples  are  employed  in  Great  Britain,  as  the  Saviour 
employed  in  Judea.  When  he  gives  the  word,  great  will  be  the  company 
of  the  preachers.* 

"  O  my  dear  brother,  let  us  go  on  still  praying,  contriving,  labouring,  de- 
fending, until  the  little  leaven  leaven  the  whole  lump,  and  the  small  stone 
from  the  mountain  fill  the  whole  earth. 

"  What  pleasure  do  those  lose  who  have  no  interest  in  God's  gracious  and 
holy  cause!  How  thankful  should  we  be  that  we  are  not  strangers  to  the 
joy  which  the  friends  of  Zion  feel,  when  the  Lord  turneth  again  Zion's 
captivity !     I  am,  beyond  expression,  your  affectionate  brother  in  Christ, — 

S.  P." 

•  This  plan  was  carried  out  by  the  committee  of  the  foreign  mission,  and  was  successful 
As  it  was  felt,  however,  to  be  a  departure  from  the  constitution  of  the  society,  they  on- 
ginatedj  in  1797,  a  new  institution^ — The  Baptist  Home  Missionary  Society. — B. 


VISIT    AT    DUBLIN.  395 

On  May  31  he  set  off  for  Dublin,  and  "  the  Lord  prospered  his  way,"  so 
that  he  arrived  at  the  time  appointed;  and  from  every  account  it  appears 
that  he  was  not  only  sent  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of 
peace,  bat  that  the  Lord  himself  went  with  him.  His  preaching  was  not 
only  highly  acceptable  to  every  class  of  hearers,  but  the  word  caine  from  him 
with  power;  and  there  is  abundant  reason  to  believe  that  many  will,  through 
eternity,  praise  God  for  sending  his  message  to  them  by  this  dear  ambassador 
of  Christ.  His  memory  lives  in  their  hearts,  and  they  join  with  the  other 
churches  of  Christ  in  deploring  the  loss  they  have  sustained  by  his  death. 

He  was  earnestly  solicited  by  the  Evangelical  Society  to  renew  his  visit 
to  that  kingdom  in  179S.  Ready  to  embrace  every  call  of  duty,  he  had 
signified  his  compliance;  and  the  time  was  fixed:  but  the  breaking  out  of 
the  late  rebellion  prevented  him  from  realizing  his  intention.  This  was  a 
painful  disappointment  to  many,  who  wished  once  more  to  see  his  face,  and 
to  have  heard  the  glad  tidings  from  his  lips. 

Such  is  the  brief  account  of  his  visit  to  Dublin  given  by  Dr.  M'Dowal. 
The  following  letter  was  written  to  Mrs.  Pearce,  when  he  had  been  there 
little  more  than  a  week : — 

"  My  dear  Sarah,  Dublin,  June  30,  1796. 

"  I  long  to  know  how  you  do,  and  you  will  be  as  much  concerned  to 
know  how  I  go  on  at  this  distance  from  you.  I  haste  to  satisfy  your 
inquiries. 

"  I  am  in  perfect  health;  am  delightfully  disappointed  with  the  place  and 
its  inhabitants.  I  am  very  thankful  that  I  came  over.  I  have  found  much 
more  religion  here  already  than  I  expected  to  meet  with  during  the  whole 
of  my  stay.  The  prospect  of  usefulness  is  flattering.  I  have  already  many 
more  friends  (I  hope  Christian  friends)  than  I  can  gratify  by  visits.  Many 
doors  are  open  for  preaching  the  gospel  in  the  city;  and  my  country  excur- 
sions will  probably  be  few.     Thus  much  for  outline. 

"  But  you  will  like  to  know  how  I  spend  my  time,  &c.  Well,  then,  I  am 
at  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Hutton,  late  high  sheriff  for  the  city,  a  gentleman  of 
opulence,  respectability,  and  evangelical  piety.  He  is  by  profession  a  Cal- 
vinistic  Presbyterian,  an  elder  of  Dr.  M'Dowal's  church;  has  a  most  amiable 
wife,  and  four  children.  I  am  very  thankful  for  being  placed  here  during 
my  stay.  I  am  quite  at  home — I  mean  as  to  ease  and  familiarity;  for  as  to 
style  of  living,  I  neither  do  nor  desire  to  equal  it.  Yet,  in  my  present  situa- 
tion, it  is  convenient.  It  would,  however,  be  sickening  and  dull,  had  I  not 
a  God  to  go  to,  to  converse  with,  to  enjoy,  and  to  call  my  own.  Oh  it  is 
this,  it  is  this,  my  dearest  Sarah,  which  gives  a  point  to  every  enjoyment, 
and  sweetens  all  the  cup  of  life. 

'*  The  Lord's  day  after  I  wrote  to  you  last,  I  preached  for  Dr.  M'Dowal  in 
the  morning,  at  half  past  eleven;  heard  a  Mr.  Kilburne  at  five;  and  preached 
again  at  Plunket  Street  at  seven.  On  Tuesday  evening  I  preached  at  an 
hospital ;  and  on  Thursday  evening  at  Plunket  Street  again.  Yesterday  for 
the  Baptists,  in  the  morning ;  Dr.  M'Dowal  at  five ;  and  at  Plunket  Street 
at  seven. 

"  The  hours  of  worship  will  appear  singular  to  you :  they  depend  on  the 
usual  meal  times.  We  breakfast  at  ten;  dine  between  four  and  five,  some- 
times between  five  and  six;  take  tea  from  seven  to  nine;  and  sup  from  ten 
to  twelve. 

"  I  thank  God  that  I  possess  an  abiding  determination  to  aim  at  the  con- 
sciences of  the  people  in  every  discourse.  I  have  borne  the  most  positive 
testimony  against  the  prevailing  evils  of  professors  here;  as  sensuality,  gaiety, 
vain  amusements,  neglect  of  the  sabbath,  &c. ;  and  last  night  told  an  im- 


396  3MEM0IRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

mense  crowd  of  professors  of  the  first  rank,  '  that  if  they  made  custom  and 
fashion  their  plea,  they  were  awfully  deluding  their  souls;  for  it  had  always 
been  the  fashion  to  insult  God,  to  dissipate  time,  and  to  pursue  the  broad 
road  to  hell :  but  it  would  not  lessen  their  torments  there  that  the  way  to 
damnation  was  the  fashion.' 

"  I  feared  my  faithfulness  would  have  given  them  offence :  but,  I  am  per- 
suaded, it  was  the  way  to  please  the  Lord;  and  those  who  I  expected  would 
be  enemies  are  not  only  at  peace  with  me,  but  even  renounce  their  sensual 
indulgences  to  attend  on  my  ministry.  I  do  assuredly  believe  that  God  hath 
sent  me  hither  for  good.  The  five  o'clock  meetings  are  miserably  attended 
in  general.  In  a  house  that  will  hold  one  thousand  five  hundred  or  two 
thousand  people,  you  will  hardly  see  above  fifty !  Yesterday  morning  I 
preached  on  the  subject  of  public  uwrsMp,  from  Psal.  v.  7,  and  seriously 
warned  them  against  preferring  their  bellies  to  God,  and  their  own  houses  to 
his.  I  was  delighted  and  surprised,  at  the  five  o'clock  meeting,  to  see  the 
place  nearly  full.  Surely  this  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in 
my  eyes.  Never,  never  did  1  more  feel  how  weak  I  am  in  myself — a  mere 
nothing;  and  how  strong  I  am  in  the  omnipotence  of  God.  I  feel  a  supe- 
riority to  all  fear,  and  possess  a  conscious  dignity  in  being  the  ambassador 
of  Christ.  O  help  me  to  praise!  for  it  is  he  alone  who  teacheth  my  hands 
to  war,  and  my  fingers  to  fight :  and  still  pray  for  me ;  for  if  he  withdraw 
for  a  moment,  I  become  as  weak  and  unprofitable  as  the  briars  of  the  wil- 
derness. 

"  You  cannot  think  how  much  I  am  supported  by  the  assurance  that  I 
have  left  a  prni/ing  people  at  Birmingham  ;  and  I  believe  that,  in  answer  to 
their  prayers,  I  have  hitherto  been  wonderfully  assisted  in  the  public  work, 
as  well  as  enjoyed  much  in  private  devotion. 

"  I  have  formed  a  most  pleasing  acquaintance  with  several  serious  young 
men  in  the  university  here,  and  with  two  of  the  fellows  of  the  college — 
most  pious  gentlemen  indeed,  who  have  undergone  a  world  of  reproach  for 
Christ  and  his  gospel,  and  have  been  forbidden  to  preach  in  the  churches 
by  the  archbishop ;  but  God  has  raised  another  house  for  them  here,  where 
they  preach  with  much  success,  and  have  begun  a  meeting  in  the  college, 
which  promises  fresh  prosperity  to  the  cause  of  Jesus  " 

The  following  particulars,  in  addition  to  the  above,  are  taken  partly  from 
some  notes  in  his  own  hand-writing,  and  partly  from  the  account  given  by 
his  friend  Mr.  Summers,  who  accompanied  him  during  the  latter  part  of  his 
visits. 

At  his  first  arrival,  the  congregations  were  but  thinly  attended,  and  the 
Baptist  congregation  in  particular,  amongst  whom  he  delivered  several  dis- 
courses. It  much  affected  him  to  see  the  whole  city  given  to  sensuality  and 
worldly  conformity ;  and  especially  to  find  those  of  his  own  denomination 
amongst  the  lowest  and  least  affected  with  their  condition.  But  the  longer 
he  continued,  the  more  the  congregations  increased,  and  every  opportunity 
became  increasingly  interesting,  both  to  him  and  them.  His  faithful  remon- 
strances, and  earnest  recommendations  of  prayer-meetings  to  his  Baptist 
friends,  though  at  first  apparently  ill  received,  were  well  taken  in  the  end ; 
and  he  had  the  happiness  to  see  in  them  some  hopeful  appearances  of  a 
return  to  God.  On  June  the  20th  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Mr.  Summers  as 
follows : — 

"  My  dear  Friend, 

'•'  If  you  mean  to  abide  by  my  opinion,  I  say,  Come  to  Dublin,  and  come 
directly !  I  have  been  most  delightfully  disappointed.  I  expected  darkness, 
and  behold  light ;  sorrow,  and  I  have  had  cause  for  abundant  joy.     1  thank 


VISIT    AT    DUBLIN.  397 

God  that  I  came  hither,  and  hope  that  many,  as  well  as  myself,  will  have 
cause  to  praise  him.  Never  have  I  been  more  deeply  taught  my  own 
nothingness — never  hath  the  power  of  God  more  evidently  rested  upon  me. 
The  harvest  here  is  great  indeed ;  and  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  hath  enabled 
me  to  labour  in  it  with  delight. 

*  I  praise  him  for  all  that  is  past; 
I  trust  him  for  all  that 's  to  come.' 

"The  Lord  hath  of  late  been  doing  great  things  for  Dublin.  Several  of 
the  young  men  in  the  college  have  been  awakened;  and  two  of  the  fellows 
are  sweet  evangelical  preachers.  One  of  them  is  of  a  spirit  serene  as  the 
summer's  evening,  and  sweet  as  the  breath  of  May.  I  am  already  intimate 
with  them,  and  have  spent  several  mornings  in  college  with  various  students 
who  bid  fair  to  be  faithful  watchmen  on  Jerusalem's  walls.  But  I  hope  you 
will  come,  and  then  you  will  see  for  yourself.  If  not,  I  will  give  you  some 
pleasant  details  when  we  meet  in  England." 

Mr.  Summers  complied  with  this  invitation;  and  of  the  last  seven  or 
eight  days  of  Mr.  Pearce's  continuance  at  Dublin,  he  himself  thus  writes: — 

"  Monday,  July  4. — At  three  in  the  afternoon  I  went  with  my  friend,  Mr. 
Summers,  to  Mr.  K.'s.  Spent  a  very  agreeable  day.  Miss  A.  K.  remarked 
two  wonders  in  Dublin : — A  praying  society  composed  of  students  at  college, 
and  another  of  lawyers. — The  family  were  called  together.  We  sung:  I 
read,  and  expounded  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Isaiah ;  and  prayed. — At  seven 
we  went  to  a  prayer-meeting  at  Piunket  Street — there  was  a  very  large 
attendance.  Mr.  R.  and  Mr.  S.  prayed;  and  I  spoke  from  Rom.  x.  12,  13, 
"  There  is  no  difference  between  the  Jew  and  the  Greek  ;  for  the  same  Lord 
over  all  is  rich  unto  all  who  call  upon  him.  For  whosoever  shall  call  upon 
tlie  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved." — Many  seemed  affected. — After  I  had 
closed  the  opportunity,  I  told  them  some  of  my  own  experience,  and 
requested  that,  if  any  present  wished  for  conversation,  they  would  come  to 
me,  either  that  evening  or  on  Thursday  evening,  in  the  vestry.  Five  persons 
came  in :  one  had  been  long  impressed  with  religion,  but  could  never  sum- 
mon courage  enough  to  open  her  heart  before.  Another,  a  Miss  VV.,  attri- 
buted her  first  impressions,  under  God,  to  my  ministry ;  and  told  me  that 
her  father  had  regularly  attended  of  late,  and  that  her  mother  was  so  much 
alarmed  as  to  be  almost  in  despair.  Poor  girl !  she  seemed  truly  in  earnest 
about  her  own  soul,  and  as  much  concerned  for  her  parents. — The  next  had 
possessed  a  serious  concern  for  some  time,  and  of  late  had  been  much 
revived. — One  young  lady,  a  Miss  H.,  staid  in  the  meeting-house,  exceed- 
ingly affected  indeed.  Mr.  K.  spoke  to  her. — She  said  she  would  speak  to 
me  on  Thursday. 

"  Tuesday,  5th. — Went  to  Leislip.  At  seven  preached  to  a  large  and 
affected  auditory. 

"  Wednesday,  6th. — Mr.  H.  and  myself  went  to  Mrs.  M'G.,  to  inquire 
about  the  young  lady  who  was  so  much  affected  at  the  meeting.  Mrs.  M'G. 
said  her  mother  and  sister  were  pious ;  that  she  had  been  very  giddy ;  but 
that  last  Lord's  day  she  was  seriously  awakened  to  a  sense  of  sin ;  had  ex- 
pressed her  delight  in  religion,  and  filed  for  refuge  to  the  blood  of  Jesus. — 
Her  sister  was  introduced  to  me ;  a  sweetly  pious  lady. — I  agreed  to  wait 
for  an  interview  with  the  young  lady  at  Mr.  H.'s.,  in  Eccles  Street,  to- 
morrow. 

"  Thursday,  7th. — Miss  H.,  her  sister,  and  Mrs.  M'G.  came  to  Eccles 
Street. — A  most  delightful  interview.  Seldom  have  I  seen  such  proficiency 
in  so  short  a  time. — That  day  week,  at  Piunket  Street,  she  received  her  first 
serious  impressions.     Her  concern  deepened  at  Mass  Lane,  on  Lord's  day 

2L 


398  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

morning — more  so  in  the  evening  at  Plunket  Street — but  most  of  all  on 
Monday  night.  I  exhorted  them  to  begin  a  prayer  and  experience  meeting; 
and  they  agreed.  Blessed  be  God !  this  strengthens  my  hands  greatly. — At 
seven  o'clock  preached  at  Plunket  Street,  from  Jer.  1.  4,  5,  '  Going  and 
weeping — they  shall  ask  the  way  to  Zioii  with  their  faces  thitherward.'  A 
full  house;  and  an  impressive  season.  Tarried  after  the  public  services 
were  ended,  to  converse  on  religion.  The  most  pleasing  case  was  that  of  a 
young  man  of  Mr.  D.'s. 

"  Saturday,  9th. — Went  with  my  friend,  Mr.  S.,  to  call  on  Miss  H. — 
Found  her  at  her  mother's. — We  first  passed  the  door. — She  ran  out  after 
us. — Seemed  happy;  but  agitated.  Ran,  and  called  her  mother. — Soon  we 
saw  the  door  of  the  parlour  open,  and  a  majestic  lady  appeared  ;  who,  as  she 
entered  the  room,  thus  accosted  me : — '  Who  art  thou,  O  blessed  of  the 
Lord  1  Welcome  to  the  widow's  house !  Accept  the  widow's  thanks  for 
coming  after  the  child  whom  thou  hast  begotten  in  the  gospel !' — I  was  too 
much  overcome  to  do  more  than  take  by  the  hand  the  aged  saint.  A  solemn 
silence  ensued  for  a  minute  or  two;  when  the  old  lady,  recovering,  expressed 
the  fulness  of  her  satisfaction  respecting  the  reality  of  the  change  effected  in 
her  daughter,  and  her  gratitude  for  great  refreshment  of  her  own  soul,  by 
means  of  my  poor  labours.  She  said  she  had  known  the  Lord  during  forty 
years,  being  called  under  the  ministry  of  John  Fisher,  in  the  open  air,  when 
on  a  visit  to  an  officer,  who  was  her  brother-in-law.  She  told  us  much  of 
her  experience,  and  promised  to  encourage  the  prayer-meeting  which  1  pro- 
posed to  be  held  in  her  house  every  Lord's  day  evening.  They  are  to  begin 
to-morrow,  after  preaching. — It  was  a  pleasant  meeting ;  and  we  returned 
with  pleasure  to  Eccles  Street.  After  we  rose  up  to  come  away,  the  old 
lady  aflfectionately  said,  '  May  the  good-will  of  Him  who  dwelt  in  the  bush 
attend  you  wherever  you  go,  for  ever  and  ever.' " 

The  young  lady,  some  months  after,  wrote  to  Mr.  S.,  and  says,  amongst 
other  things,  "  I  have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  many  blessings  the 
Lord  has  been  pleased  to  bestow  upon  me,  and  in  particular  for  his  sending 
Mr.  Pearce  to  this  city ;  and  that  through  his  means  I  have  been  convinced 
of  sin.  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that,  through  grace,  I  am  enabled  to  walk 
in  the  narrow  path.  The  Lord  has  taken  away  all  desire  for  worldly  com- 
pany ;  all  my  desires,  now,  are  to  attend  on  the  means  of  grace.  Blessed 
be  his  name!  I  often  find  him  present  in  them.  My  mother  and  I  ofien 
remember  the  happy  time  we  spent  in  your  company  at  our  house.  She 
often  speaks  of  it  with  great  pleasure,  and  blesses  the  Lord  for  the  change 
which  grace  has  wrought  in  me." 

"  Lord's  day,  10th  (the  last  sabbath) — Preached  in  the  morning  at  Mary's 
Abbey,  from  Job  xxxiii.  27,  28,  '  He  looketh  upon  men,  and  if  any  say,  I 
have  sinned,  and  perverted  that  which  was  right,  and  it  profited  me  not,  he 
will  deliver  his  soul  from  going  into  the  pit,  and  his  life  shall  see  the  light.' 
— A  happy  season. — In  the  afternoon,  having  dined  with  Mr.  W.,  he  took 
me  to  Swift's  Alley,  the  Baptist  place  of  worship,  where  I  gave  an  exhorta- 
tion on  brotherly  love,  and  administered  the  Lord's  supper.  At  Mr.  W.'s 
motion,  the  church  requested  me  to  look  out  a  suitable  minister  for  them. 
In  the  evening  I  preached  at  Plunket  Street,  from  2  Tim.  i.  18,  '  The  Lord 
grant  unto  him  that  he  may  find  mercy  of  the  Lord  in  that  day !' — A  very 
solemn  season. 

"Monday,  11th. — Met  the  dear  Christian  friends,  for  the  last  time,  at  a 
prayer-meeting  in  Plunket  Street. — The  Lot d  was  there! — Several  friends 
spent  the  evening  with  us  afterwards  at  Mr.  H.'s. 

"  Tuesday,  12th. — Went  on  board  at  four;  arrived  at  Liverpool  on  Thurs- 
day, and  safely  at  home  on  Friday,  July  15th,  1796.     Blessed  be  the  Pre- 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CORRESPONDENCE.  399 

server  of  men,  the  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  the  help  of  his  servants,  for 
evermore.     Amen,  amen." 

Some  time  after,  writing  to  his  friend  who  accompanied  him,  he  says,  "  I 
have  received  several  letters  from  Dublin :  two  from  Master  B.,  one  from 
Miss  H.,  one  from  M.,  three  or  four  from  our  Baptist  friends,  and  some  from 
others  whom  I  cannot  recollect. — Mr.  K.  lately  called  on  me,  in  his  way 
from  Bath  to  Holyhead.  We  talked  of  you,  and  of  our  Lord,  and  did  not 
part  till  we  had  presented  ourselves  before  the  throne." 

During  his  labours  in  Dublin,  he  was  strongly  solicited  to  settle  in  a  very 
flattering  situation  in  the  neighbourhood  ;*  and  a  very  liberal  salary  was 
offered  him.  On  his  positively  declining  it,  mention  was  made  of  only  six 
months  of  the  year.  When  that  was  declined,  three  months  were  proposed ; 
and  when  he  was  about  to  answer  this  in  the  negative,  the  party  refused  to 
receive  his  answer,  desiring  him  to  take  time  to  consider  of  it.  He  did  so; 
and  though  he  entertained  a  very  grateful  sense  of  the  kindness  and  gene- 
rosity expressed  by  the  proposal,  yet,  after  the  maturest  deliberation,  he 
thought  it  his  duty  to  decline  it.  Mr.  Pearce's  modesty  prevented  his  talk- 
ing on  such  a  subject ;  but  it  was  known  at  the  time  by  his  friend  who 
accompanied  him,  and,  since  his  death,  has  been  frequently  mentioned  as  an 
instance  of  his  disinterested  .spirit. 

His  friends  at  Birmingham  were  ready  to  think  it  hard  that  he  should  be 
so  willing  to  leave  them  to  go  on  a  mission  among  the  heathen;  but  they 
could  not  well  complain,  and  much  less  think  ill  of  him,  when  they  saw  that 
such  a  willingness  was  more  than  could  be  effected  by  the  most  flattering 
prospects  of  a  worldly  nature,  accompanied,  too,  with  promising  appearances 
of  religious  usefulness. 

About  a  month  after  his  return  from  Dublin,  Mr.  Pearce  addressed  a  letter 
to  Mr.  Carey,  in  which  he  gives  some  further  account  of  Ireland,  as  well  as 
of  some  other  interesting  matters : — 

^^ Birmingham,  Jug.  12,  1796. 

"O  my  dear  brother,  did  you  but  know  with  what  feelings  I  resume  my 
pen,  freely  to  correspond  with  you  after  receiving  your  very  affectionate  letter 
to  myself,  and  perusing  that  which  you  sent  by  the  same  conveyance  to  the 
Society,  I  am  sure  you  would  persuade  yourself  that  I  have  no  common 
friendship  for  you,  and  that  your  regards  are  at  least  returned  with  equal 
ardour. 

"  I  fear  (I  had  almost  said)  that  I  shall  never  see  your  face  in  the  flesh; 
but  if  any  thing  can  add  to  the  joy  which  the  presence  of  Christ,  and  con- 
formity, perfect  conformity  to  him,  will  afford  in  heaven,  surely  the  certain 
prospect  of  meeting  with  my  dear  brother  Carey  there  is  one  of  the  greatest. 
Thrice  happy  should  I  be  if  the  providence  of  God  would  open  a  way  for 
my  partaking  of  your  labours,  your  sufferings,  and  your  pleasures,  on  this 
side  the  eternal  world ;  but  all  my  brethren  here  are  of  opinion  that  I  shall 
be  more  useful  at  home  than  abroad;  and  I,  though  reluctantly,  submit. 
Yet  I  am  truly  with  you  in  spirit.  My  heart  is  at  Mudnabatty,  and  at  times 
I  even  hope  to  find  my  body  there :  but  with  the  Lord  I  leave  it ;  He  knows 
my  wishes,  my  motives,  my  regret ;  He  knows  all  my  soul ;  and,  depraved 
as  it  is,  I  feel  an  inexpressible  satisfaction  that  he  does  know  it.  However, 
it  is  a  humbling  thought  to  me  that  he  sees  I  am  unfit  for  such  a  station,  and 
unworthy  of  such  an  honour  as  to  bear  his  name  among  the  heathen.  But 
I  must  be  thankful  still,  that  though  he  appoints  me  not  to  a  post  in  foreign 
service,  he  will  allow  me  to  stand  sentinel  at  home.  In  tliis  situation  may  I 
lave  grace  to  be  faithful  unto  death! 

*  At  the  Black  Rock,  the  residence  of  some  of  the  most  genteel  families  in  the  vicinity 
of  Dublin. 


400  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

"  I  hardly  wonder  at  your  being  pained  on  account  of  the  efTects  produced 
in  the  minds  of  your  European  friends,  by  the  news  of  your  engagement  in 
the  indigo  business,  because  I  imagine  you  are  ignorant  of  the  process  of 
that  matter  among  us.  When  I  received  the  news,  I  glorified  God  in  sin- 
cerity on  account  of  it,  and  gave  most  hearty  thanks  to  him  for  his  most  gra- 
cious appearance  on  your  behalf:  but  at  the  same  time  I  feared  lest,  through 
that  undertaking,  the  work  of  the  mission  might  in  some  way  or  other  be 
impeded.  The  same  impression  was  made  on  the  minds  of  many  others; 
yet  no  blame  was  attached,  in  our  view,  to  you.  Our  minds  were  only 
alarmed  for  the  future — not  disposed  to  censure  for  the  past.  Had  you  seen 
a  futhful  copy  of  the  prayers,  the  praises,  and  the  conversation  of  tiie  day  in 
which  your  letters  were  read,  I  know  you  would  not  have  entertained  one 
unkind  thought  of  the  Society  towards  you.  Oh,  no,  my  dear  brother,  far 
be  it  from  us  to  lay  an  atom  upon  your  spirits  of  a  painful  nature.  Need  I 
say,  we  do  love  you,  we  do  respect  you,  we  do  confide  too  much  in  you,  to 
design  the  smallest  occasion  of  distress  to  your  heart.  But  I  close  this  sub- 
ject. In  future  we  will  atone  for  an  expression  that  might  bear  a  harsh  con- 
struction. We  will  strengthen,  we  will  support,  we  will  comfort,  we  will 
encourage  you  in  your  arduous  work ;  all,  all  shall  be  love  and  kindness ; 
glory  to  God,  and  good  will  to  men.  If  I  have  done  aught  that  is  wrong, 
as  an  individual,  pardon  me;  if  we  have  said  aught  amiss,  as  a  society,  par- 
don us.  Let  us  forbear  one  another  in  love,  *  forgiving  one  another,  even  as 
God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  us.' 

"  By  the  time  this  reaches  you,  I  hope  you  will  have  received  Nos.  I.  and 
II.  of  Periodical  Accounts.  Should  you  find  any  thing  in  them  which  you 
think  had  better  be  omitted,  pray  be  free  in  mentioning  it,  and  in  future  your 
instructions  shall  be  fully  attended  to.  We  have  taken  all  the  pains,  and 
used  all  the  caution,  in  our  power  to  render  them  unexceptionable ;  but  you 
can  better  judge  in  some  respects  than  we.  If  you  should  not  approve  of  all, 
(though  we  are  not  conscious  of  any  thing  that  you  will  disapprove,)  you 
will  not  be  offended,  but  believe  we  have  done  our  best,  and,  with  your  re- 
marks, hope  to  do  better  still. 

"  With  pleasure,  approaching  to  rapture,  I  read  the  last  accounts  you  sent 
us.  I  never  expected  immediate  success;  the  prospect  is  truly  greater  than 
my  most  sanguine  hopes.  '  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  a  little  leaven 
hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  till  the  tohole  is  leavened.  Blessed  be  God! 
the  leaven  is  in  the  meal,  and  its  influence  is  already  discoverable.  A  great 
God  is  doing  great  things  by  you.  Go  on,  my  dearest  brother,  go  on  ;  God 
will  do  greater  things  than  these.  Jesus  is  worthy  of  a  loorld  of  praise  :  and 
shall  Hindostan  not  praise  him?  Surely  he  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  hia 
soul  there,  and  the  sower  and  the  reaper  shall  rejoice  together.  Already  the 
empire  of  darkness  totters,  and  soon  it  shall  doubtless  fall.  Blessed  be  the 
labourers  in  this  important  work ;  and  blessed  be  He  who  giveth  them 
hearts  and  strength  to  labour,  and  promises  that  they  shall  not  labour  in 
vain ! 

"  Do  not  fear  the  want  of  money.  God  is  for  us,  and  the  silver  and  the 
gold  are  his;  and  so  are  the  hearts  of  those  who  possess  the  most  of  it; 
I  will  travel  from  the  Land's  End  to  the  Orkneys  but  we  will  get  money 
enough  for  all  the  demands  of  the  mission.  I  have  never  had  a  fear  on 
that  head;  a  litde  exertion  will  do  wonders ;  and  past  experience  justifies 
every  confidence.  Men  we  only  want ;  and  God  shall  find  them  for  us  in 
due  time. 

"  Is  brother  Fountain  arrived  ?  We  hope  he  will  be  an  acceptable  remit- 
tance, and  viva  voce,  compensate  for  the  lack  of  epistolary  communications. 

"  I  rejoice  in  contemplating  a  church  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  Bengal, 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CORRESPONDENCE.  401 

formed  upon  his  own  plan.  Why  do  not  the  Hindoo  converts  join  it? 
Lord,  help  their  unbelief!  But  perhaps  the  drop  is  now  withheld  that  you 
may  by  and  by  have  the  shower,  and  lift  up  your  eyes  and  say,  '  These, 
whence  came  they  ?  They  fly  as  clouds,  or  as  doves  to  their  windows.'  For 
three  years  we  read  of  few  baptized  by  the  first  disciples  of  our  Lord;  but, 
on  the  fourth,  three  thousand,  and  five  thousand,  openly  avowed  him.  The 
Lord  send  you  such  another  Pentecost ! 

"  I  intend  to  write  my  dear  brother  a  long  letter.  It  will  prove  my 
desire  to  gratify  him,  if  it  do  no  more.  I  wish  that  I  knew  in  what  commu- 
nications your  other  correspondents  will  be  most  deficient ;  then  I  would  try 
to  supply  their  omissions. 

"  I  will  begin  with  myself:  but  I  have  nothing  good  to  say.  I  think  I 
am  the  most  vile,  ungrateful  servant  that  ever  Jesus  Christ  employed  in  his 
church.  At  some  times,  I  question  whether  I  ever  knew  the  grace  of  God 
in  truth;  and  at  others  I  hesitate  on  the  most  important  points  of  Chris- 
tian faith.  I  have  lately  had  peculiar  struggles  of  this  kind  with  my  own 
heart,  and  have  often  half  concluded  to  speak  no  more  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord.  When  I  am  preparing  for  the  pulpit,  I  fear  I  am  going  to  avow  fables 
for  facts,  and  doctrines  of  men  for  the  truths  of  God.  In  conversation  I  am 
obliged  to  be  silent,  lest  my  tongue  should  belie  my  heart.  In  prayer  I  know 
not  what  to  say,  and  at  times  think  prayer  altogether  useless.  Yet  I  cannot 
wholly  surrender  my  hope,  or  my  profession. — Three  things  1  find,  above  all 
others,  tend  to  my  preservation  : — First,  A  recollection  of  a  time  when,  at 
once,  I  was  brought  to  abandon  the  practice  of  sins  which  the  fear  of  damna- 
tion could  never  bring  me  to  relinquish  before  Surely,  I  say,  this  must  be 
the  finger  of  God,  according  to  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  regeneration : — 
Secondly,  I  feel  such  a  consciousness  of  guilt,  that  notliing  but  the  gospel 
scheme  can  satisfy  my  mind  respecting  the  hope  of  salvation  ■ — Thirdly,  I 
see  that  what  true  devotion  does  appear  in  the  world  seems  only  to  be  found 
among  tiiose  to  whom  Christ  is  precious. 

"But  I  frequently  find  a  backwardness  to  secret  prayer,  and  much  dead- 
ness  in  it;  and  it  puzzles  me  to  see  how  this  can  be  consistent  with  a  life 
of  grace.  However,  I  resolve,  that,  let  what  will  become  of  me,  I  will  do 
all  I  can  for  God  while  I  live,  and  leave  the  rest  to  him ;  and  tliis  I  usually 
experience  to  be  the  best  way  to  be  at  peace. 

"  I  believe,  that  if  I  were  more  fully  given  up  to  God,  I  should  be  free 
from  these  distressing  workings  of  mind ;  and  then  I  long  to  be  a  mission- 
ary, where  I  should  have  temptations  to  nothing  but  to  abound  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord,  and  lay  myself  entirely  out  for  him.  In  such  a  situation,  I 
think,  pride  would  have  but  little  food,  and  faith  more  occasion  for  exercise;  so 
that  the  spiritual  life  and  inward  religion  would  thrive  better  than  they  do  now. 

"At  times,  indeed,  I  do  feel,  I  trust,  genuine  contrition,  and  sincerely 
lament  my  short-comings  before  God.  Oh  the  sweets  that  accompany  true 
repentance!  Yes,  I  love  to  be  abased  before  God.  'There  it  is  I  find  my 
blessing.'     May  the  Lord  daily  and  hourly  bring  me  low,  and  keep  me  so. 

"  As  to  my  public  work,  I  find,  whilst  engaged  in  it,  little  cause  to  com- 
plain for  want  either  of  matter  or  words.  My  labours  are  acceptable  and  not 
altogether  unprofitable  to  the  hearers;  but  what  is  this  to  me,  if  my  own  soul 
starve  whilst  others  are  fed  by  me  ?  O  my  brother,  I  need  your  prayers ; 
and  I  feel  a  great  satisfaction  in  the  hope  that  you  do  not  forget  me. "  Oh 
that  I  may  be  kept  faithful  unto  death !  Indeed,  in  the  midst  of  my  strug- 
glings,  a  gleam  of  hope  that  I  shall  at  last  awake  in  the  likeness  of  God 
affords  me  greater  joy  than  words  can  express.  To  be  with  Christ  is  far 
better  than  to  continue  sinning  here ;  but  if  the  Lord  hath  any  thing  to  do 
by  me.  His  will  be  done. 

Vol.  HI.— 51  2l2 


402  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

"  I  have  never  so  fully  opened  my  case  to  any  one  before.  Your  freedom 
on  similar  topics  encourages  me  to  make  my  complaint  to  you,  and  I  think 
if  you  were  near  me  I  should  feel  great  relief  in  revealing  to  you  all  my 
heart.  But  I  shall  fatigue  you  with  ray  moanings,  so  I  will  have  done  on 
this  subject. 

"  It  is  not  lojig  since  I  returned  from  a  kind  of  mission  to  Ireland.  A  society 
is  established  in  Dublin  for  the  purpose  of  inviting  from  England  ministers 
of  various  denominations  to  assist  in  promoting  the  interest  of  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  there.  Some  of  our  Baptist  brethren  had  been  there  before  me, 
as  Rippon,  Langdon,  Francis,  and  Birt;  and  I  think  the  plan  is  calculated 
for  usefulness.  I  have,  at  Dr.  Rippon's  request,  sent  him  some  remarks  on 
my  visit  for  the  Register,  but  as  it  is"  probable  you  will  receive  this  before 
that  comes  to  hand,  I  will  say  something  of  my  excursion  here. 

"  Having  engaged  to  spend  six  Lord's  days  in  that  kingdom,  I  arrived 
there  the  day  before  the  first  sabbath  in  June.  I  first  made  myself  acquainted 
with  the  general  state  of  religion  in  Dublin.  I  found  there  were  four  Pres- 
byterian congregations;  two  of  these  belong  to  the  southern  presbytery,  and 
are  Arians  or  Socinians;  the  other  two  are  connected  with  the  northern 
presbytery,  and  retain  the  Westminster  confession  of  faith.  One  of  these 
latter  congregations  is  very  small,  and  the  minister,  though  orthodox,  appears 
to  have  but  litde  success.  The  other  is  large  and  flourishing;  the  place  of 
worship  is  ninety  feet  by  seventy,  and  in  a  morning  well  filled.  Their  times 
of  public  service  are  at  half-past  eleven  and  five.  In  the  afternoon  the  stated 
congregations  are  small  indeed ;  for  five  o'clock  is  the  usual  dining-hour  in 
Dublin,  and  few  of  the  hearers  would  leave  their  dinners  for  the  gospel. 
Dr.  M'Dowal  is  the  senior  pastor  of  this  church — a  very  affectionate,  spiritual 
man.  The  junior  is  Mr.  Horner.  The  Doctor  is  a  warm  friend  to  the  Society 
at  whose  request  I  went  over  to  Ireland. 

"There  is  one  congregation  of  Burgher  seceders,  and  another  of  Anti- 
burghers.  The  latter  will  not  hear  any  man  who  is  not  of  their  own  cast; 
the  former  are  much  more  liberal.  I  preached  for  them  once,  and  they 
affectionately  solicited  a  repetition  of  my  services. 

"Lady  Huntingdon's  connexion  has  one  society  here,  the  only  one  in  the 
kingdom,  perhaps,  except  at  Sligo,  where  there  is  another.  It  is  not  large, 
and  I  fear  rather  declining,  There  is  not  one  Independent  church  in  the 
whole  kingdom.  There  were  ten  Baptist  societies  in  Ireland ;  but  they  are 
now  reduced  to  six :  and  are,  I  fear,  still  on  the  decline. 

"The  inhabitants  of  Dublin  seem  to  be  chiefly  composed  of  two  classes; 
the  one  assumes  the  appearance  of  opulence,  the  other  exhibits  marks  of  the 
most  abject  poverty;  and  as  there  are  no  parishes  in  Ireland  which  provide 
for  the  poor,  many  die  every  year  for  want  of  the  common  necessaries  of  life. 

"Most  of  the  rich  are  by  profession  protestants;  the  poor  are  nearly  all 
papists,  and  strongly  prejudiced  against  the  Reformed  religion.  Their  igno- 
rance and  superstition  are  scarcely  inferior  to  your  miserable  Hindoos.  On 
Midsummer  day  I  had  an  affecting  proof  of  the  latter.  On  the  public  road, 
about  a  mile  from  Dublin,  is  a  well,  which  was  once  included  in  the  pre- 
cincts of  a  priory  dedicated  to  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  This  well  is  in  high 
repute  for  curing  a  number  of  bodily  complaints,  and  its  virtues  are  said  to 
be  the  most  efficacious  on  the  saint's  own  day.  So  from  twelve  o'clock  at 
night,  for  twenty-four  hours,  it  becomes  the  rendezvous  for  all  the  lame, 
blind,  and  otherwise  diseased  people,  within  a  circuit  of  twenty  miles.  Here 
they  brought  old  and  young,  and  applied  the  'holy  water'  both  internally 
and  externally;  some  by  pouring,  some  by  immersion,  and  all  by  drinking 
whilst,  for  the  good  of  those  who  could  not  attend  in  person,  their  friends 
filled  bottles  with  the  efficacious  water  to  use  at  home.     Several  I  saw  on 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CORRESPONDENCE.  403 

their  knees  before  the  well  at  their  devotions,  which  were  not  unfrequenlly 
interrupted  with  a  glass  of  whiskey.  With  this  they  were  supplied  from  a 
number  of  dealers  in  that  article,  who  kept  standings  all  round  the  well. 

"Near  to  the  spot  was  a  church-yard,  were  great  numbers  kneeled  upon 
the  tombs  of  their  deceased  relatives,  and  appeared  earnestly  engaged  in 
praying  for  the  repose  of  their  souls. 

"  It  was  truly  a  lamentable  sight.  My  heart  ached  at  their  delusions, 
whilst  I  felt  gratitude  I  hope  unfeigned  for  an  acquaintance  with  the  'water 
of  life,  of  which  if  a  man  drink  he  shall  live  for  ever!' 

"  There  are  few  or  none  of  the  middle  class  to  connect  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  so  that  favourable  access  to  them  is  far  more  difficult  than  to  the  lower 
orders  of  the  people  in  England;  and  their  priests  hold  them  in  such  bond- 
age, that  if  a  catholic  servant  only  attend  on  family-worship  in  a  protestant 
house,  penance  must  be  performed  for  the  offence." 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  his  having  "  formed  a  pleasing  acquaint- 
ance with  several  serious  young  gendemen  of  the  university  of  Dublin."  The 
following  letter  was  addressed  to  one  of  them,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Matthias,  a  few 
months  after  his  return : — 

"  Dear  brother  Matthias, 

"I  have  been  employed  this  whole  day  in  writing  letters  to  Dublin;  and 
it  is  the  first  day  1  have  been  able  to  redeem  for  that  purpose.  I  will  not 
consume  a  page  in  apology.  Let  it  suffice  to  say  that  necessity,  not  dis- 
inclination, has  detained  from  my  Irish  friends  those  proofs  of  my  gratitude 
and  esteem  which  in  other  circumstances  I  ought  to  have  presented  three 
months  ago.  I  thought  this  morning  of  answering  all  their  demands  before 
1  slept ;  but  I  have  written  so  many  sheets,  and  all  full,  that  I  find  my  eyes 
and  my  fingers  both  fail ;  and  I  believe  this  must  close  my  intercourse  with 
Dublin  this  day.  When  I  shall  be  able  to  complete  my  purpose  I  do  not 
know.  To  form  friendships  with  good  men  is  pleasant;  but  to  maintain  all 
that  communion  which  friendship  expects  is  in  some  cases  very  difficult. 
Happy  should  I  be  could  I  meet  my  Irish  friends  in  propria  persona,  instead 
of  sitting  in  solitude,  and  maintaining,  by  the  tedious  medium  of  the  pen, 
this  distant  intercourse.  But  "  the  Lord  he  shall  choose  our  inheritance  for 
us."  Were  all  the  planets  of  our  system  embodied  and  placed  in  close  asso- 
ciation, the  light  would  be  greater  and  the  object  grander;  but  then  useful- 
ness and  systematic  beauty  consist  in  their  dispersion ;  and  what  are  we,  my 
brother,  but  so  many  satellites  to  Jesus,  the  great  Sun  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem? SoEne,  indeed,  like  burning  Mercuries,  keep  nearer  the  luminary,  and 
receive  more  of  its  light  and  heat,  whilst  others,  like  the  ringed  planet,  or 
the  Georgium  Sidus,  preserve  a  greater  distance,  and  reflect  a  greater  portion 
of  his  light;  yet  if,  amidst  all  this  diversity,  they  belong  to  the  system,  two 
things  may  be  affirmed  of  all: — all  keep  true  to  one  centre,  and  borrow 
whatever  light  they  have  from  one  source.  True  it  is,  that  the  further  they 
are  from  the  sun,  the  longer  are  they  in  performing  their  revolutions:  and  is 
not  this  exemplified  in  us?  The  closer  we  keep  to  Jesus,  the  more  brilliant 
are  our  graces;  the  more  cheerful  and  active  are  our  lives:  but,  alas!  we  are 
all  comets ;  we  all  move  in  eccentric  orbits:  at  one  time  glowing  beneath 
the  ray  Divine,  at  another  congealing  and  freezing  into  icicles.  '  Oh  what 
a  miracle  to  man  is  man !' 

"  Little  did  I  think  when  I  begun  this  letter  that  I  should  thus  have  in- 
dulged myself  in  allegory:  but  true  friendship,  I  believe,  always  dictates 
extempore ;  and  my  friends  must  never  expect  from  me  a  studied  epistle. 
They  can  meet  with  better  thoughts  than  1  can  furnish  them  with,  in  any 


404  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

bookseller's  shop.  It  is  not  the  dish,  however  well  it  may  be  cooked,  that 
gives  the  relish,  but  the  sweet  sauce  of  friendship;  and  this  I  think  some- 
times makes  even  nonsense  palatable. 

"  But  I  have  some  questions  to  put  to  you: — first,  how  are  all  my  college 
friends,  Messrs.  Walker,  Maturin,  Hamilton,  &c.  ?  How  is  their  health  ? 
But,  chiefly,  how  are  the  interests  of  religion  among  you?  Are  there  any 
praying  students  added  to  your  number?  Do  all  those  you  thought  well  of 
continue  to  justify  their  profession?  You  know  what  it  is  that  interests  me. 
Pray  tell  me  all,  whether  it  makes  me  weep  or  rejoice. 

"  I  hope  Mr.  H — 's  ministry  was  blessed  in  Dublin.  Do  you  know  any 
instances  of  it?  We  must  sow  in  hope,  and  I  trust  that  we  shall  all  gather 
fruit  to  eternal  life,  even  where  the  buddings  have  never  appeared  to  us  in 
this  world.  How  is  it  with  your  own  soul  ?  I  thank  God,  I  never,  I  think, 
rejoiced  habitually  so  much  in  him  as  I  have  done  of  late.  '  God  is  love.' 
That  makes  me  happy.  I  rejoice  that  God  reigns  ;  that  he  reigns  over  all ; 
that  he  reigns  over  ?ne  ;  over  my  crosses,  my  comforts,  my  family,  my  friends, 
my  senses,  my  mental  powers,  my  designs,  my  words,  my  preaching,  my 
conduct ;  that  he  is  God  over  all,  blessed  for  ever.  I  am  willing  to  live,  yet 
I  long  to  die,  to  be  freed  from  all  error  and  all  sin.  I  have  nothing  else  to 
trouble  me  ;  no  other  cross  to  carry.  The  sun  shines  without  all  day  long; 
but  I  am  sensible  of  internal  darkness.  Well,  through  grace  it  shall  be  all 
light  by  and  by.  Yes,  you  and  I  shall  be  angels  of  light;  all  Mercuries 
then ;  all  near  the  Sun ;  always  in  motion ;  always  glowing  with  zeal,  and 
flaming  with  love.  Oh  for  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness ! 

'  Oh  what  love  and  concord  there. 
And  wliat  sweet  harmony 
In  heaven  above,  where  happy  souls 

Adore  thy  majesty  ! 
Oh  how  the  heavenly  choirs  all  sing 
To  him  who  sits  enthroned  above! 

What  admiring ! 

And  aspiring  ! 

Still  desiring : 
Oh  how  I  long  to  taste  this  feast  of  love  !' 

"  Will  you  tell  brother  M that  I  wait  an  opportunity  of  sending  a 

parcel  to  him  ?     In  that  I  will  enclose  a  letter.    My  very  affectionate  respects 

to  him  and  Mr.  H ,  and  all  my  college  friends  as  though  named.     If 

you  be  not  weary  of  such  an  eccentric  correspondent,  pray  do  not  be  long 
ere  you  write  to  your  unworthy  but  affectionate  brother  in  Christ, — S.  P." 

Awhile  after  this,  he  thus  writes  to  his  friend  Mr.  Summers : — 
"  December,  1796.  I  rejoice  that  you  have  been  supported  under  and 
brought  through  your  late  trials.  I  do  not  wonder  at  it ;  for  it  is  no  more 
than  God  has  promised:  and  though  we  may  well  wonder  that  he  promises 
any  thing,  yet  his  performance  is  no  just  ground  of  surprise :  and  when  we 
find  ourselves  so  employed,  we  had  better  turn  our  wonder  to  our  own  un- 
belief, that  for  one  moment  suspected  God  would  not  be  as  good  as  his 
word. 

"  I  have  been  lately  more  than  ever  delighted  with  the  thought  that  God 
hath  engaged  to  do  any  thing  for  such  worms  as  we.  I  never  studied  the 
deisticnl  controversy  so  much,  nor  ever  rejoiced  in  revelation  more.  Alas! 
what  should  we  know  if  God  had  not  condescended  to  teach  us?  Paul  very 
justly  remarks,  that  no  one  knoweth  any  thing  of  God,  but  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  he  to  whom  the  Spirit  revealeth  him.  Now  the  Spirit  hath  revealed  God 
in  the  Bible;  but  to  an  unbeliever  the  Bible  is  a  sealed  book.  He  can 
know  nothing  from  a  book  that  he  looks  upon  as  an  imposture,  and  yet 


EXTRACTS  FROM  CORRESPONDENCE.  405 

there  is  no  other  book  in  which  God  is  revealed :  so  that  to  reject  the  Bible 
is  to  immerse  ourselves  in  darkness,  and,  whilst  professing  to  be  wise,  actu- 
ally to  become  fools :  whereas  no  sooner  do  we  believe  what  the  Spirit  saith. 
than  unto  us  is  God  revealed,  and  in  his  light  do  we  see  light." 

To  the  above  may  be  added  a  few  extracts  of  letters  which  he  addressed 
to  his  friends  in  1797  and  1798. 

To  Dr.  Ryland. 

"  March,  1797. 
•'  During  the  last  three  weeks  I  have,  at  times,  been  very  poorly,  with 
colds,  «Sic.  Am  better  now,  and  have  been  all  along  assisted  in  going 
through  my  public  duties.  Let  us  continue  to  pray  for  each  other  till  death 
makes  it  a  needless  service.  How  uncertain  is  life,  and  what  a  blessing  is 
death  to  a  saint !  I  seem  lately  to  feel  a  kind  of  affection  for  death.  Methinks 
if  it  were  visible  I  could  embrace  it.  '  Welcome  herald,  that  bids  the  pri- 
soner be  free ;  that  announces  the  dawn  of  everlasting  day ;  that  bids  the 
redeemed  come  to  Zion  with  everlasting  joy,  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  an 
erroneous  judgment  and  a  depraved  heart.'  To  believe,  to  feel,  to  speak,  to 
act  exactly  as  God  will  have  me;  to  be  wholly  absorbed  and  taken  up  with 
him;  this,  nothing  short  of  this,  can  make  my  bliss  complete.  But  all  this 
is  ?nine.  Oh  the  height,  the  depth,  the  length,  the  breadth  of  redeeming 
love !  It  conquers  my  heart,  and  constrains  me  to  yield  myself  a  living 
sacrifice,  acceptable  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ. — My  dear  brother,  we 
have  had  many  happy  meetings  on  earth :  the  best  is  in  reserve. 

'  No  heart  upon  earth  can  conceive 
The  bliss  that  in  heaven  they  share; 
Then  who  this  dark  world  would  not  leave. 
And  cheerfully  die  to  be  there  ?' 

"  Oh  how  full  of  love,  and  joy,  and  praise  shall  we  be  when  that  happy 
state  is  ours!  Well,  yet  a  little  while,  and  He  that  shall  come  will  come. 
Even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus !  My  dear  brother,  forgive  the  hasty  effusions 
of  a  heart  that  loves  you  in  the  bowels  of  Jesus,  and  is  always  happy  in 
testifying  itself  to  be  affectionately  yours, — S.  P." 

To  Mr.  Cave.* 

On  the  falling  away  of  some  who  had  promised  fair  in  religion. 

,  1797. 

"T  thank  you,  my  dear  brother,  for  the  confidence  you  repose  in  me,  the 
affection  you  have  for  me,  and  the  freedom  with  which  you  write  to  me. 
Assure  yourself  that  I  sincerely  sympathize  in  the  cutting  events  which  you 
have  lately  experienced.  Trying  indeed!  Your  heart  must  bleed.  Yet  be 
not  discouraged  in  your  work.  The  more  Satan  opposes  Christ,  the  more 
let  us  oppose  hint.  He  comes  with  great  violence  because  his  time  is  short. 
His  kingdom  is  on  the  decline ;  his  strong  holds  are  besieged,  and  he  knows 
they  must  soon  be  taken.  Whilst  it  lasts,  he  is  making  desperate  sallies  on 
the  armies  of  the  Lamb.  It  is  no  great  wonder  that  he  fights  and  wounds 
a  raw  recruit  now  and  then,  who  strays  from  the  camp,  and,  thoughtless  of 
the  danger,  keeps  not  close  by  the  Captain's  tent.  I  hope  our  glorious 
Leader  will  heal  the  wounded,  and  rescue  the  captive.  He  is  sure  to  make 
reprisals.     Christ  will  have  ten  to  one.    You  will  yet  see  his  arm  made  bare. 

•  Mr.  Cave  was  a  young  man,  licensed  to  the  ministry  by  Mr.  Pearce's  church,  and  be- 
came  the  immediate  successor  of  Mr.  Carey,  at  Leicester.  His  life  was  highly  honourable 
to  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ,  though  he  was  never  very  popular  as  a  preacher.  For  many 
years  before  his  death  he  taught  a  respectable  school  at  Birmingham,  and  occasionally  sup- 
plied the  pulpits  of  his  brethren.  In  the  early  part  of  the  present  year  [1S44]  he  was  found 
dead  in  his  bed,  at  the  age  of  more  than  seventy  years. — B. 


406  MEMOIRS  or"  MR.  PEARCE. 

He  shall  go  forth  like  a  man  of  war.  The  prisoners  shall  be  redeemed,  and 
the  old  tyrant  shall  be  cast  into  the  bottomless  pit.  Be  of  good  cheer,  my 
fellow  soldier.  The  cause  is  not  ours,  but  God's.  Let  us  endure  hardness, 
and  still  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith.  At  last  we  shall  come  off  conquerors 
through  him  who  hath  loved  us. 

"  I  hope  you  have  some  causes  for  joy  as  well  as  grief  I  trust  though 
one,  or  two,  or  three  fall,  the  tens  and  the  twenties  stand  their  ground.  Oh 
do  what  you  can  to  cheer  them  under  the  common  trial.  Let  them  not  see 
a  faint  heart  in  you.  Fight  manfully  still.  Tell  them  to  watch  the  more ; 
to  pray  the  harder;  to  walk  the  closer  with  God.  So  out  of  the  eater  shall 
come  forth  meat,  and  sweetness  out  of  the  strong." 

To  Mr.  Bates  and  Mrs.  Barnes, 

Who  had  been  burnt  out  of  their  residence. 

"  The  many  expressions  of  Christian  friendship  which  I  received  from 
you,  and  your  affectionate  families,  during  my  late  visit  to  London,  will  often 
excite  grateful  recollection  in  future,  as  they  have  almost  daily  since  I  parted 
from  you ;  and  though  I  do  not  write  this  avowedly  as  a  mere  letter  of 
acknowledgment,  yet  I  wish  it  to  assure  you  that  I  am  not  forgetful  of  my 
friends,  nor  unthankful  for  their  kindness.  May  all  the  favour  you  show  to 
the  servants  of  our  common  Lord,  for  his  sake,  be  amply  recompensed  in 
present  peace,  and  future  felicity,  when  the  promise  of  Him  who  cannot  lie 
shall  be  fulfilled, — 'A  cup  of  cold  water  given  to  a  disciple,  in  the  name  of 
a  disciple,  shall  not  lose  its  reward.' 

"  But  whilst  you,  my  dear  friends,  live  '  in  hope  of  the  glory'  that  remains 
'  to  be  revealed,'  I  am  persuaded  that  you  expect  all  as  the  fruit  of  sovereign 
mercy,  which  first  forms  us  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  then  accepts,  and  then 
rewards.  Truly,  if  sinners  be  rewarded,  it  must  be  '  of  grace,  and  not  of 
debt.'  Yet  it  is  a  mercy  of  unspeakable  magnitude  that  grace  should  estab- 
lish a  connexion  between  obedience  and  enjoyment,  such  a  connexion  as  at 
once  insures  joy  to  the  believer,  and  glory  to  Christ. 

"  Oh  that  our  thoughts,  our  affections,  our  desires,  may  be  much  in 
heaven !  Here,  you  have  been  taught,  is  '  no  continuing  city,'  no  certain 
place  of  abode;  and  though  you  have  been  taught  it  awfully  in  flames,  yet 
if  you  learn  it  effectually,  the  terror  of  the  means  will  be  conquered  by  the 
excellency  and  glory  of  the  consequences.  Yes,  my  friends,  *  in  heaven  we 
have  a  better  and  enduring  substance :'  the  apartments  there  are  more 
spacious ;  the  society  more  sweet ;  the  enjoyments  more  perfect ;  and  all  to 
last  for  ever.    Well  may  Christians  *  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God  1'  " 

To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bowyer,  Pall  Mall. 

"iVw.  17,  1797. 

"  Blessed  be  '  the  Preserver  of  men'  for  all  his  goodness  to  dear  Mr.  and 

Mrs.  B .     With  theirs  shall  my  gratitude  also  ascend,  whilst  separated 

from  their  society ;  and  with  theirs  shall  it  more  warmly  and  permanently 
ascend,  when  we  meet  to  form  a  part  of  the  '  general  assembly,  and  church 
of  the  first-born.' 

"  I  do  not  return  to  London  this  autumn,  but  I  mean  to  visit  Portsmouth. 
I  must  be  indebted  to  you  for  my  directions.  We  shall  be  very  happy  to  see 
you  at  Luke  Street ;  but  Wales  I  suppose  will  be  the  vortex  that  will  swallow 
up  much  of  your  time.  Well,  so  you  are  happy,  we  must  be  disinterested 
enough  to  be  satisfied,  although  we  be  denied  a  personal  participation. 

"  Let  us  not  forget  that  we  are  Christians  ;  and  Christians  profess  a  hope 


EXTRACTS   FROM  CORRESPONDENCE.  407 

of  a  better  country  than  Cambria  contains.     There  we  all  belong.     Already 
citizens  by  privilege,  we  shall  be  so  by  possession  soon. 

'  Roll  swiftly  round,  ye  wheels  of  time, 
And  bring  the  welcome  day!' 

"  In  hope  of  greeting  you  both  in  that  good  land,  I  remain  most  affection- 
ately yours, — S.  P." 

To  Dr.  Ryland. 

''Nov.  17,  1797. 

"I  feel  much  for  you  in  relation  both  to  the  duties  and  trials  of  your  pre- 
sent situation  ;  at  the  same  time  I  bless  God  who  fixed  you  in  it,  because  I 
am  persuaded  that  it  will  be  for  his  glory  in  the  churches  of  Christ.  And 
though  none  but  those  whose  hands  are  full  of  religious  concerns  can  guess 
at  your  difficulties,  yet  our  blessed  Redeemer  knows  them  all.  O  my  brother, 
you  are  travailing  for  him  who  redeemed  you  by  his  blood,  who  sympathizes 
with  you,  and  who  will  graciously  crown  you  at  last.  Small  as  my  trials 
are,  I  would  turn  smith,  and  work  at  the  anvil  and  the  forge,  rather  than 
bear  them  for  any  other  master  than  Christ.  Yet,  were  they  ten  thousand 
times  as  many  as  they  are,  the  thought  of  their  being  for  Him,  I  trust,  would 
sweeten  them  all. 

"  I  have  reason  to  be  very  thankful  for  much  pleasure  of  late,  both  as  a 
Christian  and  a  minister.  I  have  never  felt  so  deeply  my  need  of  a  Divine 
Redeemer,  and  seldom  possessed  such  solid  confidence  that  he  is  mine.  I 
want  more  and  more  to  become  a  little  child,  to  dwindle  into  nothing  in  my 
own  esteem,  to  renounce  my  own  wisdom,  power,  and  goodness,  and  simply 
look  to  and  live  upon  Jesus  for  all.  I  am  ashamed  that  I  have  so  much 
pride,  so  much  selt-will.  O  my  Saviour!  make  me  'meek  and  lowly  in 
heart;'  in  this  alone  I  find  '  rest  to  my  soul.' 

"  I  could  say  much  of  what  Immanuel  has  done  for  my  soul ;  but  I  fear 
lest  even  this  should  savour  of  vanity.  When  shall  I  be  like  my  Lord?  Oh 
welcome  death,  when  I  have  nothing  more  to  do  for  Christ  1  To  him,  till 
then,  may  I  live  every  day  and  every  hour.  Rather  may  I  be  annihilated 
than  not  live  to  him. 

"  You  will  rejoice  with  me  to  hear  that  we  have  a  pleasing  prospect  as  a 
church.  Several  very  hopeful  and  some  very  valuable  characters  are  about 
to  join  us.     Lord,  carry  on  thy  work !" 

To  Mrs.  Pearce, 

On  the  dangerous  illness  of  one  of  the  children. 

''Portsmouth,  Jan.  29,  1798. 

"Ignorant  of  the  circumstances  of  our  dear  child,  how  shall  I  address 
myself  to  her  dearer  mother?  With  a  fluttering  heart,  and  a  trembling 
hand,  I,  in  this  uncertainty,  resume  my  pen.  One  consideration  tranquillizes 
my  mind, — I  and  mine  are  in  the  hands  of  God;  the  wise,  the  good,  the 
indulgent  Parent  of  mankind  1  Whatever  Ac  does  is  best.  I  am  prepared 
for  all  his  will,  and  hope  that  I  shall  never  have  a  feeling  whose  language  is 
not,  '  Thy  will  be  done.' 

"I  am  most  kindly  entertained  here  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shoveller;  and, 
except  my  dear  Sarah's  presence,  feel  myself  at  home.  They  have  had 
greater  trials  than  we  can  at  present  know.  They  have  attended  seven  chil- 
dren to  the  gloomy  tomb ;  they  have  been  supported  beneath  their  loss  by 
Him  who  hath  said,  'As  thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be.'  Mrs.  S.  tells 
me  she  '  blessed  God  for  all.'  May  my  dear  Sarah  be  enabled  to  do  the 
same,  whatever  the  result  may  prove.     To-morrow  I  expect  another  letter 


408  MEMOIRS  OP  MR.  PEARCE. 

from  you ;  yet,  lest  you  should  too  much  feel  my  absence,  I  will  not  delay 
forwarding  this  a  single  post.  Oh  that  it  may  prove  in  some  degree  a  mes- 
senger of  consolation ! 

"  Yesterday  I  preached  three  times:  God  was  very  good.  I  received  your 
letter  before  the  first  service :  you  may  be  assured  that  I  bore  you  on  my 
heart  in  the  presence  of  my  Lord  and  yours ;  nor  shall  I  pray  in  vain :  He 
will  either  restore  the  child,  or  support  you  under  the  loss  of  it.  I  dare  not 
pray  with  importunity  for  any  earthly  good;  for  '  who  knoweth  what  is  good 
for  man  in  this  life,  all  the  days  of  his  vain  life,  which  he  spendeth  as  a 
shadow  V  But  strength  to  bear  the  loss  of  earthly  comforts  he  has  pro- 
mised:  for  that  I  importune;  and  that,  I  doubt  not,  will  be  granted. 

"  In  a  house  directly  opposite  to  the  window  before  which  I  now  write,  a 
wife,  a  mother,  is  just  departed !  Why  am  I  not  a  bereaved  husband  ?  Why 
are  not  my  children  motherless?  When  we  compare  our  condition  with  our 
wishes,  we  often  complain ;  but  if  we  compare  it  with  that  of  many  around 
us,  our  complaints  will  be  exchanged  for  gratitude  and  praise." 

To  R.  BowYER,  Esq. 

"FeJ.  14,  1798. 

"  Not  a  day  has  hurried  by,  since  I  parted  with  my  dear  friends  in  Pall 
Mall,  but  they  have  been  in  my  affectionate  remembrance;  but,  not  being 
able  to  speak  with  any  satisfaction  respecting  our  dear  child,  I  have  withheld 
myself  from  imparting  new  anxieties  to  bosoms  already  alive  to  painful  sen- 
sibility. 

"At  length,  however,  a  gracious  God  puts  it  in  my  power  to  say  that  there 
is  hope.  After  languishing  between  life  and  death  for  many  days,  she  now 
seems  to  amend.  We  flatter  ourselves  that  she  has  passed  the  crisis,  and 
will  yet  be  restored  to  our  arms ;  but  parental  fears  forbid  too  strong  a  con- 
fidence. It  may  be  that  our  most  merciful  God  saw  that  the  shock  of  a 
sudden  removal  would  be  too  strong  for  the  tender  feelings  of  a  mother; 
and  so  by  degrees  prepares  for  the  stroke  which  must  fall  at  last.  However, 
she  is  in  the  best  hands,  and  we  are,  I  hope,  preparing  for  submission  to 
whatever  may  be  the  blessed  will  of  God. 

"  I  was  brought  home  in  safety,  and  feel  myself  in  much  better  health  in 
consequence  of  my  journey.  Oh  that  it  may  be  all  consecrated  to  my  Re- 
deemer's praise! 

"  Happy  should  I  be  if  I  could  oftener  enjoy  your  friendly  society ;  bul 
we  must  wait  for  the  full  accomplishment  of  our  social  wishes  till  we  come 
to  that  better  world  for  which  Divine  grace  is  preparing  us. —  There  our  best, 
our  brightest  hopes,  and  there  our  warmest  affections  must  be  found.  Could 
we  have  all  we  want  below,  we  should  be  reluctant  to  ascend,  when  Jesus 
calls  us  home.  No,  this  is  not  our  rest;  it  is  polluted  with  sin,  and  dashed 
with  sorrow :  but  though  our  pains  in  themselves  are  evil,  yet  our  God 
turns  the  curse  into  a  blessing,  and  makes  all  that  we  meet  with  accomplish 
our  good. 

"  What  better  can  I  wish,  my  friends,  than  the  humble  place  of  Mary,  or 
'.he  happy  rest  of  John !  Faith  can  enjoy  them  both,  till  actually  we  fall  at 
the  Saviour's  feet,  and  lean  upon  his  bosom,  when  we  see  him  as  he  is. 

'Oh  the  delights,  the  heavenly  joys. 

The  glories  of  the  place, 
Where  Jesus  sheds  the  brightest  beams 

Of  his  o'erflowing  grace  !'  " 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS  409 


CHAPTER  IV. 

AN   ACCOUNT   OF    HIS    LAST    AFFLICTION,  AND    THE    HOLY   AND    HAPPY 
EXERCISES    OF    HIS    MIND    UNDER    IT. 

Early  in  October,  1798,  Mr.  Pearce  attended  at  the  Kettering  ministers* 
meeting,  and  preached  from  Psal.  xc.  16,  17,  "  Let  thy  work  appear  unto  thy 
servants,  and  thy  glory  unto  their  children.  And  let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord 
our  God  be  upon  us :  and  establish  thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us ; 
yea,  the  work  of  our  hands  establish  thou  it."  He  was  observed  to  be  sin- 
gularly solemn  and  affectionate  in  that  discourse.  If  he  had  known  it  to  be 
the  last  time  that  he  should  address  his  brethren  in  that  part  of  the  country, 
he  could  scarcely  have  felt  or  spoken  in  a  more  interesting  manner.  It  was  a 
discourse  full  of  instruction,  full  of  a  holy  unction,  and  that  seemed  to  breathe 
an  apostolical  ardour.  On  his  return  he  preached  at  Market-Harborough  ,• 
and  riding  home  the  next  day  in  company  with  his  friend  Mr.  Summers,  of 
London,  they  were  overtaken  with  rain.  Mr.  Pearce  was  wet  through  his 
clothes,  and  towards  evening  complained  of  a  chilliness.  A  slight  hoarse- 
ness followed.  He  preached  several  times  after  this,  which  brought  on  an 
inflammation,  and  issued  in  a  consumption.  It  is  probable  that  if  his  con- 
stitution had  not  been  previously  impaired,  such  effects  might  not  have  fol- 
lowed in  this  instance.  His  own  ideas  on  this  subject  are  expressed  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  Ryland,  dated  Dec.  4, 1798  ;  and  in  another  to  Mr.  King,  dated 
from  Bristol,  on  his  way  to  Plymouth,  March  30,  1799.  In  the  former,  he 
says,  "  Ever  since  my  Christmas  journey  last  year  to  Sheepshead,  Notting- 
ham, and  Leicester,  on  the  mission  business,  I  have  found  my  constitution 
greatly  debilitated,  in  consequence  of  a  cold  caught  after  the  unusual  ex- 
ertions which  circumstances  then  demanded :  so  that,  from  a  frame  that 
could  endure  any  weather,  I  have  since  been  too  tender  to  encounter  a 
single  shower  without  danger;  and  the  duties  of  the  Lord's  day,  which,  as 
far  as  bodily  strength  went,  I  could  perform  with  little  fatigue,  have  since 
frequently  overcome  me.  But  the  severe  cold  I  caught  in  my  return  from 
the  last  Kettering  ministers'  meeting  has  affected  me  so  much  that  I  have 
sometimes  concluded  I  must  give  up  preaching  entirely  ;  for  though  my 
head  and  spirits  are  better  than  for  two  years  past,  yet  my  stomach  is  so 
very  weak  that  I  cannot  pray  in  my  family  without  frequent  pauses  for 
breath,  and  in  the  pulpit  it  is  labour  and  agony  which  must  be  felt  to  be 
conceived  of  I  have  however  made  shift  to  preach  sometimes  thrice,  but 
mostly  only  twice  on  a  Lord's  day,  till  the  last,  when  the  morning  sermon 
only,  though  I  delivered  it  with  great  pleasure  of  mind,  and  with  as  much 
caution  as  to  my  voice  as  possible,  yet  cost  me  so  much  labour  as  threw  me 
into  a  fever  till  the  next  day,  and  prevented  my  sleeping  all  night." — In  the 
latter, — he  thus  writes : — "  Should  my  life  be  spared,  I  and  my  family,  and 
all  my  connexions,  will  stand  indebted,  under  God,  to  you.  Unsuspecting 
of  danger  myself,  I  believe  I  should  have  gone  on  with  my  exertions,  till 
the  grave  had  received  me.  Your  attention  sent  Mr.  B.  (the  apothecary)  to 
me,  and  then  I  first  learned  what  I  have  since  been  increasingly  convinced 
of — that  I  was  rapidly  destroying  the  vital  principle.  And  the  kind  interest 
you  have  taken  in  my  welfare  ever  since,  has  often  drawn  the  grateful  tear 
from  ray  eye.  May  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth  reward  your  kindness  to 
his  unworthy  servant,  and  save  you  from  all  the  evils  from  which  your  dis- 
tinguished friendsliip  would  have  saved  me." 
Vol.  hi.— 52  2  M 


410  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

Such  were  his  ideas.  His  labours  were  certainly  abundant;  perhaps  too 
great  for  his  constitution  :  but  it  is  probable  that  nothing  was  more  injurious 
to  his  health  than  a  frequent  exposure  to  night  air,  and  an  inattention  to  the 
necessity  of  changing  damp  clothes. 

Hitherto  we  have  seen  in  Mr.  Pearce  the  active,  assiduous,  and  laborious 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  now  we  see  him  laid  aside  from  his  work,  wast- 
ing away  by  slow  degrees,  patiently  enduring  the  will  of  God,  and  cheerfully 
waituig  for  his  dissolution.  And  as  here  is  but  little  to  narrate,  I  shall  con* 
tent  myself  with  copying  his  letters,  or  extracts  from  them,  to  his  friends,  in 
the  order  of  time  in  which  they  were  written,  only  now  and  then  dropping  a 
few  hints  to  furnish  the  reader  with  the  occasions  of  some  of  them. 

To  Dr.  Ryland.  . 

^^ Birmingham,  Oct.  8,  1798. 

"  O  my  dear  brother,  your  letter  of  the  5th,  which  I  received  this  morning, 
has  made  me  thankful  for  all  my  pulpit  agonies,  as  they  enable  me  to  weep 
with  a  weeping  brother.  They  have  been  of  use  to  me  in  other  respects; 
particularly  in  teaching  me  the  importance  of  attaining  and  maintaining  that 
spirituality  and  pious  ardour  in  which  I  have  found  the  most  effectual  relief; 
so  that  on  the  whole  I  must  try  to  '  glory  in  tribulations  also.'  I  trust  I  often 
can  when  the  conflict  is  past;  but  to  glory  'in'  them,  especially  in  mental 
distress — hie  labor,  hoc  opus  est. 

"But  how  often  has  it  been  found  that  when  ministers  have  felt  themselves 
most  embarrassed,  the  most  effectual  good  has  been  done  to  the  people!  Oh 
for  hearts  entirely  resigned  to  the  will  of  God ! 

"  How  happy  should  I  be  could  I  always  enjoy  the  sympathies  of  a  brother 
who  is  tried  in  these  points  as  I  of  late  have  been!" 

To  Mr.  Fuller. 

''■  Birmingham,  Oct.  29,  1798. 

"  I  caught  a  violent  cold  in  returning  from  our  last  committee-meeting, 
from  which  I  have  not  yet  recovered.  A  little  thing  now  affects  my  consti- 
tution, which  I  once  judged  would  be  weather  and  labour  proof  for  at  least 
thirty  years,  if  I  lived  so  long.  I  thank  God  that  I  am  not  debilitated  by 
iniquity.  I  have  lately  met  with  an  occurrence  which  occasioned  me  much 
pain  and  perplexity  ....  Trials  soften  our  hearts,  and  make  us  more  fully 
prize  the  dear  few  into  whose  faithful,  sympathizing  bosoms  we  can  with 
confidence  pour  our  sorrows.  I  think  I  should  bless  God  for  my  afflictions, 
if  they  produced  no  other  fruit  than  these — the  tenderness  they  inspire,  and 
the  friendships  they  capacitate  us  to  enjoy.  Pray,  my  dear  brother,  for  yours 
affectionately, — S.  P." 

To  a  young  man  who  had  applied  to  him  for  advice  how  he  should  best 
improve  his  time,  previous  to  his  going  to  the  Bristol  Academy : — 

"  My  dear  M.,  Birmingham,  Nov.  13,  1798. 

"  I  can  only  confess  my  regret  at  not  replying  to  yoursat  a  much  earlier 
period,  and  assure  you  that  the  delay  has  been  accidental,  and  not  designed. 
I  felt  the  importance  of  your  request  for  advice — I  was  sensible  it  deserved 
some  consideration  before  it  was  answered. — I  was  full  of  business  at  the 
moment — I  put  it  by,  and  it  was  forgotten ;  and  now  it  is  too  late.  The 
time  of  your  going  to  Bristol  draws  nigh.  If,  instead  of  an  opinion  respect- 
ing the  best  way  of  occupying  your  time  before  you  go,  you  will  accept  a 
little  counsel  during  your  continuance  there,  I  shall  be  happy  at  any  time 
to  contribute  such  a  mite  as  my  experience  and  observation  have  put  in  my 
power. 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  411 

"  At  present,  the  following  rules  appear  of  so  much  moment,  that,  were  I 
to  resume  a  place  in  any  literary  establishment,  I  would  religiously  adopt 
them  as  the  standard  of  my  conduct: — First,  I  would  cultivate  a  spirit  of 
habitual  devotion.  Warm  piety  connected  with  my  studies,  especially  at  my 
entrance  upon  them,  would  not  only  assist  me  in  forming  a  judgment  on 
their  respective  importance,  and  secure  the  blessing  of  God  upon  them;  but 
would  so  cement  the  religious  feeling  with  the  literary  pursuit,  as  that  it 
might  abide  with  me  for  life.  The  habit  of  uniting  these,  being  once  formed, 
would,  I  hope,  be  never  lost;  and  I  am  sure  that,  without  this,  I  shall  botli 
pursue  trivial  and  unworthy  objects,  and  those  that  are  worthy  I  shall  pursue 
for  a  wrong  end. — Secondly,  I  would  determine  on  a  uniform  submission  to 
the  instructions  of  my  preceptor,  and  study  those  things  which  would  give 
him  pleasure.  If  he  be  not  wiser  than  I  am,  for  what  purpose  do  I  come 
under  his  care?  I  accepted  the  pecuniary  help  of  the  Society  on  condition 
of  conforming  to  its  will ;  and  it  is  the  Society's  will  that  my  tutor  should 
govern  me.  My  example  will  have  influence :  let  me  not,  by  a  single  act  of 
disobedience,  or  by  a  word  that  implicates  dissatisfaction,  sow  the  seeds  of 
discord  in  the  bosoms  of  my  companions. — Thirdly,  I  would  pray  and  strive 
for  the  power  of  self-government,  to  form  no  plan,  to  utter  not  a  word,  to 
take  no  step,  under  the  mere  influence  of  passion.  Let  my  judgment  be 
often  asked,  and  let  me  always  give  it  time  to  answer.  Let  me  always  guard 
against  a  light  or  trifling  spirit;  and  particularly  as  I  shall  be  amongst  a 
number  of  youths  whose  years  will  incline  them  all  to  the  same  frailty. — 
Fourthly,  I  would  in  all  my  weekly  and  daily  pursuits  observe  the  strictest 
order.  Always  let  me  act  by  a  plan.  Let  every  hour  have  its  proper  pursuit; 
from  which  let  nothing  but  a  settled  conviction  that  I  can  employ  it  to  better 
advantage  ever  cause  me  to  deviate.  Let  me  have  fixed  time  for  prayer, 
meditation,  reading,  languages,  correspondence,  recreation,  sleep,  &c. — 
Fifthly,  I  would  not  only  assign  to  every  hour  its  proper  pursuit;  but  what  I 
did  I  would  try  to  do  with  all  my  might.  The  hours  at  such  a  place  are 
precious  beyond  conception,  till  the  student  enters  on  life's  busy  scenes. 
Let  me  set  the  best  of  my  class  ever  before  me,  and  strive  to  be  better  than 
they.  Li  humility  and  diligence,  let  me  aim  to  be  the  first. — Sixthly,  I 
would  particularly  avoid  a  versatile  habit.  In  all  things  I  would  persevere. 
Without  this,  I  may  be  a  gaudy  butterfly;  but  never,  like  the  bee,  will  my 
hive  bear  examining.  Whatever  I  take  in  hand,  let  me  first  be  sure  I  under- 
stand it,  then  duly  consider  it,  and,  if  it  be  good,  let  me  adopt  and  use  it. 

"To  these,  my  dear  brother,  let  me  add  three  or  four  things  more  minute, 
but  which,  I  am  persuaded,  will  help  you  much. — Guard  against  a  large 
acquaintance  while  you  are  a  student.  Bristol  friendship,  while  you  sustain 
that  character,  will  prove  a  vile  thief,  and  rob  you  of  many  an  invaluable 
hour. — Get  two  or  three  of  the  students,  ivhose  piety  you  most  approve,  to 
meet  for  one  hour  in  a  loeek  for  experimental  conversation  and  mutual  prayer. 
I  found  this  highly  beneficial,  though,  strange  to  tell,  by  some  we  were  per- 
secuted for  our  practice ! — Keep  a  diary.  Once  a  week  at  furthest  call 
yourself  to  an  account.  What  advances  you  have  made  in  your  different 
studies;  in  divinity,  history,  language,  natural  philosophy,  style,  arrangement, 
and,  amidst  all,  do  not  forget  to  inquire,  Am  I  more  fit  to  serve  and  to  enjoy 
God  than  I  was  last  week  f 

On  Dec.  2,  1798,  he  delivered  his  last  sermon.  The  subject  was  taken 
from  Dan.  x.  19,  "O  man  gready  beloved,  fear  not;  peace  be  unto  thee,  be 
strong,  yea,  be  strong.  And  when  he  had  spoken  unto  me,  I  was  strength- 
ened, and  said.  Let  my  lord  speak;  for  thou  hast  strengthened  me." — 
"Amongst  all  the  Old  Testament  saints,"  said  he,  in  his  introduction  to  that 


412  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

discourse,  "  there  is  not  one  whose  virtues  were  more,  and  whose  imperfec- 
tions were  fewer,  than  those  of  Daniel.  By  the  history  given  of  him  in  this 
book,  which  yet  seems  not  to  be  complete,  he  appears  to  have  excelled 
among  the  excellent."  Doubtless,  no  one  was  further  from  his  thoughts 
than  himself:  several  of  his  friends,  however,  could  not  help  applying  it  to 
him,  and  that  with  a  painful  apprehension  of  what  followed  soon  after. 

To  Mr.  Cave,  Leicester. 

^^  Birmingham,  Dec.  4,  1798. 

" Blessed  be  God,  my  mind  is  calm ;  and  though  my  body  be 

weakness  itself,  my  spirits  are  good,  and  I  can  write  as  well  as  ever,  though 
I  can  hardly  speak  two  sentences  without  a  pause.  All  is  well,  brother !  all 
is  well,  for  time  and  eternity.  My  soul  rejoices  in  the  everlasting  covenant 
ordered  in  all  things  and  sure.  Peace  from  our  dear  Lord  Jesus  be  with 
your  spirit,  as  it  is  (yea,  more  also)  with  your  affectionate  brother — S.  P." 

To  Mb.  Nichols,  Nottingham. 

'■^Birmingham,  Dec.  10,  1798. 
"I  am  now  quite  laid  by  from  preaching,  and  am  so  reduced  in  my  inter- 
nal strength  that  I  can  hardly  converse  with  a  friend  for  five  minutes  without 
losing  my  breath.  Indeed,  I  have  been  so  ill  that  I  thought  the  next  ascent 
would  be,  not  to  a  pulpit,  but  to  a  throne — the  throne  of  glory.  Yes,  indeed, 
my  friend,  the  religion  of  Jesus  will  support  when  flesh  and  heart  fail ;  and, 
in  my  worst  state  of  body,  my  soul  was  filled  with  joy.  I  am  now  getting  a 
little  better,  though  but  very  slowly.  But  fast  or  slow,  or  as  it  may,  the 
Lord  doth  all  things  well." 

To  R.  BowYER,  Esq. 

I  have  overdone  myself  in  preaching.   I  am  now  ordered  to  lie 

by,  and  not  even  to  converse,  without  great  care;  nor  indeed,  till  to-day,  have 
I  for  some  time  been  able  to  utter  a  sentence  without  a  painful  effort. 
Blessed  be  God !  I  have  been  filled  all  through  my  affliction  with  peace  and 
joy  in  believing;  and  at  one  time,  when  I  thought  I  was  entering  the  valley 
of  death,  the  prospect  beyond  was  so  full  of  glory,  that,  but  for  the  sorrow  it 
would  have  occasioned  to  some  who  would  be  left  behind,  I  should  have 
longed  that  moment  to  have  mounted  to  the  skies.  O  my  friend,  what  a 
mercy  that  T  am  not  receiving  the  wages  of  sin;  that  my  health  has  not  been 
impaired  by  vice ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  I  am  bearing  in  my  body  the 
marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus!  To  him  be  all  the  praise!  Truly,  I  have  proved 
that  God  is  faithful ;  and  most  cheerfully  would  I  take  double  the  affliction 
for  one  half  of  the  joy  and  sweetness  which  have  attended  it.  Accept  a 
sermon  which  is  this  day  published."* 

To  Mr.  Bates  and  Mrs.  Barnes,  Minories. 

^^  Birmingham,  Dec.  14,  1798. 
" I  could  tell  you  much  of  the  Lord's  goodness  during  my  afflic- 
tion. Truly  'his  right  hand  hath  been  under  my  head,  and  his  left  embraced 
me.'  And  when  I  was  at  the  worst,  especially,  and  expected  ere  long  to 
have  done  with  time,  even  then,  such  holy  joy,  such  ineffable  sweetness  filled 
my  soul,  that  I  would  not  have  exchanged  that  situation  for  any  besides 
heaven  itself 

"  O  my  dear  friends,  let  us  live  to  Christ,  and  lay  ourselves  wholly  out  for 

*  The  last  but  one  he  ever  preached,  entitled,  Motives  to  Gratitude.   It  was  delivered 
on  the  day  of  national  thanksgiving,  and  printed  at  the  request  of  his  own  congregation. 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  413 

him  whilst  we  live ;  and  then,  when  health  and  life  forsake  us,  he  will  be 
the  strength  of  our  heart,  and  our  portion  for  ever." 

About  this  time  the  congregation  at  Cannon  Street  was  supplied  for  several 
months  by  Mr.  Ward,  who  has  since  gone  as  a  missionary  to  India.  Here 
that  amiable  young  man  became  intimately  acquainted  with  Mr,  Pearce, 
and  conceived  a  most  affectionate  esteem  for  him.  In  a  letter  to  a  friend, 
dated  Jan.  5,  1799,  he  writes  as  follows: — 

"  I  am  happy  in  the  company  of  dear  brother  Pearce.  I  have  seen  more 
of  God  in  him  than  in  any  other  person  I  ever  knew.  Oh  how  happy  should 
I  be  to  live  and  die  with  him !  When  well,  he  preaches  three  times  on  a 
Lord's  day,  and  two  or  three  times  in  the  week  besides.  He  instructs  the 
young  people  in  the  principles  of  religion,  natural  philosophy,  astronomy, 
&c.  They  have  a  benevolent  society,  from  the  funds  of  which  they  distri- 
bute forty  or  fifty  pounds  a  year  to  the  poor  of  the  congregation.  They  have 
a  sick  society  for  visiting  the  afflicted  in  general ;  a  book  society  at  chapel ; 
a  Lord's  day  school,  at  which  more  than  two  hundred  children  are  instructed. 
Add  to  this,  missionary  business,  visiting  the  people,  an  extensive  corre- 
spondence, two  volumes  of  mission  history  preparing  for  the  press,  &c. ;  and 
then  you  will  see  something  of  the  soul  of  Pearce.  He  is  every  where 
venerated,  though  but  a  young  man ;  and  all  the  kind,  tender,  gentle  affec- 
tions make  him  as  a  little  child  at  the  feet  of  his  Saviour. — W.  W." 

In  February,  he  rode  to  the  opening  of  a  Baptist  meeting-house  at  Bed- 
worth  ;  but  did  not  engage  in  any  of  the  services.  Here  several  of  his 
brethren  saw  him  for  the  last  time.  Soon  afterwards,  writing  to  the  compiler 
of  these  Memoirs,  he  says, — "  The  Lord's  day  after  I  came  home  I  tried  to 
speak  a  little  after  sermon.  It  inflamed  my  lungs  afresh,  produced  phlegm, 
coughing,  and  spitting  of  blood.  Perhaps  I  may  never  preach  more.  Well, 
the  Lord's  will  be  done.  I  thank  him  that  he  ever  took  me  into  his  service; 
and  now,  if  he  sees  fit  to  give  me  a  discharge,  I  submit." 

During  the  above  meeting  a  word  was  dropped  by  one  of  his  brethren 
which  he  took  as  a  reflection,  though  nothing  was  further  from  the  intention 
of  the  speaker.     It  wrought  upon  his  mind ;  and  in  a  kw  days  he  wrote  as 

follows: — "Do  you  remember  what  passed  at  B ?     Had  I  not  been 

accustomed  to  receive  plain,  friendly  remarks  from  you,  I  should  have 
thought  you  meant  to  insinuate  a  reproof  If  you  did,  tell  me  plainly.  If 
you  did  not,  it  is  all  at  an  end.  You  will  not  take  my  naming  it  unkindly, 
although  I  should  be  mistaken ;  such  affectionate  explanations  are  neces- 
sary, when  suspicions  arise,  to  the  preservation  of  friendship ;  and  I  need 
not  say  that  I  hold  the  preservation  of  your  friendship  in  no  small  account." 

The  above  is  copied,  not  only  to  set  forth  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  Mr. 
Pearce  in  a  case  wherein  he  felt  himself  aggrieved,  but  to  show  in  how  easy 
and  amiable  a  manner  thousands  of  mistakes  might  be  rectified,  and  differ- 
ences prevented,  by  a  frank  and  timely  explanation. 

To  Mr.  Comfield,  Northampton. 

^^ Birmingham,  March  4,  1799. 
"  I  could  wish  my  sympathies  to  be  as  extensive  as  human — I  was  going 
to  say  (and  why  not?)  as  animal  misery.  The  very  limited  comprehension 
of  the  human  intelligence  forbids  this  indeed,  and  whilst  I  am  attempting  to 
participate  as  far  as  the  news  of  affliction  reaches  me,  I  find  the  same  events 
do  not  often  produce  equal  feelings.  We  measure  our  sympathies,  not  by 
the  causes  of  sorrow,  but  by  the  sensibilities  of  the  sorrowful ;  hence  I 
abound  in  feeling  on  your  account.  The  situation  of  your  family  must 
have  given  distress  to  a  president  of  any  character;  but  in  you  it  must  have 

2ai2 


414  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

produced  agonies.  I  know  the  tenderness  of  your  heart:  your  feelings  are 
delicately  strong.  You  must  feel  much,  or  nothing;  and  he  that  knows  you, 
and  does  not  feel  much  when  you  feel,  must  be  a  brute. 

"  May  the  fountain  of  mercy  supply  you  with  the  cheering  stream.  May 
your  sorrow  be  turned  into  joy. 

"  I  am  sure  that  I  ought  to  value  more  than  ever  your  friendship  for  me. 
You  have  remembered  me,  not  merely  in  my  affliction,  but  in  your  own. 
Our  friendship,  our  benevolence,  must  never  be  compared  with  that  of  Jesus; 
but  it  is  truly  delightful  to  see  the  disciple  treading,  though  at  a  humble  dis- 
tance, in  the  footsteps  of  a  Master,  who,  amidst  the  tortures  of  crucifixion, 
exercised  forgiveness  to  his  murderers,  and  the  tenderness  of  filial  piety  to 
a  disconsolate  mother!  When  we  realize  the  scene,  how  much  do  our  ima- 
ginations embrace — the  persons — the  circumstances — the  words — *  Woman 
behold  thy  son ;  John,  behold  thy  mother !'  " 

By  the  above  letter,  the  reader  will  perceive  that,  while  deeply  afflicted 
himself,  he  felt  in  the  tenderest  manner  for  the  afflictions  of  others. 

To  Mr.  Fuller. 

"il/arcA23,  1799." 
He  was  now  setting  out  for  Plymouth;  and  after  observing  the  great  dan- 
ger he  was  supposed  to  be  in,  with  respect  to  a  consumption,  he  adds, — 
"  But  thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  my  heart  the  victory,  let  my  poor  body 
be  consumed,  or  preserved.  In  the  thought  of  leaving,  I  feel  a  momentary 
gloom;  but  in  the  thought  oi going,  a  heavenly  triumph. 

'  Oh  to  grace  how  great  a  debtor !' 

"  Praise  God  with  me,  and  for  me,  my  dear  brother,  and  let  us  not  mind 
dying  any  more  than  sleeping.  No,  no ;  let  every  Christian  sing  the  loudest 
as  he  gets  the  nearest  to  the  presence  of  his  God.  Eternally  yours  in  Him 
who  hath  washed  us  both  in  his  blood, — S.  P." 

To  Mr.  Medley,  London. 

''March  23,  1799. 

"  My  affliction  has  been  rendered  sweet  by  the  supports  and  smiles  of 
Him  whom  I  have  served  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son.  He  hath  delivered,  he 
doth  deliver,  and  I  trust  that  he  will  yet  deliver.  Living  or  dying,  all  is 
well  for  ever.     Oh  what  shall  I  render  to  the  Lord  1" 

It  seems  that,  in  order  to  avoid  wounding  Mrs.  P.'s  feelings,  he  deferred 
the  settlement  of  his  affliirs  till  he  arrived  at  Bristol ;  whence  he  wrote  lo  his 
friend,  Mr.  King,  requesting  him  to  become  an  executor.  Receiving  a 
favourable  answer,  he  replied  as  follows : — 

''Bristol,  Jpril  6,1799. 
"  Your  letter,  just  received,  affected  me  too  much  with  feelings  both  of 
sympathy  and  gratitude,  to  remain  unanswered  a  single  post.  Most  heartily 
do  I  thank  you  for  accepting  a  service  which  friendship  alone  can  render 
agreeable  in  the  most  simple  cases.  Should  that  service  demand  your 
activities  at  an  early  period,  may  no  unforeseen  occurrence  increase  the 
necessary  care!  But  may  the  Father  of  the  fatherless,  and  Judge  of  the 
widows,  send  you  a  recompense  into  your  own  bosom,  equal  to  all  that 
friendship  to  which,  under  God,  I  have  been  so  much  indebted  in  life,  and 
reposing  on  whose  bosom,  even  death  itself  loses  a  part  of  its  gloom.  In 
vou,  my  children  will  find  another  father — in  you,  my  wife  another  husband. 
Your  tenderness  will  sympathize  with  the  one,  under  the  most  distressing 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  415 

sensibilities ;  and  your  prudent  counsels  be  a  guide  to  the  others,  through 
the  unknown  mazes  of  inexperienced  youth.  Enough — blessed  God!  my 
soul  prostrates,  and  adores  thee  for  such  a  friend." 

To  Mr.  Fuller. 

^'■Plymouth,  ^pril  18,  1799. 

"The  last  time  that  I  wrote  to  you  was  at  the  close  of  a  letter  sent  to  you 
by  brother  Ryland.  I  did  not  like  that  postscript  form ;  it  looked  so  card- 
like as  to  make  me  fear  that  you  would  deem  it  unbrotherly.  After  all,  per- 
haps, you  thought  nothing  about  it ;  and  my  anxieties  might  arise  only  from 
my  weakness,  which  seems  to  be  constantly  increasing  my  sensibilities.  If 
ever  I  felt  love  in  its  tenderness  for  my  friends,  it  has  been  since  my  afflic- 
tion. This,  in  a  great  measure,  is  no  more  than  the  love  of  *  publicans  and 
harlots,  who  love  those  that  love  them.'  I  never  conceived  myself  by  a 
hundred  degrees  so  interested  in  the  regards  of  my  friends,  as  this  season 
of  affliction  has  manifested  I  was;  and  therefore,  so  far  from  claiming  any 
•reward'  for  loving  them  in  return,  I  should  account  myself  a  monster  of 
ingratitude  were  it  otherwise.  Yet  there  is  something  in  affliction  itself, 
which,  by  increasing  the  delicacy  of  our  feelings,  and  detaching  our  thoughts 
from  the  usual  round  of  objects  which  present  themselves  to  the  mind  when 
in  a  state  of  health,  may  be  easily  conceived  to  make  us  susceptible  of 
stronger  and  more  permanent  impressions  of  an  affectionate  nature. 

"  I  heard  at  Bristol  that  you  and  your  friends  had  remembered  me  in  your 
prayers,  at  Kettering.  Whether  the  Lord  whom  we  serve  may  see  fit  to  an- 
swer your  petitions  on  my  account,  or  not,  may  they  at  least  be  returned  into 
your  own  bosoms. 

"  For  the  sake  of  others  I  should  be  happy  could  I  assure  you  that  my 
health  was  improving.  As  to  myself,  I  thank  God  that  I  am  not  without  a 
desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better.  I  find  that  nei- 
ther in  sickness,  nor  in  health,  I  can  be  so  much  as  I  wish  like  Him  whom 
I  love.  '  To  die  is  gain  :'  oh  to  gain  that  state,  those  feelings,  that  charac- 
ter, which  perfectly  accord  with  the  mind  of  Christ,  and  are  attended  with 
the  full  persuasion  of  his  complete  and  everlasting  approbation!  I  want  no 
heaven  but  this;  and,  to  gain  this,  most  gladly  would  I  this  moment  expire. 
But  if  to  abide  in  the  flesh  be  more  needful  for  an  individual  of  my  fellow 
men, — Lord,  let  thy  will  be  done ;  only  let  Christ  be  magnified  by  me,  whe- 
ther in  life  or  death  ! 

"  The  weather  has  been  so  wet  and  windy  since  I  have  been  at  Plymouth, 
that  I  could  not  reasonably  expect  to  be  much  better;  and  I  cannot  say  that 
I  am  much  worse.  All  the  future  is  uncertain.  Professional  men  encour- 
age me ;  but  frequent  returns  appear,  and  occasional  discharges  of  blood 
check  my  expectations.  If  I  speak  but  for  two  minutes,  my  breast  feels  as 
sore  as  though  it  were  scraped  with  a  rough-edged  razor;  so  that  I  am  mute 
all  the  day  long,  and  have  actually  learned  to  converse  with  my  sister  by 
means  of  our  fingers. 

"  I  thank  you  for  yours  of  April  4th,  which  I  did  not  receive  till  the  12th, 
the  day  that  1  arrived  at  Plymouth.  On  the  16th,  a  copy  of  yours  to  brother 
Ryland  came  to  hand,  to  which  I  should  have  replied  yesterday,  but  had  not 
leisure.  I  am  happy  and  thankful  for  your  success.  May  the  Lord  himself 
pilot  the  '  Criterion'  safely  to  Calcutta  river. 

"  Unless  the  Lord  work  a  miracle  for  me,  I  am  sure  that  I  shall  not  be 
able  to  attend  the  Olney  meeting.  It  is  to  my  feelings  a  severe  anticipation ; 
but  how  can  I  be  a  Christian,  and  not  submit  to  God?" 


416  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

To  Mr.  Wm.  Ward. 

"Plymouth,  ^pril22,  1799. 

"  Most  affectionately  do  I  thank  you  for  your  letter,  so  full  of  information 
and  of  friendship.  To  our  common  Friend,  who  is  gone  into  heaven,  where 
he  ever  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God  for  us,  I  commend  you.  Whether 
I  die,  or  live,  God  will  take  care  of  you  till  he  has  ripened  you  for  the  com- 
mon salvation.  Then  shall  I  meet  my  dear  brother  Ward  again ;  and  who 
can  tell  how  much  more  interesting  our  intercourse  in  heaven  will  be  made 
by  the  scenes  that  most  distress  our  poor  spirits  here?  Oh,  had  I  none  to 
live  for,  I  had  rather  die  than  live,  that  I  may  be  at  once  like  Him  whom  I 
love.  But  while  he  insures  me  grace,  why  should  I  regret  the  delay  of 
glory?     No:  I  will  wait  his  will  who  performeth  all  things  for  me. 

"  My  dear  brother,  had  I  strength  I  should  rejoice  to  acquaint  you  with 
the  wrestlings  and  the  victories,  the  hopes  and  the  fears,  the  pleasures  and 
the  pangs,  which  I  have  lately  experienced.  But  I  must  forbear.  All  I  can 
now  say  is  that  God  hath  done  me  much  good  by  all,  and  made  me  very 
thankful  for  all  he  has  done. 

"Alas !  I  shall  see  you  no  more.  I  cannot  be  at  Olney  on  the  7th  of  May. 
The  journey  would  be  my  death.  But  the  Lord  whom  you  serve  will  be 
with  you  then,  and  for  ever.  My  love  to  all  the  dear  assembled  saints,  who 
will  give  you  their  benedictions  at  that  solemn  season." 

To  Dr.  Ryland. 

"Very  dear  Brother,  "Plymouth,  Jpril 24,  1799. 

"  My  health  is  in  much  the  same  state  as  when  I  wrote  last,  excepting 
that  my  muscular  strength  rather  increases,  and  my  powers  of  speaking  seem 
less  and  less  every  week.  I  have,  for  the  most  part,  spoken  only  in  whispers 
for  several  days  past ;  and  even  these  seem  too  much  for  my  irritable  lungs. 
My  father  asked  me  a  question  to-day ;  he  did  not  understand  me  when  [ 
whispered ;  so  I  was  obliged  to  utter  one  word,  and  one  word  only,  a  little 
louder,  and  that  brought  on  a  soreness,  which  I  expect  to  feel  till  bed-time. 

"  I  am  still  looking  out  for  fine  weather ;  all  here  is  cold  and  rainy.  We 
have  had  but  two  or  three  fair  and  warm  days  since  I  have  been  here ;  then 
I  felt  better.  I  am  perfectly  at  a  loss  even  to  guess  what  the  Lord  means  to 
do  with  me ;  but  I  desire  to  commit  my  ways  to  him,  and  be  at  peace.  I 
am  going  to-day  about  five  miles  into  the  country,  (to  Tamerton,)  where  I 
shall  await  the  will  of  God  concerning  me. 

"  I  knew  not  of  any  committee-meeting  of  our  Society  to  be  held  respect- 
ing Mr.  Marshman  and  his  wife.  I  have  therefore  sent  no  vote,  and,  indeed, 
it  is  my  happiness  that  I  have  full  confidence  in  my  brethren,  at  this  import- 
ant crisis,  since  close  thinking,  or  much  writing,  always  increases  my  fever, 
and  promotes  my  complaint. 

"  My  dear  brother,  I  hope  you  will  correspond  much  with  Kettering.  I 
used  to  be  a  medium ;  but  God  has  put  me  out  of  the  way.  I  could  weep 
that  I  can  serve  him  no  more;  and  yet  I  fear  some  would  be  tears  of  pride. 
On  for  perfect  likeness  to  my  humble  Lord !" 

To  Mr.  King. 

"Tamerton,  May  2,  1799. 
" .  .  .  .  Give  my  love  to  all  the  dear  people  at  Cannon  Street.  O  pray 
that  He  who  afflicts  would  give  me  patience  to  endure.  Indeed,  the  state 
of  suspense  in  which  I  have  been  kept  so  long  requires  much  of  it ;  and  I 
often  exclaim,  ere  I  am  aware,  O  my  dear  people !  O  my  dear  family  !  when 
shall  I  be  restored  to  you  again  ?    The  Lord  forgive  all  the  sin  of  ray  desires ! 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  417 

At  times  I  feel  a  sweet  and  perfect  calm,  and  wish  ever  to  live  under  the 
influence  of  a  belief  in  the  goodness  of  God,  and  of  all  his  plans,  and  all  his 
works." 

The  reader  has  seen  how  much  he  regretted  being  absent  from  the  solemn 
designation  of  the  missionaries  at  Olney.  He,  however,  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing lines  to  Mr.  Fuller,  which  were  read  at  the  close  of  that  meeting,  to 
the  dissolving  of  nearly  the  whole  assembly  in  tears  : — 

''Tamerfun,  May  2,  1799. 
"  .  .  .  .  Oh  that  the  Lord,  who  is  unconfined  by  place  or  condition,  may 
copiously  pour  out  upon  you  all  the  rich  effusions  of  his  Holy  Spirit  on  the 
approaching  day!  My  most  hearty  love  to  each  missionary  who  may  then 
encircle  the  throne  of  grace.  Happy  men!  Happy  women!  You  are  going 
to  be  fellow  labourers  with  Christ  himself!  I  congratulate — I  almost  envy 
you ;  yet  I  love  you,  and  can  scarcely  now  forbear  dropping  a  tear  of  love  as 
each  of  your  names  passes  across  my  mind.  Oh  what  promises  are  yours ; 
and  what  a  reward !  Surely  heaven  is  filled  with  double  joy,  and  resounds 
with  unusual  acclamations,  at  the  arrival  of  each  missionary  there.  O  be 
faithful,  my  dear  brethren,  my  dear  sisters,  be  faithful  unto  death,  and  all  this 
joy  is  yours !  Long  as  I  live,  my  imagination  will  be  hovering  over  you  in 
Bengal ;  and,  should  I  die,  if  separate  spirits  be  allowed  a  visit  to  the  world 
they  have  left,  methinks  mine  would  soon  be  at  Mudnabatty,  watching  your 
labours,  your  conflicts,  and  your  pleasures,  whilst  you  are  always  abounding 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord." 

To  Dr.  Ryland. 

*»  Mv  DEAR  Brother,  '■'■Plymouth,  May  14,  1799. 

"Yours  of  the  11th  instant  I  have  just  received,  and  thank  you  for  your 
continued  concern  for  your  poor  unworthy  brother. 

"I  have  suffered  much  in  my  health  since  I  wrote  to  you  last,  by  the  in- 
crease of  my  feverish  complaint,  which  filled  me  with  heat  and  horror  all 
night,  and  in  the  day  sometimes  almost  suffocated  me  with  the  violence  of 
its  paroxysms.  I  am  extremely  weak ;  and  now  that  warm  weather,  which 
I  came  into  Devon  to  seek,  I  dread  as  much  as  the  cold,  because  it  excites 
the  fever.  I  am  happy  however  in  the  Lord.  I  have  not  a  wish  to  live  or 
die,  but  as  he  pleases.  I  truly  enjoy  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  would  not  be  without  his  Divine  atonement,  whereon  to  rest  my  soul, 
for  ten  thousand  worlds.  I  feel  quite  weaned  from  earth,  and  all  things  in 
it.  Death  has  lost  his  sting,  the  grave  its  horrors,  and  the  attractions  of  hea- 
ven, I  had  almost  said,  are  sometimes  violent. 

'  Oh  to  grace  how  great  a  debtor  !' 

"  But  I  am  wearied.  May  all  grace  abound  towards  my  dear  brother,  and 
his  affectionate — S.  P." 

To  THE  Church  in  Cannon  Street. 

'■'Plymouth,  May  31,  1799. 
"  To  the  dear  people  of  my  charge,  the  flock  of  Christ,  assembling  in 
Cannon  Street,  Birmmgham,  their  afflicted  but  affectionate  pastor,  presents 
his  love  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep. 

"  Mr  DEAREST,  DEAREST  FrIENDS  AND  BRETHREN, 

"  Separated  as  I  have  been  a  long  time  from  you,  and  during  that  time  of 
separation  having  suffered  much  both  in  body  and  mind,  yet  my  heart  has 
still  been  with  you,  participating  in  your  sorrows,  uniting  in  your  prayers, 

Vol.  III.— 53 


418  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

and  rejoicing  with  you  in  the  hope  of  that  glory  to  which  Divine  faithfulness 
has  engaged  to  bring  us,  and  for  which  our  heavenly  Father,  by  all  his  pro- 
vidences and  by  every  operation  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  is  daily  preparing  us. 

"  Never,  my  dear  brethren,  did  I  so  much  rejoice  in  our  being  made 
'partakers  of  the  heavenly  calling'  as  during  my  late  aflhctions.  The  sweet 
thoughts  of  glory,  where  I  shall  meet  my  dear  Lord  Jesus,  with  all  his 
redeemed  ones,  perfectly  freed  from  all  that  sin  which  now  burdens  us  and 
makes  us  groan  from  day  to  day, — this  transports  my  soul,  whilst  out  of 
weakness  I  am  made  strong,  and  at  times  am  enabled  to  glory  even  in  my 
bodily  infirmities,  that  the  power  of  Christ,  in  supporting  when  flesh  and 
heart  fail,  may  the  more  evidently  rest  upon  me.  O  my  dear  brethren  and 
sisters,  let  me,  as  one  alive  almost  from  the  dead,  let  me  exhort  you  to  stand 
fast  in  that  blessed  gospel  which  for  ten  years  I  have  now  preached  among 
you — the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God ;  the  gospel  of  God  ;  the  gospel  of  free, 
full,  everlasting  salvation,  founded  on  the  sufferings  and  death  of  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh.     Look  much  at  this  all-amazing  scene! 

'  Behold  !  a  God  descends  and  dies 
To  save  my  soul  from  gaping  hell ;' 

and  then  say,  whether  any  poor  broken-hearted  sinner  need  be  afraid  to  ven- 
ture his  hopes  of  salvation  on  such  a  sacrifice ;  especially  since  He  who  is 
thus  *  mighty  to  save'  hath  said  that  '  whosoever  cometh  to  him  he  will  in 
no  wise  cast  out.'  You,  beloved,  who  have  found  the  peace-speaking  virtue 
of  this  blood  of  atonement,  must  not  be  satisfied  with  what  you  have  already 
known  or  enjoyed.  The  only  way  to  be  constantly  happy,  and  constantly 
prepared  for  the  most  awful  changes  which  we  must  all  experience,  is,  to  be 
constantly  looking  and  coming  to  a  dying  Saviour ;  renouncing  all  our  own 
worthiness ;  cleaving  to  the  loving  Jesus  as  our  all  in  all ;  giving  up  every 
thing,  however  valuable  to  our  worldly  interests,  that  clashes  with  our  fidelity 
to  Christ ;  begging  that  of  his  fulness  we  may  receive  '  grace  upon  grace,' 
whilst  our  faith  actually  relies  on  his  power  and  faithfulness,  for  the  full 
accomplishment  of  every  promise  in  his  word  that  we  plead  with  him ;  and 
guarding  against  every  thing  that  might  for  a  moment  bring  distance  and 
darkness  between  your  souls  and  your  precious  Lord.  If  you  thus  live,  (and 
oh  that  you  may  daily  receive  fresh  life  from  Christ  so  to  do !)  '  tlie  peace 
of  God  will  keep  your  hearts  and  minds,'  and  you  will  be  filled  with  'joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory.' 

"As  a  church,  you  cannot  conceive  what  pleasure  I  have  enjoyed  in  hear- 
ing that  you  are  in  peace,  that  you  attend  prayer-meetings,  that  you  seem  to 
be  stirred  up  of  late  for  the  honour  and  prosperity  of  religion.  Go  on  in 
these  good  ways,  my  beloved  friends,  and  assuredly  the  God  of  peace  will 
be  with  you.  Yes,  if  after  all  I  should  be  taken  entirely  from  you,  yet  God 
will  surely  visit  you,  and  never  leave  you,  nor  forsake  you. 

"As  to  my  health,  I  seem  on  the  whole  to  be  still  mending,  though  but 
very  slowly.  The  fbver  troubles  me  often,  both  by  day  and  night,  but  my 
strength  increases.  I  long  to  see  your  faces  in  the  flesh  ;  yea,  when  I  thought 
myself  near  the  gates  of  the  grave,  I  wished,  if  it  were  the  Lord's  will,  to 
depart  among  those  whom  I  so  much  loved.  But  I  am  in  good  hands,  and 
all  must  be  right. 

"  I  thank  both  you  and  the  congregation  most  affectionately  for  all  the 
kindness  you  have  shown  respecting  me  and  my  family  during  my  absence. 
The  Lord  return  it  a  thousand-fold !  My  love  to  every  one,  both  old  and 
young,  rich  and  poor,  as  though  named.  The  Lord  bless  to  your  edification 
the  occasional  ministry  which  you  enjoy.  I  hope  you  regularly  attend 
upon  it,  and  keep  together,  as  '  the  horses  in  Pharaoh's  chariot.'     I  pray 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  419 

much  for  you ;  pray,  still  pray,  for  your  very  affectionate,  though  unwortliy, 
pastor." 

In  a  postscript  to  Mr.  King,  he  says,  "  I  have  made  an  effort  to  write  this 
letter :  my  affections  would  take  no  denial ;  but  it  has  brought  on  the  fever." 

Towards  the  latter  end  of  May,  when  Mr.  Ward  and  his  companions  were 
just  ready  to  set  sail,  a  consultation  concerning  Mr.  Pearce  was  held  on 
board  the  Criterion,  in  which  all  the  missionaries  and  some  of  the  members 
of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  were  present.  It  was  well  known  that  he 
had  for  several  years  been  engaged  in  preparing  materials  for  a  "  History  of 
Missions,"  to  be  comprised  in  two  volumes  octavo ;  and  as  the  sending  of  the 
gospel  amongst  the  heathen  had  so  deeply  occupied  his  heart,  considerable 
expectations  had  been  formed  by  religious  people  of  his  producing  an  inte- 
resting work  on  the  subject.  The  question  now  was,  Could  not  this  perform- 
ance be  finished  by  other  hands,  and  the  profits  of  it  be  appropriated  to  the 
benefit  of  Mr.  Pearce's  family  1  It  was  admitted  by  all  that  this  work  would, 
partly  from  its  own  merits,  and  partly  from  the  great  interest  which  the  author 
justly  possessed  in  the  public  esteem,  be  very  productive;  and  that  it  would 
be  a  delicate  and  proper  method  of  enabling  the  religious  public,  by  sub- 
scribing liberally  to  it,  to  afford  substantial  assistance  to  the  family  of  this 
excellent  man.  The  result  was,  that  one  of  the  members  of  the  Society 
addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Pearce's  relations  at  Plymouth,  requesting  them  to 
consult  him,  as  he  should  be  able  to  bear  it,  respecting  the  state  of  his 
manuscripts,  and  to  inquire  whether  they  were  in  a  condition  to  admit  of 
being  finished  by  another  hand ;  desiring  them  also  to  assure  him,  for  his 
present  relief  concerning  his  dear  family,  that  whatever  the  hand  of  friend- 
ship could  effect  on  their  behalf  should  be  accomplished.  The  answer, 
though  it  left  no  manner  of  hope  as  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  object,  yet 
is  so  expressive  of  the  reigning  dispositions  of  the  writer's  heart,  as  an  affec- 
tionate husband,  a  tender  father,  a  grateful  friend,  and  a  sincere  Christian, 
that  it  cannot  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader : — 

^'■Tamerton,  June  24,  1799. 
"  To  use  the  common  introduction  of  '  dear  brother' would  fall  so  far 
short  of  my  feelings  towards  a  friend  whose  uniform  conduct  has  ever  laid 
so  great  claim  to  my  affection  and  gratitude,  but  whose  recent  kindness — 
kindness  in  adversity — kindness  to  my  icife — kindness  to  my  children — 
kindness  that  would  go  far  to  '  smooth  the  bed  of  death,'  has  overwhelmed 
my  whole  soul  in  tender  thankfulness,  and  engaged  my  everlasting  esteem. 
1  know  not  how  to  begin  .  .  .  .  '  Thought  is  poor,  and  poor  expression,'  The 
only  thing  that  lay  heavy  on  my  heart,  when  in  the  nearest  prospect  of  eter- 
nity, was  the  future  situation  of  my  family.  I  had  but  a  comparatively  small 
portion  to  leave  behind  me,  and  yet  that  little  w'as  the  all  that  an  amiable 
woman, — delicately  brought  up,  and,  through  mercy,  for  the  most  part  com- 
fortably provided  for  since  she  entered  on  domestic  life, — with  five  babes  to 
feed,  clothe,  and  educate,  had  to  subsist  on.  Ah,  what  a  prospect!  Hard 
and  long  I  strove  to  realize  the  promises  made  to  the  widows  and  the  father- 
less ;  but  these  alone  I  could  not  fully  rest  on  and  enjoy.  For  my  own  part, 
God  was  indeed  very  gracious.  I  was  willing,  I  hope,  to  linger  in  suffering, 
if  I  might  thereby  most  glorify  him ;  and  death  was  an  angel  whom  I  longed 
to  come  and  embrace  me,  *  cold'  as  his  embraces  are;  but  how  could  I  leave 
those  who  were  dearest  to  my  heart  in  the  midst  of  a  world  in  which  although 
thousands  now  professed  friendship  for  me,  and,  on  my  account,  for  mine; 
yet,  after  my  decease,  would,  with  few  exceptions,  soon  forget  my  widow 
and  my  children,  among  the  crowds  of  the  needy  and  distressed. — It  was  at 


420  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

this  moment  of  painful  sensibility  that  your  heart  meditated  a  plan  to  remove 
my  anxieties — a  plan  too  that  would  involve  much  personal  labour  before 
it  could  be  accomplished.  '  Blessed  be  God  vvho  put  it  into  thy  heart,  and 
blessed  be  thou.'  May  the  blessing  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  rest  on 
you  and  yours  for  ever.    Amen  and  amen ! 

"  You  will  regret  perhaps  that  I  have  taken  up  so  much  respecting  your- 
self; but  I  have  scarcely  gratified  the  shadow  of  my  wishes.  Excuse  then, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  I  have  said  so  much ;  and  accept,  on  the  other,  what 
remains  unexpressed. 

"  My  affections  and  desires  are  among  my  dear  people  at  Birmingham ; 
and,  unless  I  find  my  strength  increase  here,  I  purpose  to  set  out  for  that 
place  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight,  or  at  most  a  month.  The  journey,  per- 
formed by  short  stages,  may  do  me  good ;  if  not,  I  expect  when  the  winter 
comes  to  sleep  in  peace !  and  it  will  delight  my  soul  to  see  them  once  more 
before  I  die  Besides,  I  have  many  little  arrangements  to  make  among  my 
books  and  papers,  to  prevent  confusion  after  my  decease.  Indeed,  till  I  get 
home,  I  cannot  fully  answer  your  kind  letter ;  but  I  fear  that  my  materials 
consist  so  much  in  references  which  none  but  myself  would  understand, 
that  a  second  person  could  not  take  it  up  and  prosecute  it.  I  am  still  equally 
indebted  to  you  for  a  proposal  so  generous,  so  laborious. 

"  Rejoice  with  me  that  the  blessed  gospel  still  '  bears  my  spirits  up.'  I 
am  become  familiar  with  the  thoughts  of  dying.  I  have  taken  my  leave  often 
of  the  world,  and,  thanks  be  to  God,  I  do  it  always  with  tranquillity ,  and 
often  with  rapture.  Oh  what  grace,  what  grace  it  was  that  ever  called  me 
to  be  a  Christian  !  What  would  have  been  my  present  feelings  if  I  were 
going  to  meet  God  with  all  the  filth  and  load  of  my  sin  about  me !  But 
God  in  my  nature  hath  put  my  sin  away,  taught  me  to  love  him,  and  long 
for  his  appearing.  O  my  dear  brother,  how  consonant  is  everlasting  praise 
with  such  a  great  salvation !" 

After  this,  another  letter  was  addressed  to  Mr.  Pearce,  informing  him  more 
particularly  that  the  above  proposal  did  not  originate  with  an  individual,  but 
with  several  of  the  brethren  who  dearly  loved  him,  and  had  consulted  on  the 
business;  and  that  it  was  no  more  than  an  act  of  justice  to  one  who  had 
spent  his  life  in  serving  the  public ;  also  requesting  him  to  give  directions 
by  which  his  manuscripts  might  be  found  and  examined,  lest  he  should  be 
taken  away  before  his  arrival  at  Birmingham.  To  this  he  answered  as  fol- 
lows : — 

Plymouth,  July  6,  1799. 

"  I  need  not  repeat  the  growing  sense  I  have  of  your  kindness,  and  yet  I 
know  not  how  to  forbear. 

"  I  cannot  direct  Mr.  K to  all  my  papers,  as  many  of  them  are  in 

books  from  which  I  was  making  extracts;  and  if  I  could,  I  am  persuaded 
that  they  are  in  a  state  too  confused,  incorrect,  and  unfinished,  to  suffer  you 
or  any  other  friend  to  realize  your  kind  intentions. 

"  I  have  possessed  a  tenacious  memory.  I  have  begun  one  part  of  the 
history  ;  read  the  necessary  books ;  reflected ;  arranged ;  written  perhaps  the 
introduction,  and  then  trusting  to  my  recollection,  with  a  revisal  of  the  books 
as  I  should  want  them,  have  employed  myself  in  getting  materials  for  an- 
other part,  &c.  Thus,  till  my  illness,  the  volumes  existed  in  my  head — my 
books  Avere  at  hand,  and  I  was  on  the  eve  of  writing  them  out,  when  it 
pleased  God  to  make  me  pause;  and  as  close  thinking  has  been  strongly 
forbidden  me,  I  dare  say  that  were  I  again  restored  to  health,  I  should  find 
it  necessary  to  go  over  much  of  my  former  reading  to  refresh  my  memory. 

"  It  is  now  Saturday.     On  Monday  next  we  purpose  setting  out  on  our 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  421 

return.     May  the  Lord  prosper  our  way !     Accept  the  sincere  affection,  and 
the  ten  thousand  thanks,  of  your  brother  in  the  Lord, — S.  P." 

As  the  manuscripts  were  found  to  be  in  such  a  state  that  no  person,  except 
the  author  himself,  could  finish  them,  the  design  was  necessarily  dropped. 
The  public  mind,  however,  was  deeply  impressed  with  Mr.  Pearce's  worth; 
and  that  which  the  friendship  of  a  few  could  not  effect,  has  since  been  amply 
accomplished  by  the  liberal  exertions  of  many. 

To  Mr.  Birt. 

^'■Birmingham,  July  26,  1799. 

"  It  is  not  with  common  feelings  that  I  begin  a  letter  to  yoii.  Your  name 
brings  so  many  interesting  circumstances  of  my  life  before  me,  in  which 
your  friendship  has  been  so  uniformly  and  eminently  displayed,  that  now, 
amidst  the  imbecilities  of  sickness,  and  the  serious  prospect  of  another 
world,  my  heart  is  overwhelmed  with  gratitude,  whilst  it  glows  with  affection, 
— an  affection  which  eternity  shall  not  annihilate,  but  improve. 

"  We  reached  Bristol  on  the  Friday  after  we  parted  from  you,  having 
suited  our  progress  to  my  strength  and  spirits.  We  staid  with  Bristol  friends 
till  Monday,  when  we  pursued  our  journey,  and  went  comfortably  on  till  the 
uncommonly  rough  road  from  Tewkesbury  to  Evesham  quite  jaded  me  ;  and 
I  have  not  yet  quite  recovered  from  the  excessive  fatigue  of  that  miserable 
ride.  At  Alcester  we  rested  a  day  and  a  half;  and,  through  the  abundant 
goodness  of  God,  we  safely  arrived  at  Birmingham  on  Friday  evening,  the 
19th  of  July. 

"  I  feel  an  undisturbed  tranquillity  of  soul,  and  am  cheerfully  waiting  the 
will  of  God.  My  voice  is  gone,  so  that  I  cannot  whisper  without  pain;  and 
of  this  circumstance  I  am  at  times  most  ready  to  complain.  For,  to  see  my 
dear  and  amiable  Sarah  look  at  me,  and  then  at  the  children,  and  at  length 
bathe  her  face  in  tears,  without  my  being  able  to  say  one  kind  word  of  com- 
fort,  Oh !!....  Yet  the  Lord  supports  me  under  this  also  ;  and  I  trust 

will  support  me  to  the  end." 

To  Mr.  Rock. 

'■'■July  28,  1799. 

" ....  I  am  now  to  all  appearance  within  a  few  steps  of  eternity.  In 
Christ  I  am  safe.    In  him  I  am  happy.    I  trust  we  shall  meet  in  heaven." 

To  R.  BowYER,  Esq. 

^^  Birmingham,  Jug.  1,  1799. 

"  Much  disappointed  that  I  am  not  released  from  this  world  of  sin,  and 
put  in  possession  of  the  pleasures  enjoyed  by  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  I  once  more  address  my  dear  fellow  heirs  of  that  glory  which,  ere 
long,  shall  be  revealed  to  us  all. 

"  We  returned  from  Devon  last  Friday  week.  I  was  exceedingly  weak, 
and  for  several  days  afterwards  got  rapidly  worse.  My  friends  compelled  me 
to  try  another  physician.  I  am  still  told  that  I  shall  recover.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  I  wish  to  have  my  own  will  annihilated,  that  the  will  of  the  Lord  may 
be  done.  Through  his  abundant  grace,  I  have  been,  and  still  am,  happy  in 
my  soul ;  and  I  trust  my  prevailing  desire  is  that,  living  or  dying,  I  may  be 
the  Lord's." 


2N 


422  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

To  R.  BowYER,  Esq. 

On  his  having  sent  him  a  print  of  Mr.  Schwartz,  the  missionary  on  the  Malabar  coast. 

^^  Birmingham,  .Mug.  16,  1799. 
"  On  three  accounts  was  your  last  parcel  highly  acceptable.  It  represented 
a  man  whom  I  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of  loving  and  revering ;  ana 
whose  character  and  labours  I  intended,  if  the  Lord  had  not  laid  his  hand 
upon  me  by  my  present  illness,  to  have  presented  to  the  public  in  Europe, 
as  he  himself  presented  them  to  the  millions  of  Asia. — The  execution,  bear- 
ing so  strong  a  likeness  to  the  original,  heightened  its  value.  And  then  the 
hand  from  whence  it  came,  and  the  friendship  it  was  intended  to  express,  add 
to  its  worth." 

To  Mr.  Fuller. 

'■^  Birmingham,  Jug.  19,  1799. 

"The  doctor  has  been  making  me  worse  and  weaker  for  three  weeks.  In 
the  middle  of  last  week  he  spoke  confidently  of  my  recovery ;  but  to-day  he 
has  seen  fit  to  alter  his  plans ;  and  if  I  do  not  find  a  speedy  alteration  for 
the  better,  I  must  have  done  with  all  physicians  but  Him  who  '  healeth  the 
broken  in  heart.' 

"  For  some  time  after  I  came  home,  I  was  led  to  believe  my  case  to  be 
consumptive;  and  then,  thinking  myself  of  a  certainty  near  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  I  rejoiced  hourly  in  the  delightful  prospect. 

"  Since  then  I  have  been  told  that  I  am  not  in  a  dangerous  way ;  and 
though  I  give  very  little  credit  to  such  assertions  in  this  case,  yet  I  have 
found  my  mind  so  taken  up  with  earth  again,  that  I  seem  as  though  I  had 
another  soul.  My  spiritual  pleasures  are  greatly  interrupted,  and  some  of 
the  most  plaintive  parts  of  the  most  plaintive  psalms  seem  the  only  true  lan- 
guage of  my  heart.  Yet,  '  Thy  will  be  done,'  I  trust,  prevails ;  and  if  it  be 
the  Lord's  will  that  I  linger  long,  and  suffer  much,  O  let  him  give  me  the 
patience  of  hope,  and  still,  his  will  be  done! — I  can  write  no  more.  This 
is  a  whole  day's  work ;  for  it  is  only  after  tea  that,  for  a  few  minutes,  I  can 
sit  up,  and  attend  to  any  thing." 

From  the  latter  end  of  August,  and  all  through  the  month  of  September, 
to  the  10th  of  October,  the  clay  on  which  he  died,  he  seems  to  have  been 
unable  to  write.  He  did  not,  however,  lose  the  exercise  of  his  mental  pow- 
ers; and  though,  in  the  last  of  the  above  letters,  he  complains  of  darkness, 
it  appears  that  he  soon  recovered  that  peace  and  joy  in  God  by  which  his 
affliction,  and  even  his  life,  were  distinguished. 

A  little  before  he  died,  he  was  visited  by  Mr.  Medley,  of  London,  with 
whom  he  had  been  particularly  intimate  on  his  first  coming  to  Birmingham. 
Mr,  Pearce  was  much  affected  at  the  sight  of  his  friend,  and  continued 
silently  weeping  for  nearly  ten  minutes,  holding  and  pressing  his  hand. 
After  this,  he  spoke,  or  rather  whispered,  as  follows : — "  This  sick  bed  is  a 
Beth-el  to  me ;  it  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God,  and  the  gate  of 
heaven.  I  can  scarcely  express  the  pleasures  that  I  have  enjoyed  in  this 
affliction.  The  nearer  I  draw  to  my  dissolution,  the  happier  I  am.  It 
scarcely  can  be  called  an  affliction,  it  is  so  counterbalanced  with  joy.  You 
have  lost  your  pious  father;  tell  me  how  it  was." — Here  Mr.  Medley  informed 
him  of  particulars.  He  wept  much  at  the  recital,  and  especially  at  hearing 
of  his  last  words, — "Home,  home!" — Mr.  Medley  telling  him  of  some 
temptations  he  had  lately  met  with,  he  charged  him  to  keep  near  to  God. 
"  Keep  close  to  God,"  said  he,  "  and  nothing  will  hurt  you!" 

The  following  letters  and  narrative  were  read  by  Dr.  Ryland  at  the  close 


CORRESPONDENCE  BURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  423 

of  his  funeral  sermon ;  and  being  printed  at  the  end  of  it,  were  omitted  in 
some  of  tlie  former  editions  of  the  Memoirs. 

To  Dr.  Ryland. 

<■<■  Birmingham,  Dec.  9,  1798. 
"My  dear  Brother,  Lord's-day  Evening. 

"After  a  sabbath — such  a  one  I  never  knew  before — spent  in  an  entire 
seclusion  from  the  house  and  ordinances  of  my  God;  I  seek  Christian 
converse  with  you,  in  a  way  in  which  I  am  yet  permitted  to  have  intercourse 
with  my  brethren.  The  day  after  1  wrote  to  you  last,  my  medical  attendant 
laid  me  under  the  strictest  injunctions  not  to  speak  again  in  public  for  one 
month  at  least.  He  says  that  my  stomach  is  become  so  irritable  through 
repeated  inflammations,  that  conversation,  unless  managed  with  great  caution, 
would  be  dangerous; — that  he  does  not  think  my  present  condition  alarm- 
ing, provided  I  take  rest;  but,  without  that,  he  intimated  my  life  was  in  great 
danger.  He  forbids  my  exposing  myself  to  the  evening  air,  on  any  account, 
and  going  out  of  doors,  or  to  the  door,  unless  when  the  air  is  dry  and  clear; 
so  that  I  am,  during  the  weather  we  now  have  in  Birmingham,  (very  foggy,) 
a  complete  prisoner;  and  the  repeated  cautions  from  my  dear  and  affec- 
tionate friends,  whose  solicitude,  I  conceive,  far  exceeds  the  danger,  compels 
me  to  a  rigid  observance  of  the  doctor's  rules. 

"This  morning  brother  Pope  took  my  place;  and,  in  the  afternoon,  Mr. 
Brewer  (who  has  discovered  uncommon  tenderness  and  respect  for  me  and 
the  people,  since  he  knew  my  state)  preached  a  very  affectionate  sermon 
from  1  Sam.  iii.  18 — '  It  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do  what  seemeth  him  good.' 
By  what  I  hear,  his  sympathizing  observations,  in  relation  to  the  event  which 
occasioned  his  being  then  in  my  pulpit,  drew  more  tears  from  the  people's 
eyes  than  a  dozen  such  poor  creatures  as  their  pastor  could  deserve.  But  I 
have,  ....  blessed  be  God,  long  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  myself 
embosomed  in  friendship,  ....  the  friendship  of  the  people  of  my  charge: 
though  I  lament  their  love  should  occasion  them  a  pang,  ....  but  thus  it 
is  ...  .  our  heavenly  Father  sees  that,  for  our  mixed  characters,  a  mixed 
state  is  best. 

"  I  anticipated  a  day  of  gloom ;  but  I  had  unexpected  reason  to  rejoice, 
that  the  shadow  of  death  was  turned  into  the  joy  of  the  morning;  and  though 
I  said,  with  perhaps  before  unequalled  feeling,  '  How  amiable  are  thy  taber- 
nacles!' yet  I  found  the  God  of  Zion  does  not  neglect  the  dwellings  of 
Jacob.  My  poor  wife  was  much  affected  at  so  novel  a  thing  as  leaving  me 
behind  her,  and  so  it  was  a  dewy  morning;  but  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
soon  arose,  and  shed  such  ineffable  delight  throughout  my  soul,  that  I  could 
say,  '  It  is  good  to  be  here.' — Motive  to  resignation  and  gratitude  also  crowded 
upon  motive,  till  my  judgment  was  convinced  that  I  ought  to  rejoice  in  the 
Lord  exceedingly,  and  so  my  whole  soul  took  its  fill  of  joy.  May  I,  if  it  be 
my  Saviour's  will,  feel  as  happy  when  I  come  to  die.  When  my  poor  Sarah 
lay  at  the  point  of  death,  for  some  days  after  her  first  lying-in,  toward  the 
latter  days,  I  enjoyed  such  support,  and  felt  my  will  so  entirely  bowed  down 
to  that  of  God,  that  I  said  in  my  heart,  '  I  shall  never  fear  another  trial  .... 
He  that  sustained  me  amidst  this  flame  will  defend  me  from  every  spark!' 
And  this  confidence  I  long  enjoyed. — But  that  was  nearly  six  years  ago,  and 
I  had  almost  forgotten  the  land  of  the  Hermonites  and  the  hill  Mizar.  But 
the  Lord  has  prepared  me  to  receive  a  fresh  display  of  his  fatherly  care,  and 
his  (shall  I  call  it?)  punctilious  veracity.  If  I  should  be  raised  up  again,  I 
shall  be  able  to  preach  on  the  faithfulness  of  God  more  experimentally  than 
ever.  Perhaps  some  trial  is  coming  on,  and  I  am  to  be  instrumental  in  pre- 
paring them  for  it ;  or  if  not,  if  I  am  to  depart  hence  to  be  no  more  seen,  I 


424  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

know  the  Lord  can  carry  on  his  work  as  well  without  me  as  with  me.  He 
who  redeemed  the  sheep  with  his  blood  will  never  suffer  them  to  perish  for 
want  of  shepherding,  especially  since  he  himself  is  the  chief  Shepherd  of 
souls.  But  my  family  !  Ah,  there  I  find  my  faith  but  still  imperfect.  How- 
ever, I  do  not  think  the  Lord  will  ever  take  me  away  till  he  helps  me  to 
leave  my  fatherless  children  in  his  hands,  and  trust  my  widow  also  with  him. 
*  His  love  in  times  past,'  and  I  may  add  in  times  present  too,  '  forbids  me  to 
think  he  will  leave  me  at  last  in  trouble  to  sink.' 

"  Whilst  my  weakness  was  gaining  ground,  I  used  to  ask  myself  how  I 
could  like  to  be  laid  by?  I  have  dreamed  that  this  was  the  case;  and  both 
awake  and  asleep  I  felt  as  though  it  were  an  evil  that  could  not  be  borne: — 
but  now  I  find  the  Lord  can  fit  the  back  to  the  burden ;  and  though  I  think 
I  love  the  thought  of  serving  Christ  at  this  moment  better  than  ever,  yet  he 
has  made  me  willing  to  be  ...  .  nothing,  if  he  please  to  have  it  so;  and 
now  my  happy  heart '  could  sing  itself  away  to  everlasting  bliss.' 

"  Oh  what  a  mercy  that  I  have  not  brought  on  my  aftliction  by  serving  the 
devil!  What  a  mercy  that  I  have  so  many  dear  sympathizing  friends!  What 
a  mercy  that  I  have  so  much  dear  domestic  comfort !  What  a  mercy  that  I 
am  in  no  violent  bodily  pain!  What  a  mercy  that  I  can  read  and  write  with- 
out doing  myself  an  injury!  What  a  mercy  that  my  animal  spirits  have  all 
the  time  this  has  been  coming  on  (ever  since  the  last  Kettering  meeting  of 
ministers)  been  vigorous — free  from  dejection  !  And,  which  I  reckon  among 
the  greatest  of  this  day's  privileges,  what  a  mercy  that  I  have  been  able  to 
employ  myself  for  Christ  and  his  dear  cause  to-day ;  as  T  have  been  almost 
wholly  occupied  in  the  concerns  of  the  (I  hope)  reviving  church  at  Brooms- 
grove,  and  the  infant  church  at  Cradley  !  O  my  dear  brother,  it  is  all 
mercy;  is  it  not?  O  help  me  then  in  his  praise,  for  he  is  good,  for  his 
mercy  endureth  for  ever. 

"  Ought  I  to  apologize  for  this  experimental  chat  with  you,  who  have  con- 
cerns to  transact  of  so  much  more  importance  than  any  that  are  confined  to 
an  individual?  Forgive  me,  if  I  have  intruded  too  much  on  your  time — but 
do  not  forget  to  praise  on  my  behalf  a  faithful  God.  I  shall  now  leave  room 
against  I  have  some  business  to  write  about — till  then  adieu — but  let  us  not 
forget  that  'this  God  is  our  God  for  ever  and  ever,  and  will  be  our  guide 
even  until  death.'     Amen.     Amen.     We  shall  soon  meet  in  heaven." 

To  Mr.  King. 

^'■Plymouth,  Jprtl  23,  1799. 
"  My  dear  Friend  and  Brother, 

"I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you  that  at  length  my  complaint  appears 
to  be  removed,  and  that  I  am  by  degrees  returning  to  my  usual  diet,  by 
which,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  I  hope  to  be  again  strengthened  for  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  pleasures  which  await  me 
among  the  dear  people  of  my  charge. 

"I  am  indeed  informed,  by  a  medical  attendant  here,  that  I  shall  never  be 
equal  to  the  labours  of  my  past  years,  and  that  my  return  to  moderate  efforta 
must  be  made  by  slow  degrees.  As  the  path  of  duty,  I  desire  to  submit ; 
but,  aficr  so  long  a  suspension  from  serving  the  Redeemer  in  his  church, 
my  soul  pants  for  usefulness  more  extensive  tlian  ever,  and  I  long  to  become 
an  apostle  to  the  world.  I  do  not  think  I  ever  prized  the  ministerial  work 
so  much  as  I  now  do.  Two  questions  have  been  long  before  me.  The 
first  was.  Shall  I  live  or  die?  The  second.  If  I  live,  how  will  my  life  be 
spent?  With  regard  to  the  former,  my  heart  answered,  'It  is  no  matter — 
all  is  well — for  my  own  sake,  I  need  not  be  taught  that  it  is  best  to  be  with 
Christ;  but,  for  the  sake  of  others,  it  may  be  best  to  abide  in  the  body    I 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  425 

am  in  the  Lord's  hands,  let  him  do  by  me  as  seemeth  him  best  for  me  and 
mine,  and  fur  his  cause  and  honour  in  tlie  world! — But  as  to  the  second 
question,  I  could  hardly  reconcile  myself  to  the  thoughts  of  living,  unless  it 
were  to  promote  the  interest  of  my  Lord ;  and  if  my  disorder  should  so  far 
weaken  me  as  to  render  me  incapable  of  the  ministry,  notliing  then  appeared 
before  me  but  gloom  and  darkness.  However,  I  will  hope  in  the  Lord,  that 
though  he  hath  chastened  me  sorely,  yet,  since  he  hath  not  given  me  over 
unto  death,  sparing  mercy  will  be  followed  with  strength,  that  I  may  show 
forth  his  praise  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

"  I  am  still  exceedingly  weak ;  more  so  than  at  any  period  before  I  left 
home,  except  the  first  week  of  my  lying  by;  but  I  am  getting  strength,  though 
slowly.  It  is  impossible  at  present  to  fix  any  time  for  my  return.  It  grieves 
me  that  the  patience  of  the  dear  people  should  be  so  long  tried ;  but  the  trial 
is  as  great  on  my  part  as  it  can  be  on  theirs,  and  we  must  pity  and  pray  for 
one  another.  It  is  now  a  task  for  me  to  write  at  all,  or  this  should  have 
been  longer." 

To  Mr.  Pope, 

'■'■Plymouth,  May  24,  1799. 

"I  cannot  write  much — this  I  believe  is  the  only  letter  I  have  written 
(except  to  my  wife)  since  I  wrote  to  you  last.  My  complaint  has  issued  in 
a  confirmed,  slow,  nervous  fever;  which  has  wasted  my  spirits  and  strength, 
and  taken  a  great  part  of  the  little  flesh  I  had,  when  in  health,  away  from 
me.  The  symptoms  have  been  very  threatening,  and  I  have  repeatedly 
thought  that,  let  the  physician  do  what  he  will,  he  cannot  keep  me  long  from 
those  heavenly  joys  for  which,  blessed  be  God,  I  have  lately  been  much 
longing;  and  were  it  not  for  my  dear  people  and  family,  I  should  have 
earnestly  prayed  for  leave  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  so  much 
better  than  to  abide  in  this  vain,  suffering,  sinning  world. 

"The  doctors  however  now  pronounce  my  case  very  hopeful — say  there  is 
little  or  no  danger — but  that  all  these  complaints  require  a  great  deal  of  time 
to  get  rid  of  1  still  feel  myself  on  precarious  ground,  but  quite  resigned  to 
the  will  of  Mm,  who,  unworthy  as  I  am,  continues  daily  to  'fill  my  soul  with 
joy  and  peace  in  believing.'  Yes,  my  dear  friend,  now  my  soul  feels  the 
value  of  a  free,  full,  and  everlasting  salvation — and,  what  is  more,  I  do  enjoy 
that  salvation;  while  I  rest  all  my  hope  on  the  Son  of  God  in  human  nature 
dying  on  the  cross  for  me.  To  me  now,  health  or  sickness,  pain  or  ease, 
life  or  death,  are  things  indifferent.  I  feel  so  happy,  in  being  in  the  hands 
of  infinite  love,  that  when  the  severest  strokes  are  laid  upon  me,  I  receive 
them  with  pleasure,  because  they  come  from  my  heavenly  Father's  hands! 
'Oh  to  grace  how  great  a  debtor !'  &c." 

To  Dr.  Ryland. 

"  My  very  dear  Brother,  ^'■Birmingham,  July  20,  1799. 

"Your  friendly  anxieties  on  my  behalf  demand  the  earliest  satisfaction. 
We  had  a  pleasant  ride  to  Newport  on  the  afternoon  we  left  you,  and  the 
next  day  without  much  fatigue  reached  Tewkesbury;  but  the  road  was  so 
rough  from  Tewkesbury  to  Evesham  that  it  wearied  and  injured  me  more 
than  all  the  jolting  we  had  had  before  put  together.  However,  we  reached 
Alcester  on  Wednesday  evening,  stopped  there  a  day  to  rest,  and  last  night 
(Friday)  were  brought  safely  hither,  blessed  be  God ! 

"I  find  myself  getting  weaker  and  weaker,  and  so  my  Lord  instructs  me 
in  his  pleasure  to  remove  me  soon.  You  say  well,  my  dear  brother,  that  at 
such  a  prospect  I  'cannot  complain.'  No,  blessed  be  his  dear  name  who 
shed  his  blood  for  me,  he  helps  me  to  rejoice  at  times  with  joy  unspeakable. 

Vol.  III.— 54  2  n  3 


4a<»  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

Now  I  see  the  value  of  the  religion  of  the  cross.  It  is  a  religion  for  a  dying 
sinner.  It  is  all  the  most  guilty,  the  most  wretched,  can  desire.  Yes,  I 
taste  its  sweetness  and  enjoy  its  fulness  with  all  the  gloom  of  a  dying  bed 
before  me.  And  far  rather  would  I  be  the  poor  emaciated  and  emaciating 
creature  that  I  am  than  be  an  emperor,  with  every  earthly  good  about  him — 
but  without  a  God  ! 

"  I  was  delighted  the  other  day,  in  re-perusing  the  Pilgrim's  Progress,  to 
observe  that,  when  Christian  came  to  the  top  of  the  hill  Difficnltij,  he  was 
put  to  sleep  in  a  chamber  called  Peace.  '  Why  how  good  is  the  Lord  of  the 
way  to  me!'  said  I.  I  have  not  reached  the  summit  of  the  hill  yet,  but,  not- 
withstanding, he  puts  me  to  sleep  in  the  chamber  of  Peace  every  night  .... 
True,  it  is  often  a  chamber  oipain;  but,  let  pain  be  as  formidable  as  it  may, 
it  has  never  yet  been  able  to  expel  that  peace  which  the  great  Guardian  of 
Israel  has  appointed  to  keep  my  heart  and  mind  through  Christ  Jesus. 

"I  have  been  labouring  lately  to  exercise  most  love  to  God  when  I  have 
been  suffering'  most  severely: — but  what  shall  I  say?  Alas!  too  often  the 
sense  of  pain  absorbs  every  other  thought.  Yet  there  have  been  seasons 
when  I  have  been  affected  with  such  a  delightful  sense  of  the  loveliness  of 
God  as  to  ravish  my  soul,  and  give  predominance  to  the  sacred  passion. — It 
was  never  till  to-day  that  I  got  any  personal  instruction  from  our  Lord's 
telling  Peter  by  'what  death'  he  should  glorify  God.  Oh  what  a  satisfying 
thought  it  is  that  God  appoints  those  means  of  dissolution  whereby  he  gets 
most  glory  to  himself  It  was  the  very  thing  I  needed ;  for,  of  all  the  ways 
of  dying,  that  which  I  most  dreaded  was  by  a  consumption  (in  which  it  is 
now  highly  probable  my  disorder  will  issue).  But,  O  my  dear  Lord,  if  by 
this  death  I  can  most  glorify  thee,  I  prefer  it  to  all  others,  and  thank  thee 
that  by  this  means  thou  art  hastening  my  fuller  enjoyment  of  thee  in  a  purer 
world. 

"A  sinless  state!  'O  'tis  a  heaven  worth  dying  for!'  I  cannot  realize 
any  thing  about  heaven,  but  the  presence  of  Christ  and  his  people,  and  a 
perfect  deliverance  from  sin — and  I  want  no  more — I  am  sick  of  sinning — 
soon  I  shall  be  beyond  its  power. 

'  0  joyful  hour  !  0  blest  abode  ! 
I  shall  be  near  and  like  my  God  !' 

"  I  only  thought  of  filling  one  side — and  now  have  not  left  room  to  thank 
you  and  dear  Mrs.  Ryland  for  the  minute,  affectionate,  and  constant  atten- 
tions you  paid  us  in  Bristol.  May  the  Lord  reward  you.  Our  hearty  love 
to  all  around,  till  we  meet  in  heaven.     Eternally  yours  in  Christ, — S.^P." 

^^  Birming?iam,  Jlug.  4,  1799. 
"  INIy  VERY  DEAR  Brother,  J-ord's-day  Evening. 

"  Still,  I  trust,  hastening  to  the  land  'where  there  shall  be  no  more  curse,' 
1  take  this  opportunity  of  talking  a  little  with  you  on  the  road,  for  we  are 
fellow  travellers ;  and  a  little  conversation  by  the  way  will  not  lose  me  the 
privilege  of  getting  first  to  the  end  of  my  journey. 

"  It  is  seventeen  years  within  about  a  week  since  I  first  actually  set  out 
on  my  pilgrimage ;  and  when  I  review  the  many  dangers  to  which  during 
that  time  I  have  been  exposed,  I  am  filled  with  conviction  that  I  have  all 
along  been  the  care  of  Omnipotent  love.  Ah,  how  many  Pliables,  and 
Timorouses,  and  Talkatives  have  I  seen,  while  my  quivering  heart  said, 
'Alas!  I  shall  soon  follow  these  sons  of  apostacy,  prove  a  disgrace  to  reli- 
gion, and  have  my  portion  with  hypocrites  at  last.' 

"  These  fears  may  have  had  their  uses — may  have  made  me  more  cautious, 
more  distrustful  of  myself,  and  kept  me  more  dependent  on  the  Lord.  Thus — 
'AH  thati  've  met  has  worked  for  my  good.' 


CORRESPONDENCE  DURING  LAST  ILLNESS.  427 

"  With  what  intricacy  to  our  view,  and  yet  with  what  actual  skill  and 
goodness,  does  the  Lord  draw  his  plans,  and  mark  out  our  path !  Here  we 
wonder  and  complain. — Soon  we  shall  all  agree  that  it  was  a  riglit  path  to 
the  city  of  habitation ;  and  what  we  now  most  deeply  regret  shall  become 
the  subject  of  our  warmest  praises. 

"  I  am  afraid  to  come  back  again  to  life.  Oh  how  many  dangers  await 
me!  Perhaps  I  may  be  overcome  of  some  fleslijy  lust — perhaps  1  may  get 
proud  and  indolent,  and  be  more  of  the  priest  than  of  the  evangelist — surely 
1  rejoice  in  feeling  my  outward  man  decay,  and  having  the  sentence  of  death 
in  myself'.  Oh  what  prospects  are  before  me  in  the  blessed  world  whither 
1  am  going!  To  be  holy  as  God  is  holy — to  have  nothing  but  holiness  in 
my  nature — to  be  assured,  without  a  doubt,  and  eternally  to  carry  about  this 
assurance  with  me,  that  the  pure  God  looks  on  me  with  constant  compla- 
cency, for  ever  blesses  me,  and  says,  as  at  the  first  creation, — '  It  is  very 
good.'  I  am  happy  now  in  hoping  in  the  Divine  purposes  towards  me;  but 
I  know,  and  the  thought  is  my  constant  burden,  tliat  the  Being  I  love  best 
always  sees  something  in  me  which  he  infinitdy  hates.  '  O  wretched,  wretched 
man  that  I  am!'  The  thought  even  now  makes  me  weep;  and  who  can 
help  it  that  seriously  reflects  he  never  comes  to  God,  to  pray  or  praise,  but 
he  brings  what  his  God  detests  along  with  him,  carries  it  with  him  wherever 
he  goes,  and  can  never  get  rid  of  it  as  long  as  he  lives?  Come,  my  dear 
brother,  will  you  not  share  my  joy  and  help  my  praise,  that  soon  I  shall  leave 
this  body  of  sin  and  death  behind,  to  enter  on  the  perfection  of  my  spiritual 
nature ;  and  patiently  to  wait  till  this  natural  body  shall  become  a  spiritual 
body,  and  so  be  a  fit  vehicle  for  my  immortal  and  happy  spirit. 

"  But  I  must  forbear — I  have  been  very  unwell  all  day;  but  this  evening 
God  has  kindly  given  me  a  respite — my  fever  is  low  and  my  spirits  are 
cheerful,  so  I  have  indulged  myself  in  unbosoming  my  feelings  to  my  dear 
friend." 

MEMORANDA. 

Taken  down  occasionally  by  Mrs.  Pearce,  within  four  or  five  weeks  of  Mr.  Pearce's  death. 

He  once  said,  "  I  have  been  in  darkness  two  or  three  days,  crying,  Oh 
when  wilt  thou  comfort  me?  But  last  night  the  mist  was  taken  from  me, 
and  the  Lord  shone  in  upon  my  soul.  Oh  that  I  could  speak?  I  would 
tell  a  world  to  trust  a  faithful  God.  Sweet  affliction,  now  it  worketh  glory, 
glory!" 

Mrs.  P.  having  told  him  the  various  exercises  of  her  mind,  he  replied, — 
"O  trust  the  Lord;  if  he  lifts  up  the  light  of  his  countenance  upon  you,  as 
he  has  done  upon  me  this  day,  all  your  mountains  will  become  molehills.  I 
feel  your  situation,  I  feel  your  sorrows;  but  he  who  takes  care  of  sparrows 
will  care  for  you  and  my  dear  children." 

When  scorching  with  burning  fever,  he  said,  "  Hot  and  happy." — One 
Lord's  day  morning  he  said,  "  Cheer  up,  my  dear,  think  how  much  will  be 
said  to-day  of  the  fliithfulness  of  God.  Though  we  are  called  to  separate, 
he  will  never  separate  from  you.  I  wish  I  could  tell  the  world  what  a  good, 
and  gracious  God  he  is.  Never  need  they  who  trust  in  him  be  afraid  of 
trials.  He  has  promised  to  give  strength  for  the  day ;  that  is  his  promise. 
Oh  what  a  lovely  God !  and  he  is  my  God  and  yours.  He  will  never  leave 
us  nor  forsake  us,  no  never !  I  have  been  thinking  that  this  and  that  medi- 
cine will  do  me  good,  but  what  have  I  to  do  with  it?  It  is  in  my  Jesus's 
hands ;  he  will  do  it  all,  and  there  I  leave  it.  What  a  mercy  is  it  I  have  a  good 
bed  to  lie  upon ;  you,  my  dear  Sarah,  to  wait  upon  me,  and  friends  to  pray 
for  me !  Oh  how  thankful  should  I  be  for  all  my  pains !  1  want  for  nothing ; 
all  my  wishes  are  anticipated.     Oh  I  have  felt  the  force  of  those  words  of 


428  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

David, — '  Unless  thy  law  (my  gracious  God  !)  had  been  my  delights,  I  should 
have  perished  in  mine  affliction.'  Though  1  am  too  weak  to  read  it,  or  hear 
it,  I  can  think  upon  it,  and  oh  how  good  it  is!  I  am  in  the  best  hands  I 
could  be  in;  in  the  hands  of  my  dear  Lord  and  Saviour,  and  he  will  do  all 
things  well.     Yes,  yes,  he  cannot  do  wrong." 

One  morning  Mrs.  P.  asked  him  how  he  felt. — "  Very  ill,  but  unspeakably 
happy  in  the  Lord,  and  my  dear  Lord  Jesus."  Once  beholding  her  grieving, 
he  said,  "  O  my  dear  Sarah,  do  not  be  so  anxious,  but  leave  me  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  Jesus,  and  think,  if  you  were  as  wise  as  he,  you  would  do  the 
same  by  me.  If  he  takes  me,  I  shall  not  be  lost;  I  shall  only  go  a  little 
before :  we  shall  meet  again  never  to  part." 

After  a  violent  fit  of  coughing  he  said,  "  It  is  all  well.  Oh  what  a  good 
God  is  he!  It  is  done  by  him,  and  it  must  be  well. — If  I  ever  recover,  I 
shall  pity  the  sick  more  than  ever ;  and  if  I  do  not,  I  shall  go  to  sing  deliver- 
ing love;  so  you  see  it  will  be  all  well.  Oh  for  more  patience!  Well,  my 
God  is  the  God  of  patience,  and  he  will  give  me  all  I  need.  I  rejoice  it  is 
in  my  Jesus's  hands  to  communicate,  and  it  cannot  be  in  better.  It  is  my 
God  who  gives  me  patience  to  bear  all  his  will." 

When,  after  a  restless  night,  Mrs.  P.  asked  him  what  she  should  do  for  him, 
— "  You  can  do  nothing  but  pray  for  me,  that  I  may  have  patience  to  bear  all 
my  Lord's  will." — After  taking  a  medicine  he  said,  "  If  it  be  the  Lord's  will 
to  bless  it,  for  your  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  dear  children  ....  but  the 
Lord's  will  be  done.  Oh  I  fear  I  sin,  I  dishonour  God  by  impatience ;  but 
I  would  not  for  a  thousand  worlds  sin  in  a  thought  if  I  could  avoid  it."  Mrs. 
P.  replied,  she  trusted  the  Lord  would  still  keep  him  ;  seeing  he  had  brought 
him  thus  far,  he  would"  not  desert  him  at  last.  "  No,  no,"  he  said,  "  I  hope 
he  will  not.  As  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that 
fear  him.  Why  do  I  complain?  My  dear  Jesus's  sufferings  were  much 
sorer  and  more  bitter  than  mine.  'And  did  he  thus  suffer,  and  shall  I  repine?' 
No ;  I  will  cheerfully  suffer  my  Father's  will." 

One  morning,  after  being  asked  how  he  felt,  he  replied,  "  I  have  but  one 
severe  pain  about  me  ;  what  a  mercy !  Oh  how  good  a  God  to  afford  some 
intervals  amidst  so  much  pain !  He  is  altogether  good.  Jesus  lives,  my 
dear,  and  that  must  be  our  consolation."  After  taking  a  medicine  which 
operated  very  powerfully,  he  said,  "  This  will  make  me  so  much  lower  ;  well, 
let  it  be.  Multiply  my  pains,  thou  good  God ;  so  thou  art  but  glorified,  I 
care  not  what  I  suffer :  all  is  right." 

Being  asked  how  he  felt  after  a  restless  night,  he  replied,  "  I  have  so  much 
weakness  and  pain,  I  have  not  had  much  enjoyment ;  but  I  have  a  full  per- 
suasion that  the  Lord  is  doing  all  things  well.  If  it  were  not  for  strong  con- 
fidence in  a  lovely  God,  I  must  sink ;  but  all  is  well.  O  blessed  God,  I 
would  not  love  thee  less.  O  support  a  sinking  worm !  Oh  what  a  mercy 
to  be  assured  that  all  things  are  working  together  for  good !" 

■  Mrs.  P.  saying,  If  we  must  part,  I  trust  the  separation  will  not  be  for  ever 
— "  Oh,  no,"  he  replied,  "  we  sorrow  not  as  those  who  have  no  hope."  She 
said.  Then  you  can  leave  me  and  your  dear  children  with  resignation,  can 
you?  He  answered,  "  My  heart  was  pierced  through  with  many  sorrows, 
before  I  could  give  you  and  the  dear  children  up ;  but  the  Lord  has  heard 
me  say.  Thy  will  be  done ;  and  I  now  can  say  (blessed  be  his  dear  name !) 
I  have  none  of  my  own." 

His  last  day,  October  1 0th,  was  very  happy.     Mrs.  P.  repeated  this  verse, — 

"  Since  all  that  I  meet  shall  work  for  my  good, 
The  bitter  is  sweet,  the  med'cine  is  food  ; 
Though  painful  at  present,  'twill  cease  before  long, 
And  then  oh  how  pleasant  the  conqueror's  song  !" 


GENERAL  OUTLINES  OP  HIS  CHARACTER.  429 

He  repeated,  with  an  inexpressible  smile,  the  last  line,  "  The  conqueror's 
song." 

He  said  once,  "O  my  dear!  what  shall  I  do?     But  why  do  I  complain? 
he  makes  all  my  bed  in  my  sickness."     She  then  repeated  those  lines,^ 

"  Jesiis  can  make  a  dying  bed 
Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  he  can,  he  does,  I  feel  it," 


CHAPTER   V. 

GENERAL   OUTLINES    OF    HIS    CHARACTER. 

To  develope  the  character  of  any  person,  it  is  necessary  to  determine  what 
was  his  governing  principle.  If  this  can  be  clearly  ascertained,  we  shall 
easily  account  for  the  tenor  of  his  conduct. 

The  governing  principle  in  Mr.  Pearce,  beyond  all    doubt,  was  holy 

LOVE. 

To  mention  this  is  sufficient  to  prove  it  to  all  who  knew  him.  His  friends 
have  often  compared  him  to  "  that  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved."  His  religion 
was  that  of  the  heart.  Almost  every  thing  that  he  saw,  or  heard,  or  read,  or 
studied,  was  converted  to  the  feeding  of  this  divine  flame.  Every  subject 
that  passed  through  his  hands  seemed  to  have  been  cast  into  this  mould. 
Things  that  to  a  merely  speculative  mind  would  have  furnished  matter  only 
for  curiosity,  to  him  afforded  materials  for  devotion.  His  sermons  were 
generally  the  effusions  of  his  heart,  and  invariably  aimed  at  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers. 

For  the  justness  of  the  above  remarks  I  might  appeal,  not  only  to  the  let- 
ters which  he  addressed  to  his  friends,  but  to  those  which  his  friends  ad- 
dressed to  him.  It  is  worthy  of  notice  how  much  we  are  influenced  in  our 
correspondence  by  the  turn  of  mind  of  the  person  we  address.  If  we  write 
to  a  humorous  character,  we  shall  generally  find  that  what  we  write,  perhaps 
without  being  conscious  of  it,  will  be  interspersed  with  pleasantries;  or  if  to 
one  of  a  very  serious  cast,  our  letters  will  be  more  serious  than  usual.  On 
this  principle  it  has  been  thought  we  may  form  some  judgment  of  our  own 
spirit  by  the  spirit  in  which  our  friends  address  us.  These  remarks  will 
apply  with  singular  propriety  to  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Pearce.  In  look- 
ing over  the  first  volume  of  "  Periodical  Accounts  of  the  Baptist  Mission," 
the  reader  will  easily  perceive  the  most  affectionate  letters  from  the  mission- 
aries are  those  which  are  addressed  to  him. 

It  is  not  enough  to  say  of  this  affectionate  spirit,  that  it  formed  a  promi- 
nent feature  in  his  character ;  it  was  rather  the  life-blood  that  animated  the 
whole  system.  He  seemed,  as  one  of  his  friends  observed,  to  be  baptized 
in  it.  It  was  holy  love  that  gave  the  tone  to  his  general  deportment :  as  a 
son,  a  subject,  a  neighbour,  a  Christian,  a  minister,  a  pastor,  a  friend,  a  hus- 
band, and  a  father,  he  was  manifestly  governed  by  this  principle;  and  this  it 
was  that  produced  in  him  that  lovely  uniformity  of  character  which  consti- 
tutes the  true  beauty  of  holiness. 

By  the  grace  of  God  he  was  what  he  was ;  and  to  the  honour  of  grace, 
and  not  the  glory  of  a  sinful  worm,  be  it  recorded.  Like  all  other  men,  he 
was  the  subject  of  a  depraved  nature.  He  felt  it,  and  lamented  it,  and  longed 
to  depart  that  he  might  be  freed  from  it;  but  certainly  we  have  seldom  seen 


MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

a  character,  taking  him  altogether,  "  whose  excellences  were  so  many  and  so 
uniform,  and  whose  imperfections  were  so  few."  We  have  seen  men  rise  high 
in  contemplation,  who  have  abounded  but  little  in  action. — We  have  seen 
zeal  mingled  with  bitterness,  and  candour  degenerate  into  indifference :  ex- 
perimental religion  mixed  with  a  large  portion  of  enthusiasm  ;  and  what  is 
called  rational  religion  void  of  every  thing  that  interests  the  heart  of  man. — 
We  have  seen  splendid  talents  tarnished  with  insufferable  pride;  seriousness 
with  melancholy;  cheerfulness  with  levity  ;  and  great  attainments  in  religion 
with  uncharitable  censoriousness  towards  men  of  low  degree :  but  we  have 
not  seen  these  things  in  our  brother  Pearce. 

There  have  been  few  men  in  whom  has  been  united  a  greater  portion  of 
the  contemplative  and  the  active — holy  zeal  and  genuine  candour — spiritu- 
ality and  rationality — talents  that  attracted  almost  universal  applause,  and  yet 
the  most  unaffected  modesty — faidifulness  in  bearing  testimony  against  evil, 
with  the  tenderest  compassion  to  the  soul  of  the  evil  doer — fortitude  that 
would  encounter  any  difficulty  in  the  way  of  duty,  without  any  thing  bois- 
terous, noisy,  or  overbearing — deep  seriousness,  with  habitual  cheerfulness — 
and  a  constant  aim  to  promote  the  highest  degrees  of  piety  in  himself  and 
others,  with  a  readiness  to  hope  the  best  of  the  lowest;  not  "  breaking  the 
bruised  reed,"  nor  "  quenching  the  smoking  flax." 

He  loved  the  Divine  diaradcr  as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures. — To  adore 
God,  to  contemplate  his  glorious  perfections,  to  enjoy  his  favour,  and  to  sub- 
mit to  his  disposal,  were  his  highest  delight.  "  I  felt,"  says  he,  "  when  con- 
templating the  hardships  of  a  missionary  life,  that  were  the  universe  destroyed, 
and  I  the  only  being  in  it  besides  God,  he  is  fully  adequate  to  my  complete 
happiness;  and  had  I  been  in  an  African  wood,  surrounded  with  venomous 
serpents,  devouring  beasts,  and  savage  men,  in  such  a  frame,  I  should  be  the 
subject  of  perfect  peace  and  exalted  joy.  Yes,  O  my  God  !  thou  hast  taught 
me  that  thou  alone  art  worthy  of  my  confidence ;  and,  with  this  sentiment 
fixed  in  my  heart,  I  am  freed  from  all  solicitude  about  my  temporal  concerns. 
If  thy  presence  be  enjoyed,  poverty  shall  be  riches,  darkness  light,  affliction 
prosperity,  reproach  my  honour,  and  fatigue  my  rest !" 

He  loved  the  gospel. — The  truths  which  he  believed  and  taught  dwelt 
richly  in  him,  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding.  The  reader  will 
recollect  how  he  went  over  the  great  principles  of  Christianity,  examining 
the  grounds  on  which  he  rested,  in  the  first  of  those  days  which  he  devoted 
to  solemn  fasting  and  prayer  in  reference  to  his  becoming  a  missionary  ;* 
and  with  what  ardent  affection  he  set  his  seal  anew  to  every  part  of  Divine 
truth  as  he  went  along. 

If  salvation  had  been  of  works,  few  men,  according  to  our  way  of  esti- 
mating characters,  had  a  fairer  claim;  but,  as  he  himself  has  related,  he 
could  not  meet  the  king  of  terrors  in  this  armour.t  So  far  was  he  from 
placing  any  dependence  on  his  own  works,  that  the  more  he  did  for  God, 
the  less  he  thought  of  it  in  such  a  way.  "  All  the  satisfaction  I  wish  for 
here,"  says  he,  "  is  to  be  doing  my  heavenly  Father's  will.  I  hope  I  have 
found  it  my  meat  and  drink  to  do  his  work ;  and  can  set  to  my  seal  that  the 
purest  pleasures  of  human  life  spring  from  the  humble  obedience  of  faith. 
It  is  a  good  saying,  '  We  cannot  do  too  much  for  God,  nor  trust  in  what  we 
do  too  little.'*  I  find  a  growing  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  a  free  salva- 
tion. The  more  I  do  for  God,  the  less  I  think  of  it;  and  am  progressively 
ashamed  that  I  do  no  more." 

Christ  crucified  was  his  darling  theme,  from  first  to  last.  This  was  the 
subject  on  which  he  dwelt  at  the  outset  of  his  ministry  among  the  Coleford 

*  See  Chap.  II.  p.  386.  t  Chap.  I.  p.  374. 


GENERAL  OUTLINES  OF  HIS  CHARACTER.  431 

colliers,  when  "he  could  scarcely  speak  for  weeping,  nor  they  hear  for  inter- 
rupting sighs  and  sobs."  This  was  the  burden  of  the  song,  when  address- 
ing the  more  polished  and  crowded  audiences  at  Birmingham,  London,  and 
Dublin  ;  this  was  the  grand  motive  exhibited  in  sermons  for  the  promotion 
of  public  charities ;  and  this  was  the  rock  on  which  he  rested  all  his  hopes, 
in  the  prospect  of  death.  It  is  true,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was  shaken  for  a 
time,  by  the  writings  of  a  Whitby,  and  of  a  Priesthy;  but  this  transient 
hesitation,  by  the  overruling  grace  of  God,  tended  only  to  establish  him  more 
firmly  in  the  end.  "  Blessed  be  his  dear  name,"  says  he,  under  his  last 
affliction,  "  who  shed  his  blood  for  me.  He  helps  me  to  rejoice  at  times 
with  joy  unspeakable.  Now  I  see  the  value  of  the  religion  of  the  cross. 
It  is  a  religion  for  a  dying  sinner.  It  is  all  the  most  guilty  and  the  most 
wretched  can  desire.  Yes,  I  taste  its  sweetness,  and  enjoy  its  fulness,  with 
all  the  gloom  of  a  dying  bed  before  me;  and  far  rather  would  I  be  the  poor 
emaciated  and  emaciating  creature  that  I  am,  than  be  an  emperor  with  every 
earthly  good  about  him,  but  without  a  God." 

Nothwithstanding  this,  however,  there  were  those  in  Birmingham,  and 
other  places,  who  would  not  allow  that  he  -preached  the  gospel.  And  if  by 
the  gospel  were  meant  the  doctrine  taught  by  Mr.  Huntington,  Mr.  Brad- 
ford, and  others  who  follow  hard  afler  them,  it  must  be  granted  he  did  not. 
If  the  fall  and  depravity  of  man  operate  to  destroy  his  accountableness  to 
his  Creator — if  his  inability  to  obey  the  law,  or  comply  with  the  gospel,  be 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  excuse  him  in  the  neglect  of  either — or,  if  not,  yet  if 
Christ's  coming  under  the  law  frees  believers  from  all  obligations  to  obey  its 
precepts — if  gospel  invitations  are  addressed  only  to  the  regenerate — if  the 
illuminating  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  consist  in  revealing  to  us  the 
secret  purposes  of  God  concerning  us,  or  impressing  us  with  the  idea  that 
we  are  the  favourites  of  Heaven — if  believing  such  impressions  be  Christian 
faith,  and  doubting  of  their  validity  unbelief — if  there  be  no  such  thing  as 
progressive  sanctitication,  nor  any  sanctificalion  inherent,  except  that  of  the 
illumination  before  described — if  wicked  men  are  not  obliged  to  do  any 
thing  beyond  what  tliey  can  find  in  their  hearts  to  do,  nor  good  men  to  be 
holy  beyond  what  they  actually  are — and  if  these  things  constitute  the  gospel, 
Mr.  Pearce  certainly  did  not  preach  it.  But  if  a  man,  whatever  be  his 
depravity,  be  necessarily  a  free  agent,  and  accountable  for  all  his  dispositions 
and  actions — if  gospel  invitations  be  addressed  to  men,  not  as  elect  nor  as 
non-elect,  but  as  sinners  exposed  to  the  righteous  displeasure  of  God — it 
Christ's  obedience  and  death  rather  increase  than  diminish  our  obligations 
to  love  God  and  one  another — if  faith  in  Christ  be  a  falling  in  with  God's 
way  of  salvation,  and  unbelief  a  falling  out  with  it — if  sanctification  be  a 
progressive  work,  and  so  essential  a  branch  of  our  salvation  as  that  without 
it  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord — if  the  Holy  Spirit  instruct  us  in  nothing  by 
his  illuminating  influences  but  what  was  already  revealed  in  the  Scriptures, 
and  which  we  should  have  perceived  but  for  that  we  loved  darkness  rather 
than  light — and  if  he  incline  us  to  nothing  but  what  was  antecedently  right, 
or  to  such  a  spirit  as  every  intelligent  creature  ought  at  all  times  to  have 
possessed — then  Mr.  Pearce  did  preach  the  gospel ;  and  that  which  his 
accusers  call  by  this  name  is  another  gospel,  and  not  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

Moreover,  If  the  doctrine  taught  by  Mr.  Pearce  be  not  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
and  that  which  is  taught  by  the  above  writers  and  their  adherents  be,  it  may 
be  expected  that  the  effects  produced  will  in  some  degree  correspond  with 
this  representation.  And  is  it  evident  to  all  men  who  are  acquainted  with 
both,  and  who  judge  impartially,  that  the  doctrine  taught  by  Mr.  Pearce  is 
productive  of  "  hatred,  variance,  emulations,  wrath,  strife,  railings,  evil  sur- 


4,3S  MEMOIRS  OP  MR.  PEARCE. 

misings,  and  perverse  dispntings ;"  that  it  renders  those  who  embrace  it, 
*'  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous,  boasters,  proud,  false  accusers,  fierce, 
despisers  of  those  that  are  good;"  while  that  of  his  adversaries  promotes 
"  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suftenng,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness,  and 
temperance?"  ....  ^' why  even  of  i/oi/rselvcs  judge  ye  not  what  is  right? 
.  ...  ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits." 

Mr.  Pearce's  ideas  of  preaching  human  obligation  may  be  seen  in  the 
following  extract  from  a  letter  addressed  to  a  young  minister  who  was  sent  out 
of  the  church  of  which  he  was  a  pastor.  "  You  request  my  thoughts  how  a 
minister  should  preach  human  obligation.  I  would  reply,  do  it  extensively, 
do  it  constantly;  but,  withal,  do  it  affectionately,  and  evangelically.  I  think, 
considering  the  general  character  of  our  hearers,  and  the  state  of  their  mental 
improvement,  it  would  be  time  lost  to  argue  much  from  the  data  of  natural 
religion.  The  best  way  is  perhaps  to  express  duties  in  Scripture  language, 
and  enforce  them  by  evangelical  motives;  as  the  example  of  Christ — the  end 
of  his  sufferings  and  death — the  consciousness  of  his  approbation — the 
assistance  he  has  promised — the  influence  of  a  holy  conversation  on  God's 
people,  and  on  the  people  of  the  world — the  small  returns  we  at  best  can 
make  for  the  love  of  Jesus — and  the  hope  of  eternal  holiness.  These  form 
a  body  of  arguments  which  the  most  simple  may  understand,  and  the  most 
dull  may  feel.  Yet  I  would  not  neglect  on  some  occasions  to  show  the  obli- 
gations of  man  to  love  his  Creator — the  reasonableness  of  the  Divine  law — 
and  the  natural  tendency  of  its  commands  to  promote  our  own  comfort,  the 
good  of  society,  and  the  glory  of  God.  These  will  serve  to  illuminate,  but, 
after  all,  it  is  'the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God'  that  will  most  effectually 
animate,  and  impel  to  action." 

Mr.  Pearce's  affection  to  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  was  not  merely,  nor 
principally,  on  account  of  its  being  a  system  which  secured  his  own  safety. 
Had  this  been  the  case,  he  might,  like  others  whose  religion  originates  and 
terminates  in  self-love,  have  been  delighted  with  the  idea  of  the  grace  of'the 
Son;  but  it  would  have  been  at  the  expense  of  all  complacency  in  the  right- 
eous government  of  the  Father.  He  might  have  admired  something  which 
he  accounted  the  gospel,  as  saving  him  from  misery;  but  he  could  have  dis- 
cerned no  loveliness  in  the  Divine  law  as  being  holy,  just,  and  good,  nor  in 
the  mediation  of  Christ  as  doing  honour  to  it.  That  which  in  his  view  con- 
stituted the  glory  of  the  gospel  was,  that  God  is  therein  revealed  as  "the  just 
God  and  the  Saviour — ^just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus." 

He  was  a  lover  of  good  men. — He  was  never  more  in  his  element  than 
when  joining  with  them  in  spiritual  conversation,  prayer,  and  praise.  His 
heart  was  tenderly  attached  to  the  people  of  his  charge ;  and  it  was  one  of 
the  bitterest  ingredients  in  his  cup  during  his  long  affliction  to  be  cut  off 
from  their  society.  When  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Plymouth,  he  thus  writes 
to  Mr.  King,  one  of  the  deacons,  "  Give  my  love  to  all  the  dear  people.  O 
pray  that  He  who  afflicts  would  give  me  patience  to  endure.  Indeed  the 
state  of  suspense  in  which  I  have  been  kept  so  long  requires  much  of  it; 
and  I  often  exclaim,  ere  I  am  aware,  O  my  dear  people!  O  my  dear  family, 
when  shall  I  return  to  you  again?"  He  conscientiously  dissented  from  the 
Church  of  England,  and  from  every  other  national  establishment  of  religion, 
as  inconsistent  with  what  he  judged  the  Scriptural  account  of  the  nature  of 
Christ's  kingdom ;  nor  was  he  less  conscientious  in  his  rejection  of  infant 
baptism,  considering  it  has  having  no  foundation  in  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  as  tending  to  confound  the  church  and  the  world:  yet  he  embraced  with 
brotherly  affection  great  numbers  of  godly  men  both  in  and  out  of  the  estab- 
lishment.    His  spirit  was  truly  catholic :  he  loved  all  who  loved  our  Lord 


GENERAL  OUTLINES  OF  HIS  CHARACTER.  433 

Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity.  "  Let  us  pray,"  said  he  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "  for 
the  peace  of  Jerusalem ;  they  shall  prosper  who  love — not  this  part,  or  the 
other,  but  who  love  her — that  is,  the  whole  body  of  Christ." 

He  bore  good-will  to  all  mankind. — It  was  from  this  principle  that  he  so 
ardently  desired  to  go  and  preach  the  gospel  among  the  heathen.  And  even 
under  his  long  affliction,  when  at  times  he  entertained  hopes  of  recovery,  he 
would  say,  "  My  soul  pants  for  usefulness  more  extensive  than  ever;  I  long 
to  become  an  apostle  to  the  world !"  The  errors  and  sins  of  men  wrought 
much  in  him  in  a  way  of  pity.  He  knew  that  they  were  culpable  in  the 
sight  of  God ;  but  he  knew  also  that  he  himself  was  a  sinner,  and  felt  that 
they  were  entitled  to  his  compassion.  His  zeal  for  the  Divinity  and  atone- 
ment of  his  Saviour  never  appeared  to  have  operated  in  a  way  of  unchristian 
bitterness  against  those  who  rejected  these  important  doctrines ;  and  though 
he  was  shamefully  traduced  by  professors  of  another  description  as  a  mere 
legal  preacher,  and  his  ministry  held  up  as  affording  no  food  for  the  souls 
of  believers — and  though  he  could  not  but  feel  the  injury  of  such  misrepre- 
sentations, yet  he  does  not  appear  to  have  cherished  unchristian  resentment,' 
but  would  at  any  time  have  laid  himself  out  for  the  good  of  his  worst  ene- 
mies. It  was  his  constant  endeavour  to  promote  as  good  an  understanding 
between  the  different  congregations  in  the  town  as  the  nature  of  their  different 
religious  sentiments  would  admit.  The  cruel  bitterness  of  many  people 
against  Dr.  Priestley  and  his  friends,  at  and  after  the  Birmingham  riots,  was 
affecting  to  his  mind.  Such  methods  of  opposing  error  he  abhorred.  His 
regard  to  mankind  made  him  lament  the  consequences  of  war;  but  while 
he  wished  and  prayed  for  peace  to  the  nations,  and  especially  to  his  native 
country,  he  had  no  idea  of  turbulendy  contending  for  it.  Though  friendly 
to  civil  and  religious  liberty,  he  stood  aloof  from  the  fire  of  political  conten- 
tion. In  an  excellent  Circular  Letter  to  the  churches  of  the  midland  asso- 
ciation in  1794,  of  which  he  was  the  writer,  he  thus  expresses  himself: — 
*'  Have  as  litde  as  possible  to  do  with  the  world.  Meddle  not  with  political 
controversies.  An  inordinate  pursuit  of  these,  we  are  sorry  to  observe,  has 
been  as  a  canker-worm  at  the  root  of  vital  piety;  and  caused  the  love  of 
many,  formerly  zealous  professors,  to  wax  cold.  '  The  Lord  reigneth ;'  it  is 
our  place  to  'rejoice  in  his  government,  and  quiedy  wait  for  the  salvation 
of  God.'  The  establishment  of  his  kingdom  will  be  the  ultimate  end  of  all 
those  national  commotions  which  terrify  the  earth.  'The  wrath  of  man 
shall  praise  him ;  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  he  wdl  restrain.' "  From 
this  time,  more  than  ever,  he  turned  ^^"s  whole  attention  to  the  promoting 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  cherishing  and  recommending  a  spirit  of  content- 
ment and  gratitude  for  the  civil  and  religious  advantages  that  we  enjoyed. 
Such  were  the  sentiments  inculcated  in  the  last  sermon  that  he  printed,  and 
the  last  but  one  that  he  preached.  His  dear  young  friends  who  are  gone  to 
India  will  never  forget  how  earnesUy  he  charged  them  by  letter,  when  con- 
fined at  Plymouth,  to  conduct  themselves  in  all  civil  matters  as  peaceable 
and  obedient  subjects  to  the  government  under  which  they  lived,  in  what- 
ever country  it  might  be  their  lot  to  reside. 

It  was  love  that  tempered  his  faithfulness  with  so  large  a  portion  of  ten- 
der concern  for  the  good  of  those  ivhose  conduct  he  was  obliged  to  censure. — 
He  could  not  bear  them  that  were  evil ;  but  would  set  himself  against  them 
with  the  greatest  firmness;  yet  it  was  easy  to  discover  the  pain  of  mind  with 
which  this  necessary  part  of  duty  was  discharged.  It  is  well  remembered 
how  he  conducted  himself  towards  certain  preachers  in  the  neighbourhood, 
who,  wandering  from  place  to  place,  corrupted  and  embroiled  the  churches; 
whose  conduct  he  knew  to  be  as  dishonourable  as  their  principles  were  loose 
and  unscriptural ;  and,  when  requested  to  recite  particulars  in  his  own  de- 

VoL.  HI.— 55  3  O 


434  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

fence,  his  fear  and  tenderness  for  character,  his  modest  reluctance  to  accuse 
persons  older  than  himself,  and  his  deep  concern  that  men  engaged  in  the 
Christian  ministry  should  render  such  accusations  necessary,  were  each  con- 
spicuous, and  proved  to  all  present  that  the  work  of  an  accuser  was  to  him 
a  strange  work. 

It  was  love  that  expanded  his  heart,  and  prompted  him  to  labour  in  sea- 
son and  out  of  season  for  the  salvation  of  sinners. — This  was  the  spring  of 
that  constant  stream  of  activity  by  which  his  life  was  distinguished.  His 
conscience  would  not  suffer  him  to  decline  what  appeared  to  be  right.  "  I 
dare  not  refuse,"  he  would  say,  "  lest  I  should  shrink  from  duty.  Unjusti- 
fiable ease  is  worse  than  the  most  difficult  labours  to  which  duty  calls."  To 
persons  who  never  entered  into  his  views  and  feelings,  some  parts  of  his 
conduct,  especially  those  which  relate  to  his  desire  of  quitting  his  country 
that  he  might  preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  will  appear  extravagant ; 
but  no  man  could  with  greater  propriety  have  adopted  the  language  of  the 
apostle,  "  Whether  we  be  beside  ourselves,  it  is  to  God;  or  whether  we  be 
sober,  it  is  for  your  cause ;  for  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us." 

He  was  frequently  told  that  his  exercises  were  too  great  for  his  strength; 
but  such  was  the  ardour  of  his  heart,  "  He  could  not  die  in  a  better  work." 
When  he  went  up  into  the  pulpit  to  deliver  his  last  sermon,  he  thought  he 
should  not  have  been  able  to  get  through ;  but  when  he  got  a  little  warm, 
he  felt  relieved,  and  forgot  his  indisposition,  preaching  with  equal  fervour 
and  freedom  as  when  in  perfect  health.  While  he  was  laid  aside  he  could 
not  forbear  hoping  that  he  should  some  time  resume  his  delightful  work; 
and,  knowing  the  strength  of  his  feelings  to  be  such  that  it  would  be  un- 
safe to  trust  himself,  he  proposed  for  a  time  to  write  his  discourses,  that  his 
mind  might  not  be  at  liberty  to  overdo  his  debilitated  frame. 

All  his  counsels,  cautions,  and  reproofs,  appear  to  have  been  the  effect  of 
love. — It  was  a  rule  dictated  by  his  heart,  no  less  than  by  his  judgment,  to 
discourage  all  evil  speaking ;  nor  would  he  approve  of  just  censure  unless 
some  good  and  necessary  end  were  to  be  answered  by  it.  Two  of  his  dis- 
tant friends  being  at  his  house  together,  one  of  them,  during  the  absence  of 
the  other,  suggested  something  to  his  disadvantage.  He  put  a  stop  to  the 
conversation  by  answering,  "  He  is  here,  take  him  aside,  and  tell  him  of  it 
by  himself:  you  may  do  him  good." 

If  he  perceived  any  of  his  acquaintance  bewildered  in  fruidess  specula- 
tions, he  would  in  an  affectionate  manner  endeavour  to  draw  off  their  atten- 
tion from  the  mazes  of  confusion  to  the  simple  doctrines  of  the  cross.  A 
specimen  of  this  kind  of  treatment  will  be  seen  in  the  letter,  No.  I.,  towards 
the  close  of  this  chapter. 

He  was  affectionate  to  all,  but  especially  towards  the  rising  generation. 
The  youth  of  his  own  congregation,  of  London,  and  of  Dublin,  have  not 
forgot  his  melting  discourses,  which  were  particularly  addressed  to  them. 
He  took  much  delight  in  speaking  to  the  children,  and  would  adapt  himself 
to  their  capacities,  and  expostulate  with  them  on  the  things  which  belonged 
to  their  everlasting  peace.  While  at  Plymouth,  he  wrote  thus  to  one  of  his 
friends,  "  Oh  how  should  I  rejoice,  were  there  a  speedy  prospect  of  ray  re- 
turning to  my  great  and  little  congregations !"  Nor  was  it  by  preaching 
only  that  he  sought  their  eternal  welfare :  several  of  his  letters  are  ad- 
dressed to  young  persons. — See  No.  II.  and  III.,  towards  the  close  of  this 
chapter. 

With  what  joy  did  he  congratulate  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  on 
hearing  that  three  of  the  younger  branches  of  his  family  had  apparently  been 
brought  to  take  the  Redeemer's  yoke  upon  them ! — "  Thanks,  thanks  be  to 
God,"  said  he,  •'  for  the  enrapturing  prospects  before  you  as  a  father,  as  a 


GENERAL  OUTLINES  OP  HIS  CHARACTER.  435 

Christian  father  especially.  What,  three  of  a  family !  and  these  three  at 
once !  Oh  the  heights  and  depths,  and  lengths  and  breadths  of  his  unfa- 
thomable grace!  My  soul  feels  joy  unspeakable  at  the  blessed  news.  Three 
immortal  souls  secured  for  eternal  life !  Three  rational  spirits  preparing  to 
grace  Immanuel's  triumphs,  and  sing  his  praise!  Three  examples  of  virtue 
and  goodness,  exhibiting  the  genuine  influence  of  the  true  religion  of  Jesus 
before  the  world ! — Perhaps  three  mothers  training  up  to  lead  three  future 
families  in  the  way  to  heaven.  Oh  what  a  train  of  blessings  do  I  see  in  this 
event !  Most  sincerely  do  I  participate  with  my  dear  friend  in  his  pleasures, 
and  in  his  gratitude." 

Towards  the  close  of  life,  writing  to  the  same  friend,  he  thus  concludes 

his  letter: — "  Present  our  love  to  dear  Mrs.  S ,  and  the  family,  especially 

those  whose  hearts  are  engaged  to  seek  the  Lord  and  his  goodness.  O  tell 
them  they  will  find  him  good  all  their  lives,  supremely  good  on  dying  beds, 
and  best  of  all  in  glory." 

In  his  visits  to  the  sick  he  was  singularly  useful.  His  sympathetic  con- 
versation, affectionate  prayers,  and  endearing  manner  of  recommending  to 
them  a  compassionate  Saviour,  frequently  operated  as  a  cordial  to  their  trou- 
bled hearts.  A  young  man  of  his  congregation  was  dangerously  ill.  His 
father  living  at  a  distance  was  anxious  to  hear  from  him  ;  and  Mr.  Pearce, 
in  a  letter  to  the  minister  on  whose  preaching  the  father  attended,  wrote  as 

follows : — "  I  feel  for  the  anxiety  of  Mr.  V ,  and  am  happy  in  being  at 

this  time  a  Barnabas  to  him.  I  was  not  seriously  alarmed  for  his  son  till 
last  Tuesday,  when  I  expected  from  every  symptom,  and  the  language  of  his 
apothecary,  that  he  was  nigh  unto  death.  But,  to  our  astonishment  and  joy, 
a  surprising  change  has  since  taken  place.  I  saw  him  yesterday  apparently 
in  a  fair  way  of  recovery.  His  mind  for  the  first  part  of  his  illness  was 
sometimes  joyful,  and  almost  constantly  calm:  but,  when  at  the  worst,  sus- 
picions crowded  his  mind  ;  he  feared  he  had  been  a  hypocrite.  I  talked,  and 
prayed,  and  wept  with  him.  One  scene  was  very  affecting :  both  he  and  his 
wife  appeared  like  persons  newly  awakened.  They  never  felt  so  strongly 
the  importance  of  religion  before.  He  conversed  about  the  tenderness  of 
Jesus  to  broken-hearted  sinners;  and,  whilst  we  spoke,  it  seemed  as  though 
he  came  and  began  to  heal  the  wound.  It  did  me  good,  and  I  trust  was  not 
unavailing  to  them.  They  have  since  been  for  the  most  part  happy;  and  a 
very  pleasant  interview  I  had  with  them  on  the  past  day." 

Every  man  must  have  his  seasons  of  relaxation.  In  his  earlier  years  he 
would  take  strong  bodily  exercise.  Of  late  he  occasionally  employed  him- 
self with  the  microscope,  and  in  making  a  few  philosophical  experiments. 

"  We  will  amuse  ourselves  with  philosophy,"  said  he  to  a  philosophical 
friend,  "  but  Jesus  shall  be  our  teacher."  In  all  these  exercises  he  seems 
never  to  have  lost  sight  of  God ;  but  would  be  discovering  something  in  his 
works  that  should  furnish  matter  for  praise  and  admiration.  His  mind  did 
not  appear  to  have  been  unfitted,  but  rather  assisted  by  such  pursuits,  for 
the  discharge  of  the  more  spiritual  exercises,  into  which  he  would  fall  at  a 
proper  season,  as  into  his  native  element.  If  in  company  with  his  friends,  and 
the  conversation  turned  upon  the  works  of  nature,  or  art,  or  any  other  subject 
of  science,  he  would  cheerfully  take  a  part  in  it,  and  when  occasion  required,  by 
some  easy  and  pleasant  transition,  direct  it  into  another  channel.  An  ingenious 
friend  once  showed  him  a  model  of  a  machine  which  he  thought  of  construct- 
ing, and  by  which  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  produce  a  perpetual  motion.  Mr. 
Pearce,  having  patiently  inspected  it,  discovered  where  the  operation  would  stop, 
and  pointed  it  out.  His  friend  was  convinced,  and  felt,  as  may  be  supposed, 
rather  unpleasant  at  his  disappointment.  He  consoled  him ;  and,  a  prayer- 
meeting  being  at  hand,  said  to  this  effect,  "  We  may  learn  from  hence  our  own 


436  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

insufficiency,  and  the  glory  of  that  Being  who  is  *  wonderful  in  counsel,  and 
excellent  in  working :'  let  us  go  and  worship  Him." 

His  mild  and  gentle  disposition,  not  apt  to  give  or  take  offence,  often 
won  upon  persons  in  matters  wherein  at  first  they  have  shown  themselves 
averse.  When  collecting  for  the  Baptist  mission,  a  gentleman,  who  had  no 
knowledge  of  him,  or  of  the  conductors  of  that  undertaking,  made  some  ob- 
jections on  the  ground  that  the  Baptists  had  little  or  nothing  to  say  to  the 
unconverted.  This  objection  Mr.  Pearce  attempted  to  remove,  by  alleging 
that  the  parties  concerned  in  this  business  were  entirely  of  another  mind. 
"  I  am  glad  to  hear  it,"  said  the  gentleman  ;  "  but  I  have  my  fears."  "  Then 
pray,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Pearce,  "  do  not  give  till  you  are  satisfied."  "  Why,  I 
assure  you,"  replied  the  other,  "  I  think  the  Methodists  more  likely  to  succeed 
than  you ;  and  should  feel  more  pleasure  in  giving  them  ten  guineas,  than 
you  one."  "  If  you  give  them  twenty  guineas,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Pearce,  "  we 
shall  rejoice  in  their  success;  and  if  you  give  us  one,  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
misapplied."     The  gentleman  smiled,  and  gave  him  four. 

His  figure,  to  a  superficial  observer,  would,  at  first  sight,  convey  nothing 
very  interesting ;  but,  on  close  inspection,  his  countenance  would  be  acknow- 
ledged to  be  a  faithful  index  to  his  soul.  Calm,  placid,  and,  when  in  the 
pulpit  especially,  full  of  animation,  his  appearance  was  not  a  little  expressive 
of  the  interest  he  felt  in  the  eternal  welfare  of  his  audience;  his  eyes  beam- 
ing benignity,  and  speaking  in  the  most  impressive  language  his  willingness 
to  impart  not  only  the  gospel  of  God,  but  his  own  soul  also. 

His  imagination  was  vivid,  and  his  judgment  clear.  He  relished  the 
elegances  of  science,  and  felt  alive  to  the  most  delicate  and  refined  senti- 
ments ;  yet  these  were  things  on  account  of  which  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  valued  himself.  They  were  rather  his  amusements  than  his  employ- 
ment. 

His  address  was  easy  and  insinuating;  his  voice  pleasant,  but  sometimes 
overstrained  in  the  course  of  his  sermon ;  his  language  chaste,  flowing,  and 
inclining  to  the  florid:  this  last,  however,  abated  as  his  judgment  ripened, 
His  delivery  was  rather  slow  than  rapid;  his  altitude  graceful;  and  his 
countenance,  in  almost  all  his  discourses,  approaching  to  an  affectionate 
smile.  He  never  appears,  however,  to  have  studied  what  are  called  the 
graces  of  pulpit  action ;  and  whatever  he  had  read  concerning  them,  it  was 
manifest  that  he  thought  nothing  of  them,  or  of  any  other  of  the  ornaments 
of  speech,  at  the  time.  Both  his  action  and  language  were  the  genuine 
expressions  of  an  ardent  mind,  affected,  and  sometimes  deeply,  with  his  sub- 
ject. Being  rather  below  the  common  stature,  and  disregarding,  or  rather, 
I  might  say,  disapproving  every  thing  pompous  in  his  appearance,  he  has 
upon  some  occasions  been  prejudged  to  his  disadvantage;  but  the  song  of 
the  nightingale  is  not  the  less  melodious  for  his  not  appearing  in  a  gaudy 
plumage.     His  manner  of  preparing  for  the  pulpit  may  be  seen  in  a  letter 

addressed  to  Mr.  C ,  of  L ,  who  was  sent  out  of  his  church,  and 

which  may  be  of  use  to  others  in  a  similar  situation.  See  No.  IV.  towards 
the  close  of  this  chapter. 

His  ministry  was  highly  acceptable  to  persons  of  education ;  but  he  appears 
to  have  been  most  in  his  element  when  preaching  to  the  poor.  The  feelings 
which  he  himself  expresses,  when  instructing  the  colliers,  appear  to  have 
continued  with  him  through  life.  It  was  his  delight  to  carry  the  glad  tidings 
of  salvation  into  the  villages  wherever  he  could  find  access  and  opportunity. 
And  as  he  sought  the  good  of  their  souls,  so  he  both  laboured  and  suffered 
to  relieve  their  temporal  wants;  living  himself  in  a  style  of  frugality  and 
self-denial,  that  he  might  have  whereof  to  give  to  them  that  needed. 

Finally,  He  jpossessed  a  large  portion  of  real  happiness. — There  are  few 


GENERAL  OUTLINES  OF  HIS  CHARACTER.  437 

characters  whose  enjoyments,  both  natural  and  spiritual,  have  risen  to  so 
great  a  height.  He  dwelt  in  love  ;  and  "  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth 
in  God,  -and  God  in  him."  Such  a  life  must  needs  be  happy.  If  his  reli- 
gion had  originated  and  terminated  in  self-love,  as  some  contend  the  whole 
of  religion  does,  his  joys  had  been  not  only  of  a  different  nature,  but  far  less 
extensive  than  they  were.  His  interest  was  bound  up  with  that  of  his  Lord 
and  Saviour.  Its  afflictions  were  his  affliction,  and  its  joys  his  joy.  The 
grand  object  of  his  desire  was  to  "  see  the  good  of  God's  chosen,  to  rejoice 
in  the  gladness  of  his  nation,  and  to  glory  with  his  inheritance."  "  What 
pleasures  do  those  lose,"  says  he,  "  who  have  no  interest  in  God's  gracious 
and  holy  cause!"* 

If  an  object  of  joy  presented  itself  to  his  mind,  he  would  delight  in  mul- 
tiplying it  by  its  probable  or  possible  consequences.  Thus  it  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  his  congratulating  his  friend  on  the  conversion  of  three  of  his 
children ;  and  thus  it  was  when  speaking  of  a  people  who  divided  into  two 
congregations,  not  from  discord,  but  from  an  increase  of  numbers;  and  who 
generously  united  in  erecting  a  new  and  additional  place  of  worship : — 
"  These  liberal  souls  are  subscribing,"  said  he,  "  in  order  to  support  a  reli- 
gion which,  as  far  as  it  truly  prevails,  will  render  others  as  liberal  as  them- 
selves." 

His  heart  was  so  much  formed  for  social  enjoyment,  that  he  seems  to  have 
contemplated  the  heavenly  state  under  this  idea  with  peculiar  advantage. 
This  was  the  leading  theme  of  a  discourse  from  Rev.  v.  9-12,  which  he 
delivered  at  a  meeting  of  ministers  at  Arnsby,  April  18,  1797;  and  of  which 
his  brethren  retain  a  lively  remembrance.  On  this  pleasing  subject  he 
dwells  also  in  a  letter  to  his  dear  friend  Birt. — "I  had  much  pleasure,  a 
few  days  since,  in  meditating  on  the  affectionate  language  of  our  Lord  to 
his  sorrowful  disciples : — '  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.'  What  a  pleni- 
tude of  consolation  do  these  words  contain !  what  a  sweet  view  of  heaven  as 
a  place  of  society  !  It  is  one  place  for  us  all ;  that  place  where  his  glorified 
body  is,  there  all  his  followers  shall  assemble,  to  part  no  more.  Where  he 
is,  there  we  shall  be  also.  O  blessed  anticipation!  There  shall  be  Abel, 
and  all  the  martyrs;  Abraham,  and  all  the  patriarchs;  Isaiah,  and  all  the 
prophets;  Paul,  and  all  the  apostles;  Gabriel,  and  all  the  angels;  and,  above 
all,  Jesus,  and  all  his  ransomed  people!  Oh  to  be  amongst  the  number! 
My  dear  brother,  let  us  be  strong  in  the  Lord.  Let  us  realize  the  bliss 
before  us.  Let  our  faith  bring  heaven  itself  near,  and  feast,  and  live  upon 
the  scene.  Oh  what  a  commanding  influence  would  it  have  upon  our 
thoughts,  passions,  comforts,  sorrows,  words,  ministry,  prayers,  praises,  and 
conduct.  What  manner  of  persons  should  we  be  in  all  holy  conversation 
and  godliness!" 

In  many  persons  the  pleasures  imparted  by  religion  are  counteracted  by  a 
gloomy  constitution ;  but  it  was  not  so  in  him.  In  his  disposition  they  met 
with  a  friendly  soil.  Cheerfulness  was  as  natural  to  him  as  breathing ;  and 
this  spirit,  sanctified  by  the  grace  of  God,  gave  a  tincture  to  all  his  thoughts, 
conversation,  and  preaching.  He  was  seldom  heard  without  tears ;  but  they 
were  frequently  tears  of  pleasure.  No  levity,  no  attempts  at  wit,  no  aiming 
to  excite  ihe  risibility  of  an  audience,  ever  disgraced  his  sermons.  Religion 
in  him  was  habitual  seriousness,  mingled  with  sacred  pleasure,  frequently 
rising  into  sublime  delight,  and  occasionally  overflowing  with  transporting 
joy. 

*  See  the  Letter  to  Dr.  Ryland,  May  30,  1796. 

2o2 


438  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE, 

LETTERS  REFERRED  TO  IN  THIS  CHAPTER. 

No.  I. 

To  a  young  man  whose  mind  he  perceived  was  bewildered  with  fruitless  speculations. 

"The  conversation  we  had  on  our  way  to so  far  interested  me  in 

your  religious  feelings,  that  I  find  it  impossible  to  satisfy  my  mind  till  I  have 
expressed  my  ardent  wishes  for  the  happy  termination  of  your  late  exercises, 
and  contributed  my  mite  to  the  promotion  of  your  joy  in  the  Lord.  A  dis- 
position more  or  less  to  'scepticism,'  I  believe,  is  common  to  our  nature,  in 
proportion  as  opposite  systems  and  jarring  opinions,  each  supported  by  a 
plausibility  of  argument,  are  presented  to  our  minds;  and  with  some  qualifi- 
cation, I  admit  Robinson's  remark,  'That  he  who  never  doubted  never  be- 
lieved.' While  examining  the  grounds  of  persuasion,  it  is  right  for  the  mind 
to  hesitate.  Opinions  ought  not  to  be  prejudged,  any  more  than  criminals. 
Every  objection  ought  to  have  its  weight;  and  the  more  numerous  and  for- 
cible objections  are,  the  more  cause  shall  we  finally  have  for  the  triumph, 
'Magna  est  Veritas  et  preralebit ;'  but  there  are  two  or  three  considerations 
which  have  no  small  weight  with  me  in  relation  to  religious  controversies. 

"The  first  is,  The  importance  of  truth.  It  would  be  endless  to  write  on 
truth  in  general.  I  confine  my  views  to  what  I  deem  the  leading  truth  in 
the  New  Testament, —  The  atonement  made  on  behalf  of  sinners  by  the  Son 
of  God;  the  doctrine  of  the  cross;  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucifed.  It 
surely  cannot  be  a  matter  of  small  concern  whether  the  Creator  of  all  things, 
out  of  mere  love  to  rebellious  men,  exchanged  a  throne  for  a  cross,  and 
thereby  reconciled  a  ruined  world  to  God.  If  this  be  not  true,  how  can  we 
respect  the  Bible  as  an  inspired  book,  which  so  plainly  attributes  our  salva- 
tion to  the  grace  of  God,  'through  the  redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus?' 
And  if  we  discard  the  Bible,  what  can  we  do  with  prophecies,  miracles,  and 
all  the  power  of  evidence  on  which,  as  on  adamantine  pillars,  its  authority 
abides?  Surely  the  infidel  has  more  to  reject  than  the  believer  to  embrace. 
That  book  then  which  we  receive,  not  as  the  word  of  man,  but  as  the  word 
of  God,  not  as  the  religion  of  our  ancestors,  but  on  the  invincible  conviction 
which  attends  an  impartial  investigation  of  its  evidences — that  book  reveals 
a  truth  of  the  highest  importance  to  man,  consonant  to  the  opinions  of  the 
earliest  ages  and  the  most  enlightened  nations,  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
Jewish  economy  as  to  its  spirit  and  design,  altogether  adapted  to  unite  the 
equitable  and  merciful  perfections  of  the  Deity  in  the  sinner's  salvation,  and 
above  all  things  calculated  to  beget  the  most  established  peace,  to  inspire 
with  the  liveliest  hope,  and  to  engage  the  heart  and  life  in  habitual  devoted- 
ness  to  the  interest  of  morality  and  piety.  Such  a  doctrine  I  cannot  but 
venerate ;  and  to  the  author  of  such  a  doctrine  my  whole  soul  labours  to 
exhaust  itself  in  praise. 

'  Oh  the  sweet  wonders  of  the  cross, 
Where  God  my  Saviour  loved  and  died  !' 

Forgive,  my  friend,  forgive  the  transport  of  a  soul  compelled  to  feel  where 
it  attempts  only  to  explore.  I  cannot  on  this  subject  control  my  passions  by 
the  laws  of  logic.  '  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of 
Christ  Jesus  my  Lord  1' 

"  Secondly,  I  consider  man  as  a  depraved  creature,  so  depraved  that  his 
judgment  is  as  dark  as  his  appetites  are  sensual,  wholly  dependent  on  God, 
therefore,  for  religious  light  as  well  as  true  devotion,  yet  such  a  dupe  to  pride 
as  to  reject  every  thing  which  the  narrow  limits  of  his  comprehension  can- 
not embrace,  and  such  a  slave  to  his  passions  as  to  admit  no  law  but  self- 


LETTERS  BEFORE  REFERRED  TO.  439 

interest  for  his  government.  With  these  views  of  human  nature  I  am 
persuaded  we  ought  to  suspect  our  own  decisions,  whenever  they  oppose 
truths  too  sublime  for  our  understandings,  or  too  pure  for  our  lusts.  To  err 
on  this  side,  indeed,  'is  human;'  wherefore  the  wise  man  saith,  'He  that 
trusteth  to  his  own  heart  is  a  fool.'  Should  therefore  the  evidence  be  only 
equal  on  the  side  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  I  should  think  with  this  allowance 
ive  should  do  well  to  admit  it. 

"  Thirdly,  If  the  gospel  of  Christ  be  true,  it  should  be  heartily  embraced. 
We  should  yield  ourselves  to  its  influence  without  reserve.  We  must  come 
to  a  point,  and  resolve  to  be  either  infidels  or  Christians.  To  know  the 
power  of  the  sun  we  should  expose  ourselves  to  his  rays;  to  know  the  sweet- 
ness of  honey  we  must  bring  it  to  our  palates.  Speculations  will  not  do  in 
either  of  these  cases,  much  less  will  it  in  matters  of  religion. — '  My  son,' 
saith  God,  '  give  me  thine  heart!' 

"  Fourthly,  A  humble  admission  of  the  light  we  already  have  is  the  most 
effectual  way  to  a  full  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  *  If 
any  man  will  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  his  doctrine  whether  it  be  of 
God.'  If  we  honour  God  as  far  as  we  know  his  will,  he  will  honour  us 
with  further  discoveries  of  it.  Thus  shall  we  know  if  we  follow  on  to  know 
the  Lord ;  thus,  thus  shall  you,  my  dear  friend,  become  assured  that  there  is 
salvation  in  no  other  name  than  that  of  Jesus  Christ :  and  thus,  from  an 
inward  experience  of  the  quickening  influences  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  you  will 
join  the  admiring  church,  and  say  of  Jesus,  'This  is  my  Beloved,  this  is  my 
Friend;  he  is  the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand,  he  is  altogether  lovely.' 
Yes,  I  yet  hope — I  expect — to  see  you  rejoicing  in  Christ  Jesus;  and  appear- 
ing as  a  living  witness  that  he  is  faithful  who  hath  said — '  Seek,  and  ye  shall 
find;  ask,  and  receive,  that  your  joy  may  be  full.'  " 

In  another  letter  to  the  same  correspondent,  after  congratulating  himself 
that  he  had  discovered  such  a  mode  of  killing  noxious  insects  as  should  put 
them  to  the  least  pain,  and  which  was  characteristic  of  the  tenderness  of  his 
heart,  he  proceeds  as  follows :  "  But  enough  of  nature.  How  is  my  brother 
as  a  Christian?  We  have  had  some  interesting  moments  in  conversation 
on  the  methods  of  grace,  that  grace  whose  influence  reaches  to  the  day  of 
adversity  and  the  hour  of  death ;  seasons  when  of  every  thing  else  it  may 
be  said.  Miserable  comforters  are  they  all !  My  dear  friend,  we  will  amuse 
ourselves  with  philosophy,  but  Christ  shall  be  our  teacher ;  Christ  shall  be 
our  glory;  Christ  shall  be  our  portion.  Oh  that  we  maybe  enabled  'to 
comprehend  the  heights,  and  depths,  and  lengths,  and  breadths,  and  to  know 
the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge !'  " 

No.  II. 

To  a  young  gentleman  of  his  acquaintance,  who  was  then  studying  physic  at  Edinburgh. 

"  Did  my  dear  friend  P know  with  what  sincere  affection  and  serious 

concern  I  almost  daily  think  of  him,  he  would  need  no  other  evidence  of 
the  effect  which  his  last  visit  and  his  subsequent  letters  have  produced.  In- 
deed there  is  not  a  young  man  in  the  world,  in  earlier  life  than  myself,  for 
whose  universal  prosperity  I  am  so  deeply  interested.  Many  circumstances 
I  can  trace,  on  a  review  of  the  past  fourteen  years,  which  have  contributed 
to  beget  and  augment  affection  and  esteem  ;  and  I  can  assure  you  that  every 
interview  and  every  letter  still  tends  to  consolidate  my  regard. 

"  Happy  should  I  be  if  my  ability  to  serve  you  at  this  important  crisis  of 
human  life  were  equal  to  your  wishes  or  my  own.  Your  situation  demands 
all  the  aids  which  the  wisdom  and  prudence  of  your  friends  can  afford,  that 


440  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

you  may  be  directed  not  only  to  the  most  worthy  objects  of  pursuit,  but  also 
to  the  most  effectual  means  for  obtaining  them.  In  your  professional  cha- 
racter it  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  you  any  assistance.  If  any  general 
observations  I  can  make  should  prove  at  all  useful,  I  shall  be  richly  rewarded 
for  ihe  time  I  employ  in  their  communication. 

''1  thank  you  sincerely  for  the  freedom  wherewith  you  have  disclosed  the 
peculiarities  of  your  situation,  and  the  views  and  resolutions  wherewith  they 
have  inspired  you.  I  can  recommend  nothing  better,  my  dear  friend,  than 
a  determined  adherence  to  the  purposes  you  have  already  formed  respecting 
the  intimacies  you  contract  and  the  associates  you  choose.  In  such  a  place 
as  Edinburgh,  it  may  be  supposed,  no  description  of  persons  will  be  want- 
ing. Some  so  notoriously  vicious  that  their  atrocity  of  character  will  have 
no  small  tendency  to  confirm  your  morals,  from  the  odious  contrast  which 
their  practices  present  to  your  view.  Against  these  therefore  I  need  not 
caution  you.  You  will  flee  them  as  so  many  serpents,  in  whose  breath  is 
venom  and  destruction.  More  danger  may  be  apprehended  from  those 
mixed  characters,  who  blend  the  profession  of  philosophical  refinement  with 
the  secret  indulgence  of  those  sensual  gratifications  which  at  once  exhaust 
the  pocket,  destroy  the  health,  and  debase  the  character. 

"  That  morality  is  friendly  to  individual  happiness  and  to  social  order,  no 
man  who  respects  his  own  conscience  or  character  will  have  the  effrontery 
to  deny.  Its  avenues  cannot,  therefore,  be  too  sacredly  guarded,  nor  those 
principles  which  support  a  virtuous  practice  be  too  seriously  maintained. 
But  morality  derives,  it  is  true,  its  best,  its  only  support  from  the  principles 
of  religion.  '  The  fear  of  the  Lord,'  said  the  wise  man, '  is  to  hate  evil.' 
He  therefore  who  endeavours  to  weaken  the  sanctions  of  religion,  to  induce 
a  sceptical  habit,  to  detach  my  thoughts  from  an  evei'-present  God.  and  my 
hopes  from  a  futurity  of  holy  enjoyment,  he  is  a  worse  enemy  than  the  man 
who  meets  me  with  the  pistol  and  the  dagger.  Should  my  dear  friend  then 
fall  into  the  company  of  those  whose  friendship  cannot  be  purchased  but  by 
the  sacrifice  of  revelation,  I  hope  he  will  ever  think  such  a  price  too  great 
for  the  good  opinion  of  men  who  blaspheme  piety  and  dishonour  God. 
Deism  is  indeed  the  fashion  of  the  day,  and,  to  be  in  the  mode,  you  must 
quit  the  good  old  path  of  devotion,  as  too  antiquated  for  any  but  monks  and 
hermits :  so  as  you  laugh  at  religion,  that  is  enough  to  secure  to  you  the 
company  and  the  appla\ise  of  the  sons  of  politeness.  Oh  that  God  may  be 
a  buckler  and  a  shield  to  defend  you  from  their  assaults!  Let  but  their  pri- 
vate morals  be  inquired  into,  and,  if  they  may  have  a  hearing,  I  dare  engage 
they  will  not  bear  a  favourable  testimony  to  the  good  tendency  of  scepti- 
cism ;  and  it  may  be  regarded  as  an  indisputable  axiom,  that  what  is  un- 
friendly to  virtue  is  unfriendly  to  man. 

"  Were  I  to  argue  a  posteriori  in  favour  of  truth,  I  should  contend  that 
those  principles  must  be  true  which,  first,  corresponded  with  general  obser- 
vation— secondly,  tended  to  general  happiness — thirdly,  preserved  a  uniform 
connexion  between  cause  and  effect,  evil  and  remedy,  in  all  situations. 

"  I  would  then  apply  these  data  to  the  principles  held  on  the  one  side  by 
the  deists,  and  on  the  other  by  the  believers  in  revelation.  In  the  applica- 
tion of  the  first,  I  would  refer  to  the  state  of  human  nature.  The  deist 
contends  for  its  purity  and  powers.  Revelation  declares  its  depravity  and 
weakness.  I  compare  these  opposite  declarations  with  the  facts  that  fall 
under  constant  observation.  Do  I  not  see  that  there  is  a  larger  portion  of 
vice  in  the  world  than  of  virtue;  that  no  man  needs  solicitation  to  evil,  but 
every  man  a  guard  against  it :  and  that  thousands  bewail  their  subjection  to 
lusts  which  they  have  not  power  to  subdue,  whilst  they  live  in  moral  slavery, 
and  cannot  burst  the  chain?    Which  principle  then  shall  I  admit ?     Will 


LETTERS  BEFORE  REFERRED  TO.  441 

observation  countenance  the  deistical?  I  am  convinced  to  the  contrary,  and 
must  say,  I  cannot  be  a  deist  without  becoming  a  fool ;  and,  to  exalt  my 
reason,  I  must  deny  my  senses. 

"  I  take  the  second  datum,  and  inquire  which  tends  most  to  general  hap- 
piness. To  secure  happiness,  three  things  are  necessary : — objects,  means, 
and  motives.  Tiie  question  is,  which  pouits  out  the  true  source  of  happi- 
ness, which  directs  to  the  best  means  for  attaining  it,  and  which  furnishes  me 
with  the  most  powerful  motives  to  induce  my  pursuit  of  it?  If  I  take  a 
deist  for  my  tutor,  he  tells  me  that/awje  is  the  object,  universal  accommoda- 
tion of  manners  to  interest  the  means,  and  self-love  the  spring  of  action. 
Sordid  teacher!  From  him  I  turn  io  Jesus.  His  better  voice  informs  me 
that  the  source  of  felicity  is  the  friendship  of  my  God;  that  love  to  my 
Maker,  and  love  to  man,  expressed  in  all  the  noble  and  amiable  effusions  of 
devotion  and  benevolence,  are  the  means;  and  that /Ae  (^/o/-^  0/ G'oe/,  and 
the  happiness  of  the  universe,  must  be  my  motives.  Blessed  Instructor ;  thy 
dictates  approve  themselves  to  every  illuminated  conscience,  to  every  pious 
heart!     Do  they  not,  my  dear  P ,  approve  themselves  to  yours? 

"  But  I  will  not  tire  your  patience  by  pursuing  these  remarks.  Little  did 
I  think  of  such  amplification  when  I  first  took  up  my  pen.  Oh  that  I  may 
have  the  joy  of  finding  that  these  (at  least  well  meant)  endeavours  to  estab- 
lish your  piety  have  not  been  ungraciously  received,  nor  wholly  unprofitable 
to  your  mind!  I  am  encouraged  to  these  effusions  of  friendship  by  that 
amiable  self-distrust  which  your  letter  expresses, — a  temper  not  only  be- 
coming the  earlier  stages  of  life,  but  graceful  in  all  its  advancing  periods. 

"  Unspeakable  satistaction  does  it  afford  me  to  find  that  you  are  conscious 
of  the  necessity  of  '  first'  seeking  assistance  from  heaven.  Retain,  my  dear 
friend,  this  honourable,  this  equitable  sentiment.  '  In  all  thy  ways  acknow- 
ledge God,  and  he  shall  direct  thy  paths.' 

"  I  hope  you  will  still  be  cautious  in  your  intimacies.  You  will  gain  more 
by  a  half-hour's  intercourse  with  God  than  the  friendship  of  the  whole  col- 
lege can  impart.  Too  much  acquaintance  Would  be  followed  with  a  waste 
of  that  precious  time  on  the  present  improvement  of  which  your  future  use- 
fulness and  respectability  in  your  profession  depend.  Like  the  bee,  you  may 
do  best  by  sipping  the  sweets  of  every  flower  j  but  remember  the  sweetest 
blossom  is  not  the  hive. 

"  P.  S.  So  many  books  have  been  published  on  the  same  subject  as  the 
manuscript  which  you  helped  me  to  copy,  that  I  have  not  sent  it  to  the 
press."  * 

No.  III. 

To  a  young  lady  at  school,  Miss  A.  H.,  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  members  of  his  church. 

"I  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  which  this  opportunity  affords  me  of 
expressing  the  concern  I  feel  for  your  happiness,  arising  from  the  sincerest 
friendship, — a  friendship  which  the  many  amiable  qualities  you  possess, 
together  with  the  innumerable  opportunities  I  have  had  of  seeing  them  dis- 
played, have  taught  me  to  form  and  perpetuate. 

"It  affords  me  inexpressible  pleasure  to  hear  that  you  are  so  happy  in 
your  present  situation — a  situation  in  which  I  rejoice  to  see  you  placed,  be- 
cause it  is  not  merely  calculated  to  embellish  the  manners,  but  to  profit  the 

*  The  compiler  believes  this  was  an  answer  to  Mr.  Peter  Edwards's  Candid  Reasons,  SiC 
He  knows  Mr.  Pearce  did  write  an  answer  to  that  performance.  By  the  imposing  air  of  the 
writer  he  has  acknowledged  he  was  at  first  a  little  stunned  ;  but,  upon  examining  his  argu- 
ments, found  it  no  very  difficult  undertaking  to  point  out  their  fallacy. 

Vol.  hi.— 5G 


442  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

soul.  I  hope  that  my  dear  Ann,  amidst  the  various  pursuits  of  an  orna- 
mental or  scientific  nature  which  she  may  adopt,  will  not  omit  that  first,  that 
great  concern,  the  dedication  of  her  heart  to  God.  To  this,  my  dear  girl, 
every  thing  invites  you  that  is  worthy  of  your  attention.  The  dignity  of  a 
rational  and  immortal  soul,  the  condition  of  human  nature,  the  gracious 
truths  and  promises  of  God,  the  sweetness  and  usefulness  of  religion,  the 
comfort  it  yields  in  affliction,  the  security  it  affords  in  temptation,  the  sup- 
ports it  gives  in  death,  and  the  prospects  it  opens  of  life  everlasting;  all 
these  considerations,  backed  with  the  uncertainty  of  life,  the  solemnity  of 
judgment,  the  terrors  of  hell,  and  the  calls  of  conscience  and  of  God, — all 
demand  your  heart  for  the  blessed  Jehovah.  This,  and  nothing  short  of  this, 
is  true  religion.  You  have  often  heard,  and  often  icritteii  on  religion :  it  is 
time  you  should  feel  it  now.  Oh  what  a  blessedness  will  attend  your  hearty 
surrender  of  yourself  to  the  God  and  Father  of  men!  Methinks  I  see  all 
the  angels  of  God  rejoicing  at  the  sight ;  all  the  saints  in  heaven  partaking 
of  their  joy;  Jesus  himself,  who  died  for  sinners,  gazing  on  you  with  de- 
light; your  own  heart  filled  with  peace  and  joy  in  believing;  and  a  thousand 
streams  of  goodness  flowing  from  your  renovated  soul  to  refresh  the  aged 
saint,  and  to  encourage  your  fellow  youth  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  and  press  on  to  God.  But  oh,  should  I  be  mistaken!  Alas,  alas,  I 
cannot  bear  the  thought.  O  thou  Saviour  of  sinners,  and  God  of  love,  take 
captive  the  heart  of  my  dear  young  friend,  and  make  her  truly  willing  to  be 
wholly  thine ! 

"  If  you  can  find  freedom,  do  oblige  me  with  a  letter  on  the  state  of  reli- 
gion in  your  soul,  and  be  assured  of  every  sympathy  or  advice  that  I  am 
capable  of  feeling  or  giving." 

No.  IV. 

To  a  young  Minister,  Mr.  Cave,  of  Leicester,  on  preparation  for  the  pulpit. 

"  My  dear  Brother, 

"  Your  first  letter  gave  me  much  pleasure.  I  hoped  you  would  learn  some 
useful  lesson  from  the  first  sabbath  disappointment.  Every  thing  is  good 
that  leads  us  to  depend  more  simply  on  the  Lord.  Could  I  choose  my 
frames,  I  would  say  respecting  industry  in  preparation  for  public  work,  as  is 
frequently  said  respecting  Christian  obedience — I  would  apply  as  close  as 
though  I  expected  no  help  from  the  Lord,  whilst  I  would  depend  upon  the 
Lord  for  assistance  as  though  I  had  never  made  any  preparation  at  all. 

"  I  rejoice  much  in  every  thing  that  affords  you  ground  for  solid  pleasure. 
The  account  of  the  affection  borne  you  by  the  people  of  God  was  therefore 
a  matter  of  joy  to  my  heart,  especially  as  I  learnt  from  the  person  who 
brought  your  letter  that  the  friendship  seemed  pretty  general. 

"  Your  last  has  occasioned  me  some  pain  on  your  account,  because  it  in- 
forms me  that  you  have  been  '  exceedingly  tried  in  the  pulpit ;'  but  I  receive 
satisfaction  again  from  considering  that  the  gloom  of  midnight  precedes  the 
rising  day,  not  only  in  the  natural  world,  but  frequently  also  in  the  Christian 
minister's  experience.  Do  not  be  discouraged,  my  dear  brother ;  those 
whose  labours  God  has  been  pleased  most  eminently  to  bless,  have  generally 
had  their  days  of  prosperity  ushered  in  with  clouds  and  storms.  You  are  in 
the  sieve;  but  the  sieve  is  in  our  Saviour's  hands;  and  he  will  not  suffer  any 
thing  but  the  chaff  to  fall  through,  let  him  winnow  us  as  often  as  he  may. 
No  one  at  times,  I  think  I  may  say,  has  been  worse  tried  than  myself  in  the 
same  manner  as  you  express;  though  I  must  be  thankful  it  has  not  been 
often. 


LETTERS  BEFORE  REFERRED  TO.  443 

"You  ask  direction  of  me,  my  dear  brother.  I  am  too  inexperienced 
myself  to  be  capable  of  directing  others;  yet  if  the  litde  time  I  have  been 
employed  for  God  has  furnished  me  with  any  thing  worthy  of  communication, 
it  will  be  imparted  to  no  one  with  more  readiness  than  to  you. 

"  I  should  advise  you,  when  you  have  been  distressed  by  hesitation,  to 
reflect  whether  it  arose  from  an  inability  to  recollect  your  ideas,  or  to  obtain 
words  suited  to  convey  them. — If  the  former,  I  think  these  two  directions 
may  be  serviceable :  First,  Endeavour  to  think  in  a  train.  Let  one  idea 
depend  upon  another  in  your  discourses,  as  one  link  does  upon  another  in 
a  chain.  For  this  end  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  arrange  my  subjects  in 
the  order  of  time.  Thus,  for  instance, — If  speaking  of  the  promises,  I  would 
begin  with  those  which  were  suited  to  the  earliest  inquiries  of  a  convinced 
soul;  as  pardon,  assistance  in  prayer,  wisdom,  &c. ;  then  go  to  those  parts 
of  Christian  experience  which  are  usually  subsequent  to  the  former;  as  pro- 
mises of  support  in  afflictions,  deliverance  from  temptations,  and  perseverance 
in  grace ;  closing  with  a  review  of  those  which  speak  of  support  in  death, 
and  final  glory.  Then  all  the  varieties  of  description  respecting  the  glory 
of  heaven  will  follow  in  natural  order;  as,  the  enlargement  of  the  understand- 
ing, purification  of  the  affections,  intercourse  with  saints,  angels,  and  even 
Christ  himself,  which  will  be  eternal:  thus  beginning  with  the  lowest  marks 
of  grace,  and  ascending  step  by  step,  you  arrive  at  last  in  the  fruition  of 
faith.  This  mode  is  most  natural,  and  most  pleasing  to  the  hearers,  as  well 
as  assisting  to  the  preacher;  for  one  idea  gives  birth  to  another,  and  he  can 
hardly  help  going  forward  regularly  and  easily. 

"  Secondly,  Labour  to  render  your  ideas  transparent  to  yourself.  Never 
offer  to  introduce  a  thought  which  you  cannot  see  through  before  you  enter 
the  pulpit. — You  have  read  in  Claude  that  the  best  preparative  to  preach 
from  a  subject  is  to  understand  it;  and  I  think  Bishop  Burnet  says,  'No 
man  properly  understands  any  thing  who  cannot  at  any  time  represent  it  to 
others.' 

"If  your  hesitation  proceeds  from  a  want  of  words,  I  should  advise  you — 
1.  To  read  good  ami  easy  authors ;  Dr.  Watts  especially. — To  write  a  great 
part  of  your  sermons,  and  for  a  while  get  at  least  the  leading  ideas  of  every 
head  of  discourse  by  heart,  enlarging  only  at  the  close  of  every  thought. — 3. 
Sometimes,  as  in  the  end  of  sermons,  or  when  you  preach  in  villages,  start 
off  in  preaching  beyond  all  you  have  premeditated.  Fasten  on  some  leading 
ideas;  as  the  solemnity  of  death,  the  awfulness  of  judgment,  the  necessity 
of  a  change  of  heart,  the  willingness  of  Christ  to  save,  &c.  Never  mind 
how  far  you  ramble  from  the  point,  so  as  you  do  not  lose  sight  of  it;  and  if 
your  heart  be  any  way  warm,  you  will  find  some  expressions  then  fall  from 
your  lips  which  your  imagination  could  not  produce  in  an  age  of  studious 
application. — 4.  Divest  yourself  of  all  fear.  If  you  should  break  the  rules 
of  grammar,  or  put  in  or  leave  out  a  word,  and  recollect  at  the  end  of  the 
sentence  the  impropriety,  unless  it  makes  nonsense,  or  bad  divinity,  never 
try  to  mend  it,  but  let  it  pass.  If  so,  perhaps  only  a  few  would  notice  it; 
but  if  you  stammer  in  trying  to  mend  it,  you  wilJ  expose  yourself  to  all  the 
congregation. 

"In  addition  to  all  I  have  said,  you  know  where  to  look,  and  from  whom 
to  seek  that  wisdom  and  strength  which  only  God  can  give.  To  him  I 
recommend  you,  my  dear  brother,  assuring  you  of  my  real  esteem  for  you, 
and  requesting  you  will  not  fail  to  pray  for  the  least  of  saints,  but  yours 
aifectionately,  S.  P." 


444  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 


CONCLUDING  REFLECTIONS. 

The  great  ends  of  Christian  biography  are  instruction  and  example.  By 
faithfully  describing  the  lives  of  men  eminent  for  godliness,  we  not  only 
embalm  their  memory,  but  furnish  ourselves  with  fresh  materials  and  motives 
for  a  holy  life.  It  is  abundantly  more  impressive  to  view  the  religion  of 
Jesus  as  operating  in  a  living  character  than  to  contemplate  it  abstractedly. 
For  this  reason  we  may  suppose  the  Lord  the  Spirit  has  condescended  to 
exhibit,  first  and  principally,  the  life  of  Christ;  and,  after  his,  that  of  many 
of  his  eminent  followers.  And  for  this  reason  he  by  his  holy  influences 
still  furnishes  the  church  with  now  and  then  a  singular  example  of  godliness, 
which  it  is  our  duty  to  notice  and  record.  There  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt  that  the  life  of  Mr.  Pearce  ought  to  be  considered  as  one  of  these 
examples.  May  that  same  Divine  Spirit  who  had  manifestly  so  great  a  hand 
in  forming  his  character  teach  us  to  derive  from  it  both  instruction  and 
edification. 

First,  la  Mm  ipe  may  see  the  holy  efficacy,  and  hy  consequence  the  truth, 
of  the  Christian  religion. — It  was  long  since  asked,  "Who  is  he  that  over- 
cometh  the  world,  but  he  who  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God?" 
This  question  contained  a  challenge  to  men  of  all  religions  who  were  then 
upon  the  earth.  Idolatry  had  a  great  diversity  of  species,  every  nation  worship- 
ping its  own  gods,  and  in  modes  peculiar  to  itself:  philosophers  also  were 
divided  into  numerous  sects,  each  flattering  itself  that  it  had  found  the  truth: 
even  the  Jews  had  their  divisions;  their  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Essenes: 
but,  great  as  many  of  them  were  in  deeds  of  divers  kinds,  an  apostle  could 
look  them  all  in  the  face,  an-d  ask,  "Who  is  he  that  overcometh  the  world?" 
The  same  question  might  be  safely  asked  in  every  succeeding  age.     The 
various  kinds  of  religion  that  still  prevail,  the  pagan,  Mahomedan,  Jewish, 
papal,  or  protestant,  may  form  the  exteriors  of  man  according  to  their  respec- 
tive models ;  but  where  is  the  man  amongst  them,  save  the  true  believer  in 
Jesus,  that  overcometh  the  world?     Men  may  cease  from  particular  evils, 
and  assume  a  very  different  character;   may  lay  aside  their  drunkenness, 
blasphemies,  or  debaucheries,  and  take  up  with  a  kind  of  monkish  austerity, 
and  yet  all  may  amount  to  nothing  more  than  an  exchange  of  vices.     The 
lusts  of  the  flesh  will  on  many  occasions  give  place  to  those  of  the  mind ; 
but  to  overcome  the  world  is  another  thing.     By  embracing  the  doctrine  of 
the  cross,  to  feel  not  merely  a  dread  of  the  consequences  of  sin,  but  a  holy 
abhorrence  of  its  nature — and,  by  conversing  with  invisible  realities,  to  be- 
come regardless  of  the  best,  and  fearless  of  the  worst,  that  this  world  has  to 
dispense — this  is  the  effect  of  genuine  Christianity,  and  this  is  a  standing 
proof  of  its  Divine  original.     Let  the  most  inveterate  enemy  of  revelation 
have  witnessed  the  disinterested  benevolence  of  a  Paul,  a  Peter,  or  a  John, 
and,  whether  he  would  own  it  or  not,  his  conscience  must  have  borne  testi- 
mony that  this  is  true  religion.     The  same  may  be  said  of  Samuel  Pearce* 
whether  the  doctrine  he  preached  found  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  his  hearers, 
or  not,  his  spirit  and  life  must  have  approved  themselves  to  their  consciences. 
Secondly,  In  him  we  see  how  much  may  he  done  for  God  in  a  little  time. — 
If  his  death  had  been  foreknown  by  his  friends,  some  might  have  hesitated 
whether  it  was  worth  while  for  him  to  engage  in  the  work  of  the  ministry 
for  so  short  a  period;  yet  if  we  take  a  view  of  his  labours,  perhaps  there  are 
few  lives  productive  of  a  greater  portion  of  good.     That  life  is  not  always 
the  longest  which  is  spun  out  to  the  greatest  extent  of  days.     The  best  oi 


LETTERS  BEFORE  REFERRED  TO.  445 

all  lives  amounted  but  to  thirty-three  years;  and  the  most  important  works 
pertaining  to  that  were  wrought  in  the  last  three.  There  is  undoubtedly  a 
way  of  rendering  a  short  life  a  long  one,  and  a  long  life  a  short  one,  by  fill- 
ing or  not  filling  it  with  proper  materials.  That  time  which  is  squandered 
away  in  sloth,  or  trifling  pursuits,  forms  a  kind  of  blank  in  human  life:  in 
looking  it  over  there  is  nothing  for  the  mind  to  rest  upon ;  and  a  whole  life 
so  spent,  whatever  number  of  years  it  may  contain,  must  appear  upon  reflec- 
tion short  and  vacant,  in  comparison  of  one  filled  up  with  valuable  acquisi- 
tions and  holy  actions.  It  is  like  the  space  between  us  and  the  sun,  which 
though  immensely  greater  than  that  which  is  traversed  in  a  profitable  journey, 
yet,  being  all  empty  space,  the  mind  gets  over  it  in  much  less  time,  and 
without  any  satisfaction.  If  "that  life  be  long  which  answers  life's  great 
end,"  Mr.  Pearce  may  assuredly  be  said  to  have  come  to  his  grave  in  a  good 
old  age.  And  might  we  not  all  do  much  more  than  we  do,  if  our  hearts 
were  more  in  our  work?  Where  this  is  wanting,  or  operates  but  in  a  small 
degree,  difficulties  are  magnified  into  impossibilities;  a  lion  is  in  the  way  of 
extraordinary  exertion ;  or  if  we  be  induced  to  engage  in  something  of  this 
kind,  it  will  be  at  the  expense  of  a  uniform  attention  to  ordinary  duties.  But 
some  will  ask.  How  are  our  hearts  to  be  in  our  work?  Mr.  Pearce's  heart 
was  habitually  in  his;  and  that  which  kept  alive  the  sacred  flame  in  him 
appears  to  have  been — the  constant  habit  of  conversing  with  Divine  truth, 
and  walking  with  God  in  private. 

Thirdly,  In  him  we  see,  in  clear  and  strong  colours,  to  what  a  degree  of 
solid  peace  and  joy  true  religion  will  raise  us,  even  in  the  present  tvorld. — ■ 
A  little  religion,  it  has  been  justly  said,  will  make  us  miserable;  but  a  great 
deal  will  make  us  happy.  The  one  will  do  little  more  than  keep  the  con- 
science alive,  while  our  numerous  defects  and  inconsistencies  are  perpetu- 
ally furnishing  it  with  materials  to  scourge  us;  the  other  keeps  the  heart 
alive,  and  leads  us  to  drink  deep  at  the  fountain  of  joy.  Hence  it  is,  in  a 
great  degree,  that  so  much  of  the  spirit  of  bondage,  and  so  little  of  the  spirit 
of  adoption,  prevails  amongst  Christians.  Religious  enjoyments  with  us  are 
rather  occasional  than  habitual ;  or  if  in  some  instances  it  be  otherwise,  we 
are  ready  to  suspect  that  it  is  supported  in  part  by  the  strange  fire  of  enthu- 
siasm, and  not  by  the  pure  flame  of  Scriptural  devotion.  But  in  Mr.  Pearce 
we  saw  a  devotion  ardent,  steady,  pure,  and  persevering:  kindled,  as  we 
may  say,  at  the  altar  of  God,  like  the  fire  of  the  temple,  it  went  not  out  by 
night  nor  by  day.  He  seemed  to  have  learnt  that  heavenly  art,  so  conspi- 
cuous among  the  primitive  Christians,  of  converting  every  thing  he  met  with 
into  materials  for  love,  and  joy,  and  praise.  Hence  he  laboured,  as  he  ex- 
presses it,  "  to  exercise  most  love  to  God  when  suffering  most  severely ;" 
and  hence  he  so  affectingly  encountered  the  billows  that  overwhelmed  his 
feeble  frame,  crying, 

"  Sweet  affliction !  sweet  affliction  ! 
Singing  as  I  wade  to  heaven." 

The  constant  happiness  that  he  enjoyed  in  God  was  apparent  in  the  effects 
of  his  sermons  upon  others.  Whatever  we  feel  ourselves  we  shall  ordinarily 
communicate  to  our  hearers;  and  it  has  been  already  noticed,  that  one  of 
the  most  distinguishing  properties  of  his  discourses  was — that  they  inspired 
the  serious  mind  with  the  liveliest  sensations  of  happiness.  They  descended 
upon  the  audience,  not  indeed  like  a  transporting  flood,  but  like  a  shower  of 
dew,  gently  insinuating  itself  into  the  heart,  insensibly  dissipating  its  gloom, 
and  gradually  drawing  forth  the  graces  of  faith,  hope,  love,  and  joy ;  while 
the  countenance  was  brightened  almost  into  a  smile,  tears  of  pleasure  would 
rise,  and  glisten,  and  fall  from  the  admiring  eye. 

What  a  practical  confutation  did  his  life  afford  of  the  slander  so  generally 

2P 


446  MEMOIRS  OF  MR.  PEARCE. 

cast  upon  the  religion  of  Jesus,  that  it  fills  the  mind  with  gloom  and  misery! 
No:  leaving  futurity  out  of  the  question,  the  whole  world  of  unbelievers 
might  be  challenged  to  produce  a  character  from  among  them  who  possessed 
half  his  enjoyments. 

Fourthly,  From  his  example  we  are  furnished  with  the  greatest  encour- 
agement, while  pursuing  the  path  of  duty,  to  place  our  trust  in  God. — The 
situation  in  which  he  left  his  family,  we  have  seen  already,  was  not  owing 
to  an  indifference  to  their  interest,  or  an  improvident  disposition,  or  the  want 
of  opportunity  to  have  provided  for  them ;  but  to  a  steady  and  determined 
obedience  to  do  what  he  accounted  the  will  of  God.  He  felt  deeply  for 
them,  and  we  all  felt  with  him,  and  longed  to  be  able  to  assure  him  before 
his  departure  that  they  would  be  amply  provided  for;  but,  owing  to  circum- 
stances which  have  already  been  mentioned,  this  was  more  than  we  could 
do.  This  was  a  point  in  which  he  was  called  to  die  in  faith;  and  indeed 
so  he  did.  He  appears  to  have  had  no  idea  of  that  flood  of  kindness  which, 
immediately  after  his  decease,  flowed  from  the  religious  public;  but  he  be- 
lieved in  God,  and  cheerfully  left  all  with  him.  "  Oh  that  I  could  speak  !" 
said  he  to  Mrs.  Pearce  a  little  before  his  death,  "  I  would  tell  a  world  lo 
trust  a  faithful  God.  Sweet  affliction  !  now  it  worketh  glory,  glory  !"  And 
when  she  told  him  the  workings  of  her  mind,  he  answered,  "  O  trust  the 
Lord  !  If  he  lift  up  the  light  of  his  countenance  upon  you,  as  he  has  done 
upon  me  this  day,  all  your  mountains  will  become  molehills.  I  feel  your 
situation :  I  feel  your  sorrows :  but  he  who  takes  care  of  sparrows  will  care 
for  you  and  my  dear  children." 

The  liberal  contributions  which  have  since  been  made,  though  they  do 
not  warrant  ministers  in  general  to  expect  the  same,  and  much  less  to  neglect 
providing  for  their  own  families  on  such  a  presumption,  yet  they  must  needs 
be  considered  as  a  singular  encouragement,  when  we  are  satisfied  that  we 
are  in  the  path  of  duty,  to  be  inordinately  "  careful  for  nothing,  but  in  every 
thing  by  prayer  and  supplication,  with  thanksgiving,  to  let  our  requests  be 
made  known  unto  God." 

Finally,  In  him  we  see  that  the  way  to  true  excellence  is  not  to  affect 
eccentricity,  nor  to  aspire  after  the  performance  of  a  feio  splendid  actions; 
hut  to  fill  up  our  lives  with  a  sober,  modest,  sincere,  affectionate,  assiduous,  and 
uniform  conduct. — Real  greatness  attaches  to  character ;  and  character  arises 
from  a  course  of  action.  The  solid  reputation  of  a  merchant  arises  not  from 
his  having  made  his  fortune  by  a  few  successful  adventures ;  but  from  a 
course  of  wise  economy  and  honourable  industry,  which  gradually  accumu- 
lating advances  by  pence  to  shillings,  and  by  shillings  to  pounds.  The  most 
excellent  philosophers  are  not  those  who  have  dealt  chiefly  in  splendid  specu- 
lation, and  looked  down  upon  the  ordinary  concerns  of  men  as  things  be- 
neath their  notice ;  but  those  who  have  felt  their  interests  united  with  the 
interests  of  mankind,  and  bent  their  principal  attention  to  things  of  real  and 
public  utility.  It  is  much  the  same  in  religion.  We  do  not  esteem  a  man 
for  one,  or  two,  or  three  good  deeds,  any  further  than  as  these  deeds  are  indi- 
cations of  the  real  state  of  his  mind.  We  do  not  estimate  the  character  of 
Christ  himself  so  much  from  his  having  given  sight  to  the  blind,  or  restored 
Lazarus  from  the  grave,  as  from  his  going  about  continually  doing  good. 

These  single  attempts  at  great  things  are  frequently  the  efforts  of  a  vain 
mind,  which  pants  for  fame  and  has  not  patience  to  wait  for  it,  nor  discern- 
ment to  know  the  way  in  which  it  is  obtained.  One  pursues  the  shade,  and 
it  flies  from  him ;  while  another  turns  his  back  upon  it,  and  it  follows  him. 
The  one  aims  to  climb  the  rock,  but  falls  ere  he  reaches  the  summit ;  the 
other,  in  pursuit  of  a  different  object,  ere  he  is  aware,  possesses  it ;  seeking 
the  approbation  of  his  God,  he  finds  with  it  that  of  his  fellow  Christians. 


ESSAYS,  LETTERS,  ETC. 

ON 

ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 


AN  INQUIRY  INTO  THE  RIGHT  OF  PRIVATE  JUDGMENT  IN  MATTERS  OF 

RELIGION. 

In  former  times  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  right  of  private  judgment 
in  matters  of  religion  were  denied  both  by  ecclesiastics  and  politicians.  Of 
late  they  have  been  very  generally  admitted,  and  much  has  been  said  and 
written  in  their  defence.  But  the  nature  and  extent  of  these  rights,  in  refer- 
ence to  religious  society,  have  not  been  so  clearly  ascertained  ;  and  claims 
have  been  instituted  which  appear  to  be  subversive  of  those  very  principles 
so  often  pleaded  in  their  support. 

The  right  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion  appears  to  be  the 

RIGHT  WHICH  EVERY  INDIVIDUAL  HAS  TO  THINK  AND  TO  AVOW  HIS  THOUGHTS 
ON  THOSE    SUBJECTS,  WITHOUT    BEING    LIABLE    TO  ANY  CIVIL    INCONVENIENCE 

ON  THAT  ACCOUNT.  The  subject  in  this  view  has  been  successfully  supported 
by  writers  of  ability,  and  the  principle  has  been  acted  upon  by  the  great 
body  of  nonconformists  and  Dissenters  of  later  times.  There  can  scarcely 
be  any  doubt  remaining  with  respect  to  the  power  of  the  civil  magistrate  to 
interfere  with  the  religious  sentiments  and  private  judgment  of  the  subject; 
this  is  now  very  generally  and  very  justly  exploded.  But  of  late  the  subject 
has  taken  another  turn,  and  men  have  pleaded  not  only  an  exemption  from 
civil  penalties  on  account  of  their  religious  principles,  in  which  the  very 
essence  of  persecution  consists,  but  also  that  they  are  not  subject  to  the 
control  of  a  religious  society  with  which  they  stand  connected  for  any  tenets 
which  they  may  think  proper  to  avow.  The  right  of  private  judgment  now 
frequently  assumed,  is  a  right  in  every  individual  loho  may  become  a  member 
of  a  Christian  chirch  to  think  and  avoio  his  thoughts,  be  they  luhat  they 
may,  loithont  being  subject  to  exclusion  or  admonition,  or  the  ill  opinion  of 
his  brethren,  on  that  account.  Any  thing  that  is  consistent  with  this  is 
thought  to  be  a  species  of  spiritual  tyranny,  and  repugnant  to  that  "  liberty 
wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free."  But  this  appears  to  be  highly  extrava- 
gant, and  is  what  no  man  can  claim  as  a  right.  The  following  considera- 
tions are  submitted  to  the  reader. 

First,  The  supposed  right  of  the  individual  is  contrary  to  the  principles 
on  which  Christian  churches  were  originally  founded.  Not  only  were  those 
who  disbelieved  the  gospel  refused  admission  to  a  Christian  church,  but  those 
who  perverted  the  gospel,  or  maintained  pernicious  errors  concerning  it,  were 
subject  to  admonition  and  exclusion.  The  apostle  Paul  directed  that  a 
heretic  after  the  first  and  second  admonition  should  be  rejected.  And,  in 
his  Epistle  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  he  expressed  a  wish  that  those  who 
troubled  them  by  subverting  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  introducing  another 
gospel  were  "  cut  off."  The  church  at  Pergamos  is  reproved  for  having 
those  among  them  who  held  the  doctrine  of  Balaam  and  of  the  Nicolaitans. 

447 


448  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

If  the  churches  of  0 alalia  complied  with  the  apostle's  desire,  their  false 
teachers  might  have  exclaimed  against  them  as  invading  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  and  with  as  much  justice  as  some  in  later  times  have  done  against 
the  censures  of  their  brethren.  And  had  the  church  of  Pergamos  been 
formed  on  the  principles  above  mentioned,  they  might  have  replied  to  the 
solemn  message  of  our  Lord  in  some  such  manner  as  the  following:  Why 
are  we  blamed  for  having  those  among  us  who  hold  the  doctrine  of  Nicolas? 
It  is  sufficient  for  us  as  individuals  to  think  for  ourselves,  and  leave  others 
to  do  the  same.  We  cannot  refuse  these  men  without  invading  the  right  of 
private  judgment? 

If  it  be  objected  that  inspiration  rendered  the  judgment  of  the  apostles 
infallible,  and  that  therefore  their  conduct  in  this  case  is  not  a  rule  for  us,  it 
may  be  replied,  that  if  the  apostles  were  infallible,  the  churches  were  not  so, 
and  the  blame  is  laid  on  thc7n  for  having  neglected  to  exclude  the  characters 
in  question.  Besides,  this  objection  would  tend  to  prove  that  primitive  Chris- 
tians, on  account  of  the  infallibility  of  the  apostle,  did  not  possess  the  right 
of  private  judgment ;  and  that  the  right  sprung  up  in  the  church  in  conse- 
quence of  our  being  all  equally  fallible!  But  this  is  contrary  to  the  declara- 
tion of  the  apostle:  "Not  that  we  have  dominion  over  your  faith,  but  are 
helpers  of  your  joy."  Hence  it  appears  that  admonishing  or  excluding  from 
the  primitive  church  those  who  held  pernicious  errors  was  not  reckoned  to 
be  subversive  of  the  right  of  private  judgment ;  and  the  churches  being 
exhorted  to  such  discipline  by  the  apostles  was  exercising  no  dominion  over 
tlieir  faith. 

Secondly,  Not  only  is  this  supposed  right  of  private  judgment  inconsist- 
ent with  apostolic  practice,  but  it  is  also  contrary  to  reason  and  the  fitness 
of  things.  All  society  is  founded  in  mutual  agreement.  It  is  no  less  a 
dictate  of  common  sense  than  of  the  word  of  God,  that  "  two  cannot  walk 
together,  except  they  be  agreed."  No  society  can  subsist  unless  there  be 
some  specific  principles  in  which  they  are  united.  In  political  societies, 
these  principles  will  be  of  a  political  nature;  in  civil  ones,  of  a  civil  kind; 
and  in  those  of  religion,  of  a  religious  nature.  According  to  the  degree  of 
importance  in  which  those  principles  are  held  by  the  parties  associating, 
such  will  be  their  concern  to  maintain  and  act  upon  them ;  and  the  terms 
of  admittance  or  continuance  in  such  society  must  be  regulated  accordingly. 
If  there  be  no  definite  principles  in  which  it  is  necessary  that  a  society  should 
be  agreed,  but  every  member  of  it  be  at  liberty  to  imbibe  and  propagate 
whatever  notions  he  pleases,  then  all  societies,  civil,  political,  and  religious, 
have  hitherto  been  mistaken ;  for  all  of  them  have  had  in  view  the  attain- 
ment of  some  specific  object;  and  this  is  more  especially  the  case  with 
societies  that  are  purely  religious.  A  community  must  entirely  renounce 
the  name  of  a  Christian  church  before  it  can  act  upon  the  principle  here 
contended  for;  and  those  who  entirely  reject  Christianity  ought,  neverthe- 
less, to  be  admitted  or  retained  in  fellowship,  if  they  choose  it;  seeing  they 
have  only  exercised  the  right  of  private  judgment! 

Further,  If  a  Christian  society  has  no  right  to  withdraw  from  an  indi- 
vidual whose  principles  they  consider  as  false  and  injurious,  neither  has  an 
individual  any  right  to  withdraw  from  a  society  in  a  similar  case;  and  then 
Jhere  is  an  end  to  all  religious  liberty  at  once. 

Whether  it  be  right  for  us  to  think  the  worse  of  any  person  on  account 
of  his  erroneous  principles  must  depend  on  a  previous  question ;  namely, 
whether  he  he  either  better  or  worse  for  the  principles  which  he  imbibes? 
If  he  be  not,  then  it  must  be  allowed  that  we  ought  not  to  think  so  of  him ; 
but  if  he  be,  undoubtedly  we  ought  to  think  of  one  another  according  to 
I'ruth.     To  say  that  no  person  is  better  or  worse  in  a.  moral  view,  whatever 


CREEDS  AND  SUBSCRIPTIONS.  449 

be  his  principles,  is  to  say  that  principles  themselves  have  no  influence  on 
the  heart  and  life;  and  that  amounts  to  the  same  thing  as  their  being  of  no 
importance.  But  if  so,  all  those  scriptures  which  represent  truth  as  a  means 
of  sanctification  ought  to  be  discarded;  and  all  the  labours  of  good  men  to 
discover  truth,  and  of  the  apostles  to  disseminate  it — yea,  and  those  of  the 
Son  of  God  himself,  who  came  into  the  world  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth — 
were  totally  in  vain. 


CREEDS  AND  SUBSCRIPTIONS. 


It  has  been  very  common,  among  a  certain  class  of  writers,  to  exclaim 
against  creeds  and  systems  in  religion  as  inconsistent  with  Christian  liberty 
and  the  rights  of  conscience ;  but  surely  they  must  be  understood  as  object- 
ing to  those  creeds  only  which  they  dislike,  and  not  to  creeds  in  general ; 
for  no  doubt,  unless  they  be  worse  than  the  worst  of  beings,  they  have  a 
creed  of  their  own.  The  man  who  has  no  creed  has  no  belief;  which  is 
the  same  thing  as  being  an  unbeliever ;  and  he  whose  belief  is  not  formed 
into  n  system  has  only  a  few  loose,  unconnected  thoughts,  without  entering 
into  the  harmony  and  glory  of  the  gospel.  Every  well-informed  and  con- 
sistent believer,  therefore,  must  have  a  creed — a  system  which  he  supposes 
to  contain  the  leading  principles  of  Divine  revelation. 

It  may  be  pleaded  that  the  objection  does  not  lie  so  much  against  our 
having  creeds  or  systems  as  against  our  imposing  them  on  others  as  the  con- 
dition of  Christian  fellowship.  If,  indeed,  a  subscription  to  articles  of  faith 
were  required  without  examination,  or  enforced  by  civil  penalties,  it  would 
be  an  unwarrantable  imposition  on  the  rights  of  conscience ;  but  if  an 
explicit  agreement  in  what  may  be  deemed  fundamental  principles  be  judged 
essential  to  fellowship,  this  is  only  requiring  that  a  man  appear  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian before  he  can  have  a  right  to  be  treated  as  such.  Suppose  it  were 
required  of  a  Jew  or  an  infidel,  before  he  is  admitted  to  the  Lord's  supper, 
(which  either  might  be  disposed  to  solicit  for  some  worldly  purpose,)  that  he 
must  previously  become  a  believer;  should  we  thereby  impose  Christianity 
upon  him?  He  might  claim  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and  deem  such  a 
requisition  incompatible  with  its  admission ;  but  it  is  evident  that  he  could 
not  be  entitled  to  Christian  regard,  and  that,  while  he  exclaimed  against  the 
imposition  of  creeds  and  systems,  he  himself  would  be  guilty  of  an  imposi- 
tion of  the  grossest  kind,  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  voluntary 
and  social  compact,  as  well  as  of  Christian  liberty. 

In  order  to  be  a  little  more  explicit  on  the  subject,  it  may  be  necessary  to 
offer  the  following  remarks  : — 

First,  It  is  admitted  that  no  society  has  a  right  to  make  laws  where  Christ 
has  made  none. — Whoever  attempts  this,  whether  in  an  individual  or  social 
capacity,  is  guilty  of  substituting  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men, 
and  making  void  the  law  of  God  by  his  traditions. 

Secondly,  The  fallibility  of  all  human  judgment  is  fully  allowed.  A 
Christian  society,  as  well  as  an  individual,  is  liable  to  err  in  judging  what 
are  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  Christ.  Whatever  articles  of  faith  and 
practice,  therefore,  are  introduced  into  a  community,  they  ought,  no  doubt, 
to  be  open  to  correction  or  amendment,  whenever  those  who  subscribe  them 
shall  perceive  their  inconsistency  with  the  will  of  Christ. 

Thirdly,  Whatever  may  be  said  on  the  propriety  of  human  systems  of  faith, 
they  are  not  to  be  considered  as  the   proper  ground  on  which  to  rest  our 

Vol.  III.— 57  2  p  2 


450  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

religious  sentiments. — The  word  of  God,  and  that  alone,  ought  to  be  the 
ground  of  both  faith  and  practice.  But  all  this  does  not  prove  that  it  would 
be  wrong  for  an  individual  to  judge  of  the  meaning  of  the  Divine  word, 
nor  for  a  number  of  individuals,  who  agree  in  their  judgments,  to  express 
that  agreement  in  explicit  terms,  and  consider  themselves  as  bound  to  walk 
by  the  same  rule. 

Fourthly,  Whether  the  united  sentiments  of  a  Christian  society  be  ex- 
pressed in  writing  or  not  is  immaterial,  provided  they  be  mutually  understood 
and  avowed. — Some  societies  have  no  written  articles  of  faith  or  discipline; 
but  with  them,  as  with  others  that  have,  it  is  always  understood  that  there 
are  certain  principles  a  professed  belief  of  which  is  deemed  necessary  to 
communion. 

The  substance  of  the  inquiry  therefore  would  be,  whether  a  body  of  Chris- 
tians have  a  right  to  judge  of  the  meaning  of  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of 
the  gospel,  and  to  act  accordingly  l  That  an  individual  has  a  right  so  to 
judge,  and  to  form  his  connexions  with  those  whose  views  are  most  conge- 
nial with  his  own,  will  not  be  disputed ;  but  if  so,  why  have  not  a  society 
the  same  right?  If  Christ  has  given  both  doctrines  and  precepts,  some  of 
which  are  more  immediately  addressed  to  Christians  in  their  social  capacity, 
they  must  not  only  possess  such  a  right,  but  are  under  obligation  to  exercise 
it.  //  the  righteous  nation  ichich  keep  the  truth  be  the  only  proper  charac- 
ters for  entering  into  gospel  fellowship,  those  who  have  the  charge  of  their 
admission  are  obliged  to  form  a  judgment  on  what  is  truth,  and  what  is 
righteousness;  without  which  they  must  be  wholly  unqualified  for  their 
office. 

If  a  Christian  society  have  no  right  to  judge  what  is  truth,  and  to  render 
an  agreement  with  them  in  certain  points  a  term  of  communion,  then  nei- 
ther have  they  a  right  to  judge  what  is  righteousness,  nor  to  render  an  agree- 
ment in  matters  of  practical  right  and  wrong  a  term  of  communion. 

There  is  a  great  diversity  of  sentiment  in  the  world  concerning  morality, 
as  well  as  doctrine;  and  if  it  be  an  unscriptural  imposition  to  agree  to  any 
articles  whatever,  it  must  be  to  exclude  any  one  for  immorality,  or  even  to 
admonish  him  on  that  account;  for  it  might  be  alleged  that  he  only  thinks 
for  himself,  and  acts  accordingly.  Nor  would  it  stop  here:  almost  every 
species  of  immorality  has  been  defended  and  may  be  disguised,  and  thus, 
under  the  pretence  of  a  right  of  private  judgment,  the  church  of  God  would 
become  like  the  mother  of  harlots — "  the  habitation  of  devils,  and  the  hold 
of  every  foul  spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every  unclean  and  hateful  bird." 

It  is  a  trite  and  frivolous  objection  which  some  have  made  against  sub- 
scriptions and  articles  of  faith — that  it  is  setting  bounds  to  the  freedom  of 
inquiry,  and  requiring  a  conformity  of  sentimeut  that  is  incompatible  with 
the  various  opportunities  and  capacities  of  different  persons.  The  same 
objection  might  be  urged  against  the  covenanting  of  the  Israelites  (Neh.  x. 
29)  and  all  laws  in  society.  If  a  religious  community  agree  to  specify  some 
leading  principles  which  they  consider  as  derived  from  the  word  of  God,  and 
judge  the  belief  of  them  to  be  necessary  in  order  to  any  person's  becoming 
or  continuing  a  member  with  them,  it  does  not  follow  that  those  principles 
should  be  equally  understood,  or  that  all  their  brethren  must  have  the  same 
degree  of  knowledge,  nor  yet  that  they  should  understand  and  believe  nothing 
else.  The  powers  and  capacities  of  different  persons  are  various;  one  may 
comprehend  more  of  the  same  truth  than  another,  and  have  his  views  more 
enlarged  by  an  exceedingly  great  variety  of  kindred  ideas ;  and  yet  the  sub- 
stance of  their  belief  may  still  be  the  same.  The  object  of  articles  ia  to 
keep  at  a  distance,  not  those  who  are  weak  in  the  faith,  but  such  as  are  its 
avowed  enemies.     Supposing  a  church  covenant  to  be  so  general  as  not  to 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.  451 

specify  one  principle  or  duty,  but  barely  an  engagement  to  adhere  to  the 
Scriptures  as  a  rule  of  fiith  and  practice,  the  objection  would  still  apply ; 
and  it  might  be  said.  One  man  is  capable  of  understanding  much  more  of 
the  Scriptures  than  another,  and  persons  of  more  enlarged  minds  may  dis- 
cover a  great  deal  of  truth  relating  to  science  which  the  Scriptures  do  not 
pretend  to  teach :  why,  therefore,  do  we  frame  articles  to  limit  the  freedom 
of  inquiry,  or  which  require  a  conformity  of  sentiment  incompatible  with  the 
opportunities  and  capacities  of  persons  so  differently  circumstanced?  The 
objection,  therefore,  if  admitted,  would  prove  too  much.  The  powers  of  the 
mind  will  probably  vary  in  a  future  world ;  one  will  be  capable  of  compre- 
hending much  more  of  truth  than  another;  yet  the  redeemed  will  all  be  of 
one  mind,  and  of  one  heart. 

Every  one  feels  the  importance  of  articles,  or  laws,  in  civil  society;  and 
yet  these  are  nothing  less  than  expositions  or  particular  applications  of  the 
great  principle  of  universal  equity.  General  or  universal  equity  is  that  to 
civil  laws  which  the  Bible  is  to  articles  of  faith ;  it  is  the  source  from  which 
they  are  all  professedly  derived,  and  the  standard  to  which  they  ought  all  to 
be  submitted.  The  one  are  as  liable  to  swerve  from  general  equity  as  the 
other  from  the  word  of  God ;  and  where  this  is  proved  to  be  the  case  in 
either  instance,  such  errors  require  to  be  corrected.  But  as  no  person  of 
common  sense  would  on  .this  account  inveigh  against  laws  being  made,  and 
insist  that  we  ought  only  to  covenant  in  general  to  walk  according  to  equity, 
without  agreeing  in  any  leading  principles,  or  determining  wherein  that 
equity  consists ;  neither  ought  he  to  inveigh  against  articles  of  faith  and 
practice  in  religious  matters,  provided  that  they  comport  with  the  mind  of 
God  in  his  word.  If  the  articles  of  faith  be  opposed  to  the  authority  of 
Scripture,  or  substituted  in  the  place  of  such  authority,  they  become  objec- 
tionable and  injurious;  but  if  they  simply  express  the  united  judgment  of 
those  who  voluntarily  subscribe  them,  they  are  incapable  of  any  such  kind 
of  imputation. 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  PRINCIPLES 

ON  ■WHICH  THE  APOSTLES  PROCEEDED,  IN  FORMING  AND  ORGANIZING  CHRISTIAN 
CHURCHES,  AND  REGULATING  VARIOUS  RELIGIOUS  DUTIES. 

[Written  in  April,  1804,  for  the  use  of  the  Brethren  at  Serampore.] 

Various  disputes  have  arisen  among  Christians  respecting  the  form,  the 
order,  and  the  organization  of  the  church  of  Christ.  It  is  from  different 
apprehensions  on  these  subjects  that  most  of  our  religious  denominations 
have  arisen.  Having  been  often  called  upon  to  give  advice  in  certain  cases, 
and  to  ground  it  on  Scriptural  authority,  I  have  been  led  to  examine  with 
some  attention  what  the  Scriptures  teach  us  concerning  them. 

It  has  appeared  to  me  that  some,  in  looking  for  scriptural  authority  for 
whatever  is  done  in  Christian  churches,  expect  too  much  ;  while,  on  the  con- 
trary, others  expect  too  little.  It  is  a  fact,  which  must  strike  every  attentive 
reader,  that  the  manner  in  which  the  'greater  part  of  the  worship  and  forms 
of  the  New  Testament  is  prescribed  is  very  different  from  that  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Moses  was  commanded  to  do  all  things  according  to  the  "  pat- 
tern" showed  him  in  the  mount;  but  no  such  pattern  is  given  us  in  the 
gospel  respecting  the  form  and  order  of  Christian  worship.     All,  or  nearly 


453  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

all,  we  know  of  the  matter  is  from  the  narrative  of  facts,  as  stated  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  and  from  certain  counsels  addressed  to  ministers  and 
churches,  in  the  apostolic  Epistles. 

In  each  of  these,  several  things  are  incidentally  brought  to  light ;  but 
express  injunctions,  like  those  under  the  law,  are  rarely  to  be  found.  We 
have  no  particular  account,  for  instance,  of  tiie  original  formation  of  a  single 
church,  nor  of  an  ordination  service,  nor  in  what  order  the  primitive  worship 
was  generally  conducted.  What  then  shall  we  say  to  these  things?  Shall 
we  infer  that  all  forms  of  worship  and  church  government  are  indifferent, 
and  left  to  be  accommodated  to  time,  place,  and  other  circumstances?  This 
would  open  a  door  to  human  inventions,  and  to  all  the  corruptions  which 
have  defaced  the  church  of  Christ.  Nevertheless,  this  we  may  infer — that 
to  attempt  to  draw  up  a  formula  of  church  government,  worship,  and  disci- 
pline, which  shall  include  any  thing  more  than  gaural  outlines,  and  to  estab- 
lish it  expressly  on  New  Testament  authority,  is  to  attempt  what  is  utterly 
impracticable. 

The  general  outlines  or  principles  of  things  may  be  collected,  and  tliese 
will  apply  to  particular  cases.  This,  I  apprehend,  is  all  that  we  are  warranted 
to  expect.  If,  for  example,  we  look  for  either  precept  or  precedent  for  the 
removal  of  a  Christian  pastor  from  one  situation  to  another,  we  shall  find 
none.  But  we  are  taught  that,  for  the  church  to  "  grow  unto  a  holy  temple 
in  the  Lord,"  it  requires  to  be  "fitly  framed  together,"  Eph.  ii.  21.  The 
want  o{  Jitness  therefore,  in  a  connexion,  especially  if  it  impede  the  growth 
of  the  spiritual  temple,  may  justify  the  removal  of  a  minister.  Or  if  there  be 
no  want  of  fitness,  yet  if  the  material  be  adapted  to  occupy  a  more  important 
station  in  the  building,  this  may  also  justify  its  removal.  Such  a  principle 
may  be  misapplied  to  ambitious  and  interested  purposes ;  but  if  the  increase 
of  the  temple  be  kept  in  view,  it  is  lawful,  and  in  many  cases  attended  with 
great  and  good  effects. 

This  example,  instead  of  a  hundred,  may  suffice  to  show,  if  I  mistake  not, 
that  the  form  and  order  of  the  Christian  church,  much  more  than  that  of  the 
Jewish  church,  are  founded  on  the  reason  and  fitness  of  things.  Under  the 
former  dispensation,  the  duties  of  religion  were  ino?X\y  positive;  and  were 
of  course  prescribed  with  the  nicest  precision,  and  the  most  exact  minute- 
ness. Under  the  gospel  they  are  chiefly  moral,  and,  consequently,  require 
only  the  suggestion  of  general  principles.  In  conforming  to  the  one,  it  was 
necessary  that  men  should  keep  their  eye  incessantly  upon  the  ride;  but,  in 
complying  with  the  other,  there  is  more  occasion  for  fixing  it  upon  the  en.(/. 

The  form  and  order  of  the  Christian  church  appear  to  be  no  other  than 
what  men,  possessed  of  "  the  wisdom  which  is  from  above,"  would  at  any 
time  very  naturally  fall  into,  even  though  no  other  direction  were  offered 
them.  That  the  aposdes  were  supernaturally  directed  is  true ;  but  that 
direction  consisted  not  in  their  being  furnished  with  a  "  pattern,"  in  the 
manner  of  that  given  to  Moses;  but  in  enduing  them  with  holy  wisdom,  to 
discern  and  pursue  on  all  occasions  what  was  good  and  right.  The  Jewish 
church  was  an  army  of  soldiers  under  preparatory  discipline ;  the  Christian 
church  is  an  army  going  forth  to  battle.  The  members  of  the  one  were 
taught  punctilious  obedience,  and  led  with  great  formality  through  a  variety 
of  religious  evolutions.  Those  of  the  other,  though  they  also  must  keep 
their  ranks  and  act  in  obedience  to  command,  yet  are  not  required  to  be  so 
attentive  to  the  mechanical  as  to  the  mental,  not  so  much  to  the  minute 
observance  of  forms  as  to  their  spirit  and  design.  The  obedience  of  the 
former  was  that  of  children ;  the  latter  that  of  sons  arrived  at  maturer  age. 

I  have  said  that  the  form  and  order  of  the  Christian  church  are  chicjly 
moral,  or  founded  in  the  fitness  of  things,  as  those  of  the  Jewish  church 


PRINCIPLES  OP  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.  453 

were  chiejly  positive ;  for  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  will  hold  true  uni- 
versally. Some  things  pertaining  to  the  organization  of  the  latter  were 
settled  on  the  same  principles  as  those  of  the  former.  The  seventy  elders, 
ordained  to  assist  Moses,  bore  a  near  resemblance  to  the  seven  deacons 
chosen  to  assist  the  apostles  (Numb.  xi. ;  Acts  vi.) :  both  originated  in  the 
necessity  of  the  case,  and  as  such  were  approved  of  God.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  some  things  pertaining  to  the  Christian  church  which  are 
entirely  positive;  and,  being  clearly  revealed,  require  to  be  obeyed  with  the 
same  punctilious  regard  to  the  "pattern"  given  as  was  observed  by  Moses 
in  constructing  the  tabernacle.  Such  are  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 
They  were  "ordinances"  of  God,  and  required  to  be  kept  "as  they  were 
delivered,"  Matt.  iii.  15  ;  Luke  i.  6 ;  1  Cor.  xi.  2.  But  in  many  things  per- 
taining to  order  and  discipline,  though  we  are  furnished  with  nothing  more 
than  general  outlines,  and  are  obliged  to  keep  within  them,  yet  in  the  filling 
up  there  is  room  left  for  the  exercise  of  discretion  and  forbearance. 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  will  not  the  considering  of  these  things  as  moral, 
rather  than  positive,  open  a  way  for  the  introduction  of  human  inventions 
into  the  church  of  God.  Why  should  it?  Though  the  greater  part  of  what 
belongs  to  the  organization  and  discipline  of  the  church  be  founded  in  the 
fitness  of  things,  yet  the  human  mind  in  its  present  imperfect  and  depraved 
state  is  not  of  itself,  and  without  Divine  direction,  sufficient  to  perceive  it. 
We  have  so  much  of  the  wisdom  that  is  "  from  beneath"  dwelling  in  us  that 
we  should  be  continually  erring,  if  left  to  ourselves.  It  is  not  necessary 
indeed,  in  things  of  this  nature,  that  we  should  be  furnished  with  precepts 
or  examples  with  the  same  minuteness  as  in  positive  institutions;  but  with- 
out .so  much  of  one  or  other  of  them  as  shall  mark  the  outlines  of  our  con- 
duct, we  shall  be  certain  to  wander.  If  we  were  left  without  a  revelation 
from  Heaven,  our  ideas  of  the  universal  rule  of  right  and  wrong  would  be 
very  defective  and  erroneous.  In  whatsoever  therefore  the  Lord  hath  con- 
descended to  instruct  us,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  prefer  what  may  appear  jit 
and  right  to  us;  but,  in  like  circumstances,  are  bound  to  follow  it.  If  I 
plead  for  discretion  and  forbearance,  it  is  only  where  the  Scriptures  do  not 
decide;  and  where,  consequently,  it  was  thought  sufficient  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  put  us  in  possession  of  general  principles. 

I.  That  the  form  and  order  of  the  New  Testabient  church  were 

FOUNDED  IN  THE  FITNESS  OF  THINGS  WILL  APPEAR,  I  PRESUME,  FROM  THE 
following  CONSIDERATIONS. 

1.  The  general  principles  expressly  mentioned  by  the  apostles  as  the  rule 
of  Christian  conduct.  "  Let  all  things  be  done  to  edifying. — Let  all  things 
be  done  decently,  and  in  order,"  I  Cor.  xiv.  26,  40.  Whatever  measures 
tended  to  build  up  the  church  of  God,  and  individuals,  in  their  most 
holy  fluth,  these  were  adopted  as  the  rule  of  their  conduct,  and  rendered 
binding  on  them  by  the  authority  of  Christ. — Moreover,  whatever  measures 
approved  themselves  to  minds  endued,  as  those  of  the  apostles  were,  with 
the  wisdom  from  above,  as  fit  and  lovely,  and  calculated  to  render  the  whole 
church  effective  (like  that  of  good  discipline  to  an  army)  in  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel;  these  are  the  rules  by  which  the  primitive  Christians  were 
governed.  And  however  worldly  minds  may  have  abused  them,  by  intro- 
ducing will-worship  and  vain  customs,  under  pretence  of  their  decency,  these, 
understood  in  their  simple  and  original  sense,  must  still  be  the  test  of  good 
order  and  Christian  discipline. 

2.  The  way  in  which  the  apostles  actually  proceeded,  in  the  forming  and 
organizing  of  churches,  is  a  proof  that  they  were  guided  by  a  sense  of  fitness 
and  propriety. — When  a  number  of  Christians  agreed  to  walk  together  in 
the  faith  and  order  of  the  gospel,  they  became  a  Christian  church.     But  at 


454  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

first  they  had  no  deacons,  and  probably  no  pastors,  except  the  apostles;  and 
if  the  reasoTi  of  things  had  not  required  it,  they  might  have  continued  to  have 
none.  But  in  the  course  of  events  they  found  new  service  rise  upon  their 
hands,  and  therefore  must  have  new  servants;*  for,  said  tlie  apostles,  "  it  is 
not  reason  that  we  should  leave  the  word  of  God  to  serve  tables :  wherefore 
look  ye  out  among  you  seven  men  of  honest  report,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  wisdom,  whom  we  may  appoint  over  tliis  business,"  Acts  vi.  2,  3.  In 
this  process  we  see  nothing  like  a  punctilious  attention  to  a  positive  institute, 
but  the  conduct  of  men  who  were  endued  with  heavenly  wisdom.  All  things 
are  done  "  decently  and  in  order,"  and  all  "  to  edifying."  In  the  course  of 
events,  the  apostles,  who  had  supplied  the  place  of  pastors,  would  be  called 
to  travel  into  other  parts  of  the  world ;  and  then,  it  is  likely,  the  church  at 
Jerusalem  would  have  a  resident  pastor  or  pastors  of  their  own. 

And  as  servants  were  appointed  when  actual  service  demanded,  so  the 
number  of  them  would  be  regulated  by  the  same  rule.  A  large  church  or 
congregation,  where  much  service  was  to  be  done,  required  seven  deacons; 
and  where  they  abounded  not  only  in  numbers,  but  also  in  spiritual  gifts, 
they  commonly,  if  not  always,  seem  to  have  had  a  plurality  of  bishops  or 
elders. — With  respect  to  us,  where  the  reason  of  the  thing  exists — that  is, 
where  there  are  churches  whose  numbers  require  it,  and  whose  gifts  admit 
of  it — it  is  well  to  follow  this  part  of  their  example;  but  for  a  small  church 
to  have  more  pastors  than  one  appears  to  be  as  unnecessary  as  to  have  "  seven" 
deacons.  Such  a  rule  would  favour  idleness,  and  prevent  useful  ministers 
from  extending  their  labours.  To  appoint  two  or  three  to  a  station  which 
might  be  filled  by  one  must  have  a  tendency  to  leave  many  other  places 
unoccupied,  and  so  contract  instead  of  enlarging  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

3.  The  principles  on  which  the  apostles  proceeded  may  appear  by  tracing 
the  analogy  between  them  and  a  company  of  Christian  missionaries  in  the 
present  day. — The  term  "  apostle"  signifies  one  that  is  sent.  If  we  subtract 
the  ideas  of  being  sent  immediately  by  Christ,  of  being  endowed  with  extra- 
ordinary gifts  and  authority,  suited  to  the  special  purposes  of  primitive  times, 
he  will,  for  aught  I  see,  be  merely  a  Christian  missionary.  Let  us  then  sup- 
pose a  church,  or  society  of  Christians,  to  have  in  contemplation  a  mission 
to  the  heathen.  One  of  the  first  things  demanding  their  attention  would  be 
the  selection  of  a  number  of  suitable  missionaries.  Next,  they  would  instruct 
them  in  the  things  necessary  to  their  undertaking;  and,  after  this,  send  them 
forth  to  preach  the  gospel. — Such  was  precisely  the  conduct  of  our  Lord 
towards  his  disciples.  He  first  selected  them;  then  instructed  them,  during 
his  personal  ministry ;  and,  after  his  resurrection,  gave  them  their  commis- 
sion and  a  rich  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  qualify  them  for  the  under- 
taking. 

The  missionaries,  arriving  at  the  scene  of  action,  would  first  unite  in  social 
prayer  and  Christian  fellowship ;  and  this  would  constitute  the  first  church. 
Thus  the  apostles,  and  those  who  adhered  to  them,  first  met  in  an  upper 
room  for  prayer,  preparatory  to  their  attack  on  the  world  of  the  ungodly ; 
and  this  little  band  of  "  one  hundred  and  twenty"  formed  the  first  Christian 
church.  And  when  sinners  were  converted,  and  joined  them,  they  are 
represented  as  being  "added  to  the  church,"  Acts  ii.  41-47. 

Again,  The  first  missionaries  to  a  heathen  country  could  not  be  chosen 
to  the  work  by  those  to  whom  they  were  sent,  but  by  him  or  them  who  sent 
them;  nor  would  their  influence  be  confined  to  a  single  congregation,  but 
extend  to  all  the  societies  that  might  be  raised  by  means  of  their  labours. 
It  would  be  different  with  succeeding  pastors,  who  might  be  raised  up  from 

*  A  deacon  signifies  a  servant. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.  455 

among  the  converts.  They  would  of  course  be  chosen  by  their  brethren, 
and  their  authority  would  be  confined  lo  the  churches  which  elected  them. 
Thus  the  primitive  missionaries  were  not  constituted  apostles  by  the  churches, 
but  by  receiving  their  appointment  immediately  from  Christ ;  nor  was  their 
authority  limited  to  any  particular  church,  but  extended  alike  to  all.  In  this 
they  differ  from  ordinary  pastors,  who  are  elected  by  the  churches  they  are 
intended  to  serve,  and  whose  authority  is  confined  to  that  particular  depart- 
ment. 

Again,  The  first  missionaries  to  a  heathen  country  would  be  employed  in 
the  planting  of  churches,  wherever  proper  materials  were  found  for  the  pur- 
pose; and  if  the  work  so  increased  upon  their  hands  as  to  be  too  much  for 
them,  they  would  depute  others,  like-minded  with  themselves,  whom  God 
would  qualify  with  gifts  and  graces  to  render  them  assistance.  Some  one 
person  at  least  of  this  description  would  be  present,  in  the  formation  and 
organization  of  every  church,  to  see  that  "  all  things  were  done  decently  and 
in  order."  And  if  there  were  any  other  churches  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
that  in  which  such  an  organization  took  place,  their  elders  and  messengers 
would  doubtless  be  present ;  and,  to  express  their  brotherly  concurrence, 
would  join  in  it. 

Thus  the  apostles  planted  churches ;  and  when  elders  were  to  be  ordained, 
the  people  chose  them,  and  they  by  the  solemn  laying  on  of  hands  invested 
them  witli  the  office.  Acts  vi.  3  ;  xiv.  23.  And  when  the  work  still  increased 
upon  their  hands,  they  appointed  such  men  as  Timothy  and  Titus  as  evan- 
gelists to  '  set  things  in  order"  in  their  stead.  Tit.  i.  5.  In  these  ordina- 
tions and  arrangements,  a  Paul  or  a  Titus  would  preside.  The  other  elders 
of  the  church,  and  probably  of  the  sister  churches,  would  unite  in  brotherly 
concurrence,  and  in  imploring  a  blessing  on  the  parties ;  and  hence  there 
would  be  the  "  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery,"  or  elders,  I  Tim. 
iv.  14. 

But  as  the  missionaries  would  die  a  question  would  arise :  Who  should 
be  their  successors  ;  or,  rather,  on  whom  should  the  general  concerns  of  the 
churches  devolve? — Strictly  speaking,  there  might  be  no  necessity  for  any 
successors.  The  Christian  religion  being  planted  by  them  might  be  con- 
tinued by  the  native  pastors,  whom  God  would  successively  raise  up ;  and 
who,  if  "  faithful  men,"  would  not  only  be  concerned  to  edify  and  watch 
over  their  own  respective  charges,  but  would  extend  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  and  plant  new  churches  around  them.  In  cases  of  difficulty,  especially 
those  of  common  concern,  they  would  call  in  the  advice  of  their  brethren, 
as  the  first  missionaries  had  done  before  them  (Acts  xv.) ;  judging  in  all 
things  not  as  lords  over  a  heritage,  but  as  men  who  must  finally  give  an 
account. 

That  this  would  be  the  case  is  more  probable  when  it  is  considered,  that 
though  the  first  missionaries  had  an  authority  and  an  influence  which  no 
succeeding  pastors  would  possess,  yet  it  was  exercised  otily  in  things  tvhich 
it  loould  be  lawful  for  others  to  do  as  well  as  themselves.  They  had  no 
power  but  what  required  to  be  exercised  in  subserviency  to  the  will  of  Christ, 
and  for  the  edification  of  the  churches ;  and  if  this  rule  be  retained,  and 
this  end  answered,  it  is  of  no  account  whether  it  be  done  by  them  or  by  the 
native  pastors  after  their  decease.  If  the  former  planted  churches,  set  them 
in  order,  and  presided  at  the  ordination  of  elders  over  them,  it  was  not  be- 
cause the  same  things  would  not  have  been  valid  if  done  without  them,  but 
because  they  would  not  have  been  done  at  all.  Let  but  churches  be  planted, 
set  in  order,  and  scripturally  organized,  and  whether  it  be  by  the  primitive 
missionaries,  or  succeeding  pastors,  all  is  good,  and  acceptable  to  Christ. 

Such,  I  conceive,  is  the  state  of  things  with  respect  to  the  apostles  and 


456  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

succeeding  pastors.  There  never  were  any  men,  or  set  of  men  whatsoever, 
that  were,  properly  speaking,  their  successors.  Nor  was  it  necessary  that 
there  should,  seeing  every  thing  which  they  did  (excepting  what  \yas  extra- 
ordinari/,  in  which  respect  none  can  succeed  them)  was  lawful  for  every  pas- 
tor to  do  in  his  immediate  charge. 

If  a  necessity  existed  for  any  superior  office  or  offices,  it  must  be  for  the 
purpose  of  inspecting  and  preserving  the  general  interest  of  the  whole  body; 
but  even  this  would  be  more  likely  to  be  answered  by  occasional  conferences 
among  the  elders. 

II.  The  following  arguments  are  offered  in  proof  that  the  office 

OF  A  superior,  or  OF  A  GENERAL  SUPERINTENDENT  IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH, 
IS  BOTH  UNLAWFUL  AND  UNNECESSARY. 

1.  A  bishop  is  the  first  permanent  office  in  the  Christian  church.  It  was 
the  highest  title  assumed  for  many  ages  after  the  apostles.  But  a  bishop  is 
no  other  than  a  presbyter,  an  elder,  or  overseer  of  a  single  congregation; 
as  is  evident  from  each  of  these  names  being  given  to  the  elders  of  the 
church  at  Ephesus,  who  met  Paul  at  Miletus,  Acts  xx.  17,  28.  Any  office, 
therefore,  in  the  present  day,  which  claims  the  oversight  of  bishops,  must  be 
antiscriptural. 

2.  It  accords  with  the  genius  of  Christianity  that  the  churches  be  governed, 
and  all  their  affairs  adjusted,  by  mutual  consultation  and  persuasion,  rather 
than  by  coercion.  But  where  the  power  has  been  vested  in  one  or  more 
superior  officers,  it  has  commonly  degenerated  into  a  lording  it  over  the  heri- 
tage, and  the  people  have  gradually  lost  all  interest  in  it.  If  Christ's  king- 
dom were  of  this  world,  its  officers  might  require  to  be  invested  with  worldly 
honour,  pageantry,  and  authorhy.  Its  members  also  must  be  governed  "  like 
the  horse  and  the  mule,  which  have  no  understanding."  But  the  great  Head 
of  the  church  has  told  his  servants,  "  It  shall  not  be  so  amongst  you."  On 
this  ground  there  might  be  danger  in  what  you  propose  in  your  letters,  of 
having  European  missionaries  as  superintendents  of  the  native  pastors.  You 
should  indeed  superintend  them,  but  not  so  as  to  make  it  an  office,  or  to  set 
an  example  of  lordly  domination  in  future  times  among  themselves. 

3.  The  apostles  in  the  exercise  of  their  authority  did  not  act  separately 
from  other  elders,  but  in  conjunction  with  them ;  by  which  means  they  gra- 
dually inured  them  to  the  discharge  of  the  same  duties  among  themselves 
after  their  decease.  Paul  laid  his  hands  on  Timothy,  yet  not  as  an  indi- 
vidual, in  the  manner  practised  by  diocesan  bishops,  but  as  an  elder  among 
other  elders, — 2  Tim.  i.  6,  compared  Avith  1  Tim.  iv.  14. 

In  the  planting  and  organizing  of  churches,  the  same  things  which  were 
done  by  them  were  done  by  others  appointed  by  them  ;  and  had  they  been 
done  by  elders  whom  they  had  7iot  appointed,  provided  the  will  of  Christ 
had  been  properly  regarded,  they  would  not,  I  presume,  have  objected  to 
their  validity.  This  is  certainly  true,  at  least,  in  some  particulars;  and  I 
see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  the  same  in  all.  Paul  left  Timothy  at 
Ephesus,  that  he  might  "  charge  some  to  teach  no  other  doctrine."  But  if 
the  Ephesian  elders  had  been  of  themselves  attached  to  fhe  truth,  neither 
Paul  nor  Timothy  would  have  been  offended  with  them  for  superseding  the 
exercise  of  their  authority. 

The  apostle  also  left  Titus  in  Crete  to  "  set  in  order  the  things  that  were 
wanting,  and  to  ordain  elders  in  every  city."  But  if  the  Cretans  themselves 
had  had  sufficient  wisdom  and  virtue  to  have  regulated  their  own  affairs  by 
the  word  of  God,  would  their  "  order"  have  been  reckoned  disorder?  And 
had  there  been  "  elders"  already  ordained  amongst  them,  who  were  compe- 
tent to  assist  in  the  ordination  of  others,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  tenor  of 
apostolic  practice,  instead  of  objecting  to  the  validity  of  their  proceedings, 


PRINCIPLES  OF  CHURCH  DISCIPLINE.  457 

both  Paul  and  Titus  would,  "  though  absent  in  the  flesh,  have  been  with 
them  in  the  spirit,  joying,  and  beholding  their  order,  and  the  steadfastness 
of  their  faith  in  Christ." 

III.  I  COiSrCLUDE  THESE  BRIEF  REMARKS  WITH  A  FEW  REFLECTIONS  ON 
SOME  PARTICULAR  DUTIES. 

If  such  be  the  principles  on  which  the  primitive  churches  were  founded, 
is  it  not  more  becoming  for  us  to  inquire  into  the  spirit,  reason,  or  design 
of  various  precepts,  and  adhere  to  it,  than  to  be  always  disputing  and  dividing 
about  the  letter  of  them  ? 

1.  There  are  various  precepts  in  our  Lord's  sermon  on  the  mount,  which 
I  am  persuaded  were  never  designed  to  be  taken  literalhj.  For  example,  we 
are  commanded  to  "swear  not  at  all,"  Matt.  v.  33-37.  Hence  many  good 
men  have  objected  to  the  lawfulness  of  an  oath  before  a  magistrate ;  yet 
such  oaths  were  not  only  allowed,  but  commanded  by  the  law  of  Moses, 
Deut.  vi.  13.  And  our  Lord  declared  that  it  was  not  his  design,  in  any 
thing  he  here  said,  to  destroy  or  set  aside  the  law,  Matt.  v.  17,  18.  None 
of  his  answers  were  aimed  against  the  law,  but  against  the  glosses  of  the 
Pharisees  upon  it.  But,  to  understand  him  as  condemning  all  kinds  of  oaths, 
is  to  make  him  condemn  the  law.  Nor  is  this  all ;  it  would  go  to  condemn 
many  things  in  his  aposdes  which  are  written  under  Divine  inspiration,  as 
in  the  following  instances.  "The  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  blessed  for  ever,"  said  Paul,  "  knoweth  that  I  lie  not." — "  I  call  God 
for  a  record  upon  my  soul,  that  to  spare  you  I  came  not  as  yet  unto  Corinth." 
— "  God  is  my  witness,  whom  I  serve  with  my  spirit  in  the  gospel  of  his 
Son,  that  without  ceasing  I  make  mention  of  you  always  in  my  prayers,"  2 
Cor.  xi.  31  ;  i.  23;  Rom.  i.  9.  Each  of  these  is  a  solemn  oath;  yet  we  never 
think  of  their  being  sinful.  The  swearing  which  our  Lord  forbids  relates  to 
our  ordinary  "communications,"  which  should  be  "yea,  yea,  or  nay,  nay." 
It  is  this  which  is  forbidden  by  the  apostle  James,  when  he  says,  "  Above  all 
things,  my  brethren,  swear  not,  lest  ye  fall  into  condemnation,"  James  v.  12. 
Though  a  barren  and  profane  vice,  it  was  very  common  among  the  Jews, 
and  is  equally  so  among  many  who  call  themselves  Christians. 

Again,  Instead  of  avenging  ourselves,  "  an  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for 
a  tooth,"  we  are  commanded  "  not  to  resist  evil."  Did  our  Saviour  mean 
by  this  to  censure  the  law,  as  appointed  of  God,  (Exod.  xxi.  24-27,)  and  as 
administered  by  the  civil  magistrate  ?  That  would  be  to  "  destroy  the  law," 
and  not  to  fulfil  it.  His  design  was  doubtless  to  forbid  private  retaliation 
and  revenge,  which  the  Jews  had  attempted  to  justify  by  a  perversion  of  the 
Divine  command.  He  did  not  complain  of  the  law  in  the  hands  of  the 
magistrate,  nor  forbid  his  followers  appealing  to  it  where  public  justice  was 
concerned  ;  but  they  must  do  nothing  from  a  principle  of  revenge,  or  for  the 
sake  of  retaliation. 

If  the  command  "  not  to  resist  evil"  were  understood  literally,  and  without 
any  restriction,  and  we  were  literally  obliged  "  when  smitten  on  one  cheek 
to  turn  the  other  also,"  our  Saviour  himself  would  have  erred  in  not  setting 
the  example,  when  he  was  smitten  before  Pilate;  for  instead  of  submission 
he  remonstrated:  "If  I  have  spoken  well,  why  smitest  thou  me?"  Luke  vi. 
29 ;  John  xviii.  23.  But  though  our  Lord's  command  is  not  to  be  taken 
literally,  yet  if  we  attend  to  the  spirit  of  it,  we  shall  find  it  to  contain  a  very 
important  lesson;  it  teaches  us  that  we  had  better  suffer  insults  and  injuries, 
and  even  the  repetition  of  them,  than  undertake  to  avenge  ourselves.  It  is  the 
principle,  rather  than  the  act,  which  he  means  to  enforce;  yet  there  are  cases 
in  which  the  act  itself  would  be  right  and  praiseworthy. 

Unbelievers  affect  to  ridicule  this  precept ;  yet  who  ridicules  the  conduct 
of  Themistocles,  the  Athenian  general,  who  in  a  council  of  m  ar  had  the 

Vol.  III.— 58  2  Q 


453  ECCLESIASTICAL   POLITY. 

cane  of  Eurybiades  shaken  over  his  head;  and  who.  instead  of  resenting  it, 
exclaimed,  "  Strike,  but  hear  me!"  This  instance  of  magnanimous  patience 
saved  his  country.  And  may  not  a  Christian  have  a  still  greater  end  in 
view  ?  If  by  his  patience  he  should  save  his  soul  from  death,  however  infi- 
dels may  sneer,  he  will  have  a  weightier  crown  awarded  him  another  day 
than  what  was  decreed  for  the  noble  Athenian.  The  cheerful  sufferings  of 
the  holy  martyrs  in  all  ages  have  exemplified  this  principle.  While  they 
sought  the  salvation  of  mankind,  the  world  hated  them ;  but  instead  of  ren- 
deruig  evil  for  evil,  they  practically  said — Strike,  but  hear  us! 

Again,  If  our  Lord's  precepts  on  almsgiving  and  prayer  were  understood 
literally,  (Matt.  vi.  1-6,)  they  would  prove  it  unlawful  to  join  in  any  public 
contributions  for  the  poor,  and  to  engage  in  public  prayer ;  but  it  is  not  the 
act  which  our  Lord  has  principally  in  view,  but  the  prmciple  or  motive.  His 
object  was  to  condemn  a  spirit  of  ostentation,  in  the  same  way  as  we  should 
understand  another  prohibition  :  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon 
earth,"  Matt.  vi.  19.  Some  Christians  have  concluded  from  hence  that  all 
accumulation  of  property  is  contrary  to  the  command  of  Christ.  The  ill 
consequences  of  such  interpretation  do  not  lie  in  their  rendering  men  care- 
less about  the  world,  for  there  is  but  little  danger  of  persons  who  have 
opportunities  of  acquiring  wealth  erring  on  that  side;  but  the  mischief  is, 
they  make  men  guilty  of  hypocrisy,  in  setting  them  to  devise  methods  by 
which  they  may  go  on  in  business  like  their  neighbours,  and  yet  find  some 
salvo  for  their  consciences  by  which  to  impose  upon  themselves.  If  it  were 
the  design  of  Christ  to  forbid  all  accumulation  of  property,  why  were  the 
primitive  Christians  directed  to  "  lay  up  something  for  the  poor  every  first 
day  of  the  week,  according  as  God  had  prospered  them,"  1  Cor.  xvi.  2.  It 
will  hardly  be  pleaded  that  they  were  to  lay  by  for  this  purpose  the  whole  of 
their  gains;  but  if  not,  they  must  have  been  allowed  to  labour  and  trade  like 
other  men.  Moreover,  if  they  were  forbidden  to  increase  wealth,  why  are 
they  exhorted  to  diligence,  "  that  they  may  have  whereof  to  give  to  him  that 
needeth  ?"  Eph.  iv.  28.  On  this  principle  also  it  would  be  wrong  for  parents 
to  provide  any  thing  for  their  children,  which  both  reason  and  Scripture 
allow,  2  Cor.  xii.  14. 

Finally,  If  these  words  require  to  be  taken  literally,  why  should  not  others 
of  a  similar  import  be  understood  in  the  same  way?  "  Take  no  thought  for 
your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink." — "  Sell  what  ye  have, 
and  give  alms,"  Matt.  vi.  25;  Luke  xii.  33.  Yet  if  such  a  literal  interpre- 
tation were  reduced  to  general  practice,  it  would  destroy  all  distinction  of 
property,  and  so  of  rich  and  poor.  This,  however,  was  not  our  Lord's  de- 
sign, or  he  would  not  have  addressed  men,  much  less  good  men,  under  the 
character  of  rich  and  poor,  James  i.  9,  10.  The  accumulation  of  property, 
if  arising  from  the  blessing  of  God  on  our  lawful  occupations,  and  consi- 
dered as  a  trust  to  be  laid  out  for  him,  has  nothing  wrong  in  it.  The  danger 
is,  what  our  Lord  inveighs  against,  that  of  making  a  "treasure"  of  it,  or 
setting  our  hearts  upon  it  as  an  idol  in  the  place  of  God,  instead  of  consi- 
dering all  as  his,  and  as  requiring  all  to  be  employed  for  him,  according  to 
his  revealed  will.  It  is  the  desire  to  be  great,  to  shine,  and  to  indulge  in 
the  pride  of  life,  that  is  destructive  to  men's  souls.  This  is  the  evil  every 
where  described  by  such  language  as  the  following : — "  Ye  ask,  and  receive 
not,  because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  consume  it  upon  your  lusts." — "They 
that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temptation  and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and 
liurtful  lusts,  which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition,"  James  iv.  3; 
1  Tim.  vi.  9. 

2.  I  observe  the  reason  of  some  duties  ceases  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  hij 
a  change  of  circumstances. — This  remark,  I  am  aware,  is  liable  to  great 


PRINCIPLES  OF  DISSENT.  459 

abuse.  Some,  under  the  pretence  of  accommodating  Christianity  to  times 
and  circumstances,  may  render  it  a  mere  temporizing  system,  to  be  just  what 
its  professors  may  find  it  their  interest  or  their  inclination  to  have  it  be. 
Yet,  after  all,  the  fiict  cannot  be  called  in  question;  and  if  men  will  abuse 
it,  they  must  take  the  consequence. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  for  a  man  in  the  times  of  the  apostles  to  have  had  "  his 
head  covered"  in  public  worship  was  reckoned  to  be  "  dishonouring  his 
head ;"  for,  by  the  custom  which  then  prevailed,  in  was  a  sign  of  subjection, 
1  Cor.  xi.  4-7.  But  in  our  times  the  reverse  is  true;  a  being  ?/rtcovered  is 
the  sign  of  subjection,  and  the  being  covered  indicates  some  kind  of  supe- 
riority. Men  are  now  generally  uncovered  in  the  time  of  worship,  not  for 
the  purpose  of  maintaining  their  dignity,  or  superiority  over  the  women ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  for  avoiding  the  appearance  of  assuming  too  much  in 
the  presence  of  God,  by  seeming  to  refuse  that  honour  to  him  which  is  paid 
to  our  superiors  among  men.  The  woman,  on  the  other  hand,  was  then 
required  to  be  covered,  as  by  the  custom  of  those  times  it  was  a  token  of  her 
subjection  to  the  man.  But  though  our  females  still  cover  the  head  in  public 
worship,  it  is  not  for  this  purpose,  nor  does  it  convey  any  such  idea. 

For  the  same  purpose  the  hair  of  the  man  was  shorn,  and  that  of  the 
woman  worn  at  length.  Each  by  the  custom  of  the  time  and  place  was 
considered  as  distinctive  of  the  sexes,  which  various  important  purposes  in 
society,  and  even  nature  itself,  required  to  be  preserved.  When  the  apostle 
asks,  "  Doth  not  even  nature  itself  teach  you  that  if  a  man  have  long  hair  it 
is  a  shame  unto  him?  but  if  a  woman  have  long  hair  it  is  a  glory  to  her," 
(1  Cor.  xi.  14,  15,)  some  have  thought  that,  "  by  nature,"  he  means  no  more 
than  custom.  This  I  apprehend  is  a  mistake.  President  Edwards  has  hap- 
pily expressed  what  appears  to  be  the  true  meaning  of  this  passage  in  the 
following  words: — "It  is  custom  which  establishes  any  outward  sign  as  a 
token  of  inward  sentiment;  therefore,  when  it  had  established  the  wearing 
of  long  hair  as  the  sign  of  a  female,  '  nature  itself  taught  that  it  was  a 
shame  for  a  man  to  appear  in  the  known  garb  of  a  woman."  The  truth  is, 
I  apprehend,  if  the  proper  distinction  of  the  sexes  be  preserved,  by  each 
appearing  in  that  habit  which  the  custom  of  the  age  and  country  makes  the 
distinctive  marks  of  them,  the  end  aimed  at  by  the  apostle  is  fully  an- 
swered.* 


A  BRIEF  STATEMENT  OF  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  DISSENT. 

From  the  first  establishment  of  the  Church  of  England  on  its  present 
basis,  to  this  day,  there  have  been  dissenters  from  it ;  but  as  all  dissent  is 
expressive  rather  of  what  is  disapproved  than  of  what  is  embraced,  it  is  natural 
to  suppose  that  the  objects  of  disapprobation  will  be  different  in  different 
persons.  The  English  Dissenters  are  commonly  distinguished  into  three 
denominations;  Presbyterians,  Independents,  m\^  Baptists:  but  there  exists, 
as  has  existed  nearly  from  the  beginning,  a  distinction  of  greater  importance, 
and  more  descriptive  of  their  respective  grounds  of  dissent,  by  which  also 
they  are  reducible  to  three  classes : — viz. 

*  The  remainder  of  this  Essay,  principally  relating  to  the  connexion  between  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  supper,  is  supposed  to  be  lost.  Some  of  the  following  treatises  will,  how- 
ever, convoy  the  author's  sentiments  on  this  subject. 

Nearly  allied  to  the  sulijcct  of  the  preceding  Essay  is  a  treatise  On  Moral  and  Positive 
Obedience,  and  another  On  the  Discipline  of  the  Primitive  Churches.  See  Circular  Letters 
of  the  Northamptonshire  Association. 


460  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

Those  who  have  disapproved  of  the  doctrine  of  the  National  Church — 
those  who  approved  of  its  doctrine,  but  were  dissatisfied  with  the  degree  of 
its  Reformation — and  those  who  also  approved  of  its  doctrine,  but  disap- 
proved not  only  of  particular  parts  but  o'i  the  very  jJrmcipk  of  its  constitution. 

Of  the  first  description,  there  were  individuals  from  the  time  of  the 
Reformation  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Sixth,  to  the  revolution  of  1688, 
several  of  whom  were  put  to  death  for  their  principles;  but  till  the  eighteenth 
century  their  numbers  appear  to  have  been  few.  Whatever  we  may  think 
of  the  doctrines  which  these  people  imbibed,  no  person  who  respects  the 
right  of  private  judgment,  and  the  authority  of  Him  who  reproved  his  own 
disciples  when  they  would  have  called  for  fire  from  heaven  upon  his  enemies, 
declaring  that  he  "came  not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save  them,"  can 
forbear  to  regret  that  the  Reformation  should  at  so  early  a  period  have  been 
stained  with  blood. 

Of  the  second  description  were  the  greater  part  of  the  puritans  and  non- 
conformists. They  were  Presbyterians.  They  did  not  object  to  a  national 
establishment  of  religion ;  but  rather  wished  to  be  comprehended  in  it,  pro- 
vided it  had  been  framed  after  the  model  of  other  reformed  churches,  which 
they  accounted  more  agreeable  to  the  Scriptures.  Hence,  when  they  left 
the  Church,  it  was  with  reluctance,  complaining  of  the  terms  of  conformity, 
to  which  they  could  not  conscientiously  subscribe.  The  several  attempts 
for  compromising  the  diflferences,  and  admitting  them  into  the  National 
Church,  during  the  reigns  of  James  the  First  and  Charles  the  Second, 
respected  Dissenters  of  this  description. 

The  third  and  last  class  of  Dissenters,  differed  not  from  the  Established 
Church  in  the  main  as  to  their  doctrine,  though  they  might  not  approve  of 
being  sworn  to  the  belief  of  every  particular  in  a  human  composition,  espe- 
cially of  so  large  an  extent  as  the  Thirty-nine  Articles.  But  with  respect  to 
its  constitution,  government,  and  discipline,  their  objections  were  far  greater 
than  those  of  their  brethren.  Its  being  an  ally,  and  as  it  were  a  branch  of 
the  state,  and  comprehending  the  body  of  the  nation,  good  and  bad,  appeared 
to  them  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  "Christ's  kingdom,"  which 
*'  is  not  of  this  world ;"  and  of  a  Christian  church,  which  in  its  own  Articles 
is  said  to  be  "a  congregation  of  faithful  men." 

They  had  no  antipathy  to  Churchmen,  but  considered  many  of  them  as 
persons  eminent  in  godliness ;  nor  to  this  Church  in  distinction  from  others, 
tliough  there  might  be  in  them  different  degrees  of  good  and  evil ;  but  their 
grand  objection  was  to  the  Church  considered  as  national.  The  temporal 
power  of  bishops,  the  imposition  of  ministers,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  free 
.  election  of  the  people,  the  mixture  of  godly  and  manifestly  ungodly  charac- 
ters at  the  Lord's  table,  the  corruption  of  worship,  the  total  want  of  discipline, 
and  all  other  deviations  from  primitive  Christianity,  appeared  to  them  to  be 
no  more  than  might  be  expected,  if  circumstances  admitted  it,  to  grow  out 
of  a  national  establishment.  They,  therefore,  peaceably  withdrew  from  its 
communion,  with  the  view  of  forming  churches  on  the  plan  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament. But  the  leaders  in  the  Establishment  considering  themselves  as  the 
true  church,  and  all  who  dissented  from  them  as  guilty  of  schism,  being 
jealous  whereunto  this  might  grow,  and  having  the  civil  power  on  their  side, 
thought  good  to  prevent  them.  In  the  reign  of  the  famed  Elizabeth,  in  the 
year  1593,  several  of  them  were  actually  executed  on  gibbets — not  for  any 
contempt  of  civil  authority,  for  to  this  they  professed  and  yielded  all  due 
obedience ;  nor  for  any  matter  of  ivrong,  or  wicked  lewdness,  for  their  lives 
were  unblamable;  but  for  following  what  they  believed  to  be  the  mind  of 
Christ,  regardless  of  ecclesiastical  restraints.  "The  rest  fled  to  Holland  for 
safety. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  DISSENT.  4G1 

Among  these  exiles  was  Mr.  John  Robinson,  a  man  who,  for  gentleness, 
modesty,  firmness,  and  solid  wisdom,  has  been  rarely  excelled.  He  and  his 
companions  in  tribulation  were  permitted  to  form  a  congregational  church 
at  Leyden,  which  is  said  to  have  consisted  of  three  hundred  meinbers.  About 
twenty-seven  years  after  their  residence  in  Holland,  namely,  in  1G20,  about  a 
hundred  of  the  younger  members  of  the  church  went  over  to  North  America, 
and  formed  the  settlement  of  New  Plymouth ;  and  as  every  previous  attempt 
to  colonize  that  country  had  failed,  they  may  properly  be  considered  as  the 
founders  of  the  American  empire. 

Another  of  these  exiles  was  the  famous  Mr.  Henry  Ainsworth,  author  of 
the  "Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch,  the  Psalms,  and  the  Song  of  Songs," 
He  was  a  teacher  of  another  congregational  church  at  Amsterdam.* 

To  this  third  class  belong  the  greater  part  of  the  English  Dissenters,  who 
in  the  present  day  are  denominated  Independents  and  Baptists.  It  is  true 
they  have  much  relaxed  in  various  points  of  church  government  and  dis- 
cipline;  some,  perhaps,  to  their  honour,  and  some  to  their  dishonour;  but 
the  principle  on  which  their  churches  are  formed  is  congregational.  The 
latter  denomination  have  one  additional  reason  for  their  dissent  from  the 
Established  Church  above  their  brethren,  namely,  their  disapprobation  of 
infant  baptism ;  and  in  which  they  also  dissent  from  them. 

Those  who  separate  from  the  Established  Church  on  this  ground,  cannot, 
consistently  with  their  principles,  complain  of  the  terms  of  conformity  as 
being  either  too  narrow  or  too  wide  for  them ;  neither  can  they  become 
competitors  with  it  for  worldly  power.  If  the  government  should  even  offer 
to  make  theirs  the  established  religion,  however  they  might  be  obliged  to 
them  for  their  kindness,  they  could  not  accept  it  without  relinquishing  their 
first  principles  relative  to  church  government. 

Neither  can  they,  without  relinquishing  the  first  principles  of  the  system 
by  which  they  are  distinguished  from  other  Christians,  persecute  any  man  for 
his  religion,  whatever  that  religion  be.  They  may  think  and  speak  of  men 
according  to  their  true  character ;  they  may  refuse  all  religious  connexion 
with  them;  they  may  expose  their  principles  to  just  abhorrence;  hut  their 
hand  tnust  not  be  upon  them.  They  can  neither  call  in  the  aid  of  the  civil 
power,  nor  in  any  way  deprive  them  of  their  rights ;  and  this,  not  because 
they  consider  error  as  innocent,  but  as  a  species  of  guilt  which  is  not  cog- 
nizable by  an  earthly  tribunal. 

It  has  been  remarked  by  American  historians,  that  there  was  a  manifest 
difference,  in  respect  of  forbearance,  between  the  government  and  colony  of 
New  Plymouth,  who  retained  the  principles  of  their  beloved  Robinson,  and 
those  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  Dissenters  of  the 
second  description,  and  who  went  over  at  different  times,  between  the  years 
1G24  and  1G33.  Other  denominations  had  great  cause  to  complain  of  the 
persecuting  spirit  of  the  latter,  even  though  they  themselves  had  fled  from 
the  persecutions  of  the  English  prelates;  but  of  the  former  no  such  com- 
plaints were  heard.  Far  be  it  from  us,  however,  to  insinuate  of  any  one  of 
these  descriptions  of  Dissenters  of  the  present  age  that  they  are  friendly  to 
persecution.  They,  and  we  hope  the  most  respectable  part  of  Episcopalians, 
have  since  learned  that,  in  matters  of  religion,  "  to  our  own  Master  we  must 
stand  or  fall." 

Once  more :  Dissenters  of  this  description  cannot,  consistently  with  their 
original  principles,  be  factious,  turbulent,  disaffected,  or  in  any  way  inimical 
to  the  well-being  of  the  state.     It  is  a  maxim  familiar  with  their  fathers, 

*  Two  of  his  Treatises,  the  one  entitled  The  Communion  of  Saints,  and  the  other  An 
Arrow  again&t  Idolatry,  'have  within  a  few  years  been  reprinted  at  Edinburgh;  to  which 
are  prefixed  some  account  of  the  life  and  writings  of  the  author. 

2q2 


462  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

"Render  unfo  CfEsar  the  things  that  are  Ccesar's,  and  unto  God  the  things 
that  are  God's."  Obedience,  in  all  civil  matters,  "to  the  powers  that  were," 
was  an  essential  article  of  their  creed.  In  this  obedience  they  did  not,  indeed, 
include  an  approbation  of  every  particular  measure;  but  neither  did  they  so 
explain  it  away  as  to  make  it  consist  in  a  merely  forced  compliance  with  the 
laws,  for  fear  of  consequences;  but  in  a  voluntary,  cordial,  loyal,  and  dutiful 
demeanour.  By  how  much  they  are  impressed  also  with  the  truth  that 
"  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  by  so  much  will  they  become  dead 
to  struggles  for  worldly  power;  leaving  restless  spirits  to  deal  in  cabals  and 
intrigues,  they  will  "  seek  peace  with  all  men,  and  holiness,  without  which 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord." 

Such,  as  far  as  we  understand  them,  are  the  genuine  principles  of  congre- 
gational dissent.  We  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  all  congregational ists  have 
uniformly  acted  up  to  them.  Many  do  not  understand  the  principles  which 
they  profess,  and  others  act  inconsistently  with  them.  Our  object  is  to  exhibit 
them,  not  merely  for  the  information  of  other  denominations,  but  for  the  con- 
viction of  our  own. 

If  the  love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  (which  under  God  is  the  only 
security  they  have)  has  had  too  great  a  hold  on  some  of  their  minds ;  and, 
in  cases  where  they  have  conceived  it  to  be  in  danger,  has  betrayed  them 
into  language  and  behaviour  which,  in  the  hour  of  serious  reflection,  they 
must  condemn  as  unchristian ;  yet  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  their  worst  ene- 
mies to  prove  that  they  have  ever  entered  into  any  of  those  conspiracies 
which  appear  to  have  existed  of  late  years  to  overturn  the  government  and 
constitution  of  the  country.  There  may,  indeed,  have  been  individuals  who 
have  done  this ;  for  bad  men  are  known  to  mingle  in  all  societies :  but  even 
of  such  we  have  scarcely  heard  an  instance. 

There  are  certain  violent  men,  who  appear  to  be  galled  by  the  wholesome 
restraints  of  the  state  upon  their  persecuting  spirit,  and  who  are  no  less 
averse  to  the  best,  most  laborious,  and  most  useful  clergymen  in  the  nation, 
tlian  they  are  to  us,  that  make  it  their  business  to  rake  together  every  idle 
story,  and  to  persuade  their  readers  that  Dissenters,  as  a  body,  are  enemies 
to  the  state.  From  such  quarters  village  preaching  has  been  ascribed  to  po- 
litical motives ;  and  even  Sunday  schools,  as  they  are  called,  denounced  as 
the  seminaries  of  sedition.  To  all  these  charges  we  answer  by  asking  for 
proof.  In  so  large  a  body  of  men  we  cannot  undertake  to  say  there  are  no 
bad  men ;  neither  can  our  accusers  say  so  of  the  Established  Church.  Nay, 
more,  we  cannot  undertake  to  vindicate  all  the  conduct  of  those  whom  we 
may  account  good  men.  Only  let  it  be  proved  of  any  village  preacher,  or 
schoolmaster,  or  catechist,  that  he  diffuses  a  spirit  of  disaffection  to  govern- 
ment among  those  whom  he  instructs,  and  if  he  be  not  discarded,  or  at  least 
reproved,  by  his  connexions,  as  soon  as  they  know  it,  let  them  bear  the  blame 
for  ever. 

"  It  may  be  objected,"  says  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Apology,  "  that  some 
Christians  have  been  convicted  as  evil-doers.  Well,  I  will  grant  the  objection, 
and  more  ;  not  only  that  some,  but  many,  and  at  different  times,  have  been  thus 
duly  convicted  upon  a  fair  trial ;  but  then  I  must  tell  you  again  that  you  con- 
demned not  the  persons  aforesaid  as  criminals,  but  as  Christians.  Moreover, 
we  confess  that,  as  all  the  sects  in  general  among  the  Greeks  went  under 
the  common  name  of  philosophers,  though  extremely  different  in  opinion,  so 
truly  among  us  the  professors  of  this  new  wisdom,  whether  in  reality  or  ap- 
pearance only,  go  all  by  the  same  title,  and  are  denominated  Christians. 
Wherefore  we  pray  that  all  those  who  are  indicted  by  the  name  of  Christian 
may  be  examined  as  to  their  actions ;  and  that  every  person  convicted  may 
suffer  as  an  evil-doer,  and  not  as  a  Christian." 


VINDICATION  OF  PROTESTANT  DISSENT.  463 

Such  is  our  prayer  as  Dissenters.  If  any  man,  or  society  of  men,  be  guilty, 
let  them  bear  their  burden ;  but  let  them  suffer  as  evil-doers,  and  not  as  Dis- 
senters. 


VINDICATION  OF  PROTESTANT  DISSENT.* 

The  oppositions  which  have  of  late  years  been  made  to  Christianity  have 
happily  induced  its  friends,  of  all  denominations,  to  come  to  a  better  under- 
standing with  each  other;  forbearing  contentions  of  less  moment,  diey  have 
joined  their  efforts  in  defending  the  common  salvation.  On  this  ground, 
evangelical  Dissenters,  though  their  opinion  of  a  national  establishment  of 
religion  is  the  same  as  before,  yet,  from  a  regard  to  the  doctrine,  character, 
and  usefulness  of  many  of  its  ministers,  have  sincerely  rejoiced  in  their 
labours.  Evangelical  Episcopalians  have  also  many  of  them  laid  aside  smaller 
differences;  and,  whatever  they  might  think  of  dissent,  have  esteemed  the 
serious  part  of  Dissenters.  Thus  far  the  malignant  influence  of  infidelity 
has  not  only  been  counteracted,  but  made  to  defeat  itself 

But  things  have  not  operated  in  this  way  in  every  instance.  In  various 
late  publications,  by  evangelical  Churchmen,  great  stress  is  laid  on  "regu- 
larity," by  which  seems  to  be  meant,  not  only  a  strict  regard  to  the  forms 
and  orders  of  the  Establishment,  but  the  standing  aloof  from  all  Dissenters, 
as  "  sectaries  and  schismatics."  A  piece  in  "  The  Christian  Observer," 
said  to  be  written  by  Mr.  R.,  an  aged  and  respectable  clergyman  in  the  north 
of  England,  goes  so  far  as  to  dissuade  ministers  of  his  description  from 
having  any  acquaintance  with  them.  Such  Dissenters  as  Watts,  Doddridge, 
and  Guyse  received  "great  advantage,"  it  seems,  from  their  acquaintance 
with  certain  clergymen ;  and  employed  it  in  recruiting  their  congregations 
at  the  expense  of  the  Church ! — Vol.  I.  No.  III.  p.  162. 

It  would  seem  from  such  insinuations  as  these,  to  be  dangerous  for  Dis- 
senters, however  distinguished  by  talents  or  character,  to  come  near  these 
dignified  men;  for  if  in  their  lifetime  they  be  treated  with  civility,  they  may 
expect  to  be  reproached  for  it  after  they  are  dead !  The  celebrated  work  of 
Mr.  Overton  makes  quite  enough  of  this  "  regularity,"  and  bears  hard  upon 
Dissenters.  "  Sectaries  and  schismatics"  are  names  pretty  liberally  be- 
stowed upon  them.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  "Address  of  Mr.  Robin- 
son." Whether  these  gentlemen  judge  it  prudcut  to  take  such  measures,  as 
feeling  their  Churchmanship  suspected  by  their  irreligious  brethren,  and  wish 
to  establish  it  at  our  expense,  or  whatever  be  the  reason,  they  seem  of  late, 
some  of  them  at  least,  to  be  not  a  little  desirous  of  renewing  hostilities. 

Before  I  proceed  any  further,  I  desire  it  may  be  noticed  that  I  have  no 
personal  antipathy  to  any  one  of  these  ministers ;  that  I  have  the  happiness 
to  be  acquainted  with  several  of  them,  who,  I  am  persuaded,  are  men  of  an- 
other spirit;  that  even  those  on  whom  I  take  the  liberty  of  animadverting 
are  esteemed  by  me,  and  many  other  Dissenters,  for  their  work's  sake ;  that 
I  have  no  desire  to  impeach  their  integrity,  in  adhering  to  the  Church ;  that 
I  utterly  dislike  all  such  personal  reflections,  leaving  the  judgment  of  motives 
to  God  only ;  and,  finally,  that,  whatever  objections  I  may  have  to  particular 
parts  of  the  Church,  they  are  but  little,  compared  to  my  aversion  from  its 

*  Written  in  reply  to  the  charges  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Robinson,  M.  A.,  Vicar  of  St. 
Mary's,  Leicester,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  A  Serious  Call  to  a  Constant  and  Devout  At- 
tendance on  the  Stated  Services  of  the  Church  of  England." 


464  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

grand  principle — that  is,  its  being  national,  and  established,  and  directed  hy 
civil  authority. 

I  have  no  desire  to  "  reproach  or  cahimniate"  Mr.  R.  for  what  he  has  writ- 
ten ;  nor  do  I  blame  him  for  defending  the  Church  as  far  as  he  is  able,  and 
trying,  by  fair  argument  and  Christian  persuasion,  to  induce  his  hearers,  who 
have  deserted  her  communion,  to  return  :  only  let  him  not  complain  if  others 
claim  the  right  of  examining  the  justice  of  what  he  advances.  He  speaks 
of  "a  host  of  disputants"  appearing,  when  he,  or  any  of  his  brethren,  de- 
fend their  own  principles.  To  me  it  appears  that,  for  a  considerable  time, 
Dissenters  have  been  nearly  silent  on  these  subjects;  and  that  what  has  been 
written  has  been  chiefly  on  the  other  side. 

Mr.  R.  declares  his  "principal  concern  is  with  the  persons  who  have  left 
his  ministry;  that  he  desires  to  stir  up  no  contention  with  others;  that  he 
casts  no  reflections  on  those  who,  from  conscientious  motives,  separate  from 
the  Church  ;  and  will  enter  into  no  altercations,  nor  answer  the  idle  cavils  of 
those  who  delight  in  strife," — p.  5.  Yet  he  stigmatizes  Dissenters  in  gene- 
ral as  "sectaries,"  and  charges  them  with  "  schism."  It  may  be  said,  how- 
ever, that  this  is  only  a  necessary  consequence  of  his  being  a  Churchman  on 
conviction;  and  that  whether  he  dealt  in  such  language  or  not,  he  must,  to 
be  consistent,  entertain  such  thoughts  of  them.  Admitting  this  apology, 
then,  I  will  conclude  Mr.  R.'s  aversion  is  not  to  persons,  but  things,  and,  on 
this  ground,  will  cheerfully  join  issue  with  him. 

With  respect  to  the  persons  addressed  in  Mr.  R.'s  pamphlet,  I  do  not  know 
that  they  should  complain  of  him,  unless  it  be  for  their  "  conscientiousness" 
being  tacitly  called  in  question.  Their  minister  expostulates  with  them,  and 
it  becomes  them  to  hear  him  candidly,  especially  when  he  professes  to  address 
them  with  "  argument  and  exhortation,  rather  than  with  menace  or  reproof; 
assigning  what  appear  to  him  the  strongest  reasons  for  conformity,  and  leav- 
ing them  to  their  mature  deliberation,  entreating  that  they  may  regulate  their 
conduct  only  so  far  as  they  perceive  their  strength  and  importance."  This 
is  fair  and  manly. 

Mr.  R.  has  done  well  also,  before  he  exhibits  the  charge  of  "  schism,"  to 
undertake  the  proof  of  the  Church  of  England  being  "  truly  apostolical," 
If  it  he  so,  and  the  justice  of  its  claim  on  all  Christians  within  the  realm  to 
consider  themselves  as  its  members  can  be  substantiated.  Dissenters  must,  of 
course,  be  "sectaries  and  schismatics;"  and  though  the  state,  from  political 
clemency,  may  tolerate  them,  yet  will  they  not  be  acquitted  before  a  higher 
tribunal.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  be  not  so;  or,  though  h  be,  yet  if  it  have 
no  exclusive  claim,  either  from  God  or  man,  to  the  membership  of  all 
Christians  within  the  realm,  it  will  follow  that  the  names  signify  nothing 
more  than  they  did  in  the  mouths  of  the  ancient  enemies  of  the  Christians, 
who  stigmatized  them  as  "the  sect  of  the  Nazarenes;"  and  that  the  only 
difference  between  those  who  call  themselves  the  Church  and  other  Christians 
is,  that,  being  of  the  sect  which  happens  to  be  favoured  by  the  state,  they 
are  more  particularly  exposed  to  the  temptation  of  assuming  supercilious 
airs,  and  looking  down  upon  their  brethren  with  contempt. 

I  have  said,  If  the  Church  of  England  be  truly  apostolical  in  the  main, 
yet,  if  it  have  no  exclusive  claim  to  the  membership  of  all  Christians  within 
the  realm,  it  may  not  follow  that  all  Dissenters  are  guilty  of  "  schism,"  or 
that  they  are  any  more  deserving  of  the  name  of  "  sectaries"  than  Episco- 
palians are,  in  countries  where  theirs  is  not  the  established  religion.  If  the 
Church  of  England  were  allowed  to  be  "  a  part  of  the  church  of  Christ," 
(p.  28,)  why  may  not  other  churches  be  another  part?  Is  it  provable  that 
any  of  the  primitive  churches  laid  claim  to  the  membership  of  all  Christians 
within  a  certain  tract  of  country  ? 


VINDICATION  OF  PROTESTANT  DISSENT.  465 

But  though,  for  argument's  sake,  I  have  granted  this,  yet  I  do  not  allow 
it,  I  am  persuaded  the  Church  of  England  is  not  "a  true  apostolical 
church,"  and  have  no  objection  to  rest  the  lawfulness  of  dissent  upon  the 
issue  of  this  question. 

Mr.  R.'s  first  argument  for  it  is,  "It  conforms  to  apostolical  example  in 
the  different  orders  of  its  ministers," — p.  5.  It  might  have  been  expected 
that,  under  this  head,  we  should  have  been  referred  to  Scripture  proofs.  If 
Mr.  R.  could  have  told  us  in  what  parts  of  the  New  Testament  we  might 
find  the  offices  of  arcA-bishop,  arc/i-deacons,  deans,  priests,  &c.  &c.  &c., 
there  is  little  doubt  but  he  would ;  but  this  he  has  wisely  declined.  Or, 
though  the  names  cannot  be  found,  yet  if  what  is  done  corresponded  with 
what  was  done  in  the  primitive  churches,  it  might  be  said  that  the  spirit  of 
things  is  preserved ;  but  the  proof  of  this  is  not  attempted.  Or  if  the  work 
of  bishops  and  deacons  in  the  Church  of  England,  whose  names  are  found 
in  the  Scriptures,  could  be  proved  to  be  the  same  as  that  which  pertained  to 
those  offices  originally,  it  would  be  in  its  favour,  so  far  as  it  went;  but 
neither  is  this  attempted.  Finally,  If  it  had  been  proved  that  one  set  of 
pastors  were  subject  to  the  control  of  another,  who  invested  them  with  office 
and  deprived  them  of  it  as  occasion  required,  something  had  been  accom- 
plished; but  neither  is  this  attempted.  Nor  is  a  single  passage  of  Scripture 
referred  to  on  the  subject,  except  1  Cor.  xiv.  26,  40,  "  Let  all  things  be  done 
to  edifying," — "  Let  all  things  be  done  decently,  and  in  order," — which 
prove  just  as  much  in  favour  of  popery  as  of  modern  episcopacy,  and  have 
been  as  often  quoted  for  that  purpose  as  for  this. 

What  is  it  then  that  Mr.  R.  alleges  in  proof  of  his  assertion?  Hear  him. 
"  The  subordination  established  among  the  clergy,  and  the  share  of  power 
it  has  assigned  to  some  of  them  over  others,  are  reasonable  and  expe- 
dient, and  such  as  ought  not  to  be  objected  to,  unless  they  can  br 
proved  to  be  cOiNTRARY  TO  DiviNE  INJUNCTION."  Mr.  R.  fecls  himself 
unable  to  prove  them  to  be  any  part  of  rvhat  God  hath  enjoined;  but  thinks 
to  come  off  with  referring  it  to  his  opponents  to  prove  them  forbidden! 
Two-thirds  of  the  superstitions  of  popery  and  paganism  might  thus  be  vin- 
dicated. The  baptizing  of  bells  is  no  more  contrary  to  express  Divine 
injunction  than  the  things  for  which  Mr.  R.  contends. 

"  It  is   CONGENIAL  WITH    THE    BrITISH    CONSTITUTION."       One  WOuld  hopO 

then  it  would  be  allowed  not  to  be  an  essential  par^  of  it;  for  that  would  be 
making  a  thing  to  be  congenial  with  itself  We  admire  the  British  consti- 
tution as  a  monument  of  human  wisdom  in  civil  affairs,  and  are  thankful  to 
live  under  its  shadow ;  but  we  do  not  think  it  a  model  after  which  Jesus 
Christ  formed  the  government  of  his  church ! 

"  The  distinction  of  ministers  into  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons — the 
general  scheme  of  Episcopal  ordination  and  Episcopal  government,  prevailed 
VERY  EARLY  IN  THE  CHURCH."  How  much  of  truth,  or  of  untruth,  there 
may  be  in  this  assertion,  I  shall  not  inquire :  it  is  sufficient  for  my  argument 
that  this  does  not  prove  it  to  be  "  apostolical." 

Were  the  primitive  bishops  overseers  of  other  ministers,  or  of  the  flock  of 
God  ?  Were  they  chosen  by  a  dean  and  chapter,  on  being  nominated  by  the 
civil  magistrate,  or  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people?  Did  their  authority  ex- 
tend over  a  country,  including  a  number  of  congregations;  or  was  it  confined 
to  one;  or,  at  most,  to  that  and  the  branches  that  pertained  to  it?  When 
bishops  became  corrupt,  did  the  purer  part  of  the  churches  appeal  to  superior 
authority  to  get  them  removed ;  or  did  they  only  inform  the  apostles,  and 
the  apostles  themselves  appeal  to  the  churches?  These  questions  must  be 
resolved,  before  the  Church  of  England  can  be  proved  to  be  apostolical, 
even  with  respect  to  her  officers. 

Vol.  III.— 59 


466  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

If  Mr.  R.  had  been  chosen  to  his  present  office  by  the  suffrage  of  the 
congregation,  instead  of  being  presented  to  the  living  by  a  patron,  he  would 
have  had  an  argument  to  plead  with  those  who  have  deserted  him  which 
now  he  has  not.  As  it  is,  he  can  only  say,  "  I  have  solemnly  pledged  myself 
to  attend  to  your  spiritual  concerns!" — p.  1. 

Mr.  R.  opposes  the  ordination  of  the  Episcopal  clergy  to  that  of  self-sent 
individuals  among  the  sectaries, — p.  8,  10,  But  he  must  know  this  is  not  a 
general  practice  among  us;  and  he  might  know  that  no  communion  is  ordi- 
narily held  with  such  characters.  If  this  practice  were  half  as  general 
among  us,  as  what  he  wishes  to  be  considered  "  accidental"  in  the  church, 
there  might  be  some  appearance  of  justice  in  what  he  alleges. 

In  short,  all  Mr.  R.'s  arguments  for  the  Church  of  England  being  "  apos- 
tolical," have  hitherto  been  such  as  would  equally  apply  to  that  of  Rome. 
An  advocate  for  that  holy  and  apostolical  Church,  as  she  also  calls  herself, 
could  allege  that  she  has  her  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons ;  that  the  subor- 
dination of  the  people  to  the  clergy,  the  clergy  to  the  bishops,  and  the 
bishops  to  the  pope,  is  "  reasonable  and  expedient  ;"  that  all  which  "  is 
essential"  to  the  system  is  the  appointment  of  one  man  oi ^^  eminent  sanctity 
and  stifficiency,  to  have  the  care  of  all  the  churches;"  that  this,  and  many 
other  "  decent  and  edifying"  things,  ought  not  to  be  objected  to,  unless  they 
can  be  proved  to  be  contrary  to  express  Divine  injunction!  Christian 
reader!  does  any  thing  belonging  to  true  religion  require  to  be  thus  sup- 
ported? Is  this  any  other  than  setting  tip  men's  threshold  by  God's  thresholds, 
and  their  post  by  his  posts? 

It  may  appear  singular  to  some  that,  in  proving  the  Church  of  England 
to  be  apostolical,  Mr.  R.  begins  with  the  "order  of  her  ministers,"  entirely 
passing  over  what  the  Church  is  in  itself.  A  church,  we  are  told  in  the 
Articles,  is  "  a  congregation  of  faithful  men,"  &c.  Why  then  did  he  not 
undertake  to  prove  that  such  was  the  Church  of  England?  that  it  \x?ls  a 
congregation  assembling  together  like  that  at  Corinth,  in  one  place;  and  a 
congregation  oi  faithful  men,  gathered  out  of  an  unbelieving  world,  and 
sufficiently  distinguished  from  it?  These  things  Mr.  R.  has  not  undertaken 
to  prove,  but  contines  himself  to  the  order  of  its  ministers.  The  gold  of 
this  temple  seems  greater,  in  his  account,  than  the  temple  itself.  What 
should  we  think  of  a  lady,  who  should  pretend  to  be  queen  of  the  realm ; 
but,  instead  of  proving  that  she  was  the  bride,  the  king's  consort,  she  alleges 
the  order  and  subordination  of  her  servants?  Would  she  not  be  told  that 
this  was  a  circumstance  which  might  attach  to  a  pretender  as  well  as  to  the 
queen,  and  therefore  proved  nothing? 

To  the  order  of  her  ministers,  Mr.  R.  adds  the  purity  of  her  doctrine. 
Here  I  am  willing  to  allow  that,  so  far  as  respects  the  icrittcn  forms  of  the 
Church,  it  is  in  the  main  evangelical.  I  allow  also  that  doctrine  is  an  article 
of  a  thousand  times  greater  importance  than  the  orders  of  ministers,  be  they 
what  they  may.  It  is  on  this  account  that  we  heartily  wish  all  who  believe 
and  preach  these  doctrines  success. 

There  are  two  things,  however,  which  require  to  be  noticed  under  this 
head : — 

First,  It  is  impossible  to  magnify  articles  of  faith,  of  human  composition, 
to  the  dishonour  of  the  Scriptures,  from  their  agreement  with  which  arises 
all  their  value.  It  is  not  enough  that  what  we  believe  is  truth,  but  that  we 
believe  it  as  a  revelation  from  God.  To  be  attached  to  a  set  of  doctrines, 
■be  they  ever  so  true,  because  the  church  has  taught  them,  is  to  put  the  church 
in  the  place  of  Christ.  Our  faith,  in  this  case,  would  stand  in  the  wisdom 
of  man,  and  not  in  the  power  of  God ;  and  will  be  of  no  account  to  us,  either 
here  or  hereafter. 


VINDICATION  OF  PROTESTANT  DISSENT.  467 

Secondly,  The  articles  of  faith  drawn  up  for  the  Church  are  not  tlie  Church, 
nor  can  it  be  collected  from  them,  as  Mr.  R.  says  it  can,  "what  those  grand 
doctrines  are  in  which  the  Church  would  have  all  her  members  instructed 
and  established," — p.  11.  They  might,  and  doubtless  did,  express  what  the 
Church  of  England  that  once  was  would  have;  but  not  that  which  noic  is. 
It  is  not  true  that  the  Church  of  England  that  now  is  would  have  any  such 
thing.  The  church,  if  a  church  it  be,  is  the  great  body  of  the  bishops, 
clergy,  and  people:  and  they  manifestly  wish  for  the  reverse  of  what  the 
Reformers  did ;  and  could  they  but  fairly  get  rid  of  the  Articles,  would  reckon 
it  a  most  desirable  thing.  Yet  by  confounding  the  formularies  of  the  Church 
with  the  Church  itself,  Mr.  R.  can  go  on  to  tell  us  what  she  believes,  and 
what  she  teaches ;  though,  if  we  except  a  comparatively  small  number  of  her 
clergy  and  members,  she  neither  does  the  one  nor  the  other. 

To  make  this  matter  more  plain,  let  us  suppose  one  of  our  dissenting 
churches,  which  a  century  ago  subscribed,  as  articles  of  faith,  the  substance 
of  the  Assembly's  Catechism;  but  within  the  last  fifty  years  (though  the 
articles  are  still  retained,  and,  for  the  sake  of  certain  emoluments  left  to  the 
Calvinistic  interest  in  the  place,  are  still  subscribed)  the  minister  and  the 
body  of  the  members  are  actually  become  Socinians — would  Mr.  R.  allow 
of  tiieir  being  a  sound  and  apostolical  church,  with  regard  to  doctrine,  on 
the  mere  ground  of  the  retention  and  subscription  of  the  articles?  And 
should  a  Calvinistic  individual,  fondly  attached  to  the  old  place,  stand  up  in 
it  with  the  articles  in  his  hand  and  boast  in  this  manner,  "Possessed  as  she 
is  of  such  a  treasure  as  this  of  Divine  truth,  who  shall  calumniate  or  oppose 
her?"  (p.  14,)  would  not  Mr.  R.  pity  his  weakness,  and  feel  indignant  at  the 
delusion  by  which  he  imposed  upon  himself  and  laboured  to  impose  upon 
others?  It  is  not  what  a  community  retains  in  its  books,  but  what  is  re- 
tained in  the  minds  of  its  members,  that  determines  what  it  is.  "  The  body 
without  the  spirit  is  dead." 

Thus  we  have  seen  the  substance  of  what  Mr.  R.  has  to  offer  in  proof  of 
the  Church  of  England's  being  "apostolical."  What  follows  chiefly  consists 
of  commendations  of  her  forms  and  objections  to  those  of  Dissenters.  We 
will,  however,  proceed  to  examine  the  whole. 

"  The  form  of  Common  Prayer,"  he  says,  "  in  which  you  are  called  to  join 
is  truly  excellent," — p.  14.  There  are  doubtless  many  good  things  in  it,  but 
it  is  too  much  to  pronounce  upon  it  in  this  manner.  To  mention  only  one 
instance,  if  the  burial  service  were  abolished,  and  what  should  be  said  of  the 
deceased  were  left  to  the  dictates  and  feelings  of  Mr.  R.'s  own  mind,  I 
question  whether  he  would  utter  what  is  there  uttered,  however  "excellent" 
he  may  now  profess  to  think  it.  But  it  is  not  my  design  to  point  out  the 
faults  of  this  book.  If  a  liturgy  must  be  used,  it  may  answer  the  end,  upon 
the  whole,  as  well  as  another :  if  a  church  must  be  composed  of  a  whole 
nation,  and  consequently  the  great  body  of  its  clergy  as  well  as  members  be 
prayerless  men,  it  may  be  necessary  to  frame  prayers  for  them ;  and  if  to 
prayers  were  added  sermons  or  homilies,  it  might  be  still  better:  but  "a 
congregation  of  faithful  men"  needs  not  such  securities.  Mr.  R.  himself, 
Avhen  he  meets  with  people  of  this  description,  and  sometimes  in  public 
worship,  can  deal  in  "  extemporaneous  effusions,"  however  contemptuously 
he  can  allow  himself  to  speak  of  them  in  others.  It  is  sufficient  also  for  my 
argument,  that  Mr.  R.  does  not  undertake  to  prove  that  the  use  of  a  liturgy 
formed  any  part  of  "  apostolic"  practice. 

He  proceeds,  "We  owe  it  to  our  country  to  comply  with  all  its  ordinances 
which  are  not  contrary  to  a  good  conscience."  By  this  Mr.  R.  must  mean 
all  ordinances  relative  to  faith  and  worship,  else  it  is  nothing  to  his  purpose. 
But  on  what  authority  is  this  position  built?     Christians  were  commanded 


468  ECCLESIASTICAL   POLITY. 

to  be  "subject  to  every  ordinance  of  man,"  even  when  under  heathen  govern- 
ments, "for  the  Lord's  sake,"  1  Pet.  ii.  13,  14.  But  surely  it  cannot  be 
imagined  that  these  ordinances  respected  the  modelling  of  Christian  faith 
and  worship.  The  apostle  could  not  mean  to  give  heathen  magistrates  any 
such  authority,  nor  to  subject  Christians  to  it.  The  ordinances  of  man  are 
explained  in  the  context,  of  things  civil  and  moral,  which  undoubtedly  ought, 
in  all  ages  and  circumstances,  to  be  obeyed  by  Christians,  and  that  from  a 
religious  motive,  or  "for  the  Lord's  sake;"  but  to  apply  it  to  the  regulation 
of  faith  and  worship  is  dishonourable  to  the  only  Lawgiver  of  the  church. 
A  church  itself  has  no  right  to  viake  ordinances  of  this  kind,  but  merely  to 
interpret  and  declare  what  they  apprehend  to  be  the  mind  of  Christ,  and 
such  interpretations  and  declarations  ought  ever  to  be  open  to  revision  and 
correction,  when  judged  to  be  at  variance  with  his  revealed  will.  To  worship 
God  "by  the  commandments  of  men"  is  itself  forbidden  in  the  Scriptures, 
(Matt.  XV.  6;  Mark  vii.  7,)  and  therefore  is  contrary  to  a  good  conscience. 
The  interposition  of  human  authority,  in  Divine  things,  generally  corrupts 
them  ;  but  if  not,  yet  it  affects  the  nature  of  conformity  to  them.  To  believe 
a  doctrine  or  conform  to  a  mode  of  worship,  even  though  each  may  in  itself 
be  right,  on  account  of  its  being  ordained  of  men,  renders  it  merely  human 
religion,  destroying  the  very  principle  of  Christian  obedience. 

If  the  apostles  in  planting  Christianity  had  acted  upon  Mr.  R.'s  principle, 
they  would  not  have  ordained  the  same  things  "  in  all  churches ;"  but  have 
framed  a  different  formulary  of  worship  in  different  countries.  Their  first 
business  would  have  been  to  examine  how  much  of  the  old  materials  of 
heathen  superstition,  many  parts  of  which  might  not  be  contradicted  by 
express  Divine  injunction,  would  do  to  work  over  again;  and  what  was  the 
civil  constitution  of  the  country,  that  they  might  as  far  as  possible  accommo- 
date things  to  the  public  mind.  I  do  not  wonder  that  Mr.  R.  should  be 
partial  to  this  principle;  it  is  that  of  his  Church  and  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
before  her.  Why  is  it  that  episcopacy  has  in  it  so  much  of  popery,  and 
popery  of  heathenism  ?  The  reason  in  both  is  the  same.  They  each  under- 
took to  convert  men  bi/  nations.  Now,  to  bring  a  nation  over  to  a  new  reli- 
gion requires  that  as  few  alterations  be  introduced  as  possible,  that  old  things 
be  retained  under  new  names,  and  that  great  sacrifices  be  made  to  popular 
humour.  Thus  popery,  in  numerous  instances,  was  only  heathenism  in  a 
Christian  garb,  and  episcopacy  was  no  other  than  popery  purged  of  its  grosser 
evils. — But  thus  did  not  Paul.  Wherever  he  established  Christianity  "old 
things  passed  away,  and  all  things  became  new;"  or,  if  not,  it  was  the  fault 
of  the  people,  unauthorized  by  him.  He  taught  Christians  to  consider  them- 
selves as  complete  in  Christ;  so  as  to  need  neither  the  additions  of  heathen 
philosophy,  nor  those  of  Jewish  ceremony;  though  each  would  doubtless 
recommend  itself  on  the  score  of  "decency,"  as  not  contrary  to  Divine 
injunction,  and  as  that  which  would  give  Christianity  a  respectable  appear- 
ance,— Col.  ii. 

Mr.  R.'s  whole  scheme  rests  upon  si/pposition ;  namely,  the  supposed 
"  eminent  sanctity  and  sufficiency  of  bishops,"  and  the  supposed  "solicitous- 
ness  of  civil  governments  to  promote  the  interest  of  real  Christianity," — pp. 
viii.  20.  They  are  both  of  them,  no  doubt,  supposable  cases;  such  as  have 
occurred,  and  may  occur ;  but  woe  to  the  system  that  rests  upon  their  being 
generally  true!  Far  be  it  from  me  to  think  ill  of  men  in  the  higher  spheres 
of  office,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical :  the  former  I  revere,  as  ordained  of 
God;  and  towards  the  latter  I  desire  to  cherish  all  due  benevolence;  but,  to 
suppose  of  either  that  which  is  not  generally  true,  is  deceiving  both  ourselves 
and  them.  Surely  there  is  a  medium  between  a  spirit  of  "  insubordination" 
to  civil  government,  and  inviting  our  rulers  to  frame  laws  and  ordinances 


VINDICATION  OP  PROTESTANT  DISSENT.  469 

for  the  government  of  Christ's  kingdom  within  their  realm,  and  then  flatter- 
ing them  for  their  pious  intentions. 

The  Episcopalians  of  this  country  have  not  been  wanting  in  zeal  for  what 
has  affected  their  own  interests  and  privileges.  When  James  II.  published 
his  declaration  for  liberty  of  conscience,  thinking  to  introduce  popery,  and 
commanded  the  clergy  to  read  it  in  all  their  churches,  the  great  body  of  them 
refused.  By  this  they  said  in  effect,  It  appertaineth  not  unto  thee,  O  king, 
to  dispossess  us  of  our  privileges,  and  to  give  them  to  the  ecclesiastics  of 
Rome ! — I  hope  then  we  may  be  excused  if  we  feel  equally  zealous  for  the 
interest  and  exclusive  authority  of  Jesus  Christ.  If  a  government  be  so- 
licitous to  promote  the  interest  of  real  Christianity,  it  should  not  be  by 
making  ordinances  where  Christ  has  not  made  them ;  but  by  protecting  men 
in  the  exercise  of  a  good  conscience,  and  encouraging  them  to  obey  the 
ordinances  already  made  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

Mr.  R,  holds  up  the  jneti/  of  the  Reformers :  and  we  could  hold  up  the 
piety  of  thousands  who  have  refused  conforming  to  their  rules,  as  not  an- 
swering to  the  model  of  the  New  Testament;  and  who  were  persecuted  in 
almost  every  form  on  this  account,  and  that  by  men  who  should  have  been 
"  eminent  for  sanctity  and  sufficiency." 

Mr.  R.  has  hitherto  argued  chiefly  in  a  way  of  defence;  but,  imboldened 
by  his  success,  he  now  commences  an  attack.  "  Many  strong  objections," 
he  says,  "  may  be  urged  against  a  different  ecclesiastical  constitution," — 
p.  25.  Let  us  hear  them.  "  If  you  be  solicited  to  depart  from  us,  it  will 
become  you  previously  to  consider  whither  you  fshould  go."  Very  good. 
"  Would  any  solid  advantage  be  gained  by  the  desertion  of  our  ordinances, 
by  the  demolition  of  our  Establishment,  and  by  the  appointment  of  another 
system? — Ah!  what  incalculable  evils  would  ensue! — How  injurious  to 
society  and  religion !"  Mr.  R.,  by  "  another  system,"  must  mean  that  of 
infidelity;  and  does  he  call  this  a  "  different  ecclesiastical  constitution?"  I 
hope  the  persons  whom  he  wishes  to  retain  in  communion  are  not  inclined 
to  thi.s.  "Insubordination  and  excessive  profligacy"  are  consequences  of 
leaving  Christian  worship,  and  not  merely  that  of  the  Episcopal  church. 

But  allowing  the  best,  that  they  thought  of  being  Dissenters,  "  What  is 
that  plan  of  worship,"  he  asks,  "  what  the  government  and  principles  of  that 
religious  society  you  are  invited  to  join?"     Very  good  ; — what  are  they? 

"  They,"  Dissenters,  I  suppose  he  means,  "  differ  from  each  other  as  much 
as  they  do  from  the  Church," — p.  26.  If  by  "  the  Church"  were  meant  her 
doctrinal  articles,  he  might  have  added,  and  much  more. — But  those  things 
should  not  be  alleged  against  Dissenters  which  are  common  to  all  parties. — 
It  is  marvellous  that  Churchmen  should  pretend  to  be  of  one  mind,  and  that 
at  a  time  when  the  most  ardent  contentions  divide  them ;  one  party  main- 
taining that  the  Articles  mean  this,  another  that,  and  a  third  that  they  have 
no  meaning,  but  are  merely  articles  of  peace.*  Have  we  Arminians? — So 
have  they: — Arians? — So  have  they  : — Socinians? — So  have  they: — Trai- 
tors, heady,  high-minded,  lovers  of  their  own  selves? — So  have  they.  The 
only  difference  is,  our  churches  being  independent  of  each  other,  we  have 
no  general  bond  of  connexion,  so  as  to  compel  us  to  hold  communion  with 
such  people;  but  they  have.  We  can,  if  so  disposed,  stand  aloof  from  all 
these  evils,  and  so  escape  the  charge  of  being  partakers  of  other  men's  sins  : 
but  they  cannot ;  for  the  church  is  one,  and  indivisible,  including  all  descrip- 
tions of  men  who  choose  to  frequent  her  assemblies.  Her  barriers,  which 
protect  the  sacred  symbols  of  our  Saviour's  death  themselves  against  inte- 
rested infidelity  and  profligacy,  are  well  known  to  be  very  feeble,  and  such 

*  See  Overton's  True  Churchman. 

2R 


470  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

as  must,  in  various  instances,  give  way  to  worldly  expediency.  If,  indeed, 
a  particular  parish  church,  wherein  a  godly  clergyman  officiates,  were 
secluded  from  the  rest  of  the  nation,  and  he  were  not  accountable  for  any 
thing  which  is  done  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  immediate  charge,  the  evil 
might  be  considerably  lessened ;  but  it  is  not  so.  He  that  swcartlh  by  this 
altar,  swcareth  by  it  and  all  things  thereon ;  actually  holding  fellowship  with 
all  the  avowed  Arminians,  and  disguised  Arians,  Socinians,  and  infidels,  who 
in  different  parts  of  the  land  are  admitted  without  scruple  to  communion.    'J 

It  is  further  objected  that  we  "almost  all  agree  in  giving  the  supreme 
direction  and  control  to  the  people."  It  seems,  then,  we  are  agreed  in 
something;  in  an  article  too,  in  which,  as  ministers,  we  caiuiot  well  be 
accused  of  "  lording  it  over  God's  heritage."  Whether  the  power  of  admit- 
ting members  be  as  safe  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  in  conjunction  with  their 
pastor,  as  in  those  of  the  pastor  alone,  or  not,  surely  that  of  excluding 
offenders,  by  a  solemn  act  of  the  whole  body,  is  as  consistent  with  apostolical 
order  as  prosecuting  them  for  their  sins  in  a  spiritual  court ! — See  1  Cor.  v, 
4,  5  ;  2  Cor.  ii.  G. 

"They  abolish  all  subscriptions  to  articles  of  faith."  It  is  true  we  do  not 
require  our  ministers  to  stccar  to  them ;  looking  upon  the  word  of  a  Chris- 
tian man  to  be  as  his  oath.  But  it  is  not  true  of  perhaps  the  major  part  of 
Dissenters  that  they  subscribe  no  articles. 

Our  public  catechisms,  which  are  used  in  instructing  our  children,  and 
which,  were  they  but  established  by  civil  authority,  would  be  accounted  to 
contain  as  great  a  treasure  as  the  Church  Articles,  are  much  more  believed 
and  regarded  among  us  than  the  latter  are  among  them.  But,  besides  these, 
many  of  our  churches  express  their  leading  principles  in  writing,  to  which 
not  merely  the  minister,  as  in  the  Established  Church,  but  every  member, 
subscribes  his  name.  And  where  this  is  ?iot  done,  many  of  them  are  so 
attached  to  the  Scriptures,  and  so  well  acquainted  with  one  another,  that  no 
practical  inconvenience  arises  from  it.  It  is  a  fact  that  ought  for  ever  to 
silence  our  accusers,  that  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, with  all  their  boasted  security  against  error  in  virtue  of  their  Articles, 
are  become  so  degenerate  that  scarcely  one  in  ten  believes  them ;  whereas 
Dissenters,  with  all  their  want  of  security,  do,  two  out  of  three  at  least, 
believe  the  doctrines  contained  in  them  1  The  Church  has  more  believers 
of  her  doctrines  among  Dissenters  than  among  her  own  members;  and  that 
notwithstanding  the  proportion  of  the  former  to  the  latter  is  probably  less 
than  as  one  to  seven  1 

Yet  "  a  society  of  Christians  thus  constituted,  without  establishing  any 
test  of  orthodoxy,  or  forms  of  public  devotion,  though  at  their  first  union 
they  may  be  sound  in  the  faith,  upright  in  their  views,  and  exemplary  in 
their  conduct,  is  likely  to  degenerate."  The  word  of  Christ  dwelling  richly 
in  them,  then,  is  no  competent  security,  unless  it  be  reduced  to  proper  forms, 
and  established  by  authority  !  It  is  true  that,  "  from  the  corrupt  tendency  of 
the  human  mind,"  we  are  always  in  danger  of  degenerating;  but  that  Mr. 
R.  should  confine  it  to  Dissenters,  and  talk  of  its  bemg  "  confirmed  by  indu- 
bitable facts,"  is  passing  strange.  The  Church  of  England,  owing  to  her 
excellent  means  of  preservation,  is  in  no  danger,  it  seems,  of  degeneracy ! 
The  descendants  of  the  first  Reformers  have  ?iot  departed  from  their  purity, 
either  in  faith  or  practice !  The  subscription  of  the  Articles  by  the  clergy, 
though  scarcely  one  in  ten  believes  them,  has  preserved  not  only  themselves, 
but  the  people,  who  do  not  subscribe  them,  from  error  1  And  buildings — ■ 
I  should  have  said  "temples" — which  have  once  been  appropriated  to  the 
promotion  of  evangelical  religion,  are  never  known  among  them  to  be  applied 
to  opposite  purposes ! 


VINDICATION  OF  PROTESTANT   DISSENT.  471 

"  They  leave  the  minister  at  large  to  ofTer  up  prayer  and  praise,  according 
to  the  dictates  and  feelings  of  his  own  mind."  Just  so ;  and  thus,  for  any 
thing  that  appears  in  the  New  Testament  to  the  contrary,  were  the  primitive 
ministers  left.  Where  men  are  destitute  of  a  praying  spirit,  it  may  not  be 
safe  to  leave  them  "at  large;"  perhaps  the  more  closely  they  are  confined 
the  belter:  but  they  that  fear  God  have  no  need  of  being  so  treated.  Those 
forms  which  Mr.  R.  so  highly  extols  were  originally  the  dictates  and  feelings 
of  fallible  individuals;  and  if  it  be,  as  he  suggests,  that  "  much  evil  results 
from  such  a  mode,"  why  does  he  himself  practise  it?  Are  the  dictates  and 
feelings  of  his  mind,  being  "  a  man  under  authority,"  different  from  those 
of  other  ministers? 

But  the  course  of  things  among  us  tends  to  encourage  "  pride  and  con- 
tention." That  these  evils  are  too  prevalent  in  our  churches  we  shall  not 
deny;  they  were  so  in  the  primitive  churches,  which  also  had  their  Diotre- 
pheses  as  well  as  we.  And  is  there  no  danger  of  clerical  pride,  and  of  many 
an  official  Diotrephes,  in  the  Church  ?  It  deserves  to  be  considered,  whe- 
ther the  peace  of  which  the  Church  has  to  boast  among  her  members,  instead 
of  being  the  fruit  of  meekness  and  brotherly  love,  be  not  rather  the  ease  of 
indifference,  and  the  stillness  of  ecclesiastical  despotism.  Where  one  man 
is  all,  the  rest  are  nothing  at  all. 

What  is  urged  under  Mr.  R.'s  last  head  is  built  entirely  upon  the  validity 
of  what  was  advanced  before  it.  If  the  Church  of  England  be  not  truly 
apostolical — if  her  doctrines  be  neither  believed  nor  taught  by  the  great 
body  of  her  clergy — if  her  forms  be  not  binding  on  men's  consciences,  and 
ought  not  to  be  made  so — if  the  ordinances  of  man,  to  which  we  are  obliged 
to  be  subject,  be  confined  to  things  of  a  civil  and  moral  nature — the  charge 
of"  schism"  falls  to  the  ground. 

I  doubt  not  but  that  there  are  many  of  the  people  of  God  in  the  Church 
of  England ;  and  perhaps  Mr.  R.  will  admit  there  may  be  some  in  the  Church 
of  Rome  ;  and  that  it  is  their  duty  to  "  come  out  of  her,  that  they  partake  not 
of  her  sins,  and  receive  not  of  her  plagues."  It  is  far  from  my  desire  to 
attack  the  National  Church,  or  to  interfere  with  its  concerns,  any  further 
than  is  necessary  to  vindicate  the  practice  of  dissent  from  the  reproaches 
heaped  upon  it  by  such  writers  as  Mr.  Robinson.  I  will  not,  like  some  non- 
conformists, complain  of  her  hard  terms  of  admission ;  for  if  they  were 
easier,  or  even  abolished,  I  have  no  idea,  at  present,  that  I  should  covet  to 
enter  in.  I  regret  not  the  loss  of  any  advantages  which  I  might  there  pos- 
sess. Whatever  be  the  articles  and  forms,  or  even  the  belief  of  a  community, 
yet  if  it  put  itself  under  the  control  of  the  civil  power  in  religious  matters, 
for  the  sake  of  outward  advantages,  and  acquiesce  in  the  disposal  of  those 
advantages  by  interested  patronage,  this  itself  is  a  sufficient  ground  for  sepa- 
ration. For  where  things  are  thus  conducted,  "  the  souls  of  men"  are  be- 
come an  article  of  merchandise;  and  the  Church  is  little  other  than  an 
instrument  of  power  and  aggrandisement  in  the  hands  of  worldly  men.  This 
would  have  been  an  insuperable  objection  to  me,  had  I  lived,  and  possessed 
my  present  views,  in  the  purest  times  of  the  Reformation.  Such  a  consti- 
tution must  of  necessity  confound  the  church  and  the  world.  All  the  differ- 
ence between  those  times  and  these  is,  they  sowed  the  seeds,  and  we  have 
seen  the  harvest.  We  see  in  the  great  body  of  the  members  of  this  com- 
munity, not  saints,  and  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus,  such  as  were  the  members 
of  the  primitive  churches;  but  men  of  the  world;  men  who  would  be 
ashamed  to  be  thought  "  saints,"  and  who  scruple  not  to  deride  all  spiritual 
religion.  A  community  of  this  description  is  not  a  "congregation  of  faith- 
ful men ;"  and  so,  by  the  confession  of  the  Church  itself,  is  not  a  church  of 
Christ. 


472  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  "  schisms,"  or  divisions,  among  Christians,  they 
are  things  very  different  from  separations  from  the  world.  From  the  latter 
we  are  commanded  to  "  withdraw  ourselves ;"  not  "  altogether"  indeed  from 
men  who  make  no  pretence  to  religion ;  for  then  we  must  needs  go  out  of 
the  world  ;  but  from  those  who  are  called  brethren,  or  profess  to  know  God, 
but  in  works  deny  him.  From  such  it  is  our  duty  to  stand  aloof,  even  in 
our  ordinary  intercourse ;  and  much  more  in  solemn  communion  at  the  table 
of  the  Lord,  1  Cor.  v.  9-13. 

In  separating  from  the  Church  of  England  we  conform  to  the  Divine 
precept,  "  Be  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers;  for  what  fel- 
lowship hath  righteousness  with  unrighteousness?  and  what  communion 
hath  light  with  darkness?" — "  Wherefore  come  out  from  among  them,  and 
he  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord;  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing;  and  I  will 
receive  you,  and  will  be  a  Father  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and 
daughters,  saith  the  Lord  Almighty."  Not  that  we  consider  the  whole  body 
as  unbelievers;  but  if  the  greater  part  be  such,  and  the  principles  on  which 
they  hold  communion  make  no  provision  for  excluding  them,  it  amounts  to 
the  same  thing  in  effect  as  if  they  were  all  such.  If  a  part  of  the  people  of 
God  themselves  resolve  to  hold  communion  with  unbelievers,  we  ought  to 
withdraw  from  them,  lest  we  be  partakers  of  other  men's  sins.  In  so  doing, 
we  do  not  divide  from  them  as  Christians,  but  as  "  brethren  who  walk  dis- 
orderly," refusing  to  follow  them  off  their  proper  ground,  or  to  assist  them 
in  breaking  down  the  fences  of  the  church,  and  so  confounding  it  with  the 
world. 

If  it  be  objected,  that  the  practice  forbidden  to  the  Corinthians  was  not 
their  admitting  unbelievers  to  commune  with  them  in  Christian  ordinances, 
but  their  going  to  commune  witli  unbelievers  at  heathen  ordinances,  this  is 
granted ;  but  the  latter  practice  is  forbidden  on  principles  which  equally  for- 
bid the  former.  The  impossibility  of  Christian  communion  subsisting  be- 
tween them,  and  their  being  called  to  be  separate,  are  each  as  applicable  to 
the  one  as  to  the  other. 

If  it  be  further  objected,  that  where  men  profess  Christianity,  we  have  no 
right  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  their  hearts,  but  ought  charitably  to  consider 
and  treat  them  as  believers, — I  answer.  If  the  thing  professed  were  genuine 
personal  Christianity,  and  there  were  nothing  in  the  spirit  and  conduct  of 
the  party  that  rendered  his  profession  incredible,  this  objection  were  valid; 
but  where  no  pretence  is  made  to  any  other  than  traditional  assent,  which 
in  Turkey  would  have  made  them  Mahomedans,  and  in  China  pagans ; 
where  faith  is  manifestly  dead,  being  alone,  or,  what  is  worse,  accompanied 
by  the  works  of  the  flesh ;  where  the  very  idea  of  being  "  born  of  God"  is 
derided,  and  all  spiritual  religion  regarded  with  contempt;  to  consider  such 
persons  as  believers  is  an  abuse  of  charity,  and  to  treat  them  as  such  is  to 
foster  them  in  self-deception. 

The  principles,  moreover,  on  which  the  Corinthians  were  forbidden  to 
commune  with  unbelievers  in  theory,  equally  forbid  our  communing  with 
unbelievers  in  practice.  There  can  be  no  Christian  communion  in  the  one 
case,  any  more  than  in  the  other.  "  Light  and  darkness,  righteousness  and 
unrighteousness,"  are  as  impossible  to  be  united  here  as  there;  and  a  sepa- 
ration from  the  world  is  as  impracticable  in  the  latter  case  as  in  the  former. 
The  reason  also  given  for  the  Divine  precept  applies  in  both  instances.  The 
apostle  intimates  that  associations  with  the  world,  in  religious  matters, 
straiten  believers,  whom  he  wishes  to  be  enlarged.  Thus  a  lively  animal 
is  straitened  in  his  efforts,  by  being  unequally  yoked  with  one  that  is  tardy ; 
and  thus  Christians  are  restrained  from  holy  freedom,  and  the  proper  exer- 
tion of  themselves  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  by  their  connexion  with  worldly 


PRESENCE  OF  JUDAS  AT  THE    LORd's  SUPPER.  473 

men,  who  will  alwa)s  be  throwing  difficulties  in  the  way  of  those  pursuits  in 
which  they  have  no  delight. 

Finally,  Notwithstanding  what  is  constantly  alleged  of  the  usefulness  of 
good  men  by  continuing  in  the  National  Church,  (and  if  there  they  must 
be,  I  wish  them  to  be  a  hundred  times  more  useful  than  they  are,)  I  am 
persuaded  it  will  be  found  that  it  is  hereby  not  a  little  impeded.  If  the 
people  of  God,  while  they  proved  themselves  to  be  the  cordial  friends  of 
civil  government  and  good  order  in  society,  could  be  scripturally  separated 
from  the  world,  and  act  together  like  a  band  of  men  whose  hearts  God  had 
touched,  their  usefulness  would  far  surpass  any  thing  that  we  have  hitherto 
seen. 

Infidels  would  not  then  have  to  reproach  Christianity  with  being  an  engine 
of  state,  nor  to  object  that  the  principal  supporters  of  it  were  too  deeply 
interested  in  its  temporal  advantages  fur  their  testimony  to  be  regarded  as 
impartial.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  writings  of  a  VVilberforce,  and 
others  who  are  called  laymen,  make  so  deep  an  impression  upon  the  public 
mind,  in  comparison  of  those  of  dignified  clergymen.  Many  among  the 
evangelical  clergy,  I  acknowledge,  have  proved  themselves  to  be  very  dis- 
interested. They  are  far  from  making  so  much  of  their  time  and  talents  as 
they  might  do  in  other  pursuits.  But  the  Church  of  which  they  boast  is  as 
much  a  place  of  merchandise  as  the  Royal  Exchange.  The  disinterested 
testimony  of  a  few  people,  who  are  united  together,  not  by  a  sectarian,  but 
a  truly  catholic  spirit,  and  whose  life  comports  with  their  doctrine,  speaks  a 
thousand  times  louder  in  the  consciences  of  men  than  the  decrees  of  a  coun- 
cil, enforced  by  all  the  authority,  ecclesiastical  or  civil,  which  the  greatest 
nation,  or  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  can  muster  up.  The  army  of  the 
Lamb,  by  which  he  will  overcome  his  enemies,  is  not  described  as  connected 
with  the  states  of  the  respective  kingdoms  of  the  earth  ;  but  as  a  select  band, 
acting  immediately  under  his  authority.  He  is  Lord  of  lords,  and  King  of 
kings;  and  they  that  are  with  him  are  called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful. 


THE  PRESENCE  OF  JUDAS  AT  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER. 

After  carefully  reading  the  account  of  this  matter  by  the  four  evangelists, 
it  appears  to  me  that  Judas  was  not  present  at  the  Lord's  supper,  but  went 
out  immediately  after  the  celebration  of  the  passover;  and  that,  if  the  con- 
trary were  allowed,  it  would  not  affect  the  order  of  the  dissenting  churches. 

With  respect  to  the  former  of  these  positions,  Matthew  speaks  of  Judas 
as  being  present  at  the  paschal  supper,  but  says  nothing  of  his  being  present 
at  the  Lord's  supper,  chap.  xxii.  19-30.  The  whole  of  what  he  writes  is 
perfectly  consistent  with  his  leaving  the  company  immediately  after  the 
former,  and  before  the  commencement  of  the  latter;  but  it  makes  no  men- 
tion of  it. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  account  given  by  Mark,  chap.  xiv.  16-26. 
John  is  more  particular.  He  tells  us  that,  "  having  received  the  sop,  he 
went  immcdiatchj  out,"  chap.  xiii.  30.  Now  the  act  of  dipping  the  bread  in 
wine,  and  so  eating  it,  pertained  not  to  the  Lord's  supper,  but  to  the  pass- 
over.  The  bread  and  the  wine  were  each  distributed  separately  in  the 
former,  as  is  manifest  from  every  account  we  have  of  it;  but  in  the  latter  it 
was  not  so,  as  is  clear  from  Matt.  xxvi.  23 ;  Mark  xiv.  20.  John's  testi- 
mony, therefore,  is  very  express,  that  the  time  of  Judas's  going  out  was 
immediately  after  the  passover,  and  before  the  Lord's  supper. 

Vol.  III.— 60  3  r  2 


474  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

The  only  difficulty  arises  from  the  account  of  Luke,  who,  after  narratincr 
the  administration  of  the  Lord's  supper,  says,  "  But,  behold,  the  hand  of  him 
that  betrayeth  me  is  with  me  on  the  table,"  chap.  xxii.  2L  The  whole  force 
of  the  argument  taken  from  this  arises  not  from  any  thing  in  the  tcords 
themselves;  for  "the  table"  may  as  well  signify  the  paschal  table  as  the 
Lord's  table;  but  merely  from  the  orrZer  in  which  they  are  placed  in  the 
narration.  And  as  to  this,  Calvin,  who  entertained  the  opinion  that  Judas 
ivas  present,  acknowledges  nevertheless  that,  "  though  Luke  hath  set  down 
this  saying  of  Christ  after  the  celebration  of  his  supper,  yet  the  order  of 
time  cannot  be  certainly  gathered  thereby,  which  we  know  was  often  neglected 
by  the  evangelists." 

But  whether  Judas  was  present  at  the  Lord's  supper  or  not,  it  does  not,  as 
I  conceive,  affect  the  order  of  dissenting  churches.  It  is  no  part  of  that 
order  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  hearts  of  communicants,  any  further  than 
as  they  are  manifest  by  their  words  and  actions.  It  is  as  making  a  credible 
profession  of  Christianity  that  we  are  bound  to  admit  them,  and  not  on  the 
ground  of  any  private  opinion  that  this  profession  is  sincere.  Should  we 
feel  in  any  case  a  secret  dissatisfaction,  owing  to  a  want  of  that  union  of 
spirit  which  a  profession  of  repentance  towards  God  and  of  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  ordinarily  inspires;  yet  if  what  is  professed  be  true  reli- 
gion, and  we  know  of  nothing  that  discredits  the  sincerity  of  the  party,  we 
are  not  at  liberty  to  reject.  Now  such  a  communicant  was  Judas,  allowing 
him  to  have  been  one.  It  appears  by  the  other  apostles  applying  the  warn- 
ing, given  by  Christ,  to  themselves  in  a  way  of  inquiry,  that  they  had  no 
particular  suspicion  of  him.  And  as  to  his  character  being  known  to 
Christ  as  the  searcher  of  hearts,  he  did  not  act  upon  that  ground  in  his  treat- 
ment of  men,  but  upon  the  ground  of  what  they  manifested  themselves  to 
be  by  their  words  and  actions.  If  Christ's  knowledge  of  Judas's  character 
warrants  the  admission  of  unbelievers  and  known  hypocrites  into  the  church, 
it  must  also  warrant  the  admission  of  them  to  the  highest  offices  in  the 
church;  for  "Jesus  knew  fro?n  the  beginning  who  it  was  that  believed  not, 
and  who  should  betray  him." 


DISSENT. 

The  longer  a  Christian  lives,  and  the  more  he  observes  of  what  is  passing 
before  him,  the  more  reason  he  will  see  for  preferring  a  candid  and  impartial 
judgment  of  men  and  things.  All  parties  in  their  turn  declaim  against 
prejudice  and  party  zeal,  but  it  is  not  from  declamation  that  we  must  form 
our  judgment.  If  we  wish  to  know  the  truth,  we  must  read  tliose  who  think 
differendy  from  us,  who,  whether  they  be  impartial  towards  us  or  not,  will 
be  much  more  likely  to  detect  our  faults  than  we  are  to  detect  them  our- 
selves. 

These  remarks  have  been  occasioned  by  reading  a  critique  on  "  The  His- 
tory of  Dissenters,"  by  Messrs.  Bogue  and  Bennett,  and  some  other  kindred 
pieces,  in  "  The  duarterly  Review  for  October,  1813."  This  article,  though 
manifestly  written  by  one  who  is  no  more  a  friend  to  the  puritans  and  non- 
conformists than  he  is  to  the  present  race  of  Dissenters,  and  probably  no 
more  friendly  to  evangelical  religion  in  the  Church  than  out  of  it,  yet  con- 
tains a  considerable  portion  of  impartiality  towards  individuals,  and  even  his 
censures  are  often  worthy  of  our  attention.  From  reading  this  Review,  as 
well  as  from  perusing  the  volumes  reviewed,  there  is  one  truth  of  which  I 


DISSENT.  475 

am  fully  convinced ;  which  is,  that  both  eulogy  and  censure  are  commonly 
bestowed  with  too  little  discrimination,  and  often  applied  to  communities 
where  they  ought  to  be  confined  to  individuals.  If  a  few  men  excel  in  a 
community,  such  is  the  vanity  of  human  nature  that  the  whole  must  arrogate 
to  themselves  the  praise;  or  if  a  few  be  guilty  of  impropriety,  such  is  the 
invidiousness  of  party  zeal  that  the  whole  must  be  censured  on  their  ac- 
count. Could  we  be  more  discriminate,  boih  in  our  praises  and  censures, 
we  should  be  much  nearer  the  truth,  and  what  we  write  would  be  far  more 
likely  to  do  good.  We  can  consent  for  every  man  to  have  his  due,  and  to 
bear  his  own  burden;  but  are  disgusted  with  those  who  are  continually 
eulogizing  their  fathers  that  they  may  exalt  themselves,  and  stigmatizing 
other  men's  fathers  that  they  may  depreciate  their  neighbours. 

In  reading  the  lives  of  the  puritans  and  nonconformists,  I  read  the  lives 
of  men  of  whom,  with  all  their  faults,  the  world  was  not  worthy ;  but  if  I 
be  impartial,  I  shall  find  many  of  the  excellent  of  the  earth  who  did  not  rank 
with  either  of  them ;  and  among  those  who  did,  I  shall  find  many  whose 
principles  and  conduct  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  vindicate.  Hardly  as 
the  puritans  were  treated,  if  I  had  been  one  of  them,  and  had  held  those 
intolerant  principles  which  many  of  them  avowed  and  carried  with  them 
into  the  new  world,  I  do  not  perceive  how  I  could  have  expected  different 
treatment  from  others  who  were  in  power.  I  might  have  been  treated  more 
rigorously  than  I  should  have  treated  them,  had  I  been  in  their  place  and 
they  in  mine;  but  the  principle  of  intolerance  is  the  same.  That  for  which 
I  should  have  suffered  migiit  also  have  been  truth,  while  that  for  which  I 
should  have  caused  others  to  suffer  might  be  pernicious  error ;  but  in  a 
question  of  this  nature,  I  should  have  had  no  right  to  take  this  for  granted, 
seeing  it  would  have  been  judging  in  my  own  cause.  My  rule  ought  rather 
to  have  been,  to  "  do  unto  others  as  I  would  they  should  do  unto  me." 

I  am  not  able  to  vindicate  Messrs.  Bogue  and  Bennett,  whose  praises  and 
censures  are  both,  as  it  appears  to  me,  much  too  indiscriminate ;  but  I  can 
perceive  that  their  reviewer,  while  chastising  them,  is  continually  exposing 
himself  to  censure  for  the  same  things. 

He  seldom  detects  a  fault  in  his  authors  without  endeavouring  to  fix  it 
upon  the  whole  body,  by  ascribing  it  to  their  dissent.  Speaking  of  divisions 
and  separations  among  Dissenters,  he  says,  "  This  evil  grows  out  of  the 
principle  of  dissent.  The  minister  of  an  establishment  has  no  temptation 
from  vanity,  or  the  love  of  singularity,  or  any  mere  worldly  motive,  to  labour 
in  insignificant  distinctions ;  but  amongst  Dissenters  the  right  of  private 
judgment  is  so  injudiciously  inculcated,  that  the  men  who  are  trained 
amongst  them  learn  not  unfrequendy  to  despise  all  judgment  except  their 
own."  To  say  nothing  of  the  temptations  which  the  minister  of  an  estab- 
lishment has,  though  he  may  not  have  these,  it  is  sufficient  to  reply, — If 
unlovely  separations  arise  from  an  injudicious  inculcation  of  the  right  of 
private  judgment,  let  them  be  traced  to  that  cause,  and  not  to  dissent;  let 
them  be  ascribed  to  the  abiisc  of  the  right  of  private  judgment,  but  not  to 
the  principle  itself,  or  to  any  necessary  step  in  order  to  obtain  it.  An  advo- 
cate for  despotic  government  might  object  to  the  disorders  of  our  popular 
elections,  and  to  the  violence  of  our  parliamentary  debates,  and  might  tell 
us  that  in  certain  countries  there  is  no  temptation  to  such  disorder  and  such 
violence ;  but  we  should  readily  answer, — They  have  temptations  as  bad,  or 
worse,  of  another  ki-nd,  and  the  right  of  clioosing  our  representatives,  and 
that  of  free  parliamentary  debate,  are  of  such  importance  to  the  well-being 
of  the  nation,  that  the  evils  which  they  occasion  are  as  nothing  when  com- 
pared with  it.  The  right  of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion  is  of 
such  account,  that  we  cannot  part  with  it  without  making  shipwreck  of  faith, 


476  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

and  of  a  good  conscience.  As  to  the  abuses  of  it,  whoever  is  guilty  of  them, 
let  him  bear  his  own  burden.  The  "  schism  which  took  place  in  the  Evan- 
gelical Magazine"  should  not  have  been  lugged  in  by  this  writer  for  an 
example,  without  having  first  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  true  cause 
of  it. 

If  I  dissent  from  antipathy  to  a  particular  clergyman,  or  for  the  sake  of 
gratifying  my  own  will,  or  to  feed  my  own  vanity,  I  am  what  this  reviewer 
considers  me — a  sectarian;  but  if  I  dissent  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  liberty 
to  follow  what  I  verily  believe  to  be  the  mind  of  Christ,  I  am  not  a  sectarian 
in  the  ill  sense  of  the  term,  nor  in  any  sense  except  that  in  which  Paul 
avowed  himself  to  be  one.  By  this  writer's  own  account,  if  I  continue  in 
the  Established  Church,  I  must  make  no  "  profession."  That  is,  I  must  not 
profess  to  repent  of  my  sins,  and  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  sal- 
vation :  if  I  do,  he  will  construe  it  into  "  a  profession  of  being  better  than 
my  neighbours,"  which  he  tells  me  "  is  inconsistent  with  Christian  humili- 
ty," and  insinuates  that  the  whole  is  "  Pharisaical  hypocrisy."  This  is 
certainly  speaking  out ;  and  standing,  as  it  does,  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
Divine  command  of  "  coming  out  from  among  unbelievers,  and  being  sepa- 
rate from    them,"  renders  it  easy  to  determine  the  path  of  duty. 

The  writer  censures  Messrs.  Bogue  and  Bennett  for  ascribing  almost  every 
thing  vicious  and  persecuting  to  Churchmen  ;  yet  he  himself  ascribes  almost 
every  thing  sour,  litigious,  and  splenetic  to  Dissenters.  He  represents  the 
intolerance  of  the  puritans  as  if  it  were  universal,  and  as  if  all  that  settled 
in  America  were  of  the  same  spirit.  But  (to  say  nothing  of  Roger  Williams, 
whom  he  himself  not  only  acquits,  but  applauds,  as  "the  man  whose  name, 
if  all  men  had  their  due,  would  stand  as  high  as  that  of  William  Penn,  as 
having  begun  the  first  civil  government  upon  earth  that  gave  equal  liberty 
of  conscience")  there  was  a  broad  line  of  distinction  between  those  puritans 
who  founded  the  colony  of  New  Plymouth,  in  1620,  and  those  who  a  few 
years  after  founded  that  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  former  were  the  mem- 
bers of  Mr.  John  Robinson,  who  had  peaceably  separated  from  the  Church 
of  England,  and  with  his  friends  retired  to  Holland,  for  the  sake  of  liberty 
of  conscience;  but  the  Massachusetts  people  had  never  relinquished  the 
principle  of  national  churches,  and  the  authority  of  the  magistrate  in  matters 
of  faith  and  worship.  And  it  was  among  these  people,  and  owing  to  this 
principle,  that  the  persecutions  in  America  were  carried  on.  Of  this  there 
is  a  full  account  given  in  "  Backus's  History  of  the  American  Baptists,"  Vol. 
I. ;  and  as  the  Baptists  bore  a  large  part  of  those  persecutions,  they  may  well 
be  supposed  to  know  who  were  their  persecutors,  and  what  were  their  avowed 
principles. 

The  work  of  Messrs.  Bogue  and  Bennett  is  considered  by  this  writer  as  a 
fair  specimen  of  dissenting  principles  in  the  present  day,  or  as  "  representing 
the  general  temper  of  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed."  But,  so  far  as  1  have  had 
the  means  of  judging,  it  is  considered  among  Dissenters  in  a  very  different 
light.  Some  few  may  admire  it ;  but  all  that  I  have  heard  speak  of  it  con- 
sider it  as  deeply  tinged  with  party  zeal  and  revolutionary  politics,  and  as 
being  rather  a  eulogy  on  their  own  denomination  than  a  "  History  of  Dis- 
senters." I  am  not  aware  that  the  French  revolution  has  promoted  the  cause 
of  dissent;  and  if  it  were  so,  an  increase  on  such  principles  is  of  no  value. 
Men  may  leave  the  National  Church,  not  on  account  of  what  is  wrong  in  it, 
but  of  what  is  right,  in  which  case  dissent  itself  must  be  wicked.  Dissent 
is  not  a  cause  for  a  Christian  to  rejoice  in,  any  further  than  as  it  includes  the 
cause  of  Christ.  It  is  ground  on  which  may  be  erected  a  temple  of  God  or 
a  synagogue  of  Satan. 

That  there  are  many  among  Dissenters  who  feel  that  "  moral  expatriation  " 


STATE  OF  DISSENTING  DISCIPLINE.  477 

which  the  reviewer  laments  is  admitted  ;  but  the  same  is  true  of  Churchmen. 
The  numbers,  however,  of  both,  have  of  late  years  considerably  diminished. 
Dissenters  must  ever  be  friends  to  civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  it  is  their 
only  security ;  but  they  may  be  this  without  turbulence,  or  envy,  or  spleen, 
or  any  of  those  unainiable  qualities  which  this  writer  attaches  to  dissent.  I 
believe  it  will  be  found  that,  from  the  beginning,  those  Dissenters  who  have 
separated  from  the  Church  of  England  for  the  purpose  of  forming  churches 
according  to  what  they  consider  as  the  mind  of  Christ,  have  been  of  a  much 
more  pacific  spirit  than  those  who,  retaining  the  principles  of  national 
churches  and  the  authority  of  the  magistrates  in  matters  of  faith  and  wor- 
ship, were  always  lingering  after  a  comprehension  in  the  Establishment,  and 
finding  fault  with  particular  ceremonies  and  forms  that  kept  them  out  of  it. 
That  this  was  the  case  among  the  first  settlers  in  America  has  been  already 
noticed ;  and,  so  far  as  my  observation  extends,  it  is  the  case  to  this  day. 
Those  who  dissent  for  the  sake  of  being  at  liberty  to  follow  up  their  convic- 
tions in  promoting  the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  not  be  averse  to  the  civil  in- 
stitutions of  their  country ;  and  as  to  the  ecclesiastical,  unless  called  to 
defend  themselves  against  the  charge  of  schism,  and  such  others  as  are 
heaped  upon  them,  they  would  cherish  no  hostility.  Being  allowed  to  fol- 
low flie  dictates  of  their  own  consciences,  they  are  willing  that  others  should 
do  the  same.  They  dissent,  not  so  much  from  antipathy  to  what  they  desert 
as  from  love  to  what  they  embrace ;  and  they  love  and  pray  for  the  govern- 
ment that  protects  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  it. 

They  cannot  approve  of  making  the  political  prosperity  of  their  country 
the  supreme  object  of  their  pursuit,  nor  consent  that  the  religion  of  Christ 
should  be  rendered  subservient  to  it;  and  this,  in  the  esteem  of  those  who 
are  otherwise  minded,  will  often  be  ascribed  to  the  want  of  patriotism ;  but 
a  wise  and  good  government  will  know  how  to  distinguish  a  contumelious 
behaviour  towards  them  from  a  conscientious  obedience  to  God ;  and,  while 
they  properly  resent  the  former,  will  not  fail  to  respect  the  latter. 


STATE  OF  DISSENTING  DISCIPLINE. 

It  may  be  diflicult  to  determine  whether  the  apostles  of  our  Lord,  in  the 
first  planting  of  Christianity,  were  more  intent  on  the  conversion  of  unbe- 
lievers or  the  building  up  of  believers  in  their  most  holy  faith.  It  is  certain 
that  both  these  objects  engaged  their  attention. 

In  our  times  they  have  been  thought  to  be  too  much  divided.  Towards 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  several  eminent  men  were  raised  up  in  the 
Established  Church,  whose  labours  were  singularly  useful  in  turning  sinners 
to  God  ;  but  whether  it  was  from  the  advantages  of  their  situation  as  Church- 
men, or  whatever  was  the  cause,  they  and  others,  who  since  their  times  have 
been  a  kind  of  half  Dissenters,  have  generally  been  considered  as  neglecting 
to  form  their  societies  after  the  model  of  the  New  Testament.  And  con- 
gregations of  this  description  having  considerably  increased,  apprehensions 
have  been  entertained  that  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  Scriptures  would 
in  time  fall  into  general  disuse. 

From  a  somewhat  earlier  date,  many  amongst  Protestant  Dissenters,  too 
much  attentive  perhaps  to  the  points  on  which  they  separated  from  the  Church 
and  from  one  another,  began  to  neglect  the  common  salvation,  and  to  render 
the  general  theme  of  their  ministrations  something  other  than  Christ  cruci- 
fied.    Even  many  of  those  who  retained  the  doctrines  of  their  forefathers 


478  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITr. 

preached  them  in  so  cold  and  formal  a  way,  that  the  spirit  cf  vital  religion 
seemed  to  be  fled.  Hence  many  serious  people  forsook  them  in  favour  of  a 
more  lively  and  evangelical  ministry,  even  though  unaccompanied  with  the 
discipline  and  government  to  which  they  had  been  used.  Hence  arose  mu- 
tual jealousies,  and  the  distinction  of  regular  and  irregular  Dissenters. 

Such,  alas!  is  the  contractcdness  of  the  human  mind,  that,  while  attend- 
ing to  one  thing,  it  is  ever  in  danger  of  neglecting  others  of  equal  if  not 
superior  importance.  It  is  a  fact  which  cannot  be  denied,  that  many,  who 
have  exhibited  the  common  salvation  with  great  success  to  the  unconverted, 
have  at  the  same  time  been  sadly  negligent  in  enforcing  the  legislative  au- 
thority of  Christ  upon  their  hearers ;  nor  is  it  less  manifest  that  others,  who 
have  been  the  most  tenacious  of  the  forms  of  church  government  and  dis- 
cipline, have  at  the  same  time  been  wofully  deficient  in  preaching  the  gospel 
to  the  unconverted. 

But  is  it  not  possible  to  unite  these  important  objects,  at  least  in  a  good 
degree,  in  the  manner  in  which  they  were  united  in  the  primitive  times? 
One  should  think  it  were  as  natural  for  a  minister,  and  a  people,  where  God 
is  pleased  to  bless  the  word  to  the  conversion  of  sinners,  to  be  anxious  for 
their  edification,  as  for  parents  who  are  blessed  with  a  numerous  offspring  to 
be  concerned  to  have  them  properly  fed,  and  clothed,  and  educated.  It  is 
not  enough  that  a  company  of  Christians  unite  in  a  preacher,  and  make  a 
point  of  going  once  or  twice  in  the  week  to  hear  him,  and  after  having 
exchanged  compliments  with  him,  and  a  few  of  the  people,  depart  till  another 
sabbath.  That  bids  fair  to  be  the  true  Scriptural  form  of  church  government 
which  tends  most  to  promote  brotherly  love,  which  brings  the  members  into 
the  closest  religious  contact,  and  which  is  accompanied  with  the  greatest 
faithfulness  one  towards  another. 


DISCIPLINE  OF  THE  ENGLISH  AND  SCOTTISH  BAPTIST 
CHURCHES. 

[Extracts  from  two  letters  to  Mr.  M'Lean,  in  1796.] 

As  to  our  churches,  it  would  be  very  wrong  to  plead  on  their  behalf  that 
they  come  up  to  the  primitive  model.  It  is  our  great  endeavour  as  ministers 
(and  we  are  joined  by  a  good  number  of  private  Christians)  to  form  them  in 
doctrine,  in  discipline,  in  spirit,  and  in  conduct,  after  the  example  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles.  But  after  all  that  we  can  do,  if  reviewed  by  the  great 
Head  of  the  church,  and  perhaps  by  some  of  his  servants  who  may  be  un- 
connected with  us,  there  would  be  a  few,  or  rather  not  "a  few  things 
against  us." 

Till  of  late,  I  conceive,  there  was  such  a  portion  of  erroneous  doctrine 
and  false  religion  amongst  us,  that  if  we  had  carried  matters  a  little  further, 
we  should  have  been  a  very  dunghill  in  society.  Nor  can  this  leaven  be 
expected  to  be  yet  purged  out,  though  I  hope  it  is  in  a  fair  way  of  being  so. 

In  discipline  there  is  a  great  propensity,  in  some  churches  especially,  to 
be  lax  and  negligent.  In  our  annual  associations  we  have  been  necessitated 
to  remonstrate  against  this  negligence,  and  to  declare  that,  unless,  they 
would  execute  the  laws  of  Christ  upon  disorderly  walkers,  we  would  with- 
draw from  all  connexion  with  them;  and  such  remonstrances  from  the  asso- 
ciated churches  have  produced  a  good  effect.  It  is  not  our  practice,  how- 
ever, lightly  to  separate  from  churches  or  individuals.  We  consider  the 
churches  of  Corinth  and  G alalia,  and  the  great  patience  of  the  apostle  amidst 


DISCIPLINE  OF  ENGLISH  AND  SCOTTISH  BAPTISTS.  479 

Jhe  most  scandalous  disorders;  labouring  to  reclaim  Uiose  whom  others  of 
less  patience  would  have  given  up,  and  separated  from ;  and  wish  as  far  as 
possible  to  follow  the  example. 

Your  observations  on  the  difficulty  of  reforming  an  old  church  are  very 
just,  and  on  its  being  better  in  some  cases  to  begin  by  a  new  formation.  In 
this  way  we  have  proceeded  in  some  places.  Carey,  for  example,  when  he 
went  to  Leicester,  found  them  a  very  corrupt  people.  Tlie  very  officers  of 
the  church  had  indulged  in  drunkenness,  and  the  rest  were  discouraged; 
and  so  discipline  was  wholly  neglected.  After  advising  with  liis  brethren 
in  the  ministry,  brother  Carey  and  the  majority  of  the  church  agreed  to 
renew  covenant.  Accordingly  they  appointed  a  day  in  which  they  would 
consider  their  former  relation  as  extinct,  and  the  church  book  should  be 
open  for  the  signatures  of  all  who  had  heretofore  been  members,  but  upon 
this  condition,  that  they  subscribed  at  the  same  time  a  solemn  declaration, — 
That  they  would  in  future  execute  and  be  subject  to  a  strict  and  faithful 
discipline. 

This  measure  had  its  effect.  Almost  all  their  loose  characters  stood  out; 
or,  if  any  signed,  they  were  subject  to  a  close  watch  in  future.  By  these 
means  the  church  was  purged ;  and  Carey,  before  he  went  to  India,  saw  the 
good  effects  of  it.  A  considerable  revival  in  religion  ensued,  and  many 
were  added.  Hence  you  may  account  for  his  language  afterwards  to  the 
church  at  Leicester.* 

It  is  a  great  fault  in  some  of  our  churches  that  they  seem  afraid  to  execute 
faithful  discipline  upon  men  of  opulence.  "The  cause,  they  say,  cannot  be 
supported  without  them."  To  this  I  have  more  than  once  replied,  That  a 
cause  which  requires  to  be  thus  supported  cannot  be  the  cause  of  Christ; 
and  your  business  is  not  to  support  the  ark  with  unhallowed  hands.  If  by 
executing  Christ's  laws  your  cause  sinks,  so  be  it ;  he  will  never  blame  you 
for  that. 

Another  evil  akin  to  this  is  a  partiality  for  men  of  opulence,  in  the  choice 
of  deacons.  I  consider  not  property,  but  the  use  that  is  made  of  it,  as 
entitling  to  religious  regard.  We  do  not  fail  publicly  and  privately  to  incul- 
cate these  things;  but  habits  of  this  kind  are  not  instandy,  nor  easily,  eradi- 
cated. 

You  observe  that  "  the  commission  of  Christ  is  not  fully  executed,  unless 
the  converts  are  taught  to  observe  'all  things,  whatsoever  he  hath  com- 
manded;' and  are  brought  into  such  a  state  of  separation  from  the  world, 
and  of  union  and  order  among  themselves,  after  the  model  of  the  apostolic 
churches,  as  puts  them  in  a  capacity  for  doing  so." 

To  the  whole  of  this  I  freely  subscribe,  whether  we  have  attained  to  such 
a  state  of  things  or  not.  My  views,  and  those  of  my  brethren,  are  much  the 
same  as  are  expressed  in  Mr.  Booth's  "Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ." 
I  am  not  conscious  but  that  it  is  my  aim  to  inculcate  and  practise  "all  things, 
whatsoever  the  Lord  hath  commanded."  Some  of  Christ's  commands,  how- 
ever, I  suppose,  we  interpret  differently  from  you.  If  I  am  rightly  informed, 
you  consider  "the  washing  of  feet,  the  kiss  of  charity,"  &c.,  as  formally 
binding  on  all  Christians:  we  do  not.  We  consider  neither  of  them  as  reli- 
gious institutes,  but  merely  civil  customs,  though  used  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles  to  a  religious  end,  as  whatsoever  they  did,  they  did  all  to  the  glory 
of  God.  They  were  in  use  both  among  Jews  and  heathens,  long  before  the 
coming  of  Christ.  The  one  was  a  necessary  service,  the  other  a  mode  of 
expressing  kindness.  We  conceive  it  was  the  design  of  Christ  by  these 
forms  to  enjoin  a  natural  interchange  of  kind  and  beneficent  offices,  even 

*  Periodical  Accounts  of  the  Baptist  Mission,  vol.  I.  p.  132. 


480  ECCLESIASTICAL   POLITY. 

SO  as  "by  fove  to  serve  one  another."  The  usual  forms  of  expressing  this 
temper  of  mind  were  at  that  time,  and  in  those  countries,  washing  the  feet, 
&c,  Christ  therefore  made  use  of  these  forms,  much  the  same  as  he  made 
use  of  the  customary  language  of  a  country,  to  convey  his  doctrines  and  pre- 
cepts. But  as  neither  of  these  forms  is  ordinarily  used  in  our  age  and  coun- 
try, to  express  the  ideas  for  which  it  was  originally  enjoined,  the  ground  or 
reason  of  the  injunction  ceases;  a  literal  compliance  with  them  would  not 
now  answer  the  original  design,  but  would  operate,  we  conceive,  in  a  very 
different  way.  It  seems  to  us,  therefore,  not  only  lawful,  but  incumbent,  to 
substitute  such  signs  and  forms  as  are  adapted  to  convey  the  spirit  of  the 
injunction,  rather  than  to  abide  by  the  letter,  since  that  is  become  as  it  were 
"a  dead  letter;"  as  much  so  as  to  disuse  the  original  language  of  Scripture, 
and  translate  it  into  a  language  that  can  be  understood.  Herein  we  think 
we  follow  Christ's  example;  he  used  the  forms  and  customs  of  his  country 
to  express  kindness  and  humility;  and  we  do  the  same.  Whether  we  under- 
stand these  commands,  however,  or  not  according  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  I 
hope,  and  for  myself  am  certain,  that  we  do  not  live  in  the  known  violation 
of  them. 

The  grounds  on  which  you  plead  for  the  washing  of  feet,  I  should  have 
no  objection  to.  If  you  will  come  and  see  me,  and  it  be  any  refreshment  to 
you,  I  will  cheerfully  wash  yours ;  and  not  yours  only,  but  if  the  meanest 
Christian  needed  it,  I  do  not  feel  that  it  would  at  all  hurt  my  pride  to  gratify 
him.  I  have  pride,  as  well  as  other  sins,  but  I  think  it  does  not  operate  in 
that  way.  My  objection  to  the  kiss  of  charity  is  not  that  it  is  become  so 
obsolete  that  people  would  not  understand  it  as  a  token  of  affection,  but 
being  confined  in  England  to  express  the  affection  of  relations,  or  of  the 
sexes,  it  would  be  understood  accordingly.  Let  such  salutations  therefore 
be  ever  so  pure  in  themselves,  we  should  not  be  able  to  "abstain  from  the 
appearance  of  evil;"  and  many  scandals  and  reproaches  would  be  raised. 

I  have  carefully,  and,  if  I  know  my  own  spirit,  candidly,  examined  the 
New  Testament  concerning  the  time  of  administering  the  Lord's  supper. 
The  result  is,  that  I  consider  it  as  wholly  discretional,  as  much  so  as  the 
times  for  various  other  duties.  Such  is  the  form  of  institution,  as  repeated 
by  Paul,  1  Cor.  xi.  25,  20,  "This  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remem- 
brance of  me.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do 
show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."  If  any  thing  can  be  gathered  from 
Acts  ii.  42,  which  says  that  the  disciples  "continued  steadfastly  in  the  apos- 
tles' doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers," 
it  is  that  it  was  done  as  ot\en  as  they  met  together  for  worship ;  but  this 
was  much  oftener  than  once  a  week ;  for  they  "  continued  daihj  with  one 
accord  in  the  temple,  and  the  Lord  added  to  them  daily  such  as  should 
be  saved,"  ver.  46,  47.  From  Acts  xx.  7,  we  learn  that  "  the  disciples 
came  together  to  break  bread  on  the  first  day  of  the  week ;"  but  it  does 
not  follow  that  this  was  their  practice  on  every  such  first  day.  It  might  be 
so;  but  as  Christ  left  the  matter  open,  I  suppose  they  acted  accordingly. 
At  Jerusalem,  soon  after  the  pentecost,  it  seems  to  me  that  they  did  it 
oftener  than  once  a  week ;  afterwards  they  might  do  it  once  a  week.  But 
if  Christ  has  not  fixed  it,  neither  should  we,  lest  we  go  beyond  the  rule  ap- 
pointed us. 

I  think  ievf  can  have  a  greater  dislike  to  titles  than  I  have  among  minis- 
ters. That  of  "brother"  is  most  agreeable  to  me.  My  brother  Ryland, 
without  his  own  knowledge,  desire,  or  consent,  had  a  D.  D.  next  to  forced 
upon  him.  It  was  announced  by  Rippon  in  his  Register,  and  then  people 
would  call  him  by  it;  but  I  am  persuaded  he  would  much  rather  not  have 
had  it.    He  is  a  very  humble,  godly  man,  and  he  now  submits  to  it,  because 


BAPTIST  CHURCHES  IN  NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.  4S1 

he  would  not  always  be  employed  in  resisting  a  piece  of  insignificance. 
For  my  part,  I  think  with  you,  but  do  not  know  whether  any  of  my  brethren 
think  with  me,  that  it  is  contrary  to  our  Lord's  prohibition :  "  Be  ye  not 
called  Rabbi." 

As  to  academical  education,  the  far  greater  part  of  our  ministers  have  it 
not.*  Carey  was  a  shoemaker  years  after  he  engaged  in  the  ministry,  and  I 
was  a  farmer.  I  have  sometimes  however  regretted  my  want  of  learning 
On  the  other  hand,  brother  Sutcliff,  and  brother  Pearce,  have  both  been  at 
Bristol.  We  all  live  in  love,  without  any  distinction  in  these  matters.  We 
do  not  consider  an  academy  as  any  qualification  for  membership  or  preach- 
ing, any  further  than  as  a  person  may  there  improve  his  talents  Those  who 
go  to  our  academies  must  be  members  of  a  church,  and  recommended  to 
them  as  possessing  gifts  adapted  to  the  ministry.  They  preach  about  the 
neighbourhood  all  the  time,  and  their  going  is  considered  in  no  other  light 
than  as  a  young  minister  might  apply  to  an  aged  one  for  improvement. 
Since  brother  Ryland  has  been  at  Bristol,  I  think  he  has  been  a  great  bless- 
ing in  forming  the  principles  and  spirit  of  the  young  men.  I  allow,  how- 
ever, that  the  contrary  is  often  the  case  in  academies,  and  that  when  it  is  so 
they  prove  very  injurious  to  the  churches  of  Christ. 


STATE  OF  THE   BAPTIST  CHURCHES  IN   NORTHAMPTON- 
SHIRE.   [1814.] 

1.  Out  of  the  twenty-three  churches  in  this  county,  nineteen  are  in  vil- 
lages, and  four  in  market  towns.  Eleven  are  in  connexion  with  the  North- 
amptonshire and  Leicestershire  association  ;  the  other  twelve  are  in  no 
association.  The  average  number  of  members  in  each  church  is  about 
seventy,  and  of  hearers  about  three  hundred. 

2.  There  are  no  two  of  them  which  meet  for  worship  in  the  same  village 
or  town  in  consequence  of  any  division  among  themselves.  Such  things 
may  be  borne  with  in  some  instances  rather  than  worse ;  but  they  are  not 
among  the  things  which  are  lovely  and  of  good  report.  Such  things  have 
existed  among  these  churches,  but  they  exist  no  longer. 

3.  There  are  only  three  which  meet  for  worship  in  towns  where  there  are 
Independent  congregations,  or  any  other  preaching  which  is  ordinarily  con- 
sidered as  evangelical ;  and  those  are  places  so  populous  as  to  furnish  no 
just  ground  of  complaint  on  the  score  of  opposition.  If  our  object  there- 
fore had  been  to  increase  our  number  from  other  evangelical  coimexions, 
rather  than  by  conversions  from  the  world,  we  have  acted  very  unwisely  in 
fixing  on  the  places  where  we  should  take  our  stand.  It  is  acknowledged 
that  many  members  of  pedobaptist  churches  have  joined  us  in  consequence 
of  their  being  convinced  of  believers'  baptism  being  the  only  baptism  taught 
and  exemplified  in  the  Scriptures;  and  that  many  of  our  members  owe  their 
first  religious  impressions  to  the  labours  of  a  Hervey,  a  Maddox,  and  other 
evangelical  clergymen,  whose  names  are  dear  to  them  and  to  us  all.  But 
the  number  of  persons  of  both  these  descriptions  fall  short  of  that  of  persons 
who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  attending  our  worship,  or  have  come  over  to 
us  froni  the  ranks  of  the  irreligious. 

4.  Of  those  who  are  not  in  the  association,  three  or  four  are  what  are 
called  high  Calvinists,  holding  the  doctrines  of  election  and  predestination 

This  is  far  from  being  the  case  in  the  present  day. — Ed. 

Vol.  III.— 61  2S 


482  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

in  such  a  way  as  to  exclude  exhortations  and  invitations  to  the  ungodly  to 
believe  in  Christ  for  salvation.  Tlie  rest,  whether  in  or  out  of  the  associa- 
tion, consider  these  doctrines  as  consistent  with  exhortations  and  invitations, 
as  the  means  by  which  the  predestined  ends  are  accomplished.  There  are 
individuals  of  a  different  mind  in  the  other  churches;  for  we  distinguish  be- 
tween high  Calvinists  and  Antinomians :  with  the  former  we  do  not  refuse 
communion,  but  with  the  latter  we  do. 

5.  The  greater  part  of  these  churches  are  not  of  very  long  standing.  In 
1GS9,  when  a  meeting  of  the  elders  and  messengers  of  more  than  one  hun- 
dred Baptist  churches  was  held  in  London,  there  were  no  messengers  from 
this  county.  It  does  not  follow  that  there  were  no  Baptist  churches  in  the 
county,  but  they  certainly  were  very  few  and  small.  Half  the  present  num- 
ber at  least  have  been  raised  within  the  last  fifty  years,  and  many  of  those 
which  were  raised  before,  have  much  more  than  doubled  their  number  since 
that  period.  The  average  clear  increase  of  those  churches  in  the  county 
which  are  in  the  association  during  the  above  period  is  about  seventy-five  ; 
and  probably  the  clear  increase  of  the  churches  not  associated  would  be 
much  the  same.  Several  of  those  which  are  now  flourishing  churches  were 
formerly  small  societies;  some  of  them  branches  of  other  churches,  supplied 
principally  by  gifted  brethren  not  wholly  devoted  to  the  ministry,  but  labour- 
ing with  their  hands  for  their  own  maintenance,  and  that  of  their  families. 

G.  If  such  has  been  the  progress  of  things  during  the  last  fifty  years,  what 
may  we  not  hope  for  in  fifty  years  to  come?  Were  the  number  of  these 
churches  even  to  continue  stationary  during  that  period — and  were  nothing 
reckoned  on  but  a  diligent  perseverance  in  the  stated  means  of  grace,  only 
including  occasional  labours  in  adjacent  villages,  reckoning  three  genera- 
tions to  a  century — a  testimony  will  have  been  borne  in  each  of  them  to  a 
thousand,  and  in  all  of  them  to  three-and-twenty  thousand  souls.  And  if 
on  an  average  they  may  be  supposed  to  contain  fifty  truly  Christian  people — 
for  though  we  admit  none  but  those  who  profess  and  appear 'to  be  such,  yet 
it  cannot  be  expected  that  all  are  what  they  profess  to  be — each  church  will 
have  reared  seventy-five,  and  altogether  seventeen  hundred  and  twenty-five 
plants  fur  the  heavenly  paradise. 

But  surely  we  need  not  calculate  on  their  remaining  stationary.  If  genuine 
Christianity  does  but  live  among  them,  it  will  both  "  grow  and  multiply."  If 
it  multiply  only  in  the  same  proportion  as  it  has  done  in  the  last  half  cen- 
tury, in  respect  to  the  number  of  churches,  and  of  members  in  each  church, 
it  will  increase  considerably  more  than  fourfold ;  and  if  from  each  of  these 
churches  should  proceed  only  three  or  four  faithful  and  useful  ministers  of 
the  gospel — if  especially  there  should  arise  among  them  only  now  and  then 
"  a  fruitful  bough" — say  a  Thomas,  a  Carey,  a  Marshman,  a  Ward,  a  Cham- 
berlain, or  a  Chater — "  whose  branches  run  over  the  wall"  of  Christendom 
itself;  who  can  calculate  the  fruits  ?  From  a  part  of  these  churches,  connected 
in  association  with  others  in  the  adjacent  counties,  within  the  last  twenty 
years,  has  "  sounded  forth  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  into  the  very  heart  of 
heathen  and  Mahomedan  Asia ;  and  as  the  times  ioretold  in  prophecy,  when 
"  a  little  one  shall  become  a  thousand,  and  a  small  one  a  strong  nation,"  ap- 
pear to  be  fast  approaching,  it  behoves  us  not  only  to  "  attempt,"  but  also  to 
"  expect  great  things." 

Our  chief  concern  should  be  that  we  may  not  disqualify  ourselves  for  pos- 
sessing these  lively  hopes  by  a  relinquishment  of  the  doctrine,  the  worship, 
the  discipline,  the  spirit,  or  the  practice  of  vital  Christianity.  That  God's 
'•'  way  may  be  known  upon  earth,  and  his  saving  health  among  all  nations," 
our  prayer  should  be,  "  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  lis,  and  cause  thy 
face  to  shine  upon  us."     We  cannot  impart  that  which  we  do  not  possess. 


DECLINE  OF  THE  DISSENTING  INTEREST.  483 

I  have  seen,  in  those  churches  with  which  T  have  been  most  intimately 
connected,  many  things  which  have  endeared  them  to  me.  Particularly,  a 
lively  interest  in  evangelical,  faithful,  practical,  and  pungent  preaching;  an 
attention  to  things  more  than  to  words ;  a  taste  for  the  affectionate  more  than 
for  the  curious ;  a  disposition  to  read  and  think  rather  than  dispute ;  a  spirit 
to  promote  the  kingdom  of  Christ ;  in  fine,  a  modesty,  gentleness,  and  kind- 
ness of  behaviour.  I  have  been  thirty  years  pastor  of  one  of  them ;  and  if 
there  has  ever  been  an  instance  of  unkind  or  unchristian  behaviour  towards 
me,  I  have  forgotten  it. 

These  things  I  have  seen  in  some  of  our  churches,  and  would  fain  con- 
sider them  as  the  general  feature.  But  truth  obliges  me  to  add,  I  have  also 
seen  things  of  another  description.  I  have  seen  discipline  neglected,  appa- 
rently lest  it  should  injure  the  subscription;  and  if  exercised,  it  has  seemed 
to  be  more  from  regard  to  reputation  in  the  eyes  of  men  than  from  the  fear 
of  God.  I  have  seen  an  evil  in  the  choice  of  ministers;  too  much  attention 
has  been  paid  to  the  superficial  qualification  of  a  ready,  off-hand  address, 
calculated  to  fill  the  place,  and  too  little  to  those  solid  qualities  that  consti- 
tute the  man  of  God,  and  the  serious,  faithful,  and  affectionate  pastor.  I 
have  also  seen,  or  thought  I  have  seen,  in  the  choice  of  deacons,  more  regard 
paid  to  opulence  than  to  those  qualifications  required  by  the  New  Testament. 
I  have  seen  too  much  of  a  worldly  spirit,  and  a  conformity  to  the  maxims 
by  which  worldly  men  are  wont  to  regulate  their  conduct. 

I  do  not  know  that  such  things  are  more  prevalent  in  these  than  in  other 
churches;  but,  wherever  they  prevail,  they  will  be  a  worm  at  the  root  of  the 
gourd.  It  becomes  us  as  ministers  to  inquire  whether  a  large  portion  of 
these  evils  may  not  originate  amongst  us.  If  we  were  more  spiritual,  evan- 
gelical, and  zealous  in  the  work  of  God,  things  would  be  different  with  the 
people.  We  are  apt  to  think,  that  if  we  have  but  made  up  our  minds  on  the 
leading  points  of  controversy  afloat  in  the  world,  and  taken  the  side  of  truth, 
we  are  safe;  but  it  is  not  so.  If  we  walk  not  with  God,  we  shall  almost  be 
certain  in  some  way  to  get  aside  from  the  gospel,  and  then  the  work  of  God 
will  not  prosper  in  our  hands.  Ingenious  discourses  may  be  delivered,  and 
nothing  advanced  inconsistent  with  the  gospel,  while  yet  the  gospel  itself  is 
not  preached.  We  may  preach  about  Christ  himself,  and  yet  not  "  preach 
Christ."  We  may  pride  ourselves  in  our  orthodoxy,  and  yet  be  far  from  the 
doctrine  of  the  New  Testament;  may  hold  with  exhortations  and  invitations 
to  the  unconverted,  and  yet  not  "  persuade  men ;"  may  plead  for  sound  doc- 
trine, and  yet  overlook  the  things  that  "  become  sound  doctrine."  Finally, 
we  may  advocate  the  cause  of  holiness,  while  we  ourselves  are  unholy. 


DECLINE  OF  THE  DISSENTING  INTEREST. 

PART    THE    FIRST 

On  looking  over  some  of  the  late  numbers  of  the  Protestant  Dissenter's 
Magazine,  I  observed  a  complaint  of  the  dissenting  interest  being  on  the 
decline.  It  is  true  it  was  not  the  first  time  nor  the  only  place  in  which  I 
had  met  with  this  complaint ;  I  never  before,  however,  found  my  thoughts 
so  much  engaged  by  this  subject,  or  my  mind  equally  inclined  to  make 
inquiry  into  it. 

That  the  dissenting  interest  has  declined  in  many  places  I  have  no  doubt; 


484  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

but  whether  this  be  the  case  with  the  general  hoely  is  the  question.  If  it  be, 
it  becomes  us  to  make  ourselves  acquainted  with  it,  and  with  its  causes,  that 
if  possible  the  malady  may  be  lessened,  if  not  entirely  healed.  Yea,  though 
it  should  not  be  the  case  with  the  general  body,  but  only  with  a  considerable 
number  of  Dissenters,  yet  as  "  one  member  cannot  suffer  without  the  whole 
body  suffering  with  it,"  it  is  an  object  well  worthy  of  attention. 

The  present  inquiry  is  naturally  divided  into  two  parts;  one  respects  the 
fact  itself,  and  the  other  the  reasons  of  it.  The  present  piece  will  be  devoted 
to  the  former  of  these  inquiries,  which  will  be  followed  with  a  second,  if  it 
meets  with  approbation. 

Is  it  then  a  fact  that  the  dissenting  interest,  taken  in  the  whole,  has,  sup- 
pose I  sai/  for  the  last  five-and-twenty  years,  been  upon  the  decline  1 

I  do  not  pretend  but  that  the  subject  has  its  difficulties,  and  it  is  very  pos- 
sible that  I  may  be  mistaken.  The  following  observations  are  however  sub- 
mitted to  the  consideration  of  the  reader: — 

1.  It  cannot  be  doubted  by  persons  of  observation  that  the  generality  of 
the  clergy  of  this  country  have  of  late  years  lost  ground  in  the  estimation  of 
the  common  people.  To  say  nothing  of  their  ignorance  of  religion,  (the 
people  being  equally  benighted  may  prevent  their  discovering  this,)  the 
oppressive  disposition  of  great  numbers  of  them  in  the  article  oi  tithes,  \}i\€\x 
imperious  carriage,  and  great  inattention  to  morals,  are  matters  that  all  men 
understand.  On  these  accounts  they  enjoy  but  a  small  portion  of  the  esteem 
of  the  people ;  and  hence  perhaps,  in  part,  arises  a  disposition  to  hear  dis- 
senting preaching  in  almost  every  place  where  it  is  introduced.  Whether  it 
arises  however  from  this  cause  or  not,  so  far  as  my  observation  reaches,  it  is 
a  fact  that  there  is  a  far  greater  disposition  to  hear  dissenting  preaching 
than  there  formerly  was.  I  have  for  some  time  been  in  the  habit  of  preach- 
ing, on  the  Lord's  day  evening,  in  eight  or  ten  villages  round  my  situation, 
and  never  met  with  any  interruption  in  so  doing.  The  people  attend  with 
great  decorum,  from  lifty  to  five  hundred  in  number;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  such  congregations  might  be  obtained  in  a  hundred  villages  as  well  as 
ten,  provided  ministers  could  be  found  that  would  go  and  preach  to  them. 
Popular  prejudice,  it  is  true,  was  kindled  against  the  Dissenters  a  k\\  years 
ago,  by  the  disputes  concerning  the  repeal  of  the  Corporation  and  2'est 
Acts ;  but  this  has  now  very  nearly  subsided.  Men  who  enter  deeply  into 
party  prejudices  may  continue  much  the  same,  but  the  common  people  think 
little  or  nothing  about  it. 

2.  That  part  of  the  clergy  usually  termed  evangelical  may  be  said  to  be 
more  in  a  state  of  competition  with  the  Dissenters  than  any  other;  and  the 
number  both  of  preachers  and  hearers  of  this  description  has  of  late  years 
much  increased.  Instead  of  considering  this  circumstance  however  as  a 
matter  of  regret,  many  thinking  people  have  rejoiced  in  it:  and  that  not  only 
on  account  of  its  being  favourable  to  the  salvation  of  sinners,  but  as  that 
which  will  ultimately,  and  which  does  already  in  measure,  befriend  the  dis- 
senting interest.  They  collect  large  auditories  it  is  true ;  but  they  are  very 
rarely  composed  of  persons  who  leave  our  congregations.  This  is  not  the 
case  however  in  the  countrj.  Their  people  are  generally,  and  almost 
entirely,  made  up  of  persons  who  were  always  in  the  habit  of  going  to  the 
established  places  of  worship,  excepting  some  who  attended  no  where.  So 
far  then  we  lose  nothing  by  them.  On  the  other  hand,  considerable  num- 
bers have  been  gained  by  their  instrumentality,  however  contrary  it  may  have 
been  to  their  inclinations.  As  the  situation  of  such  clergymen  is  not  deter- 
mined by  the  choice  of  the  people,  it  often  falls  out  that,  after  they  have 
laboured  in  a  place  for  a  series  of  years,  they  are  removed,  and  succeeded 
by  others  of  a  very  different  character.     The  consequence  in  almost  all  such 


DECLINE  OF  THE  DISSENTING  INTEREST.  485 

cases  is  that  the  people  turn  Dissenters.  There  may  be  some  difference  as 
to  the  operation  of  these  causes  between  large  cities  and  country  towns  and 
villages.  On  the  removal  of  an  evangelical  clergyman  from  a  parish  church 
situate  in  the  former,  the  people  may  not  be  under  the  like  necessity  to  be- 
come Dissenters  as  in  the  latter,  seeing  they  can  repair  to  others  in  the 
same  city;  and  where  this  is  the  case,  they  may  be  more  likely  to  form  a 
party,  and  keep  up  a  kind  of  competition  with  the  Dissenters.  But  this  is 
the  case  chiefly,  if  not  entirely,  in  London,  and  a  few  other  populous  places. 
In  the  country,  which  includes  the  far  greater  proportion  of  Dissenters,  it  is 
otherwise.  I  am  acquainted  with  several  dissenting  churches,  some  of  which 
have  principally  been  raised,  and  others  greatly  increased,  by  persons 
coming  from  under  what  is  termed  evangelical  preaching  in  the  Church  of 
England. 

Similar  observations  might  be  made  on  the  Wcslcyan  and  other  Mcthod- 
ists.  It  is  rare  that  they  gather  materials  at  the  expense  of  the  Dissenters. 
But  as  their  hearers  become  truly  religious,  and  begin  to  read  and  think  for 
themselves,  they  are  frequently  known,  either  for  the  sake  of  better  instruc- 
tion or  a  purer  discipline,  to  come  off  from  their  societies  to  ours.  If  I 
v.'ere  inclined  to  act  merely  on  the  principles  of  a  partizan,  (which  God 
forbid  I  should,)  I  would  neither  fret  myself  at  their  prosperity,  nor  use  any 
underhand  means  of  persuasion  to  bring  them  over.  There  is  no  need  of 
either;  they  will  come  of  their  own  accord,  if  they  are  only  treated  by  us 
as  we  wish  to  be  treated  by  them;  and  the  same  might  be  said  of  the  adhe- 
rents of  the  evangelical  clergy. 

3.  It  may  be  difficult  to  ascertain,  with  any  tolerable  degree  of  precision, 
the  increase  or  decrease  of  Dissenters  throughout  the  nation.  I  am  not 
competent  to  decide  upon  the  state  of  things  respecting  them,  especially  iu 
the  city  of  London.  Of  the  country,  however,  that  part  of  it  in  particular 
which  falls  under  my  own  immediate  observation,  and  still  more  of  my  own 
denomination,  I  think  I  can  form  a  pretty  accurate  judgment.  In  the  county 
where  I  reside,  there  are  at  this  time,  of  one  only  of  the  three  denomina- 
tions of  Dissenters,  twenty-four  congregations.  Twenty-five  years  ago,  as 
far  as  my  information  extends,  there  were  but  seventeen.  Three  of  these 
have  since  become  extinct,  but  they  consented  to  dissolve,  and  afterwards 
united  with  other  dissenting  congregations  in  the  same  towns ;  they  are 
not  lost  therefore  to  the  dissenting  body.  In  their  place  ten  new  congrega- 
tions have  risen  up.  Respecting  the  other  fourteen,  I  believe  that  none  of 
them  have,  upon  the  whole,  decreased,  and  seven  of  them  have  doubled, 
and  some  of  them  much  more  than  doubled  their  immber,  during  the  above 
period. 

I  do  not  mention  this  as  a  specimen  of  the  whole  kingdom.  It  may  not 
be  so  in  all  places.  If  it  were,  the  increase  of  the  dissenting  interest  would 
be  very  considerable;  but  I  do  suppose  that  nearly  the  same  things  might 
be  said  of  several  other  counties,  as  well  as  of  that  where  I  reside.  I  can- 
not give  a  minute  account  of  any  one  of  them,  but  I  know  of  many  new 
and  large  congregations  in  some  neighbouring  counties.  A  respectable 
minister,  of  a  different  denomination  from  myself,  who  resides  in  one  of 
them,  lately  assured  me  that  he  believed  the  number  of  Dissenters  in  their 
county  had  within  the  last  nine  years  increased  a  thousand. 

4.  If  any  estimate  might  be  taken  from  the  number  of  places  of  worship 
which  have  been  raised  within  the  last  five-and-twenty  years,  I  suppose  there 
must  be  a  considerable  increase.  It  is  true  they  have  not  all  been  new  con- 
gregations, but  a  considerable  number  of  them  have.  It  is  not  by  these  as 
it  is  by  an  increase  of  buildings  in  general,  in  large  cities  and  trading  places. 


486  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

These  may  be  accounted  for  without  supposing  an  increasing  population. 
An  increase  of  wealth,  though  there  should  be  no  alteration  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  people,  will  produce  an  increase  of  buildings.  Add  to  this,  that 
the  enclosing  system  having  been  carried  to  a  greater  extent  during  the  pre- 
sent reign  than  in  any  former  period,  multitudes  have  been  driven  from  the 
occupation  of  husbandry,  and  other  employments  dependent  upon  it,  to  settle 
in  cities,  or  large  trading  and  manufacturing  towns;  by  means  of  which  the 
buildings  in  those  places  are  of  course  increased.  I  know  of  no  causes 
which  will  equally  account  for  the  increase  of  places  of  worship,  and  there- 
fore am  inclined  to  think  it  implies  an  increase  of  the  number  of  wor- 
shippers. 

These  are  a  few,  and  possibly  but  a  few,  of  the  mediums  by  which  we 
may  judge  o(  the  fact.  Persons  of  more  extensive  information  may  perhaps 
add  to  their  number,  and  throw  additional  light  upon  the  subject.  Yet  even 
from  these  alone,  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think  that  t fie  dissenting  interest, 
upon  the  whole,  is  not  on  the  decline. 

PART    THE    SECOND. 

In  a  former  paper  I  offered  a  few  reasons  for  doubting  whether  the  dis- 
senting interest  be  upon  the  whole  in  a  state  of  decline.  I  admit,  however, 
that  some  part  of  it  is  so;  and  the  design  of  this  paper  is  to  inquire  into  the 
reasons  or  causes  of  it. 

I  have  carefully  looked  over  a  sketch  of  a  sermon  on  this  subject  which 
appeared  in  June  last,  and  greatly  approve  many  of  the  remarks  of  the  worthy 
author.  Indeed  there  is  nothing  in  his  performance  but  what  I  do  approve, 
except  his  passing  over  matters  of  a  doctrinal  nature,  and  confining  his 
recommendations  merely  to  those  of  conduct.  What  I  have  therefoie  to 
offer  may  be  considered  as  an  addition  to  his  remarks. 

"  I  am  not  such  an  enemy  to  innovation,"  any  more  than  your  correspond- 
ent, "  as  to  think  every  principle  false  which  does  not  exactly  accord  with 
the  creed  of  our  forefathers;  but  can  easily  conceive  that  in  the  course  of 
several  years,  in  which  this  kingdom  has  been  favoured  with  the  use  of  the 
sacred  writings,  some  light  may  have  been  thrown  upon  some  controverted 
points."  Neither  do  I  think  that,  because  various  points  have  been  disputed 
since  their  time,  we  must  needs  be  nearer  the  truth  than  they  were;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  that  it  is  very  possible  we  may,  by  such  blasts  as  have  been 
suffered  to  blow  upon  the  church,  have  moved  in  a  degree  from  the  purity 
of  the  gospel. 

Though  we  have  a  right  to  deviate  from  our  ancestors,  provided  we  can 
prove  them  to  have  been  in  the  wrong;  yet  if  the  dissenting  interest  pros- 
pered in  their  hands,  and  has  declined  in  ours,  it  affords  a  presumption,  at 
least,  that  they  were  not  in  the  wrong,  and  that  a  change  of  principle  has 
been  made  to  a  disadvantage.  It  is  a  fact  sufficiently  notorious,  that  the 
leading  doctrines  of  the  great  body  of  the  puritans  and  noncomformists 
were, — the  fall  and  depravity  of  human  nature,  the  Deity  and  atonement  of 
Christ,  justification  by  faith  in  his  righteousness,  and  regeneration  and  sanc- 
tification  by  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit. — Now  it  is  not  for  the  sake  of 
"retailing  the  calumnies  of  our  enemies,"  but  from  a  serious  concern  for 
the  welfare  of  the  dissenting  interest,  that  I  ask.  Is  it  not  a  fact  equally 
notorious  that  a  large  proportion  of  those  dissenting  congregations  which  are 
evidently  in  a  state  of  declension,  have  cither  deserted  the  foregoing  doctrines, 
or  hold  communion  ivith  those  who  have?  I  hope  I  need  not  repeat,  what  has 
so  often  been  said  by  others,  that  there  is  something  in  these  doctrines  which 
interests  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  very  differently  from  a  mere 


DECLINE  OF  THE  DISSENTING  INTEREST.  487 

harangue  on  the  beauty,  excellency,  and  advantages  of  virtue ;  or  from  any 
other  kind  of  preaching  where  they  are  admitted. 

What  is  the  reason  that  the  generality  of  the  parish  churches  are  so  thinly 
attended?  Is  it  any  violation  of  Christian  charity  to  answer,  because  the 
generality  of  the  clergy  do  not  preach  the  doctrine  of  the  cross?  TherQ  is 
nothing  in  their  preaching  that  interests  the  hearts,  or  reaches  the  con- 
sciences of  the  people.  They  have  "  rejected  the  knowledge  of  God,  and 
God  hath  rejected  them  from  being  priests  to  him,"  Hos.  iv.  C.  They  are 
unconcerned  about  the  souls  of  the  people,  and  the  people  perceive  it,  and 
are  not  concerned  to  attend  upon  their  ministry.  The  same  causes  will 
produce  the  same  effects,  whether  out  of  the  Establishment  or  in  it. 

If  we  have  rejected  the  atonement  of  Christ,  it  is  not  difficult  to  prove  that 
we  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  cross,  which  is  the  grand  doctrine  that  God 
hath  blessed,  and  will  bless,  to  the  salvation  of  men.  If  we  reject  the  Deity 
of  Christ,  besides  relinquishing  the  worship  of  him,  which  was  manifestly 
a  primitive  practice,  and  withdrawing  all  well-founded  trust  in  him  for  the 
salvation  of  our  souls,  we  reject  the  only  ground  upon  which  an  atonement 
can  be  supported,  and  by  resting  all  its  efficacy  upon  Divine  appointment, 
render  it  "possible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  or  of  goats,  or  the  ashes  of  a 
heifer,  might  have  taken  away  sin,"  Heb.  x.  4.  If  we  reject  the  doctrine  of 
"justification  by  faith"  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  we  are  on  a  footing 
with  those  Jews  who  "  attained  not  to  the  law  of  righteousness,  because  they 
sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  the  works  of  the  law;  for  they  stum- 
bled at  that  stumbling-stone."  And  if  we  reject  the  doctrine  o^  regeneration 
and  sanctification  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  need  not  expect  him  to  set  his  seal 
to  our  labours. 

There  are  some  amongst  us  who  do  not  reject  these  doctrines,  but  who 
nevertheless  hold  Christian  fillowsliip  with  those  that  do;  and  this,  if  I  mis- 
take not,  will  tend  greatly  to  undermine  their  spiritual  prosperity.  Let  no 
man  be  persecuted  for  his  religious  sentiments,  not  even  an  infidel  or  an 
atheist;  but  persecution  is  one  thing,  and  declining  to  hold  Christian  com- 
munion with  them  is  another.  Socinians  are  more  consistent  than  some 
who  would  be  accounted  moderate  Calvinists.  They  plead  for  a  separate 
communion;  and  a  separate  communion  they  ought  to  have.  The  ills 
which  arise  from  a  contrary  practice  are  more  than  a  few.  If  you  admit 
into  your  communion,  say  four  or  five  individuals,  who  reject  the  foregoing 
doctrines,  you  cannot,  without  appearing  to  insult  those  whom  you  have 
acknowledged  as  Christian  brethren,  dwell  upon  them  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  your  ministry.  Generally  speaking,  there  will  be  a  bar  to  pulpit  freedom; 
and  you  must  either  displease  your  friends,  or  hold  the  leading  principles  of 
the  gospel  as  though  you  held  them  not. 

I  have  no  desire  that  any  doctrine  should  be  insisted  upon  in  a  litigious 
manner,  or  so  as  to  supersede  any  other  doctrine  or  duty  of  Christianity. 
But  there  are  principles  which  ought  to  form  the  prominent  feature  of,  I  had 
almost  said,  all  our  discourses.  It  is  a  poor  excuse  for  a  Christian  minister 
to  make  for  his  omitting  in  some  way  or  other  to  introduce  Christ  that  his 
subject  did  not  lead  to  if.  There  is  not  an  important  subject  in  divinity, 
either  doctrinal  or  practical,  but  what  bears  an  intimate  relation  to  him. 
And  I  must  say,  if  any  of  these  important  doctrines  are  withheld,  as  being 
of  little  importance,  or  because  there  are  individuals  in  the  congregation 
who  disapprove  of  them,  a  blast  will  assuredly  follow  our  labours. 

Much  has  been  said  in  favour  of  what  is  termed  liberality,  and  enlarged- 
ness  of  heart;  but  perhaps  it  may  not  have  occurred  to  some,  that  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  of  enlargement  differs  widely  from  that  which  is  generally 
inculcated  in  the  present  age.     "O  ye  Corinthians,"  says  the  apostle,  "our 


488  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

mouth  is  open  to  you,  our  heart  is  enlarged.  Ye  are  not  straitened  in  us, 
but  ye  are  straitened  in  your  own  bowels.  Now  for  a  recompense  in  the 
same — be  ye  also  enlarged."  And  to  what  means  does  the  apostle  direct, 
for  the  accomplishment  of  so  desirable  an  object?  Does  he  desire  them  to 
extend  their  communion?  Not  so;  but  to  contract  it. — "Be  ye  not  un- 
equally yoked  together  with  unbelievers:  for  what  fellowship  hath  right- 
eousness with  unrighteousness?  and  what  communion  ]}ath  light  with 
darkness?  and  what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial?  and  what  part  hath 
he  that  believeth  with  an  infidel?"     2  Cor.  vi.  11-15. 

This  direction  may  to  some  persons  appear  highly  paradoxical,  yet  it  is 
founded  in  the  reason  and  nature  of  things.  For — (1.)  Christian  enlarge- 
ment depends  upon  "fellowship,  communion,  concord,"  and  a  mutual  partici- 
pation of  spiritual  interests.  If  only  a  single  stranger  enter  into  a  society, 
there  is  at  once  a  bar  to  freedom ;  and  if  a  number  of  them  be  admitted,  a 
general  silence,  or  what  is  next  to  silence,  ensues.  The  company  may  be 
enlarged,  but  their  communion  is  "straitened." — (2.)  A  union  in  Christian 
fellowship  with  improper  persons  tends  to  impede  the  progress  of  good  men 
in  the  Divine  life.  It  is,  as  the  apostle  supposes,  like  the  "yoking"  of  a 
sprightly  horse  to  a  tardy  ass :  the  latter  will  be  certain  to  obstruct  the  ac- 
tivity and  usefulness  of  the  former. — (3.)  By  such  unions  good  men  are  fre- 
quently drawn  into  a  sinful  conformity  to  the  world.  The  company  we 
keep  will  ever  have  an  influence  upon  our  minds  and  affections,  and  will 
tend  to  transform  us  in  a  measure  into  the  same  likeness. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  apostle  does  not  here  forbid  them  to  have  fel- 
lowship with  professed  Christians  of  different  sentiments,  but  with  avowed 
unbelievers,  or  "infidels."  This  is  true;  but  the  general  principle  upon 
which  he  proceeds  is  applicable  not  merely  to  fellowship  with  professed 
unbelievers,  but  with  nominal  Christians  of  certain  descriptions.  This  prin- 
ciple is,  that  Christian  enlargement  is  not  accomplished  by  extending  our 
connexions,  hid  by  confining  them  to  persons  tvith  whom  toe  can  have  fellow- 
ship, communion,  concord,  and  a  mutual  participation  of  spiritual  interests. 
There  are  few  persons  of  serious  reflection  but  who  have  seen  and  lamented 
the  effects  of  a  union  between  certain  good  men  in  the  National  Establish- 
ment, and  others  of  a  very  different  character,  with  whom,  on  account  of 
their  continuing  in  the  church,  they  are  in  the  habit  of  associating.  They 
are  all  professed  Christians,  and  all  unite  together  at  the  Lord's  supper;  but 
there  is  no  more  foundation  for  Christian  fellowship  than  if  the  one  were 
what  they  are,  and  the  other  avowed  infidels  Some  of  these  good  men,  it 
is  true,  withdraw  from  all  intimate  acquaintance  with  persons  even  in  their 
own  communion  who  do  not  discover  a  love  to  the  gospel,  and  form  their 
acquaintance  with  those  who  do;  but  others  have  been  carried  away  and 
drawn  into  measures  highly  dishonourable  to  their  Christain  character,  and 
injurious  to  their  usefulness  in  the  cause  of  God.  Now  the  same  reasoning 
will  hold  good  out  of  the  church  as  well  as  in  it.  If  we  form  religious  con- 
nexions with  persons  in  whom  there  is  no  proper  foundation  for  "  fellowship, 
communion,  concord,"  and  a  mutual  participation  of  spiritual  interests,  we 
in  so  doing  become  "straitened"  rather  than  "enlarged." 

Much  has  been  said  in  favour  o^  unity  of  affection  loithout  a  unity  in  prin- 
ciple. But  such  affection,  if  it  can  exist,  is  very  different  from  any  thing 
inculcated  by  the  gospel.  Christian  affection  is  "  for  the  truth's  sake  that 
dwelleth  in  us."  It  does  not  appear  to  me,  however,  that  it  can  exist. 
From  any  thing  that  I  have  felt  in  myself,  or  observed  in  others,  I  cannot 
perceive  any  such  thing  as  unity  amongst  men,  except  in  proportion  as  they 
possess  a  congeniality  of  principles  and  pursuits.  It  is  not  possible  in  the 
nature  of  things  that  "  two  can  walk  together  except  they  be  agreed."    They 


THE  BOND  OF  CHRISTIAN  UNION.  489 

may  not  indeed  be  agreed  in  all  things;  but  so  far  as  they  disagree,  so  far 
there  is  a  want  of  union  j  and  the  ground  of  affection  between  them  is  not 
those  things  wherein  they  are  at  variance,  but  those  things  wherein  they  are 
agreed.  It  argues  great  inattention  to  the  human  mind  and  its  operations 
to  suppose  that  there  can  be  affection,  unless  it  be  merely  that  of  good-will, 
where  there  is  no  agreement.  Those  who  plead  for  such  affection  are  as 
much  united  in  society  by  agreement  in  sentiment  as  other  people,  only  that 
sentiment  may  be  of  a  different  kind.  They  may  set  aside  an  agreement  in  the 
great  principles  of  the  gospel  as  a  ground  of  union,  but  they  are  certain  to 
substitute  something  else  in  their  place.  They  have  their  fundamentals 
and  circumstantials  as  well  as  other  people.  Whatever  things  they  are 
which  deeply  interest  the  mind,  whether  they  be  things  evangelical  or  things 
political,  tlungs  which  relate  to  doctrine  or  things  which  affect  the  order, 
form,  and  discipline  of  the  church,  these  are  our  fundamentals,  and  in  these 
we  shall  ever  require  an  agreement,  while  other  things  are  dispensed  with  as 
matters  of  less  importance. 

I  am  a  Dissenter,  and  a  rigid  regard  to  Christ's  kingly  authority  is  in  my 
esteem  a  sacred  thing.  For  all  the  honours  and  emoluments  in  the  Estab- 
lishment, I  would  not  pollute  my  conscience  by  subscribing  to  its  Common 
Prayer,  or  conforming  to  its  unscriptural  ceremonies.  Yet  1  do  not  con- 
sider ray  dissent  as  the  chief  thing  in  religion.  So  to  consider  it  would  in 
my  judgment  be  making  it  an  idol ;  and  if  this  were  general,  the  dissenting 
interest  would  cease  to  be  the  interest  of  Christ.  But  I  am  persuaded  that 
at  present  this  is  not  the  case.  May  those  things  which  are  amiss  amongst 
us  be  the  objects  of  our  attention,  that  we  may  not  only  repent,  and  do  our 
first  works,  but  strengthen  the  things  which  remain,  and  which  are  ready 
to  die. 


AGREEMENT  IN  SENTIMENT  THE  BOND  OF  CHRISTIAN  UNION. 

[Letter  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Palmer,  of  Hackney,  in  1796.] 

I  HAVE  no  partiality,  certainly,  for  the  Established  Church.  I  believe  it 
will  come  down,  because  it  is  inimical  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ;  yet  I 
respect  many  Churchmen,  and  shall  not  refuse  preaching  in  their  pulpits, 
provided  I  may  go  on  in  my  own  way.  Mr.  Eyre  pressed  me  to  preach 
for  him ;  and,  by  complying  with  his  request,  I  materially  served  the 
mission. 

As  to  Dhsenters,  I  consider  a  dissent  from  the  Church  of  England,  or  any 
other  church,  as  affording  no  proper  ground  of  religious  union.  The  thing 
itself  is  merely  negative.  As  Dissenters  we  are  not  necessarily  united  in 
any  thing,  except  that  loe  do  not  approve  of  the  Church  Establishment.  We 
may  be  enemies  to  the  government  of  God,  and  the  gospel  of  Christ;  yea, 
we  may  be  avowed  infidels ;  and  yet  hold  this.  1  therefore  have  no  notion 
of  throwing  what  little  weight  I  may  possess  into  the  dissenting  scale,  merely 
as  such;  though,  if  other  things  were  equal,  I  should  certainly  do  so.  These 
remarks  have  no  respect  to  my  conduct  at  Hackney,  but  are  in  answer  to 
what  you  say  on  that  subject  in  general. 

The  doubts  which  I  expressed  respecting  your  sentiments  arose  from  no 
one's  insinuations,  but  from  reading  a  pamphlet  which  you  published  some 
years  ago.  It  may  now  be  fourteen  years  since  I  read  it ;  but  I  then  thought 
it  too  much  in  favour  of  indifference  to  what  I  esteemed  important  truths 

YoL.  III.— 63  


490  ECCLESCASTICAL  POLITY. 

Since  then,  you  know,  we  have  conversed  together;  and,  from  the  whole,  1 
was  inclined  to  hope  that  your  regard  to  what  I  accounted  evangelical  senti- 
ments was  greater  than  I  had  supposed  it  to  be.  And  the  general  approbation 
which  you  have  since  bestowed  upon  my  Letters  on  Socinianism  left  me  no 
reason  to  doubt  that,  whatever  might  be  your  speculations  on  the  modus  of 
the  Divine  subsistence,  you  did  not  reject  either  the  atonement  of  Christ  or 
his  proper  Divinity.  If  I  bad  reason  to  believe  of  any  man  that  he  did  not 
call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  or  rely  upon  his  atoning  sacrifice  for 
acceptnnce  with  God,  I  could  not  acknowledge  him  as  a  Christian  brother, 
or  pay  him  any  respect  in  a  religious  way.  But,  by  whomsoever  these  great 
truths  are  cordially  admitted,  I  trust  it  will  ever  be  the  desire  of  my  heart  to 
pray  on  their  behalf  with  the  apostle,  Grace  and  peace  be  with  them! 

Now,  however,  you  inform  me  that  you  "reject  no  doctrine  from  any  dis- 
like to  it."  But  if  I  were  satisfied  that  the  worship  of  Christ  is  idolatry,  I 
think  I  ought  to  reject  it  with  abhorrence.  I  imagine  however  you  mean 
that,  supposing  you  are  mistaken  in  any  of  these  matters,  it  is  not  from  any 
bias  of  heart,  but  from  mere  mistake.  I  own  that  I  dare  not  say  so  respect- 
ing any  mistakes  of  which  I  may  be  the  subject.  I  reckon  that  such  is  the 
perspicuity  of  God's  word,  that  if  I  err  on  any  important  truth  or  precept,  it 
must  be  owing  to  some  evil  bias  to  which  I  am  subject,  though  I  am 
unhappily  blinded  to  it. 

You  have  "  no  precise  ideas  of  the  person  of  Christ,  and  you  suppose  tliat 
1  have  none."  We  may  neither  of  us  fully  comprehend  that  mysterious  sub- 
ject; yet  you  will  admit  that  there  is  a  material  difference  between  the  ideas 
of  one  who  calls  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  one  who  does  not, 
but  considers  him  as  merely  a  fellow  creature. 

You  "  despise  the  man  who  cannot  maintain  a  brotherly  connexion  with 
another,  because  he  thinks  for  himself"  I  wish  every  man  to  think  for  him- 
self, and  also  to  act  fur  himself;  but  if  in  the  exercise  of  this  right  he  thinks 
the  Son  of  God  an  impostor,  and  his  doctrine  a  lie,  or  lives  in  the  violation 
of  his  commands,  I  think  myself  not  only  entitled,  but  bound,  to  witiihold 
all  brotherly  connexion  with  him  of  a  religious  nature;  not  because  he  thinks 
or  acts  for  himself,  but  because  in  my  judgment  (and  7ny  judgment  must  be 
the  rule  of  my  conduct)  he  thinks  and  acts  lorong.  We  may  think  and  act 
for  ourselves,  and  yet  do  both  in  such  a  way  as  shall  subject  us  to  the  just 
abhorrence  of  every  friend  of  truth  and  righteousness.  The  worst  of  beings 
thinks  for  himself:  "when  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  ow?i." 

You  "do  not  desire  the  friendship  of  any  one  who  makes  a  similarity  of 
opinion  the  condition  of  it."  lam  not  fond  of  calling  the  great  articles  of 
my  faith  "opinions."  Faith  and  opinion  are  different  things.  If  you  mean 
sentiment,  I  acknowledge  I  do  desire  the  friendship  of  many  who  make  a 
similarity  in  the  one  the  condition  of  the  other,  and  am  willing  they  should 
ask  me  any  question  they  think  proper  concerning  my  faith.  Nay,  I  may 
say  further,  I  wish  to  be  on  terms  of  religious  friendship  with  no  man,  unless 
he  be  a  friend  to  what  I  consider  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God. 
Nor  can  I  persuade  myself  that  you,  notwithstanding  your  strong  language, 
will  "despise"  me  on  that  account.  If  it  be  so,  however,  1  must  bear  it  as 
well  as  I  can. 

Christian  love  appears  to  me  to  be,  "  for  the  truth's  sake  that  dwelleth  in 
us."  Every  kind  of  union  that  has  not  truth  for  its  bond  is  of  no  value  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  ought  to  be  of  none  in  ours. 

You  tell  me  there  are  "  those  who  consider  me  as  unsound  in  other  doc- 
trines, but  this  does  not  diminish  your  regard  for  me."  Perhaps  not:  it  were 
rather  singular  to  suppose  it  should.  You  have  too  much  good  sense,  sir, 
to  disregard  me  for  what  other  j)capU  think  of  me.     But  if  you  yourself 


THE  BOND  OF  CHRISTIAN  UNION.  491 

thought  me  unsound,  you  would;  or  at  least,  I  should  say,  you  ought;  and 
perhaps  it  may  make  you  smile  if  I  add,  I  should  think  the  worse  of  you  if 
you  did  not.  As  to  otkej-s,  who  may  think  me  unsound,  I  imagine  they  do 
not  as  such  regard  me;  nay,  I  hope  for  their  sakes  that  so  far  they  disregard 
me.  I  may  think  tliey  misjudge  me,  and  may  wish  to  set  them  right.  I  may 
think  ill  of  their  sentiments,  as  they  do  of  mine;  but,  while  they  judge  me 
unsound,  I  neither  expect  nor  desire  their  approbation.  I  had  rather  they 
should  disesteem  me  than  pretend  to  esteem  me  in  a  religious  way,  irrespec- 
tive of  my  religious  principles.  All  the  esteem  that  I  desire  of  you,  sir,  or 
of  any  man,  towards  me,  is  for  the  truth  that  in  your  judgment  dvvelleth  in 
me,  and  operateth  in  a  way  of  righteousness. 

I  have  heard  a  great  deal  of  union  loithout  scnti?nent;  but  I  can  neither 
feel  nor  perceive  any  such  thing,  either  in  myself  or  others.  All  the  union 
that  I  can  feel  or  perceive  arises  from  a  similarity  of  views  and  pursuits. 
No  two  persons  may  think  exactly  alike;  but  so  far  as  they  are  unlike,  so  far 
there  is  a  want  of  union.  We  are  united  to  God  himself  by  becoming  of  one 
mind  and  one  heart  with  him.  Consider  the  force  and  design  of  Amos  iii. 
3,  "Can  two  walk  together  except  they  be  agreed?"  You  might  live  neigh- 
bourly with  Dr.  Priestley,  but  you  would  not  feel  so  united  with  him  in  heart 
as  if  he  had  been  of  your  sentiments,  nor  he  with  you  as  if  you  had  been  of 
his.  You  may  esteem  a  Churchman,  if  he  agree  with  you  in  doctrine,  and 
be  of  an  amiable  disposition ;  but  you  would  feel  much  more  united  with 
him  if  in  addition  to  this  he  were  a  Dissenter.  You  may  regard  some  men 
who  are  rigid  Calvinists,  on  some  considerations;  but  you  would  regard 
them  more  if  they  were  what  you  account  more  liberal  in  their  views,  and 
more  moderate  towards  others  who  differ  from  them;  that  is,  if  they  were  of 
ynur  mind  upon  the  doctrine  of  Christian  forbearance. 

Men  of  one  age  may  have  quarrelled  about  religious  differences  and  have 
persecuted  one  another,  as  papists  and  protestants  have  done  in  France;  and 
the  same  descriptions  of  men  in  another  age  may  despise  these  litigations, 
as  the  French  have  lately  done,  and  not  care  at  all  whether  a  man  be  papist 
or  protestant,  provided  he  enters  heartily  into  revolutionary  principles.  But 
all  this  arises  from  their  having  substituted  the  importance  of  an  agreement 
in  a  political  creed  in  the  place  of  one  that  is  religious.  Agreement  in  sen- 
timent and  pursuit  is  still  the  bond  of  union. — Even  those  who  unite  in 
church  fellowship  upon  the  principle  of  what  they  iexxnfree  inquiry,  or  uni- 
versal toleration,  are  in  that  principle  agreed ;  and  this  is  the  bond  of  their 
union.  They  consider  this  as  the  all  in  all,  and  consent  to  exercise  forbearance 
towards  each  other  in  every  thing  else.  Such  a  communion,  I  confess, 
appears  to  me  just  as  scriptural  and  as  rational  as  if  a  number  of  persons 
should  agree  to  worship  together,  but  consent  that  every  one  should  be  at 
liberty  to  act  as  he  thought  proper,  and  so  admit  the  universal  toleration  of 
every  species  of  immorality.  Nevertheless,  even  here,  a  similarity  of  senti- 
ments would  be  the  bond  of  union. 

You  can  unite  with  men  "  who  are  not  exactly  of  your  sentiments." — So 
can  I. — But  that  in  which  I  unite  with  them  is  not  any  thing  in  which  senti- 
ment has  no  concern.  It  is  that  wherein  we  are  agreed  that  is  the  bond  of 
our  union;  and  those  things  wherein  we  differ  are  considered  as  objects  of 
forbearance,  on  account  of  human  imperfection.  Such  forbearance  ought 
undoubtedly  to  be  exercised  in  a  degree,  especially  in  things  which  both 
sides  must  admit  to  be  not  clearly  revealed,  which  are  properly  called 
opinions,  and  are  little  other  than  mere  speculations.  And  even  in  things 
which  in  our  judgment  are  clearly  revealed,  there  ought  to  be  a  degree  of 
forbearance;  much  in  the  same  way  as  we  forbear  with  each  other's  imper- 


492  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

fections  of  a  practical  nature,  where  the  essential  principles  of  morality  are 
not  a  fleeted. 

You  are  "  not  a  party  man,  and  hope  you  never  shall  be,  to  please  any  set 
of  people  whatever."  I  hope  so  too;  but  I  wish  inflexibly  to  adhere  to  the 
side  of  truth  and  righteousness,  so  far  as  I  understand  them,  in  every  punc- 
tilio, in  order  to  please  God. 

"A  decided  judgment  on  some  points,"  you  consider  as  "  unimportant, 
and  think  there  is  room  for  mutual  candour."  If  those  points  are  unrevealed, 
I  say  so  too ;  but  I  do  not  consider  either  the  Deity  or  the  atonement  of 
Christ  as  coming  under  this  description,  and  I  hope  you  think  the  same. 
Without  the  former,  we  cannot  with  any  consistency  call  on  the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  which  is  the  characteristic  of  a  primitive  believer; 
and  without  the  latter,  I  need  not  say  to  you,  sir,  that  the  gospel  is  rendered 
of  none  effect.  As  to  "  candour,"  it  is  due  to  all  men,  even  infidels  and 
atheists;  but  candour  will  not  lead  me  to  treat  them  as  objects  of  Divine 
favour,  but  to  speak  the  truth  to  them  in  love. 

Possibly  you  may  think  it  unftiir  to  reason  as  I  have  done  from  practices 
to  principles,  and  that  we  ought  to  jnake  a  wide  difference  between  the  one 
and  the  other.  But  the  difference,  as  it  appears  to  me,  is  only  as  the  dif- 
ference between  root  and  branch.  Faith  is  not  a  mere  speculation  of  the 
understanding,  nor  unbelief  a  mere  mistake  in  judgment.  They  are  both 
of  a  moral  nature,  or  salvation  would  not  be  connected  with  the  former,  and 
final  condemnation  with  the  latter. 

I  ought  perhaps  to  apologize  for  having  written  so  much,  in  the  manner 
I  have  done;  but  I  think  you  will  not  take  it  amiss.  The  collision  of 
thoughts  from  persons  who  have  been  in  different  habits  and  connexions  is 
sometimes  of  mutual  advantage.  If  you  should  disapprove  of  my  remarks, 
try  and  set  me  right,  and  you  will  be  entitled  to  my  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments. 


ORDINATION. 

RE-ORDINATION,    AND    THE    LAYING    ON    OF    HANDS. 

[To  the  Editor  of  the  Biblical  Magazine.] 

It  having  been  the  practice  of  some  dissenting  ministers  to  receive  ordi- 
nation but  once,  it  became  a  question  at  a  meeting  lately  held  in  the  country 
whether  a  pastor  removing  to  another  church  should  be  rc-ordained.  The 
ministers  about  to  engage  in  such  a  service,  considering  ordination  not  as  a 
designation  to  the  work  of  the  ministri/,  (of  which  they  find  no  examples  in 
the  New  Testament,)  but  as  a  solemn  appointment  to  office  in  a  Christian 
church,  were  of  opinion  that  a  previous  ordination  had  no  influence  on  an 
appointment  to  office  in  another  church.  They  allowed  that  re-ordination 
is  unprecedented  in  the  New  Testament;  and  so  also  is  the  removal  of  a 
pastor  from  one  church  to  another :  if  the  latter  were  found,  they  supposed 
the  former  would  accompany  it. 

Some  conversation  took  place  at  the  same  meeting  also  on  the  scriptural 
grounds  for  the  layinfr  on  of  hands  in  ordination.  In  favour  of  this  practice 
it  was  alleged — 1.  That  it  appears  to  have  been  used  in  all  ages  of  the 
church,  where  persons  were  set  apart  to  sacred  work.  Numb,  xxvii.  18-20 
That  though  often  connected  with  the  communication  of  extraordinary  gifts, 


ORDINATION.  493 

yet  it  was  not  always  so.  It  is  not  certain  that  it  was  for  this  purpose  that 
hands  were  laid  upon  the  seven  deacons  of  the  clmrch  at  Jerusalem  (Acts 
vi.  6) ;  and  it  is  certain  that  when  the  church  at  Antioch  laid  hands  on  Saul 
and  Barnabas  (Acts  xiii.  3)  it  was  not  for  this  purpose,  seeing  they  were 
possessed  of  extraordinary  gifts  already.  In  this  case,  they  were  ordinary 
persons  who  laid  hands  upon  the  extraordinary. — 3.  That  when  the  laying 
on  of  hands  was  accompanied  with  the  conferring  of  extraordinary  gifts,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  they  were  imposed  for  that  specific  purpose  only;  see 
Acts  viii.  17-19;  xix.  5,  6.  4.  That  ordination  is  expressed  by  laying  on 
of  hands:  "  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,"  &c.  But  that  which  is  used 
to  express  or  describe  a  practice,  would  seem  to  be  an  important,  if  not  an 
essential  part  of  it. 


Two  of  your  correspondents  have  honoured  me  with  their  remarks  on  the 
above  hints  on  ordination.  If  I  add  a  few  more,  it  is  with  no  design  to 
enter  into  any  thing  like  contention  on  the  subject.  "Mr.  Howe"  was  a 
great  and  good  man;  and,  while  he  considered  ordination  as  a  designation 
to  the  Christian  ministry,  it  is  no  wonder  he  should  answer  as  he  did.  But 
I  see  no  evidence  deducible  from  Acts  xiv.  23  that  this  is  the  scriptural  idea 
of  it.  Paul  and  his  companions,  having  formed  these  believers  into  Chris- 
tian churches,  proceeded  to  organize  them  with  proper  officers.  These 
elders  or  presbyters  who  were  ordained  by  the  suffrage  of  the  churches  were 
officers  in  those  churches,  and  not  merely  Christian  ministers  appointed  to 
preach  the  gospel  wherever  a  door  might  be  opened.  Your  correspondent 
C.  speaks  of  "  other  passages  which  he  forbears  to  quote."  If  he  can  pro- 
duce an  instance  of  ordination  being  a  designation  to  the  Christian  ministry 
as  such,  his  argument  will  be  established,  but  not  else. 

Candour  requires  me  to  acknowledge,  in  reply  to  Amicus,  that  from  what 
he  has  remarked  on  Acts  xiii.  3,  I  suspect  myself  to  have  been  under  a  mis- 
take in  supposing  that  the  laying  on  of  hands  in  that  instance  was  by  the 
church.  My  reason  for  thinldng  so  was  that  the  exercises  o(  fasting  and 
prayer  were  not  likely  to  be  confined  to  the  prophets  and  teachers,  and 
therefore  not  that  of  laying  on  of  hands;  but  upon  a  review  of  the  subject  I 
incline  to  think  that  the  latter  was  done  by  the  prophets  and  teachers  in  the 
name  of  the  church.  The  point  however  which  was  there  attempted  to  be 
proved  is  not  affected  by  this  mistake.  This  was,  that  the  laying  on  of  hands 
was  not  always  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  extraordinary  gifts ;  but  who- 
ever they  were  that  laid  hands  on  Barnabas  and  Saul,  it  could  not  be  for 
this  purpose,  since  it  is  pretty  evident  that  they  were  possessed  of  them  before. 
I  may  add,  I  do  not  consider  this  as  an  instance  of  ordination,  but  of  the 
designation  of  two  Christian  missionaries  to  the  Gentiles. 

Amicus  speaks  of  "  Saul  not  being  yet  ordained  an  apostle."  Surely  he 
is  here  greatly  beside  the  mark.  Is  not  an  apostle  one  immediately  sent  of 
Christ  ivithoiit  any  human  azdhority  1  Did  not  Saul  receive  ordination  to 
that  office  at  the  time  of  his  conversion? — See  Acts  xxvi.  16-18,  compared 
with  Gal.  i.  1,  12-17,  and  1  Cor.  xi.  1. 

With  respect  to  the  general  question,  on  what  grounds  the  practice  of 
ordination  rests  among  congregational  churches,  and  wherein  the  essence 
of  it  consists,  I  am  not  prepared  to  enter  into  "  a  complete  investigation  of 
the  subject ;"  a  close  examination  of  the  Acts  and  the  Epistles  vv'ith  this 
point  in  view  might  possibly  correct  some  of  my  ideas.  At  present  I  can 
only  offer  a  few  brief  hints. 

2T 


494  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

Viewing  the  subject  as  I  do,  namely,  as  a  designation  of  a  pennon  to  an 
office  ill  a  Christian  chirch,  I  find  that  in  such  cases  the  church  made  the 
election,  and  the  apostles  and  other  elders  set  him  apart  with  prayer  (as  I 
suppose)  and  the  laying  on  of  hands,  Acts  vi.  3;  xiv.  23;  Tit.  i.  5.  Such 
is  the  general  ground  of  my  practice  when  I  engage  in  an  ordination.  In 
doing  this,  I  claim  not  to  be  a  successor  of  the  apostles,  any  otherwise  than 
as  every  faithful  pastor  is  such ;  nor  pretend  to  constitute  the  party  ordained 
a  Christian  minister,  for  this  he  was  as  being  a  teacher  antecedent  to  his 
being  ordained  a  pastor;  nor  to  impart  power  or  "  authority  to  administer 
gospel  ordinances."  It  appears  to  me  that  every  approved  teacher  of  God's 
word,  whether  ordained  the  pastor  of  a  particular  church  or  not,  is  autho- 
rized to  baptize;  and  with  respect  to  the  Lord's  supper,  though  I  should 
think  it  disorderly  for  a  young  man  who  is  only  a  probationer,  and  not  an 
ordained  pastor,  to  administer  that  ordinance,  yet  I  see  nothing  objection- 
able, if,  when  a  church  is  destitute  of  a  pastor,  it  were  administered  by  a 
deacon  or  an  aged  brother ;  I  know  of  no  scriptural  authority  for  confining 
it  to  ministers.  Nay,  I  do  not  recollect  any  mention  in  the  Scriptures  of  a 
minister  being  employed  in  it,  unless  we  reckon  our  Lord  one.  I  do  not 
question  but  that  the  primitive  pastors,  whose  ofRce  it  was  to  preside  in  all 
spiritual  affairs,  did  administer  that  ordinance  as  well  as  receive  and  exclude 
members ;  but  as  a  church  when  destitute  of  a  pastor  is  competent  to  appoint 
a  deacon  or  aged  brother  to  officiate  in  these  cases,  I  know  of  no  reason  to 
be  gathered  from  the  Scriptures  why  they  should  not  be  the  same  in  the 
other. 

The  only  end  for  which  I  join  in  an  ordination,  is  to  unite  with  the  elders  of 
that  and  other  churches  in  expressing  my  brotherly  concurrence  in  the  election, 
which,  if  it  fell  on  xohat  I  accounted  an  unsound  or  unworthy  character,  Ishoidd 
withhold.  Though  churches  are  so  far  independent  of  each  other  as  that 
no  one  has  a  right  to  interfere  in  the  concerns  of  another  without  their  con- 
sent, unless  it  be  as  we  all  have  a  right  to  exhort  and  admonish  one  another, 
yet  there  is  a  common  union  required  to  subsist  between  them,  for  the  good 
of  the  whole ;  and  so  far  as  the  ordination  of  a  pastor  affects  this  common 
or  general  interest,  it  is  fit  that  there  should  be  a  general  concurrence  in  it. 
It  was  on  this  principle,  I  conceive,  rather  than  as  an  exercise  of  authority, 
that  the  apostles,  whose  office  was  general,  took  the  lead  in  the  primitive 
ordinations.  When  the  churches  increased,  they  appointed  such  men  as 
Timothy  and  Titus  to  do  what  they  would  have  done  themselves,  had  they 
been  present;  and  when  all  extraordinary  officers  ceased,  the  same  general 
object  would  be  answered  by  the  concurrence  of  the  elders  of  the  surround- 
ing churches.  Though  the  apostles  and  other  extraordinary  officers  in  the 
church  had  an  authority  which  no  ordinary  pastor,  or  company  of  pastors, 
possess ;  yet  in  many  things  they  did  no  more  than  ichat  imuld  be  lawful  for 
others  to  do,  if  they  could  and  would  do  it.  If  they  planted  churches,  set 
them  in  order,  and  ordained  elders  over  them,  it  was  not  because  the  same 
things  would  not  have  been  valid  if  done  without  them,  but  because  they 
would  not  have  bee7i  done.  Let  but  churches  be  planted,  set  in  order,  and 
scripturally  organized  ;  and  whether  it  be  by  apostles,  evangelists,  or  ordi- 
nary pastors,  all  is  good  and  acceptable  to  Christ.  Paul  left  Timothy  at 
Ephesus  that  he  might  "  charge  some  that  they  taught  no  other  doctrine." 
But  if  the  Ephesian  teachers  had  been  of  themselves  attached  to  the  truth, 
neither  Paul  nor  Timothy  would  have  been  offended  for  their  interference 
being  rendered  unnecessary.  Titus  was  left  in  Crete,  "to  set  in  order  the 
things  that  were  wanting,  and  to  ordain  elders  in  every  city ;"  but  if  things 
were  but  set  in  order,  and  proper  elders  ordained  in  the  churches  of  Crete, 
it  were  no  matter  whether  Paul  the  apostle,  Thus  the  evangelist,  or  the  wisest 


VALIDITY  OF  LAY  ORDINATION.  495 

of  their  own  elders,  take  the  lead  in  it.  Let  them  but  have  had  wisdom 
and  virtue  enough  in  the  island  to  have  accomplished  these  ends,  and  Paul 
would  have  "rejoiced  in  beholding  their  order,  and  the  steadfastness  of  their 
faith  in  Christ." 


VALIDITY  OF  LAY  ORDINATION. 

While  I  was  at  Aberdeen,  I  was  waited  upon  by  a  deputation,  consisting 
of  the  pastor,  a  deacon,  and  another  member  of  a  little  Baptist  church,  lately 
formed  at  New  Byth,  near  Old  Deer,  Aberdeenshire.  A  Baptist  minister, 
now  in  Norfolk,*  was  the  Episcopal  minister  at  Old  Deer,  till  the  year  1799. 
At  that  time  his  views  were  altered  concerning  baptism ;  and  he  went  to 
London,  and  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Booth.  Soon  after  a  Baptist  church  of 
ten  members,  out  of  his  former  congregation,  was  formed  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  church  then  proceeded  to  choose  one  of  their  members  to  be 
their  pastor;  and  on  March  2G,  1803,  they  set  him  apart  to  that  office  by 
prayer.  Some  of  the  members  however  were  not  satisfied  as  to  the  validity 
of  his  ordination,  seeing  there  were  no  pastor  or  pastors  from  other  churches 
present  to  join  in  it.  A  few  of  them  had  communed  together  at  the  Lord's 
table;  but  the  rest  stood  aloof,  merely  on  this  account.  Their  errand  to  me 
was  to  request  my  judgment  on  the  validity  of  his  ordination;  and,  if  I 
thought  it  invalid,  that  1  would  come  and  ordain  him. 

I  told  them,  if  there  had  been  any  other  pastors  of  churches  within  their 
reach,  it  would  have  been  proper  to  request  their  concurrence  and  assistance; 
and  that,  if  I  had  been  there  at  the  time,  I  should  have  had  no  objection  to 
join  in  prayer,  and  in  the  laying  on  of  hands.  But  as  things  were,  I  could 
not  see  how  they  could  have  acted  otherwise  than  they  had  done.  And  as 
to  my  now  ordaining  him,  I  could  do  no  such  thing;  partly  because  it  would 
imply  that  I  thought  him  not  yet  their  pastor,  which  was  not  true ;  and  partly 
because  it  would  convey  an  idea  of  my  having  to  impart  to  another  minister 
some  power  or  authority,  of  which  I  had  no  conception.  My  advice  was 
that  they  should  all  be  satisfied  with  what  was  done. 


ADMINISTERING  THE  LORD'S  SUPPER  WITHOUT  ORDINATION. 

[Addressed  to  a  young  Minister.] 

Relative  to  your  question,  I  must  say,  it  appears  to  me  very  wrong  to 
administer  the  Lord's  supper  without  ordination,  as  it  goes  to  render  void 
that  ordinance.  Ordination  of  elders,  in  every  church,  was  a  practice  of  the 
first  churches,  (Acts  xiv.  23,)  and  we  should  not  make  light  of  it.  It  is 
calculated  to  keep  out  unworthy  characters  from  the  churches. 

There  was  a  Mr. ,  that  would  have  settled  at ,  if  we,  as  minis- 
ters, would  have  been  at  his  ordination ;  but  we  knew  the  man  to  be  of  a 
bad  character,  and  refused  it.   The  consequence  was,  he  stopped  awhile,  and 

then  left,  and  went  into ,  where  he  made  great  havoc  of  some  of  their 

churches. 

Ordination  seems  originally  intended  for  guarding  against  bad  characters 

*  Key.  W.  Ward,  M.  A.,  Diss.— B. 


496  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

(1  Tim.  V.  22^;  I  have,  therefore,  been  much  concerned  to  see  the  practice 
of  administering  the  Lord's  supper  obtain  prior  to  it;  which  tends  to  set  it 
aside;  and  will,  1  am  persuaded,  be  a  source  of  many  mischiefs  in  the 
churches. 

I  am  told  of  a  very  respectable  church,  which  has  lately  fallen  a  prey  to  a 
designing  man,  whom  they  have  ordained.  As  none  of  the  neighbouring 
ministers  would  attend,  they  determined  to  do  without  them.  The  conse- 
quence, I  doubt  not,  will  be  mischiefs  incalculable. — I  do  not  suppose  these 
would  occur  in  your  case ;  but  you  should  not  make  light  of  an  ordinance 
of  Christ,  and  which,  in  other  cases,  may  be  of  great  importance. 


ADMINISTERING  THE_  LORD'S  SUPPER  WITHOUT  A  MINISTER. 

[Substance  of  the  reply  given  (in  1805)  to  a  Baptist  church  in  Edinburgh,  who,  being 
destitute  of  a  pastor,  had  communicated  at  the  Lord's  table  without  the  assistance  of  a 
minister,  and  requested  the  author's  opinion  of  the  validity  of  their  practice.] 

I  TOLD  them  that  probably  there  were  few  of  my  brethren  who  might  be 
of  my  mind;  but  I  had  long  been  of  opinion  that  there  was  no  scriptural 
authority  for  confining  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  supper  to  a  minister. 
I  had  no  doubt  but  that  the  primitive  pastors  did  preside  at  the  Lord's  table, 
as  well  as  in  the  reception  and  exclusion  of  members,  and  in  short  in  all  the 
proceedings  of  the  church  ;  and  that,  where  there  was  a  pastor,  it  was  proper 
that  he  should  continue  to  do  so.  But  that  when  a  pastor  died,  or  was  re- 
moved, the  church  was  not  obliged  to  desist  from  commemorating  the  Lord's 
deatli,  any  more  than  from  receiving  or  excluding  members;  and  that  it  was 
as  lawful  for  them  to  appoint  a  deacon,  or  any  senior  member,  to  preside  in 
the  one  case  as  in  the  other. 

Neither  did  I  recollect  that  any  minister  is  said  to  have  administered  the 
Lord's  supper,  unless  we  consider  our  Saviour  as  sustaining  that  character  at 
the  time  of  its  institution;  and  this  silence  of  the  Scriptures  concerning  the 
administration  appeared  to  me  to  prove  that  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference. 
Finally,  I  told  them  that  it  was  not  the  practice  of  our  English  churches; 
that  they,  many  of  them,  would  send  for  the  pastors  of  other  churches  to 
perform  this  office ;  and  that  I  for  one  had  often  complied  with  such  re- 
quests. I  could  wish  however  it  were  otherwise,  and  that  every  church, 
when  destitute  of  a  pastor,  would  attend  to  die  Lord's  supper  among  them- 
selves. 

It  is  the  practice  of  this  and  all  the  Baptist  churches  in  Scotland  to  com- 
memorate the  Lord's  death  every  Lord's  day.  I  do  not  think  this  to  be  bind- 
ing, but  am  persuaded  there  can  be  nothing  wrong  in  it,  and  that  probably 
it  was  the  practice  of  the  primitive  churches. 


COUNSELS  TO  A  YOUNG  MINISTER.  497 


COUNSELS   TO   A  YOUNG  MINISTER  IN  PROSPECT  OF 
ORDINATION. 

Mv  DEAR  FniEXD,  •  Kettering,  Aug.  30,  1810. 

As  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  attend  your  ordination, 
you  will  allow  me  to  fill  up  the  sheet  with  brotherly  counsel. 

You  are  about  to  enter,  my  brother,  on  the  solemn  work  of  a  pastor;  and 
I  heartily  wish  you  God  speed.  I  have  seldom  engaged  in  an  ordination  of 
late  in  which  I  have  had  to  address  a  younger  brother,  without  thinking  of 
the  apostle's  words  in  2  Tim.  iv.  5,  6,  in  reference  to  myself  and  others,  who 
are  going  off  the  stage. — "Make  full  proof  of  thy  ministry:  for  /  am  now 
ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand !"  Your  charge 
at  present  is  small ;  but  if  God  bless  you,  it  may  be  expected  to  increase, 
and  of  course  your  labours  and  cares  will  increase  with  it.  If  you  would 
preserve  spirituality,  purity,  peace,  and  good  order  in  the  church,  you  must 
live  near  to  God  yourself,  and  be  diligent  to  feed  the  flock  of  God  with 
evangelical  truth.  Without  these  nothing  good  will  be  done.  Love  your 
brethren,  and  be  familiar  with  them ;  not,  however,  with  that  kind  of  fami- 
liarity which  breeds  disrespect,  by  which  some  have  degraded  themselves  in 
the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  invited  the  opposition  of  the  contentious  part  of 
them ;  but  that  which  will  endear  your  fellowship,  and  render  all  your  meet- 
ings a  delight.  Never  avail  yourself  of  your  independence  of  the  people  in 
respect  of  support  to  carry  matters  with  a  high  hand  amongst  them.  Teach 
them  so  to  conduct  themselves  as  a  church,  that,  if  you  were  to  die,  they 
might  continue  a  wise,  holy,  and  understanding  people.  The  great  secret 
of  ruling  a  church  is  to  convince  them  that  you  love  them,  and  say  and  do 
every  thing  for  their  good.  Love,  however,  requires  to  be  mingled  with 
faithfulness,  as  well  as  faithfulness  with  love.  Expect  to  find  defects  and 
faults  in  your  members,  and  give  them  to  expect  free  and  faithful  dealing 
while  connected  with  you :  allow  them,  also,  to  be  free  and  faithful  towards 
you  in  return.  There  will  be  many  faults  which  they  should  be  taught  and 
encouraged  to  correct  in  one  another ;  others  will  be  proper  subjects  of  pas- 
toral admonition  ;  and  some  must  be  brought  before  the  church.  But  do 
not  degrade  the  dignity  of  a  church  by  employing  it  to  sit  in  judgment  on 
the  shape  of  a  cap,  or  a  bonnet;  or  on  squabbles  between  individuals,  which 
had  better  be  healed  by  the  interposition  of  a  common  friend.  The  church 
should  be  taught,  like  a  regiment  of  soldiers,  to  attend  to  discipline,  when 
called  to  it,  in  a  proper  spirit ;  not  with  ebullitions  of  anger  against  an 
offender,  but  with  fear  and  trembling,  considering  themselves,  lest  they  also 
be  tempted.  Let  no  one  say  to  another,  Overlook  my  fault  to-day,  and  I 
will  overlook  yours  to-morrow  ; — but,  rather,  Deal  faithfully  with  me  to-day, 
and  I  will  deal  faithfully  with  you  to-morrow. 

I  have  always  found  it  good  to  have  an  understanding  with  the  deacons 
upon  every  case  before  it  is  brought  before  the  church.  Neither  they  nor 
the  members  have  always  been  of  my  opinion ;  and  where  this  has  been  tlie 
case  I  have  not  attempted  to  carry  a  measure  against  them,  but  have  yielded, 
and  this  not  merely  from  prudence,  but  as  knowing  that  others  have  under- 
standing as  well  as  I,  and  may  therefore  be  in  the  right.  In  this  way  I 
have  been  pastor  of  the  church  which  I  now  serve  for  nearly  thirty  years, 
without  a  single  difference. 

A  young  man,  in  vour  circumstances,  will  have  an  advantage  in  beginning 

Vol.  III.— 63      '  2x3 


493  ECCLKSIASTICAL  POLITr. 

a  church  on  a  small  scale.  It  will  be  like  cultivating  a  garden  before  you 
undertake  a  field.  You  may  also  form  them  in  many  respects  to  your  own 
mind;  but  if  your  mind  be  not  the  mind  of  Christ,  it  will,  after  all,  be  of  no 
use.  Labour  to  form  them  after  Christ's  mind,  and  you  will  find  your  own 
peace  and  happiness  in  it. 

Mercy  and  truth  attend  you  and  the  partner  of  your  cares! 

I  am,  &c., 

A.  Fuller. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  OFFICE. 


EuBULus,  in  what  he  has  written  upon  the  apostolic  office,  having  ex- 
pressed a  wish  for  the  subject  to  be  examined,  I  take  the  liberty  of  suggest- 
ing a  few  hints  to  his  consideration. 

Allowing  the  word  apostle  to  signify  a  viissionary,  it  does  not  seem  to 
follow  that  calling  an  ordinary  preacher,  who  is  sent  to  publish  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen,  by  the  latter  name,  is  improper  or  "unscriptural." 

The  word  Bmxovhv,  which  is  used  of  the  office  of  a  deacon,  signifies  to 
minister  to  the  wants  of  others,  or  to  serve.  A  deacon  was  a  servant;  but 
it  does  not  follow  that  the  application  of  the  word  servant  to  other  persons 
as  well  as  deacons  is  improper  or  unscriptural.  A  deacon  was  a  servant  of 
a  particular  kind ;  and  such  is  the  idea  which  the  word  conveys ;  but  the 
term  servant  is  more  generic,  and  therefore  is  properly  applied  to  persons 
who  serve  in  other  capacities  as  well  as  this.  Every  deacon  was  a  servant, 
but  every  servant  was  not  a  deacon. 

It  should  seem  that  the  same  may  be  said  of  aHor^tor.oi,  the  term  used  to 
express  the  office  of  an  apostle.  It  signifies  a  messenger  or  missionary ;  but 
it  does  not  follow  that  the  application  of  either  of  these  terms  to  other  per- 
sons as  well  as  apostles  is  improper  or  unscriptural.  An  apostle  was  a  mes- 
senger, or  missionary,  of  a  particidar  kind;  and  such  is  the  idea  which  the 
word  conveys ;  but  the  terms  messenger  and  missionary  are  more  generic, 
and  therefore  are  properly  applied  to  any  persons  who  are  sent  with  a  mes- 
sage to  a  distance.  Every  apostle  was  a  messenger  and  a  missionary,  but 
every  messenger  and  missionary  was  not  an  apostle.  Epaphroditus  was  the 
artocc^oxoj,  or  messenger  to  the  Philippians  to  Paul  (Phil.  ii.  25) ;  and  those 
who  are  called  in  our  translation  "the  messengers  of  the  churches"  (3  Cor. 
viii.  23)  are  denominated  by  the  same  name,  arfosT'o^ot.  The  word  also  that 
is  used  for  the  sending  out  of  ordinary  preachers  of  the  gospel  among  the 
heathen,  properly  means  to  send  on  a  missiori:  and  is  the  same  (with  only 
the  difference  of  the  verb  and  the  noun)  as  that  which  is  rendered  an  apostle. 
"How  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  believed?  and  how 
shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard?  and  how  shall  they 
hear  without  a  preacher?  and  how  shall  they  preach,  except  anoota'Kuai,  they 
be  sent  ?"     Rom.  x.  14,  15. 

Upon  the  whole,  I  hope  Eubulus  will  reconsider  his  censure  of  the  trans- 
lators, for  naturalizing  the  term  aTtoaroxoi,  when  applied  to  those  messengers 
immediately  commissioned  by  Christ,  by  rendering  it  apostles,  rather  than 
translating  it  messengers  or  missionaries.  The  naturalization  complained 
of  resembles,  in  this  instance  at  least,  that  of  the  common  name  by  which 
we  denominate  the  Holy  Scriptures,  calling  them  the  Bible,  from  iStjJxoj,  the 
book.  To  have  translated  this,  and  called  it  the  book,  would  not  have  dis- 
tinguished it  from  certain  parts  of  it,  which  also  bear  that  name,  Matt.  i.  1. 


TERMS  OF  COMMUNION.  499 

But  to  call  it  flic  Bible  suggests  the  very  idea  required ;  that  is,  the  book  by 
way  of  eminence,  the  book  of  books.  So  artosfo^oi.,  if  translated  messengers, 
or  missionaries,  would  not  have  distinguished  the  twelve  disciples  from  other 
messengers,  or  missionaries;  but,  rendered  apostles,  it  conveys  the  true 
idea;  namely,  that  of  messengers  of  an  extraordinary  kind,  or  messengers 
hy  way  of  etninence. 


TERMS  OF  COMMUNION. 


REMARKS    ON    INFANT    BAPTISM    AND    INFANT    COMMUNION. 

[In  reply  to  some  papers  written  by  the  Rev.  S.  Newton,  of  Norwich.] 

The  piece  by  "An  Old  Congregationalist"  seems  to  invite  an  answer 
from  both  Baptists  and  Psdobaptists.  If  the  following  remarks  be  accept- 
able on  behalf  of  the  former,  they  are  at  your  service. 

Whether  or  not  I  can  convince  your  respectable  correspondent,  (with 
whom,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  I  have  some  acquaintance,)  I  hope  he  will 
allow  what  I  advance  to  be  "  friendly,"  and  as  free  from  "  the  air  of  angry 
controversy"  as  he  can  desire. 

That  the  plea  for  infant  communion  is  equally  valid  with  that  of  infant 
baptism  you  will  not  expect  me  to  dispute.  If  I  could  be  convinced  of  the 
one,  I  see  no  reason  why  I  should  scruple  the  other.  If  one  of  your  Pcedo- 
baplist  correspondents  should  think  proper  to  answer  in  behalf  of  his  bre- 
thren, it  will  belong  to  him  to  point  out  the  grounds  for  admitting  the  former 
while  he  rejects  the  latter.  My  share  of  the  answer  is  merely  to  notice  the 
arguments  for  inf;\nt  communion  taken  from  the  Scriptures,  or  from  other 
acknowledged  duties. 

We  are  accused  at  the  outset  of  having,  "  without  a  Divine  precept,  sepa- 
rated the  children  of  believers  from  the  church  of  God."  To  this  I  answer 
— I.  Allowing  them  to  have  been  in  the  church  under  the  Old  Testament, 
it  does  not  follow  that  they  should  be  members  of  churches  under  the  New 
Testament.  "A  Congregationalist"  must  admit  of  a  very  material  difference 
in  the  constitution  of  the  church  under  these  different  dispensations ;  so 
material  as  that  the  laws  of  admission  to  the  one  are  no  rule  by  which  to 
judge  of  the  other.  If  he  will  not,  however,  he  must  consider  as  members 
of  the  church,  not  only  his  own  children,  but  all  that  are  born  in  his  house, 
or  bought  with  his  money.  Or  if  he  refuse  this  consequence,  he  brings 
upon  himself  his  own  charge,  of  separating  the  poor  servants  from  the 
church  of  God,  without  a  Divine  precept.  Should  he  in  this  case  allege 
that  there  is  no  precept  or  example  in  the  New  Testament  for  admitting 
them,  he  would  furnish  an  answer  which  is  no  less  applicable  to  the  other. 
— "i.  But  before  the  charge  of  separating  the  children  of  believers  from  the 
church  of  God  had  been  preferred,  it  should  have  been  proved  that  they,  as 
such,  icere  ever  in  it.  Unless  the  whole  Israelitish  nation  were  believers,  it 
could  not  be  as  the  children  of  believers  that  their  descendants  were  admit- 
ted to  Divine  ordinances.  If  "  the  habits  and  practices  of  the  Jews"  prove 
any  thing,  they  will  prove  too  much,  at  least  for  a  "Congregationalist." 
They  will  not  only  require  the  admission  of  servants  born  in  the  house,  or 
bought  with  money,  but  the  very  constitution  of  the  church  must  be  national. 
Their  children  and  servants  must  not  only  be  admitted  in  infancy,  but  con- 
tinue in  full  communion  when  adults,  though  there  should  be  no  proof  of 
their  being  any  other  than  graceless  characters. 


500  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

But  we  agree,  it  is  said,  "  to  take  our  children  to  family  and  public  wor- 
ship ;  to  teach  them  to  read  the  Bible  with  seriousness  and  attention,  instruct 
them  in  catechisms  and  in  private  prayer ;  for  all  which  they  have  no  more 
understanding  than  for  the  Lord's  supper."  It  is  not  however  for  want  of 
understanding  that  we  object  to  it,  but  the  want  of  Scripture  precept  or 
example.  If  God  had  required  it,  or  the  first  churches  practised  it,  we  should 
think  ourselves  as  much  obliged  to  bring  our  children  to  the  Lord's  supper 
as  the  Israelites  were  to  bring  theirs  to  the  passover.  It  appears  to  me  that 
great  mistakes  have  arisen  from  confounding  moral  obligations  whh  positive 
institutes.  The  former  are  binding  on  all  mankind,  and  therefore  require 
to  be  inculcated  on  every  one  within  the  reach  of  our  influence ;  the  latter 
are  limited  to  a  part  of  mankind,  usually  described  in  the  institutions  them- 
selves. The  one  being  founded  in  our  relation  to  God  and  one  another,  and 
approving  themselves  to  the  conscience,  require  neither  precept  nor  prece- 
dent, but  merely  a  general  principle  which  shall  comprehend  them ;  the 
other,  having  their  origin  merely  in  the  sovereign  will  of  God,  require  a 
punctilious  adherence  to  what  is  revealed  concerning  them.  While  we 
engage  in  what  is  purely  moral,  and  what  is  therefore  right  for  every  one  to 
engage  in,  we  incur  no  relative  guilt,  whatever  be  the  motives  or  even  the 
manifest  characters  of  those  who  unite  with  us,  any  more  than  in  contribut- 
ing with  an  irreligious  man  to  the  relief  of  the  poor;  but  in  what  is  positive, 
if  the  parties  with  whom  we  unite  be  virtually  excluded  by  the  institution, 
we  are  accessory  to  their  doing  what,  in  their  present  state  of  mind,  they 
have  no  right  to  do.  For  want  of  attending  to  this  plain  distinction,  some 
have  gone  so  far  as  to  refuse  to  engage  in  public  prayer  in  a  promiscuous 
assembly,  and  even  to  join  in  family  worship,  if  any  were  present  whom  they 
accounted  unbelievers.  Proceeding  on  the  same  principle,  the  "  Congrega- 
tionalist"  appears  to  me  to  err  in  the  opposite  extreme;  arguing  from  our 
joining  in  what  is  right  for  all  men  that  we  ought  to  join  in  what  the  Scrip- 
tures limit  to  certain  characters. 

The  appeal  is  next  made  to  the  New  Testament.  Here  it  becomes  us  to 
be  all  attention.  "Were  not  the  first  churches  composed  of  households?" 
That  there  were  some  households  in  them  is  clear;  and  we  have  some  in 
many  of  our  churches.  But  why  did  not  the  "  Congregationalist"  prot>e 
that  some  of  them  at  least  were  infants?  If  he  could  have  done  this,  all  his 
other  arguments  might  have  been  spared.  It  might  indeed  be  supposed  that 
households  will  ordinarily  consist  of  some  of  this  description ;  and  if  we 
were  not  given  to  understand  the  contrary  in  these  instances,  the  presump- 
tion might  appear  in  favour  of  this  supposition.  But  it  so  happens  that  each 
of  these  households  appears  from  the  Scripture  accounts  to  have  been  com- 
posed of  believers,  Acts  xvi.  34-40;  1  Cor.  i.  16;  xvi.  15. 

"Were  not  parents  told,  if  they  believed,  they  and  their  house  should  be 
saved  ?"  The  head  of  one  family  was  thus  addressed  :  "  Believe  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house."  But  surely  the 
meaning  of  this  is,  that  if  he  and  his  house  believed,  they  should  all  be  saved. 
If  Paul  and  Silas  meant  to  say  his  house  should  be  saved,  though  he  only 
believed,  why  is  it  added  in  the  next  verse,  "And  they  spoke  unto  him  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all  that  iccre  in  his  house  V  The  Pharisees  seemed 
desirous  of  establishing  their  claim  on  the  ground  of  having  Abraham  to 
their  father;  but  John  the  Baptist  did  not  allow  of  it,  but  intimated  that  the 
axe  was  now  laid  to  the  root  of  the  tree,  and  that  every  tree  which  brought 
not  forth  good  fruit  should  be  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire.  Who  would 
have  thought  that  "An  Old  Congregationalist"  could  have  pleaded,  not 
merely  for  the  admission  of  children  to  Christian  ordinances  in  virtue  of 
the  faith  of  their  parents,  but  for  their  being  actually  saved?     I  have  heard 


TERMS   or   COMMUNION.  501 

of  certain  professors  of  religion  in  the  fens  of  Cambridgeshire  and  Lincoln.- 
shire  who  hold  this  opinion  with  great  earnestness,  and  who  on  the  ground 
of  their  forefathers'  faith  rest  assured  of  salvation,  whatever  be  their  own 
characters;  but  I  should  not  have  expected  such  a  notion  to  have  found  an 
advocate  in  your  worthy  correspondent. 

"  Is  there  an  instance  of  an  adult  descendant  of  a  believer  that  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  church  throughout  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament?"  Yes, 
several.  All  the  households  before  mentioned  were  adults,  and  some  of 
them  were  doubtless  descendants  from  the  heads  of  those  families.  But  I 
suppose  your  correspondent  means  there  is  no  instance  of  there  being  ad- 
mitted at  a  distance  of  time  after  their  parents.  And  this  I  believe  is  true. 
But  it  is  equally  true  that  there  is  no  instance  of  a  wife,  a  husband,  or  a 
child,  being  converted  after  their  partners  or  their  parents;  cases  which 
nevertheless,  no  doubt,  frequently  occurred.  The  truth  is,  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  a  history  of  the  first  planting  of  the  church,  and  not  of  its  progress. 
If  such  evidence  as  this  amounts  to  "  a  moral  certainty"  that  children  were 
received  into  the  church  with  their  parents,  I  am  at  a  loss  what  to  deno- 
ininate  uncertainty. 

The  Scriptures  inculcate  a  strict  and  holy  discipline,  both  in  the  church 
and  in  the  family ;  and  I  cannot  but  consider  it  as  a  strong  presumption 
against  the  practice  for  which  your  correspondent  pleads,  that  the  command 
to  "  bring  up  our  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord"  is 
addressed  not  to  ministers  or  churches,  but  to  parents.  Nor  is  there,  that  I 
recollect,  in  all  that  is  said  in  the  apostolic  Epistles,  to  parents  or  children, 
a  word  which  implies  the  latter  to  have  stood  in  the  relation  of  church 
members. 

There  is  some  ingenuity  in  what  is  said  in  answer  to  objections;  and  if 
moral  and  positive  duties  must  be  confounded,  and  we  are  driven  to  reason 
from  analogy  on  the  one  as  well  as  the  other,  there  may  be  some  force  in  it. 
But  if  positive  institutes  require  Scripture  precept  or  example,  the  want  of 
these  must  needs  be  the  grand,  and,  I  suspect,  the  insurmountable  objection. 


STRICTURES 


>'o     It, 


ON  THE  REV.  JOHN  CARTER  S  "THOUGHTS  ON  BAPTISM  AND  MIXED  COMMUNION, 
IN  THREE  LETTERS  TO  A  FRIEND ;  IN  WHICH  SOME  ANIMADVERSIONS  ARE 
MADE  ON  THE  REV.  ABRAHAM  BOOTH's  APOLOGY." 

The  "  Paedobaptist"  addresses  his  pamphlet  to  a  Baptist.  The  first  letter 
gives  the  author's  reasons  for  his  own  practice.  The  two  others  are  in  favour 
of  a  mixed  communion  between  Baptists  and  Psedobaptists  at  the  Lord's 
table.  We  pass  over  that  part  of  his  piece  which  relates  merely  to  baptism, 
with  only  observing  that  the  author  in  pleading  for  sprinkling  is  not  so  con- 
vinced of  it  as  to  think  his  own  side  "exclusively  right."  In  the  second 
and  third  letters,  where  he  pleads  for  mixed  communion,  it  is  observable  too 
that  he  admits  the  principle  of  the  strict  Baptists;  namely,  that  baptism  is 
an  indispensable  prerequisite  to  fellowship  at  the  Lord's  table.  But  he  thinks 
th3t  each  may  acknowledge  the  validity  of  the  other's  baptism,  and  endea- 
vours to  persuade  his  correspondent  that  he  ought  not,  unless  he  can  establish 
his  claim  to  infallibility,  to  consider  himself  as  exclusiveli/  right;  that  is,  he 
would  have  him  allow  that  those  who  have  been  sprinkled  in  infancy  are 
baptized,  though  it  may  be  in  his  judgment  not  in  so  scriptural  a  manner 


505J  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLIxr. 

as  himself.  He  censures  Mr.  Booth  with  some  severity  for  assuming  in  his 
"Apology"  that  Psedobaptists  are  unhaptized,  and  that  their  thinking  them- 
selves otherwise  is  a  false  persuasion.  Finally,  he  disclaims  any  dominion 
over  the  faith  of  the  Baptists,  and  thinks  the  Baptists  ought  to  claim  none 
over  his. 

To  the  above  reasoning  we  suppose  a  strict  Baptist,  it  may  be  his  corre- 
spondent, would  answer  nearly  as  follows  :  I  feel  obliged  to  you,  dear  sir,  for 
your  kindly  inviting  me  and  my  brethren  to  unite  with  you  in  commemorat- 
ing the  death  of  our  common  Lord.  I  give  you  full  credit  for  the  brotherly 
affection  by  which  you  are  influenced,  and  should  be  happy  if  this  wall  of 
separation  could  be  removed,  without  our  dispensing  with  an  ordinance  of 
Christ.  As  the  ground  of  our  union,  you  propose  to  me  a  principle  which, 
if  it  could  be  admitted,  would,  I  acknowledge,  accomplish  the  end.  But 
do  you  not  perceive  that,  in  admitting  it,  I  must  relinquish  not  merely  my 
practice  of  strict  communion,  but  my  principles  as  a  Baptist,  or,  if  you 
please,  as  an  Antipadobaptist,  and  either  refuse  to  baptize  any  in  future 
who  have  been  sprinkled  in  their  infancy,  which  the  far  greater  part  have 
been,  or,  when  I  do  so,  be  guilty  of  rtbaptizing  them,  and  thus  become  in 
reality,  what  I  have  hitherto  disowned  with  abhorrence,  an  yl/mbaptist? 

In  your  last  letter  you  say,  "  It  is  certainly  just  and  right  that  each  should 
act  on  his  own  principles."  And  no  doubt  if  a  union  were  accomplished, 
it  must  proceed  on  this  ground.  But  your  second  and  third  letters  require 
us  to  relinquish  what  is  essential  to  our  being  AntipcBdobaptisis ,  and  insist, 
as  I  just  now  said,  on  our  either  giving  up  the  practice  of  baptizing  those 
who  have  been  sprinkled  in  their  infancy,  or  becoming  avowed  Anabaptists. 
If  indeed  our  principles  as  Antipfedobaptists  be  unscriptural,  they  ought  to 
be  relinquished  J  but  I  do  not  perceive,  from  any  thing  you  have  advanced, 
that  they  are  so ;  and,  in  pleading  for  mixed  communion,  it  is  not  your  pro- 
fessed object  to  prove  them  so. 

I  make  no  pretence  to  being  infallibly  right,  neither  do  you,  I  dare  say, 
in  any  of  your  religious  sentiments;  yet  there  are  many  things  in  which  you 
certainly  consider  yourself,  and  those  of  your  mind,  as  exclusively  so.  In 
the  same  light  I  consider  my  views  of  baptism.  You  express  astonishment 
and  offence  at  Mr.  Booth's  saying  that  in  our  judgment  you  are  unhaptized. 
But  I  am  no  less  astonished  that  you,  who  have  known  so  much  of  us, 
should  yet  have  to  learn  that  it  is  not  possible  for  a  Baptist  to  consider  you 
in  any  other  light.  The  moment  he  does  so  he  ceases  to  be  a  Baptist.  Yes, 
sir,  in  our  judgment  you  are  unhaptized  ;  and  our  judgment  must  decide  our 
practice.  Y^'ou  have  doubtless  a  right  to  judge  for  yourselves,  and  far  be  it 
from  us  to  wish  to  deprive  you  of  any  part  of  that  inalienable  privilege;  but 
in  a  question  of  communion,  in  every  thing  necessary  to  it,  which  you  allow 
baptism  to  be,  our  judgment  and  yours  must  coincide. 

If  Mr.  Booth  had  been  reasoning  with  you,  he  would  not  have  taken  it 
for  granted  that  you  were  baptized.  But  when  reasoning  with  the  Baptists, 
he  had  a  right  to  do  so;  nor  is  there  any  cause  for  you  to  be  offended  at  it. 
There  would  be  an  end  to  argumentation,  if  what  is  allowed  on  both  sides 
of  a  controversy  to  be  false  may  not  be  called  so. 

Admitting  the  validity  of  our  baptism,  you  are  willing  to  receive  us  to 
communion;  while  we  cannot  admit  the  validity  of  yours,  and  so  cannot 
consent  to  commune  with  you.  This  you  seem  to  think  hard,  and  consider 
our  conduct  as  claiming  dominion  over  your  faith.  But  on  what  ground 
is  it  that  you  admit  the  validity  of  our  baptism  ?  Is  it  merely  because  ive 
think  ourselves  baptized?  No;  we  are  baptized  in  your  judgment,  as  well 
as  in  our  own.  In  receiving  us,  therefore,  you  are  not  obliged  to  act  con- 
trary to  your  principles.     But  the  case  is  otherwise  with  us.     We  verily 


•niOUGHTS  ON  OPEN  COMMUNION.  503 

believe  you  to  be  unbaptized,  not  merely  as  being  only  sprinkled,  but  as  re- 
ceiving it  at  a  time  when  you  could  not  actively  "  put  on  Christ,"  which 
"as  many  as  were  baptized"  in  primitive  ages  did,  Gal.  iii.  27.  In  receiv- 
ing you,  therefore,  we  must  of  necessity  act  contrary  to  our  principles,  by 
uniting  with  those  at  the  Lord's  table  whom  we  believe  to  be  unbaptized. 
The  result  is — the  dispute  between  us  on  mixed  communion  is  at  an  end. 
If  we  err,  it  is  as  Baptists,  by  considering  inflint  baptism  as  invalid. 

You  have  no  hope  it  seems  of  our  ever  coming  together,  unless  we  could 
allow  your  baptism  to  be  valid ;  that  is,  unless  we  could  retract  the  princi- 
ples of  antipaedobaptism.  There  is  one  other  way  left,  however,  and  that  is, 
by  your  retracting  those  of  predobaptism;  and  why  should  we  not  hope  for 
the  one  as  well  as  you  for  the  other? 

The  controversy  on  strict  and  mixed  communion,  in  respect  of  baptism, 
is  reducible  to  three  questions. — (1.)  Is  baptism  necessary  to  communion  at 
the  Lord's  table?  (2.)  Is  a  being  immersed  on  a  profession  of  finth  neces- 
sary to  baptism  ?  (3.)  On  whom  does  the  duty  of  judging  what  is  baptism 
devolve — on  the  party  baptized,  or  on  the  church,  or  on  both? 

The  first  was  denied  by  John  Bunyan ;  but,  being  generally  admitted  by 
Psedobaptists,  they  are  not  entitled  to  his  arguments.  Those  who  follow 
Bunyan  are  chiefly  Baptists  who  admit  of  mixed  communion;  and  Bunyan 
himself  was  of  this  denomination.  Against  these  Mr.  Booth's  Apology  is 
chiefly  directed. 

The  denial  of  the  second  is  ground  proper  for  Pcedobaptists.  But  if  they 
;iiake  it  good  against  the  Baptists,  they  convict  them  of  error  as  Baptists 
rather  than  as  strict  Baptists. 

Of  the  third  much  has  been  said  by  the  friends  of  mixed  communion, 
both  among  Baptists  and  Paedobaptists.  None,  we  apprehend,  will  plead  for 
a  church  being  the  judge  of  what  is  baptism,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  candi- 
date. The  question  is  therefore  reduced  to  this:  Is  it  for  the  candidate  ex- 
clusively to  judge  what  is  baptism:  or  is  it  necessary  that  his  judgment  and 
that  of  the  church  should  coincide  upon  the  subject? 

If  baptism  be  7iot  necessary  to  communion;  or,  though  it  be,  yet  if  immer- 
sion on  a  profession  of  faith  be  riot  necessary  to  baptism ;  or,  though  it  be, 
yet  if  the  candidate  for  communion  be  the  only  party  with  whom  it  rests  to 
judge  what  is  baptism;  then  tlie  strict  communion  of  the  Baptists  seems  to 
he  iorong. 

But  if  baptism  he  necessary  to  church  communion,  and  immersion  on  a 
profession  of  faith  he  necessary  to  baptism,  and  it  he  the  duty  of  a  church  to 
judge  of  this  as  well  as  of  every  other  prerequisite  in  its  candidates,  then 
the  strict  communion  of  the  Baptists  seems  to  be  right. 


THOUGHTS  ON  OPEN  COMMUNION, 

IN  A  LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  W.  WARD,  MISSIONARY  AT  SERAMPORE,  DATED  SEPT.  21, 

1800. 

"  The  colours  witb  wliich  wit  or  eloquence  may  have  adorned  a.  false  sysfern  will  gradually 
die  away,  sopliistry  be  detected,  and  every  thing  estimated,  at  length,  according  to  its  true 
value." — Hall's  Apology  for  the  Freedom  of  the  Press. 

In  answer  to  your  question,  "Do  not  the  hounds  of  Scriptural  communion 
ertend  to  all  who  are  real  Christians,  except  their  practice  is  immoral,  or 
they  have  embraced  dangerous  heresies  ?" 

There  are  three  different  grounds  on  which  mixed  communion  is  defended: 


594  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

— 1.  That  baptism  is  not  essential  to  church  communion.  2.  That,  if  it  be, 
adult  immersion  is  not  essential  to  baptism.  3.  That,  if  neither  of  these  be 
true,  3'et  the  right  of  judging  what  is  and  what  is  not  baptism  lies  in  the  indi- 
vidual, and  not  in  the  community.  The  statement  of  your  question  proceeds 
upon  ihejirst  of  these  grounds  ;  to  this,  therefore,  I  shall  confine  my  answer. 

I  observe  you  do  not  plead  for  communion  with  saints  as  saints;  for,  if  so, 
you  could  not  refuse  it  to  any  one,  unless  you  thought  him  a  wicked  man: 
whereas  your  question  allows  that  real  Christians,  if  they  are  guilty  of  immo- 
rality, or  if  they  have  embraced  dangerous  heresies,  ought  to  be  excluded. 
This  they  doubtless  ought  to  be,  and  that  partly  for  the  honour  of  God,  and 
partly  for  their  own  conviction.  They  are  a  kind  of  lepers,  whom  the  people 
of  God  should  require  to  be  without  the  camp. 

You  admit  that  there  are  cases  in  which  it  is  right  for  good  men  to  be 
kept  from  church  communion;  but  you  conceive  that  this  should  be  limited 
to  cases  of  immorality  and  dangerous  heresy.  If  there  be  any  difTerence  then 
between  us,  it  lies  in  your  omitting  to  add  a  third  case,  viz.  an  omission  or 
essential  corruption  of  instituted  worship.  Without  this,  I  do  not  see  how 
you  can  justify  your  dissent  from  the  Church  of  England,  or  even  from  the 
Church  of  Rome,  provided  you  agreed  with  them  in  doctrine  and  in  morals, 
and  were  satisfied  respecting  the  piety  of  your  fellow  comnmnicants. 

You  must  admit  that,  so  far  as  primitive  example  is  binding,  it  has  every 
appearance  of  establishing  the  necessity  of  baptism  previously  to  communion; 
ail  that  were  admitted  to  church  fellowship  were  in  those  times  baptized. 
And  it  appears  that  the  one  was  considered  as  necessary  to  the  other.  John, 
the  harbinger  of  Christ,  came  to  "  make  ready  a  people  prepared  for  the 
Lord,"  (Luke  i.  17,)  or  to  prepare  materials  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
which  he  announced  as  being  at  hand.  For  this  purpose  he  "  baptized  with 
the  baptism  of  repentance,"  (Acts  xix.  4,)  saying  unto  the  people  that  "they 
should  believe  on  him  who  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus," 
Acts  ii.  42.  In  other  words,  his  object  was  to  render  them  Christians  and 
to  baptize  them.  It  was  thus  that  they  were  "  prepared  for  the  Lord,"  or 
rendered  fit  materials  for  gospel  churches.  Peter  said,  "  Repent,  and  be 
baptized,  every  one  of  you."  Paul,  in  all  his  Epistles,  takes  it  for  granted 
that  all  Christians  were  baptized,  Rom.  vi.  3,  5;  Eph.  iv.  5;  Col.  ii.  12;  1 
Cor.  i.  13;  xii.  13.  When  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  are  alluded  to,  it 
is  in  connexion  with  each  other,  1  Cor.  x.  2-4. 

You  do  not  pretend  that  any  of  the  primitive  Christians  were  unbaptized. 
All  you  allege  is  from  analogi/,  or  that  the  apostles  dispensed  with  various 
other  things,  which  you  suppose  to  have  been  of  equal  importance;  and  that, 
therefore,  if  some  at  that  time  had  neglected  to  be  baptized  on  some  such 
principle  as  that  on  which  the  Quakers  now  neglect  it,  they  would  have  dis- 
pensed with  this  also.  It  is  acknowledged  that  they  did  dispense  with  a 
uniformity  in  matters  of  circumcision  and  uncircumcision,  of  days,  and  meats, 
and  drinks,  and  whatever  did  not  aflect  the  "kingdom  of  Christ,"  Rom.  xiv. 
17.  But  it  appears  to  me  very  unsafe  to  argue  from  abrogated  Jewish  rites 
to  New  Testament  ordinances,  especially  as  the  one  are  opposed  to  the 
other.  "  Circumcision  is  nothing,  and  uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  the 
keepiug  of  the  commandments  of  God,"  1  Cor.  vii.  19.  Nor  does  it  appear 
to  me,  from  any  thing  that  is  said  on  the  doctrine  o{  forbearance  m  the 
New  Testament,  that  the  apostles  would  have  dispensed  with  the  omission 
of  baptism.  The  importance  of  this  ordinance,  above  every  thing  dispensed 
with  in  the  primitive  churches,  arises  from  its  being  the  distinguishing  sign 
of  Christianity — that  by  which  they  were  to  be  known,  acknowledged,  and 
treated  as  members  of  Christ's  visible  kingdom  :  "  As  many  of  you  as  have 
been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ,"  Gal.  iii.  27.     It  is  analogous 


TERMS  OF  COMMUNION.  505 

to  a  soldier  on  his  enlisting  into  his  Majesty's  service  putting  on  the  military 
dress.  The  Scriptures  Uy  great  stress  upon  "  confessing  Christ's  name  before 
men"  (Matt.  x.  32);  and  baptism  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  ways  of 
doing  this.  When  a  man  becomes  a  believer  in  Christ,  he  confesses  it  usually 
in  words  to  other  believers:  but  the  appointed  way  of  confessing  it  openly  to 
the  world  is  by  being  baptized  in  his  name.  If,  therefore,  we  profess  Chris- 
tianity only  in  words,  the  thing  professed  may  be  genuine,  but  the  profession 
is  essentially  defective ;  and  as  it  is  not  Christianity,  (strictly  speaking,)  but 
the  pi'of CSS  ion  of  it,  which  entitles  us  to  a  place  in  Christ's  visible  kingdom, 
our  claim  to  visible  communion  must  of  course  be  invalid. 

Baptism  is  an  act  by  which  we  declare  before  God,  angels,  and  men,  that 
we  yield  ourselves  to  be  the  Lord's;  that  we  are  dead  to  the  world,  and,  as 
it  were,  buried  from  it,  and  i-isen  again  "to  newness  of  life,"  Rom.  vi.  3,  4. 
Such  a  declaration  is  equal  to  an  oath  of  allegiance  in  a  soldier.  He  may 
be  insincere,  yet,  if  there  be  no  i^roaf  of  his  insincerity,  the  king's  officers 
are  obliged  to  admit  him  into  the  army.  Another  may  be  sincerely  on  the 
side  of  the  king,  yet,  if  he  refuse  the  oath  and  the  royal  uniform,  he  cannot 
be  admitted. 

To  treat  a  person  as  a  member  of  Christ's  visible  kingdom,  and  as  being 
in  a  state  of  salvation,  who  lives  in  the  neglect  of  what  Christ  has  commanded 
to  all  his  followers,  and  this,  it  may  be,  knowingly,  is  to  put  asunder  what 
Christ  has  joined  together. — See  Mark  xvi.  16.  "He  that  believeth  and  is 
baptized  shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  By  this 
language  he  hath  bound  us;  though,  not  having  said  "  he  that  is  not  baptized 
shall  be  damned,"  he  hath  mercifully  refrained  from  binding  himself. 

To  dispense  with  baptism  as  a  term  of  visible  communion,  is  to  connive 
either  at  a  total  neglect  of  an  ordinance  which  by  the  authority  of  Christ  is 
binding  to  the  end  of  the  world,  or  at  a  gross  corruption  of  that  ordinance; 
and  in  many  cases  at  both :  for  there  are  great  numbers  who  do  not  believe 
themselves  to  be  baptized  according  to  the  Scriptures,  who  yet  content 
themselves  with  the  baptism  they  have.  To  connive  at  a  known  omission 
of  the  will  of  Christ  must  be  wrong,  and  must  render  us  partakers  of  other 
men's  sins ;  yet  I  see  not  how  this  can  be  avoided  on  the  principle  you 
espouse,  provided  you  account  such  persons  to  be  real  Christians. 

But  supposing  them  to  be  sincere  in  their  attachment  to  pa^dobaptism,  or 
that  they  really  believe  it  to  be  the  mind  of  Christ  as  revealed  in  the  Scrip- 
tures; yet  still  if  you  admit  them  to  the  Lord's  supper,  you  must  connive  at 
what  you  consider  as  a  gross  corruption  of  the  ordinance  of  Christ — a  cor- 
ruption that  amounts  to  a  subversion  of  every  good  end  to  be  answered  by  it, 
and  that  has  introduced  a  flood  of  other  corruptions  into  the  church.  To  me 
it  appears  evident  that  pcedobaptism  opened  the  door  for  the  Romish  apostacy ; 
and  that  the  church  will  never  be  restored  to  its  purity  while  it  is  allowed  to 
have  any  existence  in  it.  The  grand  cause  of  the  church's  having  been 
corrupted  so  as  to  become  apostate  was  its  being  mingled  with  the  world. 
Pa3dobaptism  first  occasioned  this  fatal  mixture,  and  national  establishments 
of  religion  completed  it.  The  one  introduced  the  unconverted  posterity  of 
believers ;  the  other  all  the  inhabitants  of  a  country,  considering  none  but 
pagans,  Jews,  and  deists  as  unbelievers.  The  one  threw  open  the  door; 
the  other  broke  down  the  wall.  It  is  manifestly  thus  that  the  church  and 
the  world  have  been  confounded,  and  will  always  be  confounded,  more  or 
less,  till  pacdobaptism  is  no  more. 

If  you  admit  Pa^dobaptists  to  communion,  you  will  not  be  able  for  any 
continuance  to  secure  your  own  principle — that  none  but  "  real  Christians" 
should  be  admitted.    It  is  like  inviting  a  friend  to  your  table  whose  company 

Vol.  III.— 04  2  U 


506  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

you  value,  but  who  cannot  come  without  bringing  his  whole  family  with 
him.  In  the  earlier  ages  baptized  children  were  actually  and  consistently 
admitted  to  the  Lord's  supper.  In  national  churches  they  are  still  generally 
admitted  I  believe  as  they  grow  up,  if  no  gross  immorality  appears  in  their 
conduct,  and  in  some  if  it  does.  And  even  in  congregational  churches  they 
are  taught  to  consider  themselves,  either  on  account  of  their  birth  or  baptism, 
or  both,  as  somehow  members  of  the  visible  church.  Such  an  idea  miaht  in 
some  measure  be  suppressed,  where  the  great  majority  were  Baptists;  but, 
by  admitting  members  on  your  principle,  it  would  soon  be  otherwise. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  was  never  suited  to  the  spirit  of  this  world.  Its 
subjects  require  to  be  born  again,  and  to  make  an  open  avowal  of  it. 
Therefore,  when  worldly  men  took  it  in  hand,  they  knew  not  what  to  make 
of  it,  nor  what  to  do  with  it,  till  they  had  framed  it  to  their  mind  by  explain- 
ing away  these  uncouth  principles.  Paedobaptism  was  of  essential  service 
to  them  in  this  business.  Its  language  was,  and  still  is,  "One  birth  ivill  do, 
at  least  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  upon  earth,  provided  it  be  from  a  believ- 
ing parent."  And  now,  the  great  difficulty  being  removed,  the  smaller  is 
easily  surmounted.  "There  is  no  necessity  for  an  open  and  public  avowal; 
a  little  water  in  a  private  house  vnll  do."  Thus  the  two  grand  barriers  that 
should  separate  the  church  from  the  world  are  broken  down. 

The  seven  Asiatic  churches  are  commended  or  censured  in  proportion  to 
their  purity.  One  thing  alleged  against  the  church  at  Thyatira  was  that  she 
"suffered  that  woman,  Jezebel,  to  teach  and  to  seduce  God's  servants,"  Rev. 
ii.  20.  The  allusion  is  doubtless  to  the  wife  of  Ahab,  who  corrupted  the 
pure  worship  and  ordinances  of  God  in  her  time,  and  mingled  them  with 
idolatry.  Whoever  they  were  that  were  thus  denominated,  it  was  doubtless 
some  person  or  body  of  persons  that  strove  to  draw  off  the  church  from  her 
pinity,  and  to  introduce  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men.  It  seems, 
too,  that  some  of  God's  servants  were  seduced  by  her;  good  men,  whom 
your  plan  of  admission  would  have  tolerated.  And  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  the  censure  is  not  directed  against  her  for  doing  so,  but  against  the 
church  for  suiTering  it. 

You  allow  immorality  or  dangerous  heresy,  even  in  good  men,  to  be  a  just 
cause  of  a  refusal  of  communion.  But  is  not  God  as  jealous  of  his  sovereign 
authority  as  he  is  of  his  truth  and  holiness  ?  The  ruin  of  mankind  was  by 
means  of  the  breach  of  a  positive  institution.  The  corruption  of  instituted 
worship  forms  a  large  part  of  antichristianism,  and  is  to  the  full  as  severely 
censured  as  its  heresies  and  immoralities.  Positive  commands,  like  the 
bathing  of  Naaman  in  Jordan,  are  designed  for  the  trial  of  our  obedience. 
And  with  respect  to  the  gross  deviation  from  the  command  in  question, 
after  it  has  once  opened  the  door  for  the  grand  apostacy,  (an  apostacy  from 
which  we  are  not  cleansed  to  this  day,)  shall  it  be  pleaded  for  as  innocent, 
and  ranked  with  meats,  and  drinks,  and  days?  Rather  ought  we  not  to  set 
our  faces  against  the  seductions  of  Jezebel ;  and,  instead  of  conniving  at 
God's  servants  who  are  seduced  by  her,  to  assure  them  that  much  as  we 
love  them,  and  long  for  communion  with  them,  we  must,  while  we  have 
ears  to  hear,  "hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches'?"     Rev.  ii.  7. 


TERMS  OF  COMMUNION.  507 


STRICT  COMMUNION  IN  THE   MISSION  CHURCH  AT 
SERAMPORE. 

[Letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Instructor,  Jan.  28th,  1814.] 

I  BY  no  means  wish  to  obtrude  myself  on  you  or  your  readers;  but  the 
letter,  by  "  A  PHedobaptist,"  which  you  inserted  in  your  paper  of  the  19th 
instant,  calls  upon  me  for  an  answer. 

It  is  true  that  the  Baptist  missionaries  at  Serampore  do  not  practise  strict 
communion.  It  is  also  true  that  they  did  so  from  the  beginning,  till  within 
the  last  three  or  four  years,  when  they  agreed  to  admit  of  open  communion. 
After  this  the  question  was  resumed  and  discussed.  The  result  was  that 
they  determined  to  return  to  their  original  practice.  As  to  any  injunction, 
I  know  of  none.  Most  of  our  churches  in  England  practise  strict  commu- 
nion, but  do  not  "enjoin"  it  upon  other  churches;  and  I  suppose  it  is  the 
same  with  the  churches  at  Serampore  and  Calcutta.  They  may  recommend 
whatever  they  think  right,  without  enjoining  it. 

I  can  easily  conceive  that  these  changes  would  cause  some  feelings 
among  Baptists  differently  minded  on  the  subject,  but  cannot  conceive  why 
our  Pagdobaptist  brethren  should  take  offence  at  it.  Those  Baptists  who 
practise  open  communion  do  not  mean  to  acknowledge  the  validity  of  psedo- 
baptism.  Had  they  rather  then  be  admissible  into  our  churches  as  unbap- 
tized  in  the  account  of  their  brethren,  than  not  at  all  1  If  so,  to  be  sure  we 
ought  to  feel  obliged  by  their  good  opinion  of  us;  as,  after  all  that  they 
have  said  and  written  and  done  against  us,  they  cannot  really  think  ill  of  us. 

But  is  it  true  that  our  Pa^dobaptist  brethren  seriously  wish  us  to  practise 
open  communion?  I  give  them  the  fullest  credit  for  desiring  as  Christians 
to  be  in  fellowship  with  us,  and  with  all  other  Christians ;  and  this  also  is 
our  desire  as  much  as  it  is  theirs.  But,  as  Pcedobaptists,  do  they  wish  us 
to  admit  them  to  communion,  without  acknowlccJging  the  validity  of  their 
baptism  1  This  is  the  question ;  and  from  all  tliat  I  have  read  of  their 
writings  on  the  subject,  however  they  may  complain  of  strict  communion, 
they  cannot  answer  in  the  affirmative. 

Dr.  Worcester,  in  his  friendly  letter  to  Dr.  Baldwin,  though  he  pleads  for 
a  free  communion  between  Baptists  and  Psdobaptists,  and  avows  it  to  be 
the  object  of  his  pamphlet,  yet  allows  that  "if  professed  believers  are  the 
proper  subjects  for  baptism,  and  if  immersion  be  not  a  mere  circumstance 
or  mode  of  baptism,  but  essential  to  the  ordinance,  so  that  he  who  is  not 
immersed  is  not  baptized,  the  sentiment  of  strict  communion  would  be  suffi- 
ciently established."  Now  Dr.  Worcester's  premises  are  our  most  decided 
principles,  and  this  whether  we  practise  strict  or  open  communion.  He 
therefore  admits  our  practice  to  be  sufficiendy  established,  and  has  only  to 
complain  of  us  for  not  allowing  the  validity  of  their  baptism;  that  is,  for 
being  Baptists. 

Tlie  same  is  manifest  from  a  review  of  Mr.  Booth's  Apology  in  the  Evan- 
gelical Magazine.  The  reviewer  makes  nothing  of  free  communion,  unless 
it  were  on  the  principle  of  admitting  the  validity  of  pcedobapfism.  Those 
Baptists  who  practise  it,  he  leaves  to  defend  themselves  as  they  can.  The 
result  is,  that  the  real  objection  against  us  respects  us  not  as  strict  nor  as 
open  communionists,  but  as  Baptists.  In  other  words,  that  the  only  open 
communion  that  would  give  satisfaction  must  include  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  validity  of  pajdobaptism,  which,  for  any  Baptist  to  make,  would  be 
ceasing  to  be  a  Baptist. 


508  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITr. 


THE   ADMISSION   OF   UNBAPTIZED  PERSONS  TO   THE   LORD'S 
SUPPER  INCONSISTENT  WITH  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

[A  Letter  to  a  Friend,  in  1814.] 
ADVERTISEMENT. 

That  the  following  is  a  genuine  letter,  written  by  the  hand  of  our  much 
lamented  friend  Mr.  Fuller,  no  one  who  is  at  all  acquainted  with  his  manner 
of  writing  will  deny. 

In  making  war  upon  the  common  enemy,  he  was  always  found  in  the 
foremost  rank,  always  among  the  first  to  take  the  field.  But  when  he  was 
called  to  animadvert  on  friends  and  allies,  how  strikingly  different  was  his 
conduct. 

In  January  last  I  received  a  parcel  from  him,  enclosing  a  letter,  in  which 
he  says — 

"  Dear  Brother, 

I  have  sent  you  Dr.  Baldwin,  which  you  may  keep  till  I  see  you, 

if  it  be  for  half  a  year.     Also  a  manuscript  of  my  own and  I  wish 

none  to  see  it  but  yourself,  and  that  no  mention  be  made  of  it.  If  any  thing 
be  written  on  the  other  side,  it  may,  if  thought  proper,  be  printed,  but  not 
else.  Yours  affectionately, 

Kettering,  Jan.  16,  1815.  A.  Fuller." 

The  above  will  justify  me  in  withholding  the  letter  till  now;  and  the  long 
expected  publication  of  Mr.  Hall,  which  has  just  appeared,  equally  requires 
that  I  withhold  it  no  longer. 

The  manuscript  has  many  verbal  corrections  and  interlineations,  exhibit- 
ing proofs  of  the  care  and  deliberation  with  which  this  letter  was  composed. 
It  may  be  proper  for  me  to  say,  the  title  was  written  by  the  author  himself, 
and  the  whole  is  printed  with  that  scrupulous  fidelity  which  I  have  thought 
due  to  the  writer,  as  to  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  age,  and  one  of  the 
brightest  luminaries  of  the  Christian  church. 

Stepney,  July  25,  1815.  William  Newman. 

letter,  etc. 
Dear  Sir, 

The  long  and  intimate  friendship  that  I  have  lived  in,  and  hope  to  die  in, 
with  several  who  are  differently  minded  from  me  on  this  subject,  may  acquit 
me  of  any  other  motive  in  what  I  write  than  a  desire  to  vindicate  what  ap- 
pears to  me  to  be  the  mind  of  Christ. 

So  far  have  I  been  from  indulging  a  sectarian  or  party  spirit,  that  my 
desire  for  communion  with  all  who  were  friendly  to  the  Saviour  has,  in  one 
instance,  led  me  practically  to  deviate  from  my  general  sentiments  on  the 
subject;  the  reflection  on  which,  however,  having  afforded  me  no  satisfac- 
tion, I  do  not  intend  to  repeat  it. 

You  request  me  to  state  the  grounds  of  my  objections  to  the  practice  in 
a  letter,  and  I  will  endeavour  to  do  so.  I  need  not  prove  to  you  that  it  is 
not  for  want  of  esteem  towards  my  Pa^dobaptist  brethren,  many  of  whom 
are  dear  to  me.  If  I  have  any  thing  like  Christian  love  in  me,  I  feel  it 
towards  all  those  in  whom  I  perceive  the  image  of  Christ,  whether  they  be 
Baptists  or  Paedobaptists ;  and  my  refusing  to  commune  with  them  at  the 


TERMS    OF    COMMUNIOjS".  509 

Lord's  table  is  not  because  I  consider  them  as  improper  subjects,  but  as 
attending  to  it  in  an  improper  tnanner.  Many  from  Ephraim  and  Manasseh, 
Issachar  and  Zebulun,  who  partook  of  Hezekiah's  passover,  are  supposed  by 
that  pious  prince  to  have  "prepared  their  hearts  to  seek  the  Lord  God  of 
their  fathers;"  but  having  eaten  "otherwise  than  it  was  written,"  he  prayed 
the  Lord  to  "pardon  every  one  of  them,"  and  therefore  could  not  intend 
that  the  disorder  should  be  repeated,  2  Chron.  xxx.  17-19. 

I  have  been  used  to  think  that  our  conduct  on  such  questions  should  not 
be  governed  by  affection  any  more  than  by  disaffection,  but  by  a. regard  to 
the  revealed  will  of  Christ. 

A  brother  who  practises  mixed  communion  lately  acknowledged  to  me, 
that  "  he  did  not  think  it  was  a  question  of  candour  or  charity,  but  simply 
this.  Whether  there  toas  or  teas  not  an  instituted  connexion  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament between  baptism  and  the  LorcTs  supper.  If  there  was,  we  ought  not, 
under  a  pretence  of  charity,  to  divide  them ;  for  surely  Jesus  Christ  miy  be 
allowed  to  have  had  as  much  charity  and  candour  as  we !"  Yet  we  hear  a 
great  outcry,  not  only  from  Pa3dobaptists,  but  Baptists,  against  our  want  of 
candour,  liberality,  &c. ;  all  which,  if  this  concession  be  just,  is  mere  decla- 
mation. •  To  what  purpose  is  it,  too,  that  such  characters  as  Owen,  Watts, 
Doddridge,  Edwards,  &c.,  are  brought  forward  in  this  dispute,  unless  it  be 
to  kindle  prejudice?  If  it  were  a  question  o^  feeling,  their  names  would 
doubtless  have  weight;  but  if  it  relate  to  the  revealed  will  of  Christ,  they 
weigh  nothing.  Is  there,  or  is  there  not,  an  instituted  connexion  between 
baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  as  much  as  between  faith  and  baptism?  If 
there  be,  we  might  as  well  be  asked,  how  we  can  refuse  to  baptize  the  chil- 
dren of  such  excellent  men,  as  how  we  can  refuse  to  admit  them  to  the 
Lord's  supper.  If  a  man  call  me  a  bigot,  I  might  in  reply  call  him  by  some 
other  name;  but  we  should  neither  of  us  prove  any  thing,  except  it  were 
our  want  of  something  better  to  allege.  The  question  respects  not  ?nen,  but 
things.  It  has  been  painful  for  me  to  "  withdraw  from  a  brother  who  has 
walked  disorderly;"  nevertheless  I  have  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  do  so.  I  was 
not  long  since  assured  by  a  Paedobaptist  friend,  that,  "  If  I  could  think  free 
communion  to  be  right,  I  should  be  much  happier  than  I  was;"  and  it  is  possi- 
ble that  in  some  respects  I  might.  If  I  could  think  well  of  the  conduct  of  a 
brother  whom  I  at  present  consider  as  walking  disorderly,  or  if  I  could  pass 
it  by  without  being  partaker  of  it,  I  doubt  not  but  I  should  be  the  happier; 
but  if  that  in  which  he  walks  be  disorder,  and  I  cannot  pass  it  by  without 
being  a  partaker  of  it,  I  had  better  be  without  such  happiness  than  pos- 
sess it. 

The  question  of  free  communion  as  maintained  by  Baptists  is  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  is  ordinarily  maintained  by  Peedobaptists.  There  are 
very  few  of  the  latter  who  deny  baptism  to  be  a  term  of  communion,  or  who 
would  admit  any  man  to  the  Lord's  supper  whom  thry  consider  as  unbap- 
TiZED.  Some  few,  I  allow,  have  professed  a  willingness  to  receive  any 
person  whom  they  consider  as  a  believer  in  Christ,  whether  he  be  baptized 
or  not.  But  this  is  probably  the  effect  of  the  practice,  so  prevalent  of  late 
among  Paedobaptists,  of  decrying  the  importance  of  the  subject.  I  have 
never  known  a  Pa;dobaptist  of  any  note,  who  conscientiously  adheres  to 
what  he  thinks  the  mind  of  Christ  relative  to  this  ordinance,  who  would  thus 
lightly  dispense  with  it.  The  ordinary  ground  on  which  a  Paedobaptist 
would  persuade  us  to  practise  free  communion  is  that  their  baptism,  whether 
we  can  allow  it  to  be  quite  so  primitive  as  ours  or  not,  is  nevertheless  valid, 
and  that  we  should  allow  it  to  be  so,  and  consequently  should  treat  them  as 
baptized  persons  by  admitting  them  to  the  Lord's  table.  It  is  on  this  ground 
that  Mr.  Worcester,  in  his  Friendly  Letter  to  Mr.  Baldwin,  pleads  for  open 

2  u2 


510  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

communion. — He  allows  that  if  Mr.  Baldwin  could  demonstrate  that  baj>- 
tism  is  to  be  administered  only  in  one  mode  and  to  one  kind  of  subject,  and 
that  immersion  is  not  a  mere  circumstance  or  mode  of  baptism,  but  essential 
to  the  ordinance,  so  that  he  that  is  not  immersed  is  not  baptized,  his  senti- 
ment of  close  communion  "  would  be  sufficiently  established," — pp.  8,  9. 
To  the  same  purpose  is  the  drift  of  the  reviewer  of  Mr.  Booths  Apology, 
in  the  Evangelical  Magazine.  But  to  admit  the  validity  of  pjcdobaptism 
would  not  overthrow  strict  communion  only,  but  baptism  itself  as  performed 
upon  persons  who  have  been  previously  baptized  in  their  infancy.  If  infant 
baptism  be  valid,  it  ought  not  to  be  repeated ;  and  he  that  repeats  it  is,  what 
his  opponents  have  been  used  to  call  him,  an  Anabaptist.  The  ground  of 
argument,  therefore,  does  not  belong  to  the  subject  at  issue.  Its  language 
is.  Do  acknowledge  our  baptism  to  be  valid,  and  allow  that  whenever  you 
baptize  a  person  who  has  been  sprinkled  in  his  infancy  you  rebaptize  him; — 
that  is.  Do  give  up  your  principles  as  a  Baptist,  in  order  that  we  may  have 
communion  together  at  the  Lord's  table  ! ! ! 

Very  different  from  this  are  the  grounds  on  which  our  Baptist  brethren 
plead  for  free  communion.  As  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  them,  they  may 
be  reduced  to  two  questions.  1.  Has  baptism  any  such  instituted  connexion 
with  the  Lord's  supper  as  to  be  a  prerequisite  to  it?  3.  Supposing  it  has, 
yet  if  the  candidate  consider  himself  as  having  been  baptized,  ought  not 
this  to  suffice  for  his  being  treated  by  a  Christian  church  as  a  baptized  per- 
son ;  and  does  not  an  error  concerning  the  mode  or  subjects  of  Christian 
baptism  come  within  the  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  which  enjoin  for- 
bearance, and  allow  every  man  to  be  "  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind?" 

Let  us  calmly  examine  these  questions  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
stated: — 

First,  Has  baptism  any  such  i?istituted  connexion  with  the  Lord's  supper 
as  to  be  a  prerequisite  to  it?  No  Baptist  will  deny  it  to  be  a  duty  incumbent 
on  believers,  but  he  may  consider  it  as  having  no  more  connexion  with  the 
Lord's  supper  than  other  duties,  and  the  omission  of  it,  where  it  arises  from 
error,  as  resembling  other  omissions  of  duty,  which  are  allowed  to  be  objects 
of  forbearance. 

If  there  be  no  instituted  connexion  between  them,  it  must  go  far  towards 
establishing  the  position  of  Mr.  Bunyan,  that  "  Non-baptism  (at  least  where 
it  arises  from  error)  is  no  bar  to  communion."  If  Mr.  Bunyan's  position  be 
tenable,  however,  it  is  rather  singular  that  it  should  have  been  so  long  undis- 
covered ;  for  it  does  not  appear  that  such  a  notion  was  ever  advanced  till  he 
or  his  contemporaries  advanced  it.  Whatever  difference  of  opinion  had  sub- 
sisted among  Christians  concerning  the  mode  and  subjects  of  baptism,  I  have 
seen  no  evidence  that  baptism  was  considered  by  any  one  as  unconnected 
with  or  unnecessary  to  the  supper.  "  It  is  certain,"  says  Dr.  Doddridge, 
"  that  as  far  as  our  knowledge  of  primitive  antiquity  reaches,  no  nnbaptized 
person  received  the  Lord's  supper." — Lectures,  p.  51  L  See  Mr.  Booth's 
Apology,  sect.  1.  The  practice  of  Christians  having  been  uniformly  against 
us,  I  acknowledge,  does  not  prove  us  to  be  in  the  wrong ;  but  an  opinion 
so  circumstanced  certainly  requires  to  be  well  established  from  the  Scriptures. 

To  ascertain  whether  there  be  any  instituted  connexion  between  the  two 
ordinances,  it  will  be  proper  to  observe  the  manner  in  which  such  connexions 
are  ordinarily  expressed  in  the  New  Testament.  It  is  not  unusual  for  per- 
sons engaged  in  argument  to  require  that  the  principle  which  they  opposed 
should,  if  true,  have  been  so  expressed  in  the  Scriptures  as  to  place  it  beyond 
dispute.  This,  however,  is  not  the  ordinary  way  in  which  any  thing  is  there 
expressed.  Nor  is  it  for  us  to  prescribe  to  the  Holy  Spirit  in  what  manner 
he  shall  enjoin  his  will,  but  to  inquire  in  what  he  has  enjoined  it.     A  Psedo- 


TERMS  OF  COMMUNION.  511 

baptist  might  say,  Tf  teaching  be  indispensably  necessary  to  precede  baptizing, 
why  did  not  Christ  expressly  say  so,  and  forbid  his  disciples  to  baptize  any 
who  were  not  previously  taught?  A  Roman  Catholic  also,  who  separates 
the  bread  from  the  wine,  might  insist  on  your  proving  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment that  Christ  expressly  connected  them  together,  and  required  the  one 
before  and  in  order  to  the  other. 

To  the  former  of  these  objections  you  would  answer,  Let  us  read  the  com- 
mission : — "  Go,  ....  teach  all  nations  ....  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ....  Teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  ....  and,  lo !  I  am 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Is  it  not  plainly  the  order 
of  things  as  stated  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  you  would  add,  that  we  are  first 
to  tcacli  men,  by  imparting  to  them  the  gospel ;  then,  on  their  believing  it, 
to  baptize  them;  and  then  to  go  on  to  instruct  them  in  all  the  ordinances 
and  commandments  which  are  left  by  Christ  for  our  direction.  Thus  also 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  you  would  answer: — Let  us  read  the  institution  as 
repeated  by  the  apostle  Paul  to  the  Corinthians, — "I  have  received  of  the 
Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you.  That  the  Lord  Jesus  the  night  in 
which  he  was  betrayed  took  bread:  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake 
it,  and  said.  Take,  eat :  this  is  my  body,  which  is  broken  for  you :  this  do 
in  remembrance  of  me.  After  the  same  manner  also  he  took  the  cup,  when 
he  had  supped,  saying.  This  cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my  blood  :  this  do 
ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  me.  For  as  often  as  ye  cat  this 
bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  show  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come."  You 
would  add,  How  dare  you  put  asunder  the  wine  and  the  bread  which  Christ 
hath  thus  manifestly  joined  together?  The  former  of  these  answers  must,  I 
think,  be  approved  by  every  Baptist,  and  the  latter  by  every  protestant.  But 
the  reasoning  in  both  cases  proceeds  on  the  supposition,  that  the  ordinary 
way  in  which  the  mind  of  Christ  is  enjoined  in  the  New  Testament,  is  by 
simply  stating  things  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  appointed  and  are  to 
be  practised;  and  that  this  is  no  less  binding  on  us  than  if  the  connexion 
had  been  more  fuUy  expressed.  It  is  as  clear  in  the  first  case  as  if  it  had 
been  said,  Go,  tirst  teach  them  the  gospel ;  and  when  they  have  received  it, 
baptize  them;  and,  after  this,  lead  them  on  in  a  course  of  evangelical  obe- 
dience.— And  in  the  last  case,  it  is  no  less  clear  than  if  it  had  been  said, 
First  take  the  bread,  then  the  cup,  and  never  partake  of  the  one  without  the 
other. 

But  if  this  be  just  reasoning  with  a  Pa^dobaptist  and  a  Roman  Catholic, 
why  should  it  not  be  so  in  the  present  case?  If  the  above  be  the  ordinary 
mode  of  Divine  injunction,  we  can  be  at  no  loss  to  know  what  is  enjoined 
respecting  the  duties  in  question.  All  the  recorded  facts  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment place  baptism  before  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  supper. 

The  first  company  who  joined  together  at  the  Lord's  table  were  all  bap- 
tized. That  Christ  was  so  himself  we  are  expressly  informed ;  and  of  the 
disciples  we  are  told  that  they  baptized  others  (John  iv.  2) ;  which  would 
not  have  been  permitted  had  they,  like  the  Pharisees  and  lawyers,  refused  to 
be  baptized  themselves. 

The  next  mention  of  the  celebration  of  the  supper  is  in  the  second  chap- 
ter of  the  Acts.  The  account  given  is,  that  every  one  of  them  was  exhorted 
lO  "  repent  and  be  baptized,"  and  that  they  who  gladly  received  the  word 
"  were  baptized  ;"  after  which  they  were  "  added  to  the  church,"  and  "  con- 
tinued steadfastly  in  the  apostle's  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of 
bread,  and  in  prayers." 

The  question  put  by  the  apostle  Paul  to  certain  disciples  at  Ephesus,  who 
said  they  had  not  heard  whether  there  were  any  Holy  Ghost,  "  Unto  what 


512  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

then  were  ye  baptized?"  clearly  intimates  that  there  were  no  Christians  in 
those  times  who  continued  unbaptized.  He  does  not  ask  whether  thev  had 
been  baptized,  taking  this  for  granted,  but  merely  to  what  they  had  been 
baptized. 

The  nature  and  design  of  baptism,  as  given  us  in  the  New  Testament, 
shows  it  to  have  been  the  iiiitiatonj  ordinance  of  Christianity.  It  was  not, 
indeed,  an  initiation  into  a  particular  church,  seeing  it  was  instituted  prior 
to  the  formation  of  churches,  and  administered  in  some  cases,  as  that  of  the 
Ethiopian  eunuch,  in  which  there  was  no  opportunity  for  joining  to  any  one 
of  them ;  but  it  was  an  initiation  into  the  body  of  professing  Christians. 
And,  if  so,  it  must  be  necessary  to  an  admission  into  a  particular  church, 
inasmuch  as  what  is  particular  presupposes  what  is  general.  No  man  could 
with  propriety  occupy  a  place  in  the  army  without  having  first  avowed  his 
loyalty,  or  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance.  The  oath  of  allegiance  does  not, 
indeed,  initiate  a  person  into  the  army,  as  one  may  take  that  oath  who  is  no 
soldier;  but  it  is  a  prerequisite  to  being  a  soldier.  Though  all  who  take 
the  oath  are  not  soldiers,  yet  all  soldiers  take  the  oath.  Now  baptism  is  that 
Divine  ordinance  by  which  we  are  said  to  put  on  Christ,  as  the  king's  livery 
is  put  on  by  tliose  who  enter  his  service ;  and,  by  universal  consent  through- 
out the  Christian  world,  is  considered  as  the  badge  of  a  Christian.  To 
admit  a  person  into  a  Christian  church  without  it  were  equal  to  admitting 
one  into  a  regiment  who  scrupled  to  wear  the  soldier's  uniform,  or  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance. 

There  are  instances  in  the  New  Testament  in  which  the  word  baptism 
does  not  mean  the  baptism  by  water,  but  yet  manifestly  alludes  to  it,  and  to 
the  Lord's  supper  as  connected  with  it;  e.  g.  1  Cor.  x.  1-5,  "  Moreover,  bre- 
thren, I  would  not  that  ye  should  be  ignorant  how  that  all  our  fathers  were 
under  the  cloud,  and  all  passed  through  the  sea;  and  were  all  baptized  unto 
Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea ;  and  did  all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat ; 
and  did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual  drink :  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual 
Rock  that  followed  them  •  and  that  Rock  was  Christ.  But  with  many  of 
them  God  was  not  well  pleased  ;  for  they  were  overthrown  in  the  wilderness." 
The  Corinthians  had  many  amongst  them  who  had  polluted  themselves  with 
idolatrous  practices,  and  yet  presumed  on  being  saved  by  Christ.  The 
design  of  the  apostle  was  to  warn  them,  from  the  examples  of  the  Jewish 
fathers,  not  to  rely  upon  their  having  been  partakers  of  the  Christian  privi- 
leges of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper  while  they  indulged  in  sin.  The 
manner  in  which  these  allusions  are  introduced  clearly  shows  the  connexion 
between  the  two  ordinances  in  the  practice  of  the  primitive  churches. 

Thus  also  in  1  Cor.  xii.  13,  we  are  said  "by  one  Spirit"  to  be  "all 
baptized  into  one  body,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  bond  or  free ;  and 
all  made  to  drink  into  one  spirit."  The  design  may  be  to  illustrate  the 
spiritual  union  of  all  true  believers  in  one  invisible  body,  as  originating  in 
the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  as  being  continued  by  the  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Spirit:  but  the  allusion  is,  I  conceive,  to  the  ordinances  of  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  supper ;  by  the  former  of  which  they  were  initiated  into  the 
body  of  professing  Christians,  and  by  the  other  had  communion  in  it.  See 
Poole,  Henry,  and  Scott  on  the  passage. 

From  these  instances,  we  have  equal  evidence  that  the  two  ordinances 
were  connected  in  the  practice  of  the  first  churches  as  we  have  of  faith  being 
connected  with  baptism,  or  of  the  bread  being  connected  with  the  wine  in 
the  supper.  The  only  difference  between  these  cases  is,  that  the  one  requires 
a  part  and  the  other  the  whole  of  a  Divine  institution  to  be  dispensed  with. 
Is  it  for  us  to  make  light  of  the  precepts  of  Christ,  under  the  notion  of  pro- 
fiting and  edifying  his  people?     If  we  have  any  ground  to  expect  his  pre- 


TERMS  OP  COMMUNION.  513 

sence  and  blessing,  it  is  in  "teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
he  has  commanded"  us. 

But  let  us  proceed  to  the  second  question,  IVhefher,  if  the  candidate  con- 
sider  himself  as  having  been  baptized,  this  ought  not  to  suffice  for  his  being 
treated  by  a  Christian  church  as  a  baptized  person;  and  trhether  an  crrctr 
concerning  the  mode  or  subjects  of  baptism  be  not  a  subject  of  Christian  for- 
bearance, in  which  every  one  may  be  alloioed  to  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  men 
mind. 

That  there  are  cases  to  which  this  principle  will  apply  is  certain.  Con- 
cerning eating  or  not  eating  meats,  and  observing  or  not  observing  days,  the 
apostle  teaches  that  every  man  should  "  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind." 
"  Who  art  thou,"  he  asks,  "  that  judgest  another  man's  servant  ?  To  his  own 
master  he  standeth  or  falleth. — Why  dost  thou  judge  thy  brother?  or  why 
dost  thou  set  at  nought  thy  brother?  for  we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  Christ. — Every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God. — 
Hast  thou  faith?  have  it  to  thyself,"  Rom.  xiv. 

These  passages  have  often  been  alleged  in  favour  of  free  communion 
between  Baptists  and  Psedobaptists ;  and  if  the  principle  laid  down  by  the 
apostle  applies  to  that  subject,  though  originally  he  had  no  reference  to  it, 
the  reasoning  of  our  brethren  is  just  and  right. 

The  case,  I  conceive,  must  have  referred  to  the  prohibition  of  certain 
meats,  and  the  observance  of  certain  days,  under  the  Jewish  law;  which 
being  no  longer  binding  on  Christians,  some  would  avail  themselves  of  this 
liberty,  and  disregard  them ;  others,  not  having  sufficient  light,  would  regard 
them.  Had  it  referred  to  any  customs  of  heathen  origin,  or  which  had  never 
been,  nor  been  understood  to  be,  of  Divine  appointment,  it  is  not  conceivable 
that  those  who  regarded  them  should  "  regard  them  to  the  Lord."  In  this 
case  every  man  was  allowed  to  judge  and  act  for  himself,  and  required  to 
forbear  with  his  brethren  who  might  be  otherwise  minded. 

That  we  are  to  apply  this  principle  without  restriction  few  will  maintain. 
Should  the  first  principles  of  the  gospel,  for  example,  be  rejected  by  a  can- 
didate for  communion,  few  who  pretend  to  serious  Christianity  would  think 
of  receiving  him.  Yet  he  might  allege  the  same  arguments,  and  ask,  "Who 
art  thou  that  judgest  another  man's  servant?  To  his  own  master  he  standeth 
or  falleth.  Why  dost  thou  judge  thy  brother?  or  why  dost  thou  set  at  nought 
thy  brother?  for  we  shall  all  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ. — 
Every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God. — Hast  thou  faith? 
have  it  to  thyself."  In  this  case,  we  should  answer,  that  the  language  of  the 
apostle  was  misapplied ;  and  that  it  was  not  his  design  to  affirm  that  Chris- 
tians in  a  state  of  religious  society  had  no  right  to  judge  of  each  other's 
avowed  principles ;  for,  if  so,  he  would  not  have  desired  some  to  have  been 
cut  off  who  troubled  the  Galatians,  Gal.  v.  12.  Nor  would  the  church  at 
Pergamos  have  been  censured  for  having  those  amongst  them  that  held  per- 
nicious doctrines.  Rev.  ii.  14,  15.  Private  judgment  is  every  man's  birth- 
right, considered  as  an  individual;  but  as  a  candidate  for  admission  into  a 
voluntary  society,  it  is  essential  that  there  be  an  agreement,  at  least,  in  first 
principles:  for  "how  can  two  walk  together  except  they  be  agreed?" 

And  as  we  are  not  so  to  apply  this  forbearing  principle  in  matters  of  doc- 
trine  as  to  raze  the  foundations  of  Divine  truth,  neither  shall  we  be  justified 
in  applying  it  to  the  dispensing  with  any  of  the  commandments  of  Christ. 
The  meats  and  days  of  which  the  apostle  speaks  are  represented  as  not 
affecting  the  kingdom  of  God.  "The  kingdom  of  God,"  he  says,  "is  not 
meat  and  drink ;  but  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  (he  Holy  Ghost," 
ver.  17.  But  if  they  had  required  a  positive  commandment  of  Christ  to  be 
dispensed  with,  they  would  have  affected  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the 

Vol.  III.— (io 


514  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

apostle  would  not  have  written  concerning  them  as  he  did.  In  short,  it  is 
not  just  to  argue  from  Jewish  customs,  which  though  once  binding  had 
ceased  to  be  so,  to  Christian  ordinances  which  continue  in  full  force.  The 
tone  which  the  apostle  holds  in  respect  of  those  Jewish  rites  which  ceased 
to  be  obligatory  is  very  different  from  that  which  respects  commandments 
still  in  force:  "Circumcision  is  nothing,  but  the  keeping  of  the  command- 
ments of  God,"  1  Cor.  vii.  19. — "I  praise  you,  brethren,  that  you  remember 
me  in  all  things,  and  keep  the  ordinances  as  I  delivered  them  unto  you," 
1  Cor.  xi.  2. 

If  to  be  t)aptized  be  a  qualification  requisite  to  Christian  communion, 
(which  under  the  second  question  I  have  a  right  to  assume,)  it  is  absurd  to 
suppose  that  it  belongs  to  the  candidate  exclusively  to  judge  of  it.  It  is  con- 
trary to  the  first  principles  of  all  society  for  a  candidate  to  be  the  judge  of  his 
own  qualifications.  Apply  it  to  any  other  qualification,  as  faith  in  Christ,  for 
instance,  or  a  consistency  of  character,  and  you  will  instantly  perceive  its 
absurdity.  We  must  return  to  the  first  question :  Is  baptism  prerequisite  to 
the  Lord's  supper?  If  it  be  so,  it  must  belong  to  the  church  to  judge 
whether  the  candidate  has  been  baptized  or  not.  But  the  principle  on 
which  the  apostle  enforces  forbearance  is  often  alleged  as  applicable  to  this 
question. — "  Him  that  is  weak  in  the  faith  receive  ye, — for  God  hath  re- 
ceived HIM."  It  is  doubtful  whether  receiving  here  means  admission  to 
communion.  Mr.  Booth  has  shown  that  this  is  not  the  ordinary  meaning 
of  the  term ;  but  allowing  this  to  be  the  meaning,  and  that  God's  having 
received  a  person  furnishes  the  ground  and  rule  of  our  receiving  him,  still 
there  is  nothing  in  our  practice  inconsistent  with  it.  If  receiving  a  brother 
here  denote  receiving  him  into  Christian  fellowship,  the  meaning  is,  receive 
him  TO  the  ordinances,  and  not  to  one  of  them  without  the  other.  We  are 
willing  to  receive  all  who  appear  to  have  been  received  of  God  to  the  ordi- 
nances of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper:  if  we  object,  it  is  because  they 
wish  to  be  received  to  the  one  without  the  other,  of  which  there  was  no 
example  in  the  first  churches.  Let  it  also  be  particularly  noticed,  that  our 
brethren  who  plead  for  receiving  Christians  as  Christians  receive  them  to 

THE  ORDINANCES   AS   UNDERSTOOD   AND   PRACTISED   BY  THEM,  and  this  WC  do. 

If  the  prejudices  of  a  pious  catholic  would  permit  him  to  request  to  join  with 
them  at  the  Lord's  supper,  they  would,  as  we  have  often  been  told,  receive 
him;  but  to  what?  Would  they  provide  a  wafer  for  him,  and  excuse  him 
from  drinking  of  tlie  cup?  No;  they  would  say,  We  are  willing  to  receive 
you  to  the  Lord's  supper,  in  the  way  we  understand  and  practise  it;  but  we 
cannot  divide  the  Wine  from  the  bread  without  dispensing  wiih  an  essential 
part  of  the  institution.  Such  is  our  answer  to  a  pious  Pasdobaptist.  We 
are  williug  to  receive  you  to  the  ordinances  of  Christ,  as  we  understand  and 
practise  them;  but  we  cannot  divide  the  one  from  the  other  without  dis- 
pensing whh  an  institution  of  Christ. 

OBJECTIONS. 

It  has  been  said  that  "we  all  practise  a  worse  mixed  communion  than 
that  with  Paedobaptists ;  that  we  have  covetous  and  other  bad  characters 
amongst  us,"  &c.  If  we  "bear  them  that  are  evil"  in  things  of  a  moral 
nature,  this  is  our  sin,  and  we  ought  to  repent  of  it,  and  not  to  argue  that 
because  we  do  wrong  in  one  instance  we  ought  to  do  so  in  another.  If  we 
omit  to  admonish  and  exclude  manifestly  wicked  characters,  it  is  of  but 
little  account  that  we  are  strict  in  regard  to  baptism;  but  in  reproving  us, 
our  Lord  would  not  complain  of  our  not  being  alike  lax  in  things  positive 
as  we  are  in  things  moral,  but  of  our  not  being  alike  strict  in  both.  "These 
ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone." 


INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP.  515 

Tliere  is,  however,  a  wide  difference  between  bearing  with  individuals, 
even  in  things  which  are  evil,  where  that  evil  lies  so  much  in  the  motive  as 
to  be  very  difficult  of  detection,  and^  making  it  a  rule  to  tolerate  men  in  such 
vices.  It  was  no  reproach  to  Christ  and  his  apostles  to  have  had  a  Judas 
amongst  them,  though  he  was  a  "  thief,"  so  long  as  his  theft  was  not  mani- 
fested ;  but  had  tliere  been  a  rule  laid  down  that  covetousness  and  even  theft 
should  be  no  bar  to  communion,  the  reproach  had  been  indelible. 

It  has  been  said,  "  If  our  practice  of  strict  communion  be  right,  it  ought 
to  be  to  us  an  act  of  self-denial,  and  not  of  pleasure,  inasmuch  as  charity 
•would  be  unable  to  take  pleasure  in  excluding  those  from  communion  whom 
we  consider  as  Christians."  And  this  so  far  as  it  relates  to  men  is  true,  but 
it  is  no  less  true  of  many  other  duties,  in  which  we  may  be  called  to  act  dif- 
ferently from  our  brethren,  and  to  reprove  them. 

"  But  in  thus  denying  ourselves,"  it  has  been  further  said,  "  we  deny  some 
of  the  best  feelings  of  the  human  heart."  This  I  cannot  admit.  The  best 
feelings  of  the  human  heart  are  those  of  love  and  obedience  to  God ;  and 
if  I  deny  myself  of  the  pleasure  which  fellowship  with  a  Christian  brother 
would  afford  me,  for  the  sake  of  acting  up  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  or  accord- 
ing to  primitive  example,  I  do  not  deny  the  best  feelings  of  the  human 
heart,  but,  on  the  contrary,  forego  the  less  for  the  greater.  It  is  a  greater 
pleasure  to  obey  the  will  of  God  than  to  associate  with  creatures  in  a  way 
deviating  from  it. 

We  tnai/  act  in  this  matter  from  temper  or  from  prejudice,  rather  than 
from  a  conscientious  regard  to  the  mind  of  Christ ;  and  they  who  oppose  us 
may  act  from  worldly  policy,  or  a  desire  to  court  applause  as  candid  and 
liberal  men  ;  but  neither  of  these  cases  proves  any  thing.  The  question  is, 
whether,  in  admitting  unbaptized  persons  to  the  Lord's  table,  we  do  not  de- 
viate from  the  mind  of  Christ. 

I  am  willing  to  allow  that  open  communion  ma^be  practised  from  a  con- 
scientious persuasion  of  its  being  the  mind  of  Christ;  and  they  ought  to 
allow  the  same  of  strict  communion;  and  thus,  instead  of  reproaching  one 
another  with  bigotry  on  the  one  hand,  or  carnal  policy  on  the  other,  we  should 
confine  our  inquiries  to  the  precepts  and  examples  of  the  New  Testament. — 
I  am  affectionately  yours,  Andrew  Fuller. 


INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP. 

[In  repiy  to  a  Correspondent.] 

That  there  are  circumstances  attending  the  worship  of  God,  whether  it  be 
moral  or  positive,  which  are  not  the  objects  of  Divine  appointment,  I  allow; 
such  as  the  tunes  in  singing,  and  whether  we  baptize  in  a  pool  or  in  a  river, 
or  drink  the  wine  at  the  Lord's  supper  out  of  a  silver  or  pewter  or  wooden 
cup.  Each  of  these  is  alike  indifferent.  I  do  not  admit,  however,  that  we 
have  no  example  of  uninspired  preaching.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  no 
proof,  that  I  remember,  that  even  the  apostles  themselves  were  under  the  in- 
fallible inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  their  sermons,  nor  in  all  their 
writings ;  though  they  were  in  those  which  have  place  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Be  that  as  it  may :  if  what  every  preacher  advanced  had  been  inspired,  it 
would  itself  have  contained  the  oracles  of  God ;  but  in  that  case  there  would 
have  been  no  propriety  in  that  direction — "  If  any  man  speak,  let  him  speak 
as  the  oracles  of  God,"  1  Pet.  iv.  11. 


516  ECCLESIASTICAL   POLITT. 

As  to  our  using  human  compositions  in  singing,  I  have  sometimes  had 
my  doubts  whether  we  ought  not  to  sing  the  poetical  parts  of  Scripture  se* 
to  sacred  music.  I  should  rejoice  to  see  a  book  of  such  Divine  hymns  in- 
troduced into  all  our  churches,  taking  place  of  a  vast  load  of  trash  and 
insipidity.  If  we  had  not  hymns  inspired,  ready  to  our  hands,  any  more  than 
tunes,  I  should  then  think  that  the  composing  of  the  one  as  well  as  of  the 
other  was  a  circumstance  of  worship  left  to  human  powers.  But  be  this  as 
it  may,  whether  the  hymns  we  sing  be  a  discretional  concomitant  of  worsliip 
or  not,  this  cannot  be  said  of  instrumental  music.  It  was  from  the  first  a 
subject  of  Divine  injunction.  The  very  passage  which  you  have  quoted 
proves  this,  2  Chron.  xxix.  25-28.  You  must  have  seen  with  what  tender 
regard  to  Divine  authority  it  was  introduced.  It  was  "  according  to  the 
command  of  David,  and  of  Gad  the  king's  seer,  and  Nathan  the  prophet: 
for  so  was  the  conmiand  of  Jehovah  by  his  prophets."  If  the  writer  had 
designed  merely  to  guard  against  the  idea  of  David's  having  done  it  of  his 
own  discretion,  he  could  not  have  chosen  words  better  adapted  to  his  pur- 
pose ;  and  indeed  it  manifestly  appears  that  this  was  his  design. 

But,  you  say,  instrumental  music  "was  not  instituted  by  any  express  com- 
mand of  the  ceremonial  law ;  that  it  has  nothing  in  it  of  the  nature  of  a 
positive  institute,  and  cannot  therefore  be  considered  as  abolished  by  the  in- 
troduction of  the  gospel."     To  this  I  reply — 

1.  Its  not  being  required  by  the  law  of  Moses  does  not  prove  that  it  "  was 
not  instituted  by  any  express  command."  You  seem  to  be  aware  of  this,  and 
therefore  have  softened  your  position  by  adding  the  words,  "  the  law  of 
Moses." 

2.  Its  not  being  required  by  the  law  of  Moses  does  not  prove  that  it  was 
"  not  a  part  of  the  ceremonial  law  which  is  abolished  by  the  gospel."  A 
great  number  of  the  directions  relating  to  the  building  of  the  temple,  and 
the  regulation  of  its  worship,  were  ceremonial,  though  not  commanded  "  by 
the  law  of  Moses;"  and  were  all  abolished  when  that  temple  ceased  to  exist. 
— See  1  Chron.  xxviii.  11-19.  These  appendages  to  the  temple  could  not 
survive  the  temple,  and  it  appears  that  instrumental  music  was  a  kind  of  ap- 
pendage to  the  sacrifices  of  those  times.  So  it  seems  to  be  represented  in 
2  Chron.  xxix.  25-28 ;  and  it  was  as  much  abolished  when  sacrifices  ceased 
as  the  others  were  when  the  temple  was  no  more. 

3.  If  instrumental  music  was  no  part  of  ceremonial  worship,  it  must  have 
been  moral;  for  what  has  already  been  advanced  proves  that  it  was  not  a 
mere  discretional  circumstance  of  worship,  concerning  which  no  command- 
ment was  given.  That  the  vocal  praising  of  God  is  a  moral  duty,  I  allow; 
but  the  use  of  instruments  is  not  so.  It  is  a  practice  which  has  every  pro- 
perty of  a  positive  institute,  and  not  one,  that  I  recollect,  of  moral  obliga- 
tion. That  all  duties,  both  moral  and  positive,  are  commanded  of  God,  is 
true;  but  what  is  moral  is  commanded  because  it  is  right,  and  the  motive 
by  which  it  is  enforced  is  not  the  mere  will  of  the  legislator;  whereas  that 
which  is  positive  is  right,  because  it  is  commanded.  The  whole  authority 
in  the  latter  case  rests  upon  the  Divine  command,  and  this  is  the  ground 
on  which  the  practice  of  instrumental  music  is  rested  in  the  Scriptures, 
It  was  "  according  to  the  commandment  of  David,  and  of  Gad,  and  Nathan: 
for  so  was  the  commandment  of  the  Lord  by  his  prophets,"  2  Chron.  xxix, 
25.  This  is  a  kind  of  language  which  is  never  used  of  vocal  music,  or  of 
any  other  moral  duty,  but  which  exactly  accords  with  what  is  said  of  other 
positive  institutions;  particularly  Uiose  which  respected  the  appendages  of 
temple  worship,  2  Chron.  viii.  14.  Another  thing  by  which  moral  and  posi- 
tive duties  are  distinguished  is,  that  the  former  are  binding  alike  in  all  ages 
and  nations ;  but  the  latter,  originating  in  Divine  appointment,  are  binding 


INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP.  517 

only  at  those  places  to  which  the  appointment  extends.  Now  you  yourself 
say  that  instrumental  music  "was  not  in  general  use  till  David's  time,  which 
was  five  hundred  years  after  the  law."  If  it  had  been  a  moral  duty,  it  would 
have  been  obligatory  at  all  times,  before  David's  time  as  well  as  in  it;  and 
we  should  have  read  of  it,  as  I  think  we  do  of  every  moral  duty,  in  the  New 
Testament. 

4.  Your  argument  from  the  worship  of  heaven  reminds  me  of  the  argu- 
ment in  favour  of  the  surplice,  from  the  heavenly  inhabitants  benig  clothed 
"in  fine  linen,  clean  and  white,  which  is  the  righteousness  of  saints ;"  to 
which  Robinson  replies.  We  are  sorry  to  say  it  is  all  the  righteousness  that 
some  saints  have!  But,  seriously,  the  heavenly  employments  and  enjoy- 
ments are  frequently  illustrated  by  things  borrowed  from  the  Jewish  ceremo- 
nial, which  things  were  once  right,  but  m  our  day  would  be  "  will-worship," 
Col.  ii.  23.  The  blessed  above  are  said  to  be  "  made  kings  and  priests 
unto  God."  In  the  same  chapter  in  which  we  read  of  "  harps"  we  also  read 
of  a  "temple"  and  an  "altar,"  in  heaven,  Rev.  xiv.  17,  18.  But  what  would 
you  think  of  an  argument  derived  from  this  in  favour  of  modern  priests, 
temples,  and  altars? 

In  short,  instrumental  music,  the  more  I  think  of  it,  appears  with  increas- 
ing evidence  to  be  utterly  unsuited  to  the  genius  of  the  gospel  dispensation. 
There  was  a  glare,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  which  characterized  even  the 
Divine  appointments  of  Judaism.  An  august  temple,  ornamented  with  gold 
and  silver,  and  precious  stones,  golden  candlesticks,  golden  altars,  priests  in 
rich  attire,  trumpets,  cymbals,  and  harps;  all  of  which  were  adapted  to  an 
age  and  dispensation  when  the  church  was  in  a  state  of  infancy.  But  when 
the  substance  is  come,  it  is  time  that  the  shadows  tiee  away.  The  best  ex- 
position of  harps  in  singing  is  given  by  Dr.  Watts — 

"  Oh  may  my  heart  in  tune  be  found, 
Like  David's  harp  of  solemn  sound." 


I  CANNOT  forbear  remarking  the  great  similarity  between  your  reasoning 
and  that  of  Episcopalians  in  favour  of  certain  ceremonies  to  which  the  pu- 
ritans objected.  They  did  not  pretend  that  they  were  obligatory,  but  merely 
lawful;  that  they  had  been  of  Divine  authority  under  the  former  dispensa- 
tion, and  were  now  matters  of  discretion.  If  this  were  indeed  the  case,  and 
they  had  followed  the  example  of  an  aposde,  they  would  have  relinquished 
them  when  they  proved  an  occasion  of  offence-  When  some  of  the  Corin- 
thians pleaded  for  the  lawfulness  of  eating  the  good  creatures  of  God,  though 
they  had  been  offered  in  sacrifice  to  idols,  Paul  replies,  granting  them  their 
principle,  "  Meat  commendeth  us  not  to  God :  for  neither  if  we  eat  are  we 
the  better,  neither  if  we  eat  not  are  we  the  worse."  In  a  similar  manner 
the  puritans  answered  the  Episcopalians.  Uncommanded  ceremonies,  grant- 
ing them  to  be  lawful,  commend  us  not  to  God ;  for  neither  if  we  use  them 
are  we  the  better,  neither  if  we  disuse  them  are  we  the  worse ;  and  seeing 
they  create  much  offence,  they  ought  to  be  relinquished.  And  thus,  though 
your  principles  should  be  true,  your  practice  may  be  condemned.  That  for 
which  you  plead  is  confessedly  not  a  duty.  It  commendeth  you  not  to  God  ; 
for  neither  if  you  make  use  of  instruments  are  you  the  better,  neither  if  you 
disuse  them  are  you  the  worse;  and  seeing  the  use  of  them  occasions  offence 
to  many  serious  minds,  it  ought  to  be  relinquished. 

But  as  Paul,  after  granting  the  Corinthians  their  argument,  and  condemn- 
ing their  conduct  even  on  that  ground,  proceeded  to  prove  that  the  thing 

2X 


518  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

itself  was  unlawful;  so  I  hope  to  prove  the  unlawfulness  of  instrumental 
music  in  Christian  worship. 

Instrumental  music,  I  grant,  was  before  the  times  of  David;  but  if  it  was 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  civil  joy,  or,  when  employed  in  Divine  worship 
authorized  by  Divine  appointment,  nothing  favourable  to  your  argument  can 
be  thence  inferred. 

Musical  instruments  were  first  invented  by  Jubal,  a  descendant  of  Cain, 
for  the  promoting  of  civil  mirth ;  and  to  this  purpose  they  have  been  em- 
ployed in  all  ages  and  nations  to  this  day.  That  they  were  used  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God  before  the  times  of  David  is  true;  but  it  is  also  true  that  there 
was  Divine  authority  for  it.  Trumpets  were  appointed  to  be  used  on  various 
occasions  by  the  law  of  Moses  (Lev.  xxiii.  24;  xxv.  9;  Numb.  x.  1-10); 
also  the  psaltery,  the  harp,  and  the  cymbal.  You  suppose  it  was  not  their 
use  in  religious  worship,  but  the  manner  of  it,  that  was  the  object  of  Divine 
appointment.  The  use  of  them,  you  suppose,  was  discretionary,  and  not 
appointed;  seeing  mention  is  made  of  them  previous  to  their  being  em- 
ployed in  the  temple  service.  But  the  phraseology  of  the  passage  in  2Chron. 
xxix.  25  does  not  favour  such  an  idea.  Matthew  Henry  thus  expounds  it: 
*'  While  the  offerings  were  burning  upon  the  altar,  the  Levites  sang  the  song 
of  the  Lord,  (ver.  27,)  the  psalms  composed  by  David  and  Asaph,  (ver.  30,) 
with  the  musical  instruments,  which  God  by  his  prophets  had  commanded 
the  use  of,"  ver.  25.  It  is  allowed,  however,  that  the  appointment  of  instru- 
mental music,  in  the  times  of  David,  respected  "  the  special  purposes  to  which 
it  should  be  applied ;  but  this  does  not  prove  that  it  was  not  previously  ap- 
pointed for  other  sacred  purposes. 

You  seem  to  take  it  for  granted  that  nothing  was  appointed  of  God,  un- 
less that  appointment  was  express;  but  God  has  not  always  conveyed  truth 
in  this  manner.  Though  we  read  of  no  express  appointment,  but  merely 
of  things  being  ordered  or  done  by  men  who  ivere  Divinely  inspired,  yet  the 
same  thing  is  in  many  cases  clearly  to  be  understood.  We  are  not  expressly 
told  that  God  appointed  the  means  of  Naaman's  cure,  namely,  his  bathing 
seven  times  in  Jordan ;  but  as  a  prophet  of  God  directed  him  to  it,  we  cer- 
tainly conclude  that  he  did  so.  The  spirit  of  God  that  was  in  the  prophet 
directed  it.  Thus,  though  the  use  of  the  psaltery,  tabret,  pipe,  and  harp,  in 
sacred  things,  be  not  expressly  commanded  till  the  times  of  David,  yet,  being 
used  before  his  time  as  the  means  of  prophetic  inspiration,  their  being 
Divinely  appointed  for  the  purpose  cannot  be  denied,  1  Sam.  x.  5 ;  2  Kings 
iii.  15. 

I  incline  to  think  that  the  use  of  the  timbrel  by  Miriam  and  the  women 
of  Israel  was  merely  civil,  Exod.  xv.  20.  It  was  an  instrument  necessary  to 
the  dance,  and  mostly,  if  not  invariably,  connected  with  it.  It  does  not  ap- 
pear to  have  been  used  in  singing  the  song  of  Moses,  but  at  certain  inter- 
vals. On  account  of  their  deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage,  one  while 
they  sang  praises,  and  another  while  Miriam  and  the  women  went  forth  with 
the  timbrel  and  the  dance.  It  was  a  great  national  deliverance ;  and  civil 
joy,  with  the  common  expressions  of  it,  were  mingled  with  their  praises  of 
Jehovah.  But  granting  it  was  a  part  o{  religious  exercises,  it  was  introduced 
by  one  who  in  the  very  act  is  called  "  a  prophetess,"  a  name  which  is  no 
where  else  ascribed  to  her ;  and  no  reason  that  I  know  of  can  be  given  for 
its  being  ascribed  to  her  here,  but  that  of  intimating  that  she  acted  under 
Divine  authority.  If,  as  you  contend,  it  was  a  part  of  "  discretionary"  wor- 
ship, the  same  must  be  said  of  dancing,  which  accompanied  it;  and  then  it 
would  be  lawful  in  our  worshipping  assemblies  to  introduce  not  only  the 
pipe,  but  the  dance. 

"  Positive  institutions,"  you  say, "  were  confined  to  time,  place,  manner,  and 


INSTRUMENTAL  MUSIC  IN  CHRISTIAN  WORSHIP.  519 

Other  circumstances;  but  instrumental  music  was  governed  by  such  a  variety 
of  discretionary  considerations  as  find  no  room  in  the  institutes  of  Judaism. 
It  might  be  performed  at  any  other  time,  as  well  as  at  the  stated  periods  of 
public  worsliip ;  in  any  place,  and  on  various  public  occasions,  which  are 
not  specified  by  any  law."  You  will  allow  the  offering  of  sacrifices  to  have 
been  a  part  of  instituted  worship;  yet  there  are  almost  all  the  varieties  attend- 
ing it  as  tho.sc  which  you  have  mentioned.  Those  of  Abel,  Noah,  Abraham, 
and  Jacob  were  not  "specified  by  the  letter  of  any  law;"  but  were  offered 
on  a  great  variety  of  occasions,  and,  prior  to  the  time  that  the  ark  had  rest, 
at  as  great  a  variety  of  places.  Instead,  therefore,  you  might  say,  of  the  offer- 
ing of  sacrifice  to  God  possessing  every  property  of  a  positive  institute,  it 
does  not  appear  to  possess  any  of  its  essentials.  The  truth  is,  that  not  one 
of  the  things  you  mention  afford  any  proof  for  or  against  instituted-worship; 
each  is  equally  applicable  to  sacrifice  and  praise,  though  the  one  is  a  positive 
and  the  other  a  moral  duty. 

Some  of  the  occasions  you  refer  to,  in  which  instrumental  music  is  used, 
might  be  merely  citnl.  Such  appears  to  be  the  going  forth  of  Jephthah's 
daughter,  with  "  timbrels  and  dances,"  on  occasion  of  his  victory  over  the 
Ammonites;  and  the  female  processions  on  occasion  of  David's  having  slain 
Goliath,  and  the  Philistines  being  defeated.  A  band  of  Bengal  music  was 
sent  before  Messrs.  Thomas  and  Carey  in  their  curious  procession  to  Bote 
Haul;*  to  which,  if  I  had  been  in  their  place,  I  should  have  had  no  objec- 
tion, but  rather  have  enjoyed  it,  as  it  was  an  expression  of  the  civility  and 
friendship  of  the  Booteas.  Others  I  allow  were  religious;  as  the  bringing 
up  of  the  ark,  the  building  of  the  city  wall,  &c.  But  in  these  instances 
there  are  plain  traces  of  Divine  authority,  and  such  as  indicate  that  instru- 
mental music  was  approved  of  God,  before  the  arrangement  of  the  temple 
service.  The  music  used  on  the  former  of  these  occasions  must  have  been 
previous  to  this,  as  it  was  before  the  ark  had  rest.  Yet  the  whole  of  that 
solemn  procession  was  "  before  the  Lord,"  even  the  exercise  of  dancing  and 
playing,  which  exposed  David  to  the  revilings  of  Michal.  This  was  his 
own  defence  against  her,  2  Sam.  vi.  21-23.  God  accepted  the  worship  too, 
and  punished  the  reviler.  But  as  Paul  inferred  from  the  acceptance  of  Abel's 
sacrifice  that  it  was  offered  "  in  faith,"  so  may  we  infer  from  the  acceptance 
of  the  worship  of  David  that  it  was  performed  in  obedience  to  the  Divine 
will.  The  conduct  of  David  in  praising  the  Lord  with  instruments  of  music 
is  more  than  once  mentioned  as  a  model  of  Divine  authority  for  after-times. 
Not  only  did  they  follow  his  example  in  the  times  of  Hezekiah,  as  being 
according  to  the  commandment  of  God  and  his  prophets  (2  Chron.  xxix.  25) ; 
but  when  the  foundation  of  the  second  temple  was  laid,  the  Levites  are 
said  to  have  "  praised  the  Lord  with  cymbals,  according  to  the  ordinance  of 
David,  king  of  Israel,"  Ezra  iii.  10.  And  afterwards,  when  the  wall  of  the 
city  was  built,  the  singers  are  described  as  having  "the  musical  instruments 
of  David,  the  man  of  God"  (Neh.  xii.  3(5) ;  which  is  a  mode  of  speaking 
tantamount  to  their  being  ascribed  to  Divine  authority.  The  example  of 
David  need  not  have  been  alleged,  if  it  had  been  a  mere  discretionary  matter, 
and  not  the  performance  of  a  sacred  duty. 

But,  admitting  my  position,  you  dispute  the  application  of  it  to  the  case 
in  hand ;  arguing  that  we  are  allowed  to  retain  some  things  which  are  cere- 
monial, though  not  obliged  to  use  them  as  formerly  ;  and  instance  in  pros- 
tration, in  certain  times  of  worship,  and  certain  garments.  I  do  not  know 
that  prostration  is  ever  made  a  part  of  instituted  worship;  it  was  a  posture 
dictated  by  a  humble  spirit  in  all  ages,  and  is  still  the  same  on  various  occa- 

*  Period.  Accounts  of  the  Baptist  Mission,  Vol.  I.  pp.  363,  364. 


620  ECCLESIASTICAL    POLITY. 

sions.  As  to  garments,  we  are  allowed  to  use  them  in  a  more  civil  way,  as 
they  were  always  used,  but  not  as  making  any  part  of  religious  worship. 
We  may  wear  a  linen  coat  for  coolness  in  summer,  and  a  woollen  one  for 
warmth  in  winter;  but  if  we  make  them  any  part  of  religion,  we  sin.  Such 
reasoning  would  justify  all  the  fripperies  of  modern  superstition,  most  of 
which  may  be  traced  to  Jewish  origin.  The  Jews  were  obliged  to  worship 
at  certain  times,  and  we  may  worship  at  those  times.  We  must  worship  at 
some  time,  and  that  time  may  happen  to  be  the  same  as  theirs;  but  we  are 
not  at  liberty  to  choose  those  times  which  were  then  of  Divine  appointment. 
If  we  do,  an  apostle  will  be  "  afraid  of  us,"  Gal.  iv.  10,  11.  Had  you  only 
affirmed  that  what  was  obligatory  on  the  Jews  is  with  us  discretionary  in 
civil  concerns,  I  should  have  had  no  objection,  no,  not  to  instrumental 
music;  but  if  you  make  them  a  part  of  worship,  you  throw  open  a  door  to 
a  flood  of  corruption. 

Of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  Moses  "  saith  nothing"  concerning  priesthood. 
Hence  Paul  inferred  there  was  nothing.  Of  priests,  altars,  sacred  garments, 
and  instrumental  music  in  Christian  worship,  the  New  Testament  "  saith 
nothing."  Is  it  improper  then  to  infer  that  no  such  things  were  known  in 
the  tiines  of  the  first  Christians  ? 

You  perceive  nothing  in  instrumental  music  contrary  to  the  genius  of  the 
gospel.  Another  might  say  the  same  of  dancing.  But  suppose  you  were 
to  read  in  some  ancient  writer  that  it  was  the  custom  of  the  primitive 
churches,  when  assembled  together  for  worship,  to  sing  with  psalteries  and 
harps,  and  cymbals  and  organs,  and  to  dance  like  David  before  the  ark. 
Would  you  not  suspect  the  veracity  of  the  writer,  or  conclude  that  he  had 
been  misinformed?  Yet  why  should  you,  if  there  be  nothing  in  these  things 
contrary  to  the  genius  of  the  gospel  1 

The  New  Testament  speaks  of  praising  God  by  singing,  but  further  it 
says  not.  "After  supper  they  sang  a  hymn." — "I  will  sing  with  the  spirit, 
and  with  the  understanding  also." — "  Speaking  to  yourselves  in  psalms  and 
hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in  your  hearts  to  the 
Lord." 

Paul  speaks  more  than  once  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  of  instru- 
ments of  music,  but  not  as  being  used  in  religion.  He  describes  them  as 
necessary  to  war,  but  not  to  worship ;  and  speaks  of  them  in  language  of 
degradation,. as  "things  without  life,  giving  sound."  If  I  have  not  charity, 
says  he,  I  am  as  "  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal." 

The  history  of  the  church  during  the  first  three  centuries  affords  many 
instances  of  the  primitive  Christians  engaging  in  singing;  but  no  mention, 
that  I  recollect,  is  made  of  instruments.  Even  in  the  times  of  Constantine, 
when  every  thing  grand  and  magnificent  was  introduced  into  Christian  wor- 
ship, I  find  no  mention  made  of  instrumental  music.  If  my  memory  does 
not  deceive  me,  it  originated  in  the  dark  ages  of  popery,  when  almost  every 
other  superstition  was  introduced  under  the  plea  of  its  according  with  the 
worship  of  the  Old  Testament.  At  present  it  is  most  in  use  where  these 
kinds  of  superstitions  are  most  prevalent,  and  where  the  least  regard  is  paid 
to  primitive  simplicity.  I  remember  lately  to  have  noticed  a  description  of 
modern  Paris,  by  one  of  their  own  writers.  "  If,"  says  he,  "  you  are  attached 
to  religious  solemnities,  you  will  find  some  of  all  sorts.  Catholics,  who  offer 
up  their  prayers  to  the  Deity  with  the  sound  of  musical  instruments.  Lu- 
therans, who  calmly  listen  to  the  lectures  from  the  Bible  and  the  gospel. 
Theophilanthropists,  worshipping  deists,  who  flourish  in  language,  and  sing 
as  if  they  were  at  the  opera." 

I  conclude  with  reminding  you,  that  on  the  principle  of  discretionary 
worship  you  may  introduce  the  dance,  and  commence  Welsh  Jumpers  j  the 


THOUGHTS   ON  SINGING.  521 

surplice,  and  become  Episcopalians;  and  even  the  mitre,  and  shake  hands 
with  his  Holiness.  I  doubt  not  but  ?/02ir  discretion  will  keep  you  from  these 
things ;  but  if  there  be  no  bar  but  discretion,  I  do  not  know  what  right  you 
have  to  censure  them  in  others. 


THOUGHTS  ON  SINGING. 


I  HAVE  long  considered  the  manner  in  which  our  singing  is  conducted  aa 
equally  contrary  to  Scripture  and  reason.  The  intent  of  singing  is  by  a 
musical  pronunciation  of  affecting  truth  to  render  it  still  more  affecting.  To 
accomplish  this  end,  the  music  ought,  at  all  events,  to  be  adapted  to  the  sen- 
timents. As  in  common  speaking  there  is  a  sound  or  modulation  of  the 
voice  adapted  to  convey  every  sentiment  or  passion  of  which  the  human  soul 
is  at  any  time  possessed,  so  I  conceive  it  is  in  a  considerable  degree  with 
regard  to  singing;  there  are  certain  airs  or  tones  which  are  naturally  expres- 
sive of  joy,  sorrow,  pity,  indignation,  &c.,  and  the  grand  art  of  psalmody 
seems  to  consist  in  applying  these  to  the  sentiments  required  to  be  sung. 
When  David  had  composed  a  divine  song,  it  was  delivered  to  "  the  chief 
musician,"  who  set  it  to  sacred  music;  and  the  Levites  and  the  people  would 
probably  learn  both  the  song  and  the  tune,  and  sing  them  on  the  days  ap- 
pointed for  public  worship. 

Our  method  of  singing  is  the  reverse  of  this.  Some  person  who  has  a 
taste  for  music  composes  a  tunc,  a  mere  tune,  without  any  sentiments  to  be 
expressed.  He  divides  and  subdivides  his  empty  sounds  into  lines  and  bars, 
&c.  The  poet,  instead  of  going  before  the  musician,  comes  after  him;  and 
a  hymn  is  conformed  to  the  tune,  instead  of  a  tune  to  the  hymn.  The  tune 
being  composed  to  four,  six,  or  eight  lines,  is  applied  to  any  song  that  is 
written  in  these  respective  measures,  and  repeated  over,  without  any  regard 
to  the  meaning,  as  many  times  as  there  are  stanzas  to  be  sung! 

I  do  not  mean  to  object  to  the  division  of  music  into  parts  or  breaks,  so 
as  to  afford  proper  places  for  pausing ;  but  this  division  ought  not  to  be  uni- 
form, but  governed  entirely  by  the  matter  to  be  sung.  There  ought,  I  con- 
ceive, to  be  no  pauses  in  music,  any  mbre  than  in  speaking,  but  at  the 
conclusion  of  a  sentence,  or  of  some  lesser  break  in  the  division  of  it;  and 
the  length  of  the  pause  ought  to  be  governed  by  the  meaning  in  some  pro- 
portion as  it  is  in  reading.  Those  notes  also  which  belong  to  words  of  but 
little  meaning,  the  mere  particles  of  speech,  should  be  short;  and  those 
which  belong  to  words  of  full  meaning  should  be  long  and  full  of  sound. 
Nothing  can  be  more  unnatural  than  for  a  congregation  to  dwell  in  a  long- 
swelling  sound  upon  such  words  as  that,  in,  and,  from,  to,  &c.,  while  they 
skip  over  words  expressing  the  very  burden  of  the  song,  as  if  they  were  of 
no  account:  yet  this  will  frequently  and  almost  constantly  be  the  case  while 
we  make  hymns  to  tunes,  instead  of  tunes  to  hymns. 

Our  anthems  appear  to  me  to  approach  the  nearest  to  the  scriptural  way 
of  singing;  only  they  possess  too  much  levity  for  worship,  and  abound  with 
a  number  of  unnecessary,  because  unmeaning,  repeats. 

I  have  long  wished  to  see  introduced  into  the  churches  (and  I  almost 
believe  it  will  be  at  some  future  time)  a  selection  of  divine  hymns  or  songs, 
taking  place  of  all  human  compositions.  By  divine  hymns  or  songs,  I  mean 
the  pure  word  of  God  translated  without  any  respect  to  rhyme  or  number, 
after  the  manner  of  Lovvth's  Isaiah,  and  set  to  plain,  serious,  and  solemn 
music,  adapted  to  the  sentiments. 

Vol.  III.— 66  2x2 


522  ECCLESIASTICAL  POLITY. 

It  has  been  observed  by  some  of  the  ablest  critics,  that  the  spirit  of  David's 
Psalms  (and  the  same  would  hold  true  of  the  other  poetic  parts  of  Scripture) 
can  never  be  preserved  in  a  translation  of  them  into  modern  verse ;  but  in  a 
translation  like  our  common  Bibles,  or  that  of  Lovvth's  Isaiah,  it  is  generally 
allowed,  I  believe,  that  the  spirit  of  them  is  well  preserved.  Why  then  do 
we  not  set  them  as  they  are  to  sacred  music?  It  is  of  a  thousand  times 
more  importance  to  preserve  the  spirit  of  a  psalm  or  Scripture  song  than  to 
have  it  in  numbers,  even  supposing  a  uniformity  in  numbers  were  of  ad- 
vantage. 

What  is  the  reason  that  Handel's  Messiah  has  had  so  great  an  effect?  It 
is  in  part  owing  to  the  Scriptures  appearing  in  their  native  majesty,  without 
being  tortured  into  rhyme  and  number,  and  set  to  music  adapted  to  the 
sentiments.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  Handel's  music  is  in  general  adapted 
to  Divine  worship :  it  was  not  designed  for  it,  but  rather  for  a  company  of 
musicians  who  should  display  their  skill.  But  the  same  words  might  be  set 
to  plain  music  without  any  of  those  trappings  which  recommend  it  to  the 
attention  of  a  merely  musical  audience.  Such  a  sweetness  and  majesty  is 
there  in  the  poetic  language  of  Scripture,  that  if  there  were  nothing  offensive 
in  the  music,  it  must  needs  recommend  itself  to  a  serious  mind.  Without 
disparaging  the  labours  of  any  one,  there  is  as  great  a  disproportion  between 
our  best  compositions  and  those  of  the  Scriptures,  as  between  the  speeches 
of  Job  and  his  friends  and  the  voice  of  the  Almighty. 

I  am  persuaded  there  are  but  few,  if  any,  Divine  subjects  upon  which  a 
hymn  or  song  might  not  be  collected  from  the  poetic  parts  of  Scripture.  In 
many  instances  the  whole  song  might  be  furnished  from  a  single  psalm  or 
chapter :  and  in  others  it  might  be  collected  from  different  passages  asso- 
ciated together  and  properly  arranged. 

EXAMPLES. 

I. A  SONG  OF  PRAISE  TO  THE  REDEEMER. 

Taken  from  Rev.  v. 
[Redeemed  sinners  signified  by  the  living  creatures  and  the  elders.] 

Thou  art  worthy  to  take  the  book, 
And  to  open  the  seals  thereof: 
For  thou  wast  slain. 

And  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  hlood. 
Out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue,  and  people,  and  nation ; 
And  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests  : 
And  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth. 

[Thousands  of  thousands  of  angels  join  the  song  with  a  loud  voice.] 

Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slaiji 
To  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom, 
And  strength,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing! 

[The  whole  intelligent  creation  in  full  chorus.] 
Blessing,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power, 
Be  unto  him  thatsitteth  upon  the  throne, 
And  to  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever  ! 

[Redeemed  sinners  close  the  song  in  humblest  prostration.] 
Amen. 

The  first  should  be  sung,  T  think,  with  a  soft  tenor  only,  rather  increasing 
in  vigour  and  rapidity  in  the  fifth  and  following  lines; — the  second  in  bold, 
loud,  and  animated  notes,  but  not  quick :  there  ought  to  be  a  full  swell  of 
sound  to  each  of  the  seven  ascriptions ; — the  third  in  full  chorus,  yet  not  so 
loud  as  the  second,  but  more  pathetic ; — the  last,  in  which  they  who  began 


THOUGHTS  ON  SINGING.  523 

conclude  the  song,  though  it  be  only  one  word,  yet  the  notes  to  it  should 
express  a  heart  full  of  humility  and  gratitude. 

II. ON  RECOVERY   FROM  SICKNESS. 

Taken  from  Hezekiah's  song,  Isa.  xxxviii.  10-20. 
I  said  in  the  cutting  olT  of  my  days, 
I  shall  go  to  the  gates  of  the  grave  ; 
I  am  deprived  of  the  residue  of  my  years. 
I  said,  I  shall  not  see  the  Lord, 
The  Lord,  in  the  land  of  the  living : 
I  shall  behold  man  no  more. 
With  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  ! 

I  reckoned  till  morning,  as  a  lion 
So  will  he  break  all  my  bones  : 
From  day  to  night  wilt  thou  make  an  end  of  me  ! 
Like  a  crane  or  a  swallow,  so  did  I  twitter  : 
I  did  mourn  as  a  dove  :* 
INIine  eyes  fail  with  looking  upward  : 

0  Lord  !  I  am  oppressed,  undertake  for  me  ! 

What  shall  I  say  1     He  hath  promised,  and  he  hath  performed ; 

1  shall  go  softly  all  my  years. 
Remembering  the  bitterness  of  my  soul ! 

0  Lord,  by  these  things  men  live, 
And  in  all  these  is  the  life  of  my  spirit : 
So  wilt  thou  recover  me,  and  make  me  to  live. 
Behold,  for  peace,  I  had  great  bitterness  ; 
But  thou  hast  in  love  to  my  soul 
Delivered  it  from  the  pit  of  corruption : 
For  thou  hast  cast  all  my  sins  behind  thy  back. 

The  grave  cannot  praise  thee  : 
They  that  go  down  into  the  pit  cannot  hope  for  thy  truth. 
The  living,  the  living,  he  shall  praise  thee  : 
As  I  do  this  day. 
The  father  to  the  children  shall  make  known  thy  truth. 

The  Lord  was  present  to  save  me. 
Therefore  will  we  utter  our  songs. 
All  the  days  of  our  life,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

I  will  conclude  with  two  or  three  remarks: — L  It  is  impossible,  whatever 
skill  a  person  may  have  in  music,  to  compose  a  tune  properly  without  enter- 
ing into  the  spirit  of  the  song. — 2.  It  is  manifest,  from  these  examples  of 
sacred  song,  that  the  original  singing  was  much  of  it  responsive ;  and  that 
justice  cannot  otherwise  be  done  to  it. — 3.  The  criterion  of  a  good  tune  is, 
not  its  pleasing  a  scientific  ear,  but  its  being  quickly  caught  by  a  congrega- 
tion. It  is,  I  think,  by  singing,  as  it  is  by  preaching:  a  fine  judge  of  com- 
position will  admire  a  sermon  which  yet  makes  no  manner  of  impression 
upon  the  public  mind,  and  therefore  cannot  be  a  good  one.  That  is  the  best 
sermon  which  is  adapted  to  produce  the  best  effects ;  and  the  same  may 
be  said  of  a  tune.  If  it  correspond  with  the  feelings  of  a  pious  heart,  and 
aid  him  in  realizing  the  sentiments,  it  will  be  quickly  learnt,  and  sung  with 
avidity.  Where  this  effect  is  not  produced,  were  I  a  composer,  I  would 
throw  aside  my  performance  and  try  again. 

*  I  recollect,  some  years  ago,  when  in  a  very  dejected  state  of  mind,  hearing  some  turtle- 
doves cooing  to  one  another.  Their  mourning  notes  made  a  deep  impression  upon  my 
heart,  their  tones  being,  as  I  suppose,  in  unison  with  .its  feelings.  Had  I  so  much  skill  in 
music  as  to  compose  a  tune  to  this  song,  I  would  ingraft  the  very  moan  of  the  turtle  to  those 
words,  I  did  mourn  as  a  dove. 


MISCELLANEOUS 

TRACTS,  ESSAYS    LETTERS,  ETC. 


AN  ESSAY  ON  TRUTH 


CONTAINING  AN   INQUIRY  INTO    ITS  NATURE    AND   IMPORTANCE,  WITH   THE   CAUSES    OF 
ERROR   AND    THE    REASONS    OF    ITS    BEING    PERMITTED 

The  multifarious  and  discordant  sentiments  which  divide  mankind  afford 
a  great  temptation  to  scepticism,  and  many  are  carried  away  by  it.  The 
open  enemies  of  the  gospel  take  occasion  from  hence  to  justify  their  rejec- 
tion of  it  J  and  many  of  its  professed  friends  have  written  as  if  they  thought 
that  to  be  decided  amidst  so  many  minds  and  opinions  were  almost  presump- 
tuous. The  principal,  if  not  the  only,  use  which  they  would  make  of  these 
differences  is  to  induce  a  spirit  of  moderation  and  charity,  and  to  declaim 
against  bigotry. 

To  say  nothing  at  present  how  these  terms  are  perverted  and  hackneyed 
in  a  certain  cause,  let  two  things  be  seriously  considered : — First,  Whether 
this  ivas  the  use  made  by  the  apostles  of  the  discordant  opinions  7thich  pre- 
vailed in  their  times,  even  among  those  tcho  "  achioiclcdged  the  Divinity  of 
our  Saviour's  mission!"  In  differences  among  Christians  which  did  not 
affect  the  kingdom  of  God,  nor  destroy  the  work  of  God,  it  certainly  was; 
such  were  those  concerning  meats,  drinks,  and  days,  in  which  the  utmost 
forbearance  was  inculcated.  But  it  was  otherwise  in  differences  which 
affected  the  leading  doctrines  and  precepts  of  Christianity.  Forbearance  in 
these  cases  would,  in  the  account  of  the  sacred  writers,  have  been  a  crime. 
Paul  "  would  they  were  even  cut  off"  who  troubled  the  Galatian  churches 
by  corrupting  the  Christian  doctrine  of  justification.  And  it  is  recorded  to 
tlie  honour  of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  that  it  "could  not  bear"  them  that 
were  evil ;  but  '•'  had  tried  them  who  said  they  were  apostles  and  were  not, 
and  found  them  liars,"  Gal.  v.  12;  Rev.  ii.  2.  Secondly,  Whether  an  unfa- 
vourahle  opinion  of  those  icho  reject  what  loe  account  the  leading  principles 
of  Christianity ,  supposing  it  to  he  torong,  he  equally  itijurious  with  a  con- 
trary opinion,  supposing  that  to  he  wrong?  To  think  unfavourably  of 
another  does  not  affect  his  state  towards  God :  if,  therefore,  it  should  prove 
to  be  wrong,  it  only  interrupts  present  happiness.  We  have  lately  been  told 
indeed,  but  from  what  authority  I  cannot  conceive,  that  "  the  readiest  way 
in  the  world  to  thin  heaven,  and  to  replenish  the  regions  of  hell,  is  to  call 
in  the  spirit  of  bigotry."  Far  be  it  from  me  to  advocate  the  cause  of  bigotry, 
or  to  plead  for  a  bitter,  censorious  spirit,  a  spirit  that  would  confine  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  to  a  party ;  but  1  do  not  perceive  how  this  spirit,  bad  as  it 
is,  is  productive  of  the  effects  ascribed  to  it.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  through 
an  aversion  to  bigotry,  we  treat  those  as  Christians  to  whom  an  apostle  would 
at  least  have  said,  "  I  stand  in  doubt  of  you,"  we  flatter  and  deceive  them ; 
524 


TRUTH.  525 

which  is  really  "  the  readiest  way  in  the  world  to  thin  heaven,  and  to  replen- 
ish the  regions  of  hell." 

Surely  there  is  a  medium  between  bigotry  and  esteeming  and  treating 
men  as  Chsislians  irrespective  of  their  avowed  principles.  Certainly  a  bene- 
volent and  candid  treatment  is  due  to  men  of  all  denominations;  but  to 
consider  all  principles  as  equally  safe  is  to  consider  truth  as  of  no  import- 
ance. 

Let  us  candidly  inquire,  Christian  reader,  whether,  notwithstanding  the 
diversity  of  sentiments  in  the  Christian  world,  truth  may  not  be  clearly  ascer- 
tained ?  Whether  it  be  not  of  the  utmost  importance  ?  Whether  the  pre- 
valence of  error  may  not  be  accounted  for?  And  lastly,  Whether  the 
wisdom  as  well  as  the  justice  of  God  may  not  be  seen  in  his  permitting  it? 

WHAT    IS    TRUTH? 

In  attempting  to  answer  this  question,  I  desire  to  take  nothing  for  granted 
but  that  Christianity  is  of  God,  and  that  the  Scriptures  are  a  revelation  of 
his  will.  If  Christianity  be  of  God,  and  he  has  revealed  his  will  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  light  is  come  into  the  world,  though  the  dark  minds  of 
sinful  creatures  comprehend  it  not.  It  does  not  follow,  because  many  wan- 
der in  mazes  of  fruitless  speculation,  that  there  is  not  a  way  so  plain  that  a 
wayfaring  man,  or  one  who  "  walketh  in  the  truth,"  though  a  fool,  shall  not 
err.  The  numerous  sects  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  even  among 
the  Jews  at  the  time  of  our  Saviour's  appearing,  did  not  prove  that  there 
was  no  certain  knowledge  to  be  obtained  of  what  was  truth.  Our  Lord 
considered  himself  as  speaking  plainly,  or  he  would  not  have  asked  the  Jews 
as  he  did,  "  Why  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech?"  The  apostles  and 
primitive  believers  saw  their  way  plainly  ;  and  though  we  cannot  pretend  to 
the  extraordinary  inspiration  which  was  possessed  by  many  of  them,  yet  if 
we  humbly  follow  their  light,  depending  on  the  ordinary  teachings  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit,  we  shall  see  ours. 

Truth,  we  may  be  certain,  is  the  same  thing  as  what  in  the  Scriptures  is 
denominated  "the  gospel"  —  "the  common  salvation"  —  "the  common 
faith" — "  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints" — "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus," 
&c. ;  and  what  this  is  may  be  clearly  understood  by  the  brief  summaries  of 
the  gospel,  and  of  the  faith  of  the  primitive  Christians,  which  abound  in  the 
New  Testament.  Of  the  former,  the  following  are  a  few  of  many  exam- 
ples : — "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. — 
The  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost. — I  am  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life :  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me. — 
To  him  gave  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name  whosoever 
believeth  in  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins.  We  preach  Christ  crucified, 
unto  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  unto  the  Greeks  foolishness;  but  unto 
them  which  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ,  the  power  of  God,  and 
the  wisdom  of  God. — I  determined  not  to  know  any  thing  among  you,  save 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified. — Moreover,  brethren,  I  declare  unto  you  the 
gospel  which  I  preached  unto  you,  which  also  ye  have  received,  and  wha-dn 
yc  stand;  by  which  also  ye  are  saved,  if  ye  hold  fast  what  I  preached  unto 
you,  unless  ye  have  believed  in  vain ;  for  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all 
that  which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the 
Scriptures ;  and  that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day, 
according  to  the  Scriptures. — This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom 
I  am  chief. — ^This  is  the  record,  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and 


526  MISCELLANEOUS   TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

this  life  is  in  his  Son. — Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other ;  for  there  is 
none  other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be  saved." 

If  language  has  any  determinate  meaning,  it  is  here  plainly  taught  that 
mankind  are  not  only  sinners,  but  in  a  lost  and  perishing  condition,  without 
help  or  hope  but  what  arises  from  the  free  grace  of  God,  through  the  atone- 
ment of  his.  Son;  that  he  died  as  our  substitute;  that  we  are  forgiven  and 
accepted  only  for  the  sake  of  what  he  hath  done  and  suffered ;  that  in  his 
person  and  work  all  evangelical  truth  concentrates;  that  the  doctrine  of  sal- 
vation for  the  chief  of  sinners  through  his  death  was  so  familiar  in  the 
primitive  times  as  to  become  a  kind  of  Christian  proverb,  or  saying;  and 
that  on  our  receiving  and  retaining  this  depends  our  present  standing  and 
final  salvation.  If  this  doctrine  be  received,  Christianity  is  received;  if  not, 
the  record  which  God  hath  given  of  his  Son  is  rejected,  and  he  himself 
treated  as  a  liar. 

When  this  doctrine  is  received  in  the  true  spirit  of  it,  which  it  never  is 
but  by  a  sinner  ready  to  perish,  all  those  fruitless  speculations  which  tend 
only  to  bewilder  the  mind  will  be  laid  aside;  just  as  malice,  and  guile,  and 
envies,  and  evil  speakings  are  laid  aside  by  him  who  is  born  of  God.  They 
will  fiill  off  from  the  mind,  like  the  coat  of  the  chrysalis,  of  their  own  accord. 
Many  instances  of  this  are  constantly  occurring.  Persons  who,  after  having 
read  and  studied  controversies,  and  leaned  first  to  one  opinion  and  then  to 
another,  till  their  minds  have  been  lost  in  uncertainty,  have  at  length  been 
brought  to  think  of  the  gospel,  not  as  a  matter  of  speculation,  but  as  that 
which  seriously  and  immediately  concerns  them;  and,  embracing  it  as  good 
news  to  them  who  are  ready  to  perish,  have  not  only  found  rest  to  their  souls, 
but  all  their  former  notions  have  departed  from  them  as  a  dream  when  one 
awaketh. 

Corresponding  with  the  brief  summaries  of  the  gospel  are  the  concise 
accounts  given  of  the  faith  of  the  primitive  Christians. — "Whosoever  be- 
lieveth  that  Jesus  is  the  Chi-ist  is  born  of  God." — "  Who  is  he  that  over- 
cometh  the  world,  but  he  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God?" — 
"  If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  believe  in  thine 
heart  that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved."  The 
sacred  writers  did  not  mean,  by  this  language,  to  magnify  the  belief  of  one 
or  two  Divine  truths  at  the  expense  of  others;  but  to  exhibit  them  as  bear- 
ing an  inseparable  connexion ;  so  that  if  these  were  truly  embraced,  the 
other  would  be  certain  to  accompany  them.  They  considered  the  doctrine 
of  the  person  and  work  of  Christ  as  a  golden  link,  that  would  draw  along 
with  it  the  whole  chain  of  evangelical  truth.  Hence  we  perceive  the  pro- 
priety of  such  language  as  the  following: — "  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life; 
and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  life." — "  Whosoever  denieth  the  Son, 
the  same  hath  not  the  Father." 

The  doctrine  and  the  faith  of  the  primitive  Christians  were  summarily 
avowed  every  time  they  celebrated  the  Lord's  supper.  The  leading  truth 
exhibited  by  that  ordinance  is  the  same  which  John  calls  "  the  record ;" 
namely,  that  "  God  hath  given  unto  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his 
Son."  Under  the  form  of  a  feast,  of  which  we  are  invited  to  take,  to  eat, 
and  to  drink,  are  set  forth  the  blessings  of  the  New  Testament,  or  covenant, 
and  the  medium  through  which  they  were  obtained  ;  namely,  "  the  blood  of 
Jesus,  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins ;  and  the  way  in  which  they 
must  be  received;  that  is  to  say,  as  a  free  gift,  bestowed  on  the  unworthy 
for  his  sake.  If  this  simple  doctrine  were  believed  with  the  spirit  of  a  little 
child,  and  lived  upon  as  our  meat  and  drink,  we  might  take  an  everlasting 
leave  of  speculations  on  things  beyond  our  reach ;  and  that  without  sustain- 
ing the  loss  of  any  thing  but  what  were  better  lost  than  retained. 


TRUTH.  527 

IMPORTANCE    OF    TRUTH. 

If  the  above  remarks  may  be  thought  sufficient  to  ascertain  what  is  truth, 
its  importance  follows  as  a  necessary  consequence.  If,  as  transgressors,  we 
be  exposed  to  the  eternal  displeasure  of  our  Maker — if  a  door  of  hope  be 
opened  to  us — if  it  be  at  no  less  an  expense  than  the  death  of  God's  only 
begotten  Son  in  our  nature — if,  through  this  great  propitiation,  God  can  be 
just,  and  tlie  justifier  of  believers — finally,  if  this  be  the  only  way  of  escape, 
and  the  present  the  only  state  in  which  it  is  possible  to  flee  to  it  for  refuge, 
who,  that  is  not  infatuated  by  the  delusions  of  this  world,  can  make  light  of 
it?  There  is  an  importance  in  truth,  as  it  relates  to  philosophy,  history, 
politics,  or  any  other  branch  of  science,  inasmuch  as  it  affects  the  present 
happiness  of  mankind;  but  what  is  this  when  compared  with  that  which 
involves  their  everlasting  salvation?  To  be  furnished  with  an  answer  to  the 
question,  "  What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  is  of  infinitely  greater  account  than 
to  be  able  to  decide  whether  the  Ptolemaic  or  Copernican  system  be  that  of 
nature.  The  temporal  salvation  of  a  nation,  great  as  it  is,  and  greatly  as  it 
interests  the  minds  of  men,  is  nothing  when  compared  with  the  eternal  sal- 
vation of  a  single  individual. 

But  many,  who  would  not  deny  the  superior  value  of  eternal  salvation  to 
all  other  things,  have  yet  gone  about  to  depreciate  the  importance  of  Divine 
truth,  and  to  represent  it  as  having  no  necessary  connexion  with  either  pre- 
sent holiness  or  future  happiness.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  design  of 
those  well-known  lines  of  Pope : — 

"  For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight; 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

And  to  the  same  purpose  we  have  often  been  told  in  prose  that  we  shall  not 
he  judged  at  the  last  day  by  our  opinions,  but  by  our  icorks.  If  truth  and 
eiror  existed  in  the  mind  merely  as  opinions,  or  objects  of  speculation,  they 
might  possibly  have  but  little  influence  upon  us;  but  if  they  be  principles 
of  action,  they  enter  into  the  essence  of  all  we  do.  Such  is  the  influence 
of  living  faith,  otherwise  it  could  not  be  shown  by  our  ivorks;*  and  such  is 
that  of  the  belief  of  falsehood,  else  we  had  not  read  of  the  word  of  false 
teachers  "  eating  as  doth  a  gangrene."!  The  works  by  which  we  shall  be 
judged  cannot  mean  actions,  in  distinction  from  their  principles,  (for  as  such 
they  would  contain  neither  good  nor  evil,)  but  as  connected  with  them.  All 
pretences,  therefore,  to  separate  the  one  from  the  other  are  as  contrary  to 
reason  as  to  Scripture. 

To  render  this  subject  more  evident,  let  the  following  particulars  be  duly 
considered : — 

First,  It  is  by  the  belief  of  truth  that  sinners  are  brought  into  a  state  of 
salvation. — Great  things  are  ascribed  in  the  Scriptures  to  faith ;  but  faith 
could  have  no  existence  without  revealed  truth  as  its  foundation.  Whatever 
importance,  therefore,  attaches  to  the  one  attaches  to  the  other.  The  great 
blessing  of  justification  is  constantly  ascribed  to  faith,  not  as  the  reward  of 
a  virtue,  but  as  that  by  which  we  become  one  with  Christ,  and  so  partakers 
of  his  benefits.  While  unbelievers,  we  have  no  revealed  interest  in  the 
Divine  favour;  but  are  declared  to  be  under  condemnation;  but,  believing 
in  him,  we  are  no  longer  "  under  the  law,"  as  a  term  of  life  and  death,  but 
"  under  grace."  Hence  it  is  that,  in  the  gospel,  as  heard  and  received,  we 
are  said  to  stand.  Take  away  evangelical  truth,  and  you  take  away  the 
standing  o(  a  Christian.  Bereaved  of  this,  the  best  man  upon  earth  must 
despair  of  salvation. 

*  James  ii.  18.  t  Tayypatva,  2  Tim.  ii.  17. 


528  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Secondly,  Truth  is  the  model  and  standard  of  true  religion  in  the  mind. — ■ 
That  doctrines,  whether  true  or  false,  if  really  believed,  become  principles 
of  action — that  they  are  a  mould  into  wliich  the  mind  is  cast,  and  from 
which  it  receives  its  impression — is  evident  both  from  Scripture  and  expe- 
rience. An  observant  eye  will  easily  perceive  a  spirit  which  attaches  to  the 
different  species  of  religion ;  and  which,  over  and  above  the  diversities  arising 
from  natural  temper,  will  manifest  itself  in  their  respective  followers.  Pagan- 
ism, Mahomedism,  deism,  apostate  Judaism,  and  various  systems  which  have 
appeared  under  the  name  of  Christianity,  have  each  discovered  a  spirit  of 
its  own.  Thus  also  it  was  from  the  beginning.  Those  who  received  another 
doctrine  received  with  it  another  spirit  ;  and  hence  we  read  of  "  the  spirit 
of  truth"  and  "  the  spirit  of  error."  He  that  had  the  one  is  said  to  be  "  of 
God,"  and  he  that  had  the  other  "  not  of  God,"  2  Cor.  xi.  4 ;  1  John  iv.  6. 
Revealed  truth  is  represented  as  "  a  form  of  doctrine"  into  which  be- 
lievers are  "  delivered,"  Rom.  vi.  17.  As  a  melted  substance,  cast  into  a 
mould,  receives  its  form  from  it,  and  every  line  in  the  one  corresponds  with 
that  of  the  other;  so  true  religion  in  the  soul  accords  with  true  religion  in 
the  Scriptures.  Without  this  standard,  we  shall  either  model  our  faith  by 
our  own  preconceived  notions  of  what  is  fit  and  reasonable,  or  be  carried 
away  by  our  feelings,  and  lose  ourselves  among  the  extravagant  vagaries  of 
enthusiasm.  Our  views  may  seem  to  us  very  rational,  or  our  feelings  may 
be  singularly  ardent;  and  yet  we  may  be  far  from  being  in  the  right.  The 
question  is.  Whether  they  agree  line  to  line  with  the  Divine  model  ?  God 
saith,  in  his  word,  "  Seek  ye  my  face."  If  our  hearts  say  unto  him,  "  Thy 
face,  Lord,  will  we  seek,"  then  does  line  answer  to  line;  and  this  is  true 
religion.  Is  it  a  leading  feature  of  evangelical  truth  that  it  honours  the 
Divme  character  and  government?  It  is  the  same  with  true  religion  in  the 
mind.  Does  that  manifest  love  even  to  enemies?  So  does  this?  Is  it  the 
object  of  the  former  to  abase  the  pride  of  man?  It  is  no  less  the  nature  of 
the  latter  to  rejoice  in  lying  low.  Finally,  Is  the  one  averse  from  all  iniquity, 
and  friendly  to  universal  holiness?  The  other,  dissatisfied  with  present 
attainments,  "  presseth  towards  the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Thirdly,  Tridh  is  that  which  furnishes  the  motive  for  evert/  exercise  of 
true  holiness. — If  once  we  are  enabled  to  behold  its  glory,  the  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  changes  us  into  the  same  image,  begets  and 
excites  holy  affections,  and  every  kind  of  gracious  exercise.  Hence  we  are 
said  to  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  to  make  us  free;  to  be  sanctified 
through  it,  and  begotten  by  it,  John  viii.  32;  xvii.  17;  James  i.  18. 

It  is  not  denied  that  there  is  much  of  what  is  called  morality  in  persons 
who  know  and  believe  nothing  to  purpose  of  evangelical  truth.  Honour, 
interest,  and  the  habits  of  education,  will  induce  men  to  shun  open  immo- 
ralities, and  to  comply  with  things  which  are  repiltable  and  praiseworthy. 
But  though  there  be  great  cause  for  thankfulness  to  God,  who,  by  his  pro- 
vidence, thus  restrains  mankind  from  much  evil ;  yet  this  is  not  holiness. 
Holiness  is  the  love  of  God  and  one  another;  whereas  this  is  mere  self-love. 
All  works  and  worship  of  this  kind  are  no  better  than  the  offering  of  Cain, 
which,  being  without  faith,  could  not  please  God. 

And  as  there  may  be  a  semblance  of  holiness  without  faith,  so  there  may 
be  a  semblance  of  faith  without  holiness.  The  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  though 
in  themselves  practical,  yet  may  be  treated  as  mere  speculations,  and  fre- 
quently are  so  by  men  who  profess  to  believe  them ;  and,  where  this  is  the 
case,  instead  of  producing  holiness,  they  may  have  a  contrary  effect :  but  this 
is  owing  to  their  being  perverted.     God's  words  do  good  to  the  upright. 


TRUTH.  529 

There  is  not  a  sentiment  in  the  living  oracles  but  what,  if  received  in  the 
true  spirit  and  intent  of  it,  will  contribute  to  the  sanctification  of  the  mind. 

True  religion  is,  with  great  beauty  and  propriety,  called  ivalking  in  the 
truth.  A  life  of  sobriety,  righteousness,  and  godliness,  is  Christian  principle 
reduced  to  practice.  Truth  is  a  system  of  love,  an  overflow  of  the  Divine 
blessedness,  as  is  intimated  by  its  being  called  "  the  glorious  gospel  of  the 
blessed  God  :"  a  system  of  reconciliation,  peace,  and  forgiveness;  full  of  the 
most  amazing  condescension,  and  of  spotless  rectitude.  To  timlk  in  truth 
like  this  is  to  walk  in  love,  to  be  tender-hearted,  forgiving  one  another,  even 
as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  us;  to  be  of  the  same  mind  with  him 
who  "  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  ser- 
vant ;"  and  "  to  be  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation." 

Such  were  the  fruits  of  truth  which  were  actually  brought  forth  by  the 
primitive  believers;  and  such,  in  different  degrees,  notwithstanding  the 
many  defects  and  scandals  which  abound  among  us,  are  the  fruits  of  it  in 
true  Christians  to  this  day.  Thousands  of  examples,  both  in  earlier  and 
later  times,  might  be  produced,  in  which  men  who  previously  walked 
according  to  the  course  of  this  world,  in  rioting  and  drunkenness,  in  cham- 
bering and  wantonness,  in  strife  and  envying,  on  embracing  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  crucified  have  put  off  all  these,  and  become  as  it  were  new  creatures. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  special  notice,  that,  in  every  instance  in  which  the 
primitive  churches  deviated  from  the  doctrine  of  the  apostles,  they  appear  to 
have  degenerated  as  to  zeal  and  practical  godliness.  A  careful  review  of 
the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  the  Galatians,  and  the  Hebrews,  who  departed 
more  than  any  other  churches  from  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  would  fur- 
nish proof  of  the  justness  of  this  remark.  It  was  not  without  reason  that 
Paul  observed  to  the  Corinthians,  "  evil  communications  corrupt  good  man- 
ners;" by  which  he  appears  to  have  meant  the  communications  of  false 
teachers,  who  endeavoured  to  undermine  the  resurrection,  and  other  import- 
ant truths.  And  such  was  the  corruption  of  manners  which  accompanied 
these  notions,  that,  degenerate  as  we  consider  ourselves,  compared  with  the 
primitive  Christians,  if  any  one  of  our  churches  tolerated  the  same  things, 
we  should  be  almost  ready  to  pronounce  it  a  synagogue  of  Satan.  Among 
other  things  they  divided  into  parties,  boasted  of  the  talents  of  their  preachers, 
connived  at  the  most  unnatural  kind  of  fornication,  went  to  law  with  one 
another,  communed  with  idolaters  at  their  temples,  and  profaned  the  sup- 
per of  the  Lord  by  appropriating  it  to  purposes  of  sensual  indulgence !  Such 
were  the  fruits  of  error. 

If  we  look  into  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  who  had  been  turned  aside 
from  the  apostolic  doctrine  of  justification,  we  shall  find  fruits  of  the  same 
kind.  They  are  described  as  not  obeying  the  truth,  as  foolish,  as  in  a  man- 
ner bewitched ;  as  having  lost  their  former  zeal,  and  rendered  their  Chris- 
tianity a  matter  of  doubt ;  as  needing  to  have  "  Christ  again  formed  in  them  :" 
and  it  is  strongly  intimated  that  they  were  guilty  of  biting,  and  as  it  were 
devouring  one  another,  of"  fulfilling  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,"  and  of  coveting 
"  vain-glory,  provoking  one  another,  and  envying  one  another." — See  chap, 
iii.  1;  iv.  II,  19,20;  v.  7,  15,  16,26. 

If  the  Hebrews  had  not,  in  turning  aside  from  the  truth,  been  injured  in 
their  spirit  and  conduct,  it  is  very  improbable  that  such  language  as  the  fol- 
lowing would  have  been  addressed  to  them  :  "  Wherefore,  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
saith,  To-day,  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice,  harden  not  your  hearts,  as  in  the 
provocation,  in  the  day  of  temptation  in  the  wilderness ;  when  your  fathers 
tempted  me,  proved  me,  and  saw  my  works  forty  years.  Wherefore  I  was 
grieved  with  that  generation,  and  said.  They  do  always  err  in  their  hearts, 
and  they  have  not  known  my  ways.     So  I  sware  in  my  wrath,  They  shall 

Vol.  III.— 67  2  Y 


530 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC, 


not  enter  into  my  rest. — Take  heed,  brethren,  lest  there  be  in  any  of  you  an 
evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in  departing  from  the  living  God  ! — Exhort  one  another 
daily,  while  it  is  called  to-day,  lest  any  of  you  be  hardened  through  the 
deceitfulness  of  sin  !"  Neither  is  it  likely,  if  no  symptoms  had  appeared 
among  them,  that  they  would  have  been  exhorted  to  "  look  diligently  lest 
any  man  should  fail  of  the  grace  of  God ;  lest  any  root  of  bitterness  spring- 
ing up  should  trouble  them,  and  thereby  many  be  defiled;  lest  there  should 
be  any  fornicator,  or  profane  person,  as  Esau,  who  for  one  morsel  of  meat 
sold  his  birthright."  Finally,  It  is  not  probable  that  so  solemn  a  warning 
against  whoredom  and  adultery  would  have  been  introduced,  and  the  offend- 
ers cited  as  it  were  to  the  tribunal  of  God,  if  there  had  been  no  occasion  for 
it  in  their  own  conduct. — Chap.  iii.  7-13;  xii.  12,  13,  15,  16;  xiii.  4. 

Whether  these  instances  of  the  pernicious  effects  of  error  in  the  primitive 
churches  be  not  in  direct  opposition  to  the  modern  notions  before  stated, 
let  the  reader  judge.  Nor  are  such  things  peculiar  to  the  primitive  churches. 
If  you  see  men  desert  the  principles  before  stated,  or  hold  them  in  a  cor- 
rupted sense,  you  may  commonly  perceive  a  change  in  their  spirit.  They 
may  retain  what  is  called  character,  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  ;  but  the  savour 
of  godliness  is  departed.  They  may  retain  their  zeal ;  but  it  will  be  con- 
fined to  some  little  peculiarity,  to  the  neglect  of  the  common  faith.  There 
will  be  a  want  of  that  lovely  proportion  which  constitutes  the  true  beauty  of 
holiness.  A  man  who  chews  opium,  or  tobacco,  may  prefer  it  to  the  most 
wholesome  food,  and  may  derive  from  it  pleasure,  and  even  vigour  for  a 
time ;  but  his  pale  countenance,  and  debilitated  constitution,  will  soon  bear 
witness  to  the  folly  of  spending  his  money  for  that  which  is  not  bread. 

Fourthly,  The  love  which  the  primitive  Christians  bore  to  one  another  toas, 
FOR  THE  truth's  SAKE,  2  John  2  ;  3  John  1. — Now  that  for  the  sake  of 
which  we  love  a  person  is  considered  as  of  greater  importance  than  any  thing 
else  pertaining  to  him.  It  is  that  which  constitutes  his  value  in  our  esteem; 
and  which  if  he  abandon,  we  should  no  longer  esteem  him. 

Here  we  may  perceive  what  is  essential  to  the  true  legitimate  charity  of 
the  primitive  Christians.  Instead  of  regarding  men  irrespectively  of  their 
principles,  they  "  knew  no  man  after  the  flesh."  John,  who  was  the  most 
loving,  or  charitable,  perhaps,  of  all  the  disciples  of  Christ,  is  so  far  from 
considering  a  departure  from  the  truth  as  a  light  matter,  and  the  subject  of 
it  as  entitled  to  the  same  Christian  affection  as  heretofore,  that  he  expressly 
writes  as  follows: — "Whosoever  transgresseth,  and  abideth  not  in  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  hath  not  God. — If  there  come  any  unto  you,  and  bring  not 
this  doctrine,  receive  him  not  into  your  house,  neither  bid  him  God  speed ; 
for  he  that  biddeth  him  God  speed  is  partaker  of  his  evil  deeds.'*  Would 
not  such  language,  I  ask,  in  our  days  be  reckoned  very  uncharitable?  It 
would.  But  this  proves,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  that  the  common 
ideas  of  charity  are  antiscriptural.  Charity  will  not  take  it  for  granted  that 
whosoever  deviates  from  our  views  must  needs  deviate  from  the  doctrine  of 
Christ ;  but  will  carefully  inquire  at  the  oracles  of  God,  what  is  truth  1  Yet 
there  is  no  need  of  being  ever  learning  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  know- 
ledge of  it.  The  lady  whom  John  addressed  was  supposed  to  be  able  to 
distinguish  between  those  who  brought  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  those  who 
came  without  it;  and  so  are  Christians  in  the  present  day.  Charity  hopeth 
all  things,  and  will  always  put  the  most  favourable  construction  upon  the 
motives  of  others  that  truth  will  admit ;  but  without  truth,  as  its  ground  and 
guide,  it  will  not  proceed. 

Here  also  we  may  see  the  nature  of  Christian  unity.  It  is  not  merely  for 
two  or  more  persons  to  be  agreed;  for  this  they  may  be  in  evil.  This  is 
mere  party  attachment.     It  is  natural  for  men  to  love  those  who  think  and 


TRUTH.  531 

act  like  themselves,  and  that  for  their  oicn  sake.  But  Christian  unity  is  to 
love  one  another  for  Christ's  sake,  and  for  the  truth's  sake  that  dwelleth  in 
them.  Christ,  as  revealed  in  the  gospel,  forms  the  great  point  of  union.  A 
number  of  minds  are  drawn  towards  this  point ;  and  the  nearer  they  approxi- 
mate to  it,  the  nearer  they  approach  to  a  union  with  one  another.  If  all  true 
Christians  were  nearer  to  the  mind  of  Christ,  their  differences  would  soon 
subside  ;  and  they  would  feel  themselves,  as  they  approached  it,  to  be  of  one 
heart  and  of  one  soul. 

Lastly,  Truth  is  the  only  solid  foundation  of  peace  and  happiness. — There 
are  cases,  it  is  granted,  in  which  the  mind  may  rejoice  in  error,  or  be  dis- 
tressed by  truth.  False  doctrine  will  operate  like  opium,  filling  the  imagina- 
tion with  pleasing  dreams;  but  all  is  transient  and  delusive.  Truth,  on  the 
other  liand,  when  it  barely  commendeth  itself  to  the  conscience  of  a  sinner, 
may  render  him  extremely  unhappy.  Such  was  the  effect  of  Judas's  convic- 
tion of  Christ's  innocence;  and  such  is  the  effect  of  similar  convictions  in 
the  present  times.  But  where  truth  takes  possession  of  the  heart — or,  as  the 
Scriptures  express  it,  where  we  "  receive  the  love  of  the  truth" — peace  and 
joy  accompany  it.  This  is  a  fact  established  by  history  and  experience,  and 
is  easily  accounted  for.  Revealed  truth  carries  in  it  a  message  of  pardon, 
reconciliation,  and  eternal  life ;  and  all  in  a  way  honourable  to  the  Divine 
character  and  government.  This,  in  itself,  is  good  news;  and  to  every  one 
who,  as  a  sinner  ready  to  perish,  receiveth  it,  is  a  source  of  solid  and  lasting 
happiness.  Truth  also  pours  light  upon  all  the  dark  and  mysterious  events 
of  time,  and  teaches  us,  while  weeping  over  human  misery,  not  to  despond 
or  repine;  but,  viewing  things  on  a  large  scale,  to  rejoice  in  whatever  is.  It 
exhibits  God  upon  the  throne  of  the  universe,  ordering  every  thing  for  the 
best ;  and  thus  reconciles  the  mind  to  present  ill,  by  pointing  it  to  the  good 
that  shall  ultimately  rise  out  of  it. 

Contrast  with  this  the  horrible  complaints  of  an  infidel.  "  Who  can,  with- 
out horror,  consider  the  whole  earth  as  the  empire  of  destruction  ?  It  abounds 
in  wonders ;  it  abounds  also  in  victims ;  it  is  a  vast  field  of  carnage  and 
contagion.  Every  species  is,  without  pity,  pursued  and  torn  to  pieces, 
through  the  earth,  and  air,  and  water !  In  man  there  is  more  wretchedness 
than  in  all  other  animals  put  together.  He  smarts  continually  under  two 
sources  which  other  animals  never  feel ;  anxiety,  and  listlessness  in  appe- 
tence, which  makes  him  weary  of  himself.  He  loves  life,  and  yet  he  knows 
that  he  must  die.  If  he  enjoy  some  transient  good,  for  which  he  is  thank- 
ful to  Heaven,  he  suffers  various  evils,  and  is  at  last  devoured  by  worms. 
This  knowledge  is  his  fatal  prerogative.  Other  animals  have  it  not.  He 
feels  it  every  moment  rankling  and  corroding  in  his  breast.  Yet  he  spends 
the  transient  moment  of  his  existence  in  diffusing  the  misery  which  he  suf- 
fers; in  cutting  the  throats  of  his  fellow  creatures  for  pay;  in  cheating  and 
being  cheated ;  in  robbing  and  being  robbed ;  in  serving,  that  he  may  com- 
mand ;  and  in  repenting  of  all  that  he  does.  The  bulk  of  mankind  are 
nothing  more  than  a  crowd  of  wretches,  equally  criminal  and  unfortunate; 
and  the  globe  contains  rather  carcasses  than  men.  I  tremble,  upon  a  review 
of  this  dreadful  picture,  to  find  that  it  implies  a  complaint  against  Provi- 
dence ;  and  I  wish  that  I  had  never  been  born  !"*  Such  is  the  boasted 
happiness  of  unbelievers ! 

And  though  we  should  not  go  these  lengths,  yet,  if  we  forsake  truth,  by 
deviating  materially  from  any  of  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  it  will 
affect  our  peace.  Error  is  the  wandering  of  the  mind  when  it  thinks  with- 
out a  guide;  the  issue  of  which  is  "stumbling  upon  the  dark  mountains." 

*  Voltaire. 


532  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

It  is  possible,  in  such  circumstances,  that  the  stupor  of  insensibility  may  be 
mistaken  for  the  peace  of  God ;  but  if  the  soul  be  once  roused  from  its 
slumber,  especially  if  it  be  the  subject  of  any  true  religion,  it  will  find  itself 
miserable.  As  soon  might  we  expect  to  find  happiness  in  the  mind  of  one 
who  has  lost  its  way,  and  knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth,  as  in  a  mind  that 
has  deviated  from  evangelical  truth. 

CAUSES    OF    ERROR. 

If  truth  be  of  this  importance,  it  may  be  inquired,  How  are  we  to  account 
for  the  great  diversity  of  sentiment  in  the  religious  world?  Whence  is  it 
that  professing  Christians,  even  the  wise  and  the  good  among  them,  should 
be  so  divided  ? 

It  certainly  is  not  owing  to  any  thing  in  Christianity  itself.  This  will  be 
found,  on  the  strictest  inquiry,  to  be  one  consistent  whole,  and  all  its  pre- 
cepts tend  to  unity  of  judgment,  as  well  as  of  affection.  To  this  end  were 
all  the  Epistles  addressed  to  the  primitive  churches.  In  some,  the  writers 
labour  to  establish  them  in  the  truth ;  in  others,  to  reclaim  them  from  error: 
in  all,  to  promote  a  holy  unanimity  in  principle  and  practice. 

Yet,  if  we  look  to  fact,  we  find  that  the  churches,  even  in  the  purest  ages, 
were  never  free  from  error.  It  was  beyond  the  power  of  the  apostles,  in- 
spired as  they  were,  effectually  to  guard  them  against  it.  Of  this  the  afore- 
mentioned Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  the  Galatians,  and  the  Hebrews,  are 
standing  proofs;  and  in  after-ages  things  were  much  worse.  Those  prin- 
ciples which  at  first  were  but  the  bud,  or  at  most  the  blade,  now  became  the 
full  ear,  and  produced  a  harvest  of  corruption  and  apostacy.  The  history  of 
Christianity,  from  that  day  to  this,  is  the  history  of  one  continued  struggle 
between  truth  and  error ;  the  mind  of  Christ,  and  the  reasonings  of  the 
flesh.  Nor  was  this  state  of  things  unknown  to  the  apostles;  they  saw,  in 
their  times,  the  mystery  of  iniquity  begin  to  work,  and  by  the  Spirit  of  inspi- 
ration foretold  its  progress.  "  In  the  latter  times,"  say  they,  "  some  shall 
depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and  doctrines  of 
demons." — "  In  the  last  days  perilious  times  shall  come,  in  which  men  shall 
be  lovers  of  their  own  selves;  ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth."  And  that,  "  as  there  were  false  prophets  among 
the  [Jewish]  people,  so  there  should  be  f\ilse  teachers  among  [Christians], 
who  would  bring  in  damnable  heresies,  even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought 
them ;  and  bring  upon  themselves  swift  destruction." 

What  shall  we  say  then  ?  Shall  we  attribute  the  multifarious  and  discor- 
dant doctrines  of  past  and  present  times  to  diversity  of  habits,  educations, 
and  connexions;  to  the  various  tastes  and  talents  found  among  men;  or  to 
the  frailty  and  imbecility  of  the  human  mind?  These  things  may  be 
allowed  to  have  their  influence;  but  it  is  not  to  them  principally  that  the 
Scriptures  attribute  the  corruption  of  Christian  doctrine  or  worship. 

There  is  an  important  difference  between  diversity  and  contrariety.  The 
former  belongs  to  men  as  men,  which  the  latter  does  not.  One  man  com- 
prehends more  of  truth,  another  less;  this  has  a  talent  for  discovering  one 
part  of  truth,  and  that  another;  but  in  all  this  there  is  nothing  discordant, 
any  more  than  in  a  diversity  of  features,  or  in  the  variegated  face  of  the 
earth,  which  abounds  in  divers  kinds  of  flowers,  every  one  of  which  con- 
tributes to  the  beauty  of  the  whole.  It  is  not  so  with  respect  to  truth  and 
error,  which  are  as  opposite  as  right  and  wrong.  True  doctrines  are  the 
plants,  and  false  doctrines  the  weeds,  of  the  church.  They  cannot  both 
flourish  in  the  same  mind.  The  one  must  be  rooted  up,  or  the  other  will  be 
overrun  and  rendered  unproductive. 

The  causes  which  the  Scriptures  assign  for  the  corruption  of  Christian 


TRUTH.  533 

doctrine  are  principally,  if  not  entirely,  of  a  moral  nature.  They  represent 
evangelical  truth  as  a  holy  doctrine,  and  as  that  which  cannot  be  understood 
by  an  unholy  mind.  "  The  natural,"  or  mere  worldly  wise,  "  man  receiveth 
not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  for  they  are  foolishness  unto  him : 
neither  can  he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned."  They 
are  "hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealed  unto  babes;"  and  thus 
"  it  seemeth  good  in  his  sight"  whose  mind  it  is  to  abase  the  pride  of  man. 
If  the  gospel  had  been  "  the  wisdom  of  this  world,"  the  "  spirit  of  this 
world"  would  have  sufficed  to  understand  it;  and  there  would  be  no  more 
errors  concerning  it  than  what  arise  from  the  imbecility  of  the  human  mind 
on  all  other  subjects;  but  it  is  not:  it  is  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above, 
and  therefore  requires  a  state  of  mind  suited  to  it;  or,  as  the  apostle  ex- 
presses it,  that  "  we  receive  not  the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the  spirit  which 
is  of  God,  that  we  may  know  the  things  which  are  freely  given  us  of  God." 
Now,  this  being  the  case,  so  far  as  we  attempt  to  judge,  preach,  or  write  of 
the  gospel,  under  the  influence  of  mere  worldly  wisdom,  or  in  any  other 
than  its  own  spirit,  we  are  morally  certain,  in  some  way  or  other,  to  pervert  it. 

Here  then  are  opened  to  our  view  three  grand  sources  of  error ;  namely, 
The  number  of  unconverted  or  mere  worldly-wise  characters  who  intrude 
themselves  or  are  intruded  by  others  into  the  Christian  ministry — the  greater 
number  of  merely  nominal  Christians,  whose  taste  calls  for  antiscriptural 
preaching — and  the  large  portion  of  unsanctified  wisdom  found  even  in 
godly  men. 

First,  The  great  number  of  unconverted  ministers.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
judge  of  men  otherwise  than  by  what  they  manifest  themselves  to  be.  I 
abhor  the  spirit  of  our  modern  Antinomians,  who  would  persuade  us  that 
they  know  good  ministers  from  others  by  a  kind  of  spiritual  physiognomy ; 
but  who,  if  the  tree  be  known  by  its  fruits,  have  much  more  reason  to  judge 
themselves.  Yet  the  personal  religion  of  many  preachers  must  be  allowed 
by  charity  itself  to  wear  more  than  a  suspicious  appearance ;  nor  is  it  sur- 
prising that  it  should  be  so.  If,  in  the  purest  age  of  the  church,  when  there 
were  but  few  attractions  for  covetousness  and  ambition,  there  were  "  men 
of  corrupt  minds,  reprobate  concerning  the  faith  ;"  men  who  had  "  the  form 
of  godliness,  but  denied  the  power  thereof;"  is  it  any  wonder  that  there 
should  be  such  in  our  times?  And  as  the  introduction  of  almost  every  error 
among  the  primitive  Christians  is  attributed  to  this  sort  of  characters,  is  it 
not  reasonable  to  expect  that  things  should  move  on  in  the  same  direction? 

An  unrenewed  person,  whatever  be  his  education,  talents,  or  natural  tem- 
per, can  never  fall  in  with  Christianity  as  it  is  taught  in  the  New  Testament. 
If,  therefore,  he  occupy  a  station  in  the  church,  he  will  be  almost  certain  to 
transform  religion  so  as  to  suit  himself  This,  it  is  clear,  was  the  grand 
source  of  the  Romish  apostacy.  No  sooner  was  Christianity  adopted  by  the 
state  than  it  became  the  interest  of  worldly  men  to  profess  it.  Ecclesiastical 
offices  were  soon  filled,  in  a  great  degree,  by  unbelievers  in  disguise.  The 
effect  was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  the  doctrine,  worship,  discipline, 
and  spirit  of  the  gospel  were  gradually  lost,  and  a  system  of  corruption  was 
substituted  in  their  place. 

This  has.  been  a  source  of  departure  from  the  truth  down  to  the  present 
times ;  and  that,  in  different  degrees,  among  all  denominations  of  Christians. 
If  we  look  into  the  establishments  of  Protestant  Europe,  we  shall  find  that, 
in  spite  of  oaths  and  subscriptions,  devised  in  former  ages  for  the  security 
of  orthodoxy,  worldly  men  have  a  system  of  their  own,  and  will  explain 
their  articles  and  creeds  according  to  it.  Or,  if  we  look  out  of  establish- 
ments, wherever  worldly  men  are  admitted  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  we 
shall  find  things  much  the  same.     Some  of  the  greatest  perverters  of  the 

2y2 


534  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

gospel,  during  the  last  century,  have  descended  from  pious  parents,  who, 
fond  of  the  idea  of  bringing  up  their  children  to  the  public  service  of  God, 
overlooked  the  necessity  of  personal  religion ;  presuming,  as  it  would  seem, 
that  God  would  in  due  time  supply  that  defect.  The  consequence  was,  the 
young  men,  finding  evangelical  truth  sit  uneasily  upon  them,  threw  it  off, 
and  embraced  a  system  more  suited  to  the  state  of  their  minds. 

Observing  these  things  among  men  of  education,  many  serious  people 
have  contracted  a  prejudice  against  learning  itself;  and  have  preferred  the 
preaching  of  the  most  illiterate,  for  the  sake  of  a  pure  doctrine.  But  neither 
is  this  any  security ;  for  men  of  assurance  and  address,  pretending  to  extra- 
ordinary light  and  marvellous  inspirations,  will  often  obtrude  themselves  upon 
the  people  and  draw  disciples  after  them,  especially  from  among  the  unthink- 
ing and  light-minded  part  of  Christian  professors.  In  them  the  words  of 
Peter  have  been  eminently  fulfilled :  "Speaking  great  swelling  words  of 
vanity,  they  have  allured,  through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  those  that  for  a  while 
were  escaped  from  them  who  live  in  error."  Nor  has  their  influence  been 
confined  to  such  characters :  sincere  people  have  frequently  been  misled  by 
their  specious  pretences.  When  Judas,  professing  a  solicitude  for  the  poor, 
condemned  an  expression  of  love  to  Christ  as  an  unnecessary  piece  of  waste- 
fulness, he  drew  away  the  other  disciples  after  him.  In  short,  men  who  have 
not  the  spirit  by  which  the  gospel  was  dictated  will  not  cleave  to  it.  Some 
may  err  on  this  side,  some  on  that ;  some  having  greater  talents  may  do 
greater  injury  to  it,  and  others  less ;  but  all  in  one  way  or  other  will  pervert 
it:  and,  Avhere  this  is  the  case,  "many  will  follow  their  pernicious  ways; 
and  the  way  of  truth,"  being  confounded  with  them,  "  will  be  evil  spoken 
of." 

Secondly,  The  great  number  of  merely  nominal  Christians. — In  the  pre- 
sent state  of  things,  the  bulk  of  mankind  are  not  governed  by  principle,  but 
by  custom — following  the  course  of  this  world,  whatever  direction  it  may 
take.  In  one  country  they  are  heathens,  in  another  Mahomedans,  and  in 
another  Christians ;  in  other  words,  they  are  of  no  religion.  The  effect  of 
this  is,  that  a  large  proportion  of  ministers  are  certain  to  be  nominated  and 
chosen  by  men  who  have  no  taste  for  the  searching,  humbling,  and  holy  doc- 
trine of  the  gospel,  but  are  utterly  averse  from  it ;  and,  where  this  is  the  case, 
it  requires  but  little  discernment  to  perceive  what  will  be  the  general  tone 
of  preaching.  Even  in  congregational  churches,  if  the  people,  or  the  lead- 
ing individuals  among  them,  be  worldly-minded,  ambitious,  or  in  any  respect 
loose  livers,  they  will  not  be  at  a  loss  to  find  preachers  after  their  own  heart. 
Thus  error  is  propagated,  and  thus  it  was  propagated  from  a  very  early  pe- 
riod. "  The  time  will  come,"  said  Paul  to  Timothy,  "  when  they  will  not 
endure  sound  doctrine;  but  after  their  own  lusts  shall  they  heap  to  them- 
selves teachers,  having  itching  ears;  and  they  shall  turn  away  their  ears  from 
the  truth,  and  shall  be  turned  unto  fables." 

Thirdly,  The  large  portion  of  unsanctijicd  wisdom  found  even  in  godly 
men. — The  wisdom  of  this  world,  as  opposed  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  is  not 
confined  to  mere  worldly  men.  The  apostle,  after  speaking  of  spiritual  men 
as  "judging  all  things,"  and  as  "  having  the  mind  of  Christ,"  adds,  "And 
I,  brethren,  could  not  speak  unto  you  as  unto  spiritual,  but  as  unto  carnal ; 
even  as  unto  babes  in  Christ."  And  this,  their  carnality,  is  represented  as 
rendering  them  unable  to  understand  the  great  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
which  are  compared  to  meat,  and  as  leading  them  to  build  upon  the  gospel 
foundatici?  a  mixture  of  "wood,  and  hay,  and  stubble;"  all  of  which  shall  be 
burnt  up  another  day,  though  they  themselves  are  to  be  saved,  1  Cor.  ii.  G,  7, 
12,  15,  IC;  iii.  1,2, 12-17. 

There  is  a  slowness  of  heart  even  in  good  men  to  believe  what  God  has 


TRUTH.  535 

revealed,  especially  if  it  clash  with  their  preconceived  ideas.  Such  was  the 
stale  of  mind  of  the  apostles  themselves  previously  to  the  resurrection  of 
their  Lord;  and  such  is  the  state  of  mind  of  great  numbers  among  us.  We 
often  hear  men  in  controversy  talk  of  being  open  to  conviction  and  willing 
to  retract  their  sentiments  if  but  fairly  confuted ;  but  such  professions  either 
mean  but  little,  or  at  best  indicate  a  great  want  of  self-knowledge.  Those 
who  are  the  most  open  to  conviction  will  commonly  suspect  themselves  the 
most,  and  of  course  will  not  be  very  forward  in  the  use  of  such  language. 
If  there  were  not  a  sloioiiess  of  heart,  both  in  receiving  truth  and  relinquish- 
ing error,  a  large  proportion  of  our  controversies  would  soon  be  at  an  end. 

REASONS  WHY  ERROR  IS  PERMITTED. 

The  foregoing  remarks  may  suffice  to  account  for  the  prevalence  of  error, 
SO  far  as  man  is  concerned ;  but  it  may  be  further  inquired.  Wherefore  doth 
God  permit  it?  Why  is  it  that  the  beauty  of  the  Christian  church  is  suffered 
to  be  marred  and  its  peace  invaded  by  a  succession  of  perpetual  discords? 
This  is  an  awful  subject;  and  if  we  were  left  to  our  own  conjectures  upon 
it,  it  would  be  our  wisdom  to  leave  it  to  the  great  day  when  all  things  will 
be  made  manifest :  but  we  are  not.  The  Scriptures  of  truth  inform  us  that 
"  there  must  needs  be  heresies,  that  they  who  are  approved  may  be  made 
manifest." 

All  the  influences  to  which  they  are  exposed,  in  the  present  life,  are  adapted 
to  a  state  of  probation,  and  to  do  us  good  or  harm  according  to  the  state  of 
mind  which  we  possess.  We  are  not  only  fearfully  made,  but  as  fearfully 
situated.  The  evidence  in  favour  of  true  religion  is  sufficient  for  a  candid 
mind,  but  not  for  one  that  is  disposed  to  cavil.  If  we  attend  to  it  simply  to 
find  out  truth  and  obey  it,  we  shall  not  be  disappointed;  but  if  our  souls  be 
lifted  up  within  us,  the  very  Rock  of  salvation  will  be  to  us  a  stone  of  stum- 
bling. The  Jews  required  a  sign  in  their  oivn  way :  "Let  him  come  down 
from  the  cross,"  said  they,  "and  we  will  believe  him."  If  he  had  publicly 
risen  from  the  dead,  say  modern  unbelievers,  none  could  have  doubted  it. — 
Yet  he  neither  came  down  from  the  cross  nor  rose  publicly  from  the  dead ; 
and  let  them  say,  if  they  please,  that  he  could  not,  and  that  all  his  miracles 
were  the  work  of  imposture.  It  may  be  our  duty,  as  much  as  in  us  lies,  to 
cut  off  occasion  from  them  who  desire  occasion ;  but  God  often  acts  other- 
wise. They  who  desire  a  handle  to  renounce  the  gospel  shall  have  it.  Thus 
it  is  that  men  are  tried  by  false  doctrine,  and  even  by  the  immoralities  of  pro- 
fessing Christians. 

The  visible  kingdom  of  Christ  is  a  floor  containing  a  mixture  of  wheat 
and  chaff;  and  every  false  doctrine  is  a  wind,  which  he,  whose  fan  is  in  his 
hand,  makes  use  of  to  purge  it.  There  are  great  numbers  of  characters 
who  profess  to  receive  the  truth,  on  whom,  notwithstanding,  it  never  sat 
easily.  Its  holy  and  humbling  nature  galls  their  spirits.  In  such  cases,  the 
mind  is  prepared  to  receive  any  representation  of  the  gospel,  however  falla- 
cious, that  may  comport  with  its  desires ;  and  being  thus  averse  to  the  truth, 
God,  in  just  judgment,  frequently  suffers  the  winds  of  false  doctrifie  to 
sweep  them  away.  Such  is  the  account  prophetically  given  of  the  chief  in- 
struments in  the  Romish  apostacy.  The  introduction  of  that  mystery  of  ini- 
quity is  thus  described:  "Whose  coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with 
all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders,  and  with  all  deceivableness  of  un- 
righteousness in  them  that  perish ;  because  they  received  not  the  love  of  the 
truth,  that  they  might  be  saved.  And  for  this  cause  God  shall  send  them 
strong  delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie;  that  they  all  might  be  damned 
who  believed  not  the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness." 

Not  only  is  false  doctrine  permitted,  that  it  may  sweep  away  hypocritical 


536  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

characters,  but  the  discordance  which  appears  among  the  professors  of  Chris- 
tianity is  itself  a  temptation  to  many,  and  that  in  divers  ways.  Some,  who 
consider  themselves  as  almost  if  not  altogether  infallible,  are  hereby  furnished 
with  a  plea  for  intolerance  and  persecution.  In  this  way  it  operated  much 
in  former  ages,  and  a  portion  of  it  is  still  prevalent  among  us.  You  see,  say 
they,  whither  this  liberty  of  conscience  will  lead  men.  If  they  be  left  to 
themselves,  and  form  their  own  notions  of  religion,  there  will  be  no  end  to 
their  errors  and  divisions,  and  to  the  sects  that  will  arise  out  of  them.  Thus 
the  catholics  attempted  to  discredit  the  Reformation  ;  and  thus  some  protest- 
ants  have  endeavoured  to  discredit  congregational  church  government,  as 
fruitful  of  sects  and  divisions.  But  if  either  of  them  were  required  to 
prove  that  there  is  less  error  or  opposition  among  themselves  than  among 
their  neighbours,  they  might  find  it  a  difficult  task.  On  one  side,  men  find 
it  necessary  either  not  to  think  at  all,  or  to  conceal  their  sentiments;  on  the 
other,  they  speak  and  write  their  minds  with  greater  freedom ;  but  things  are 
what  they  are,  whether  they  be  avowed  or  not.  He  who  persecutes  men  for 
their  errors  may  at  last  be  found  equally  erroneous  himself;  but  allowing 
that  he  is  not,  and  that  his  creed  is  orthodox,  yet  he  is  far  from  being  "  sound 
in  the  faith,"  in  the  scriptural  sense  of  the  words.  He  "  knoweth  not  what 
manner  of  spirit  he  is  of"  He  may  be  willing  to  fight;  but  has  yet  to  learn 
what  are  those  weapons  by  which  the  soldiers  of  the  Lamb  are  enabled  to 
overcome. 

Others,  on  the  same  ground,  have  rejected  all  religion.  You  cannot  agree, 
say  they,  as  to  what  is  truth ;  settle  it  among  yourselves  before  you  attempt 
to  trouble  us  with  it.  Very  well :  if  you  can  satisfy  your  consciences  with 
this  evasion,  do  so.  It  will  not  avail  you  at  death  or  judgment.  You  will 
then  be  reminded  that  you  did  not  reason  thus  in  things  to  which  your  hearts 
were  inclined;  but  applied  with  all  your  powers,  and  used  every  possible 
means,  to  ascertain  the  truth  for  yourselves,  and  acted  accordingly.  On  your 
own  principles,  therefore,  will  you  be  judged. 

Others,  who  have  not  gone  these  lengths,  have  yet  been  tempted  to  despair 
of  finding  out  what  is  the  true  religion.  Amidst  the  opposition  of  opinion 
which  continually  presents  itself  before  us,  say  they,  how  are  we  plain  people 
to  judge  and  act? — If  you  mean  to  intimate  that  it  is  vain  for  you  to  concern 
yourselves  about  it,  that  is  the  same  as  saying,  it  is  vain  to  attempt  any  thing 
that  is  accompanied  with  difficulties,  or  to  walk  in  any  way  that  is  attended 
with  temptations;  and  this  would  lead  you  to  stand  still  in  other  things  as 
well  as  in  religion.  But  if  it  be  the  real  desire  of  your  soul  to  know  the 
right  way  and  walk  in  it,  there  is  no  reason  to  despair.  Follow  no  man  as 
your  guide;  but  go  to  your  Bible  and  your  God,  and  there  decide  the  ques- 
tion. You  need  not  say  in  your  heart,  "  Who  shall  ascend  into  heaven?  or 
who  shall  descend  into  the  deep?"  The  word  is  nigh  thee.  To  read  con- 
troversial books  may,  in  many  cases,  be  useful;  but  seldom  when  it  is  done 
with  a  view  to  decide  the  great  question,  What  is  the  right  way  to  everlast- 
ing life?  A  book,  as  well  as  a  sermon,  may  be  the  means  of  affording  such 
direction.  But  when  the  mind  is  in  a  state  of  suspense,  it  is  beyond  all  com- 
parison the  safest  to  consult  the  oracles  of  God.  To  launch  into  controversy, 
without  having  obtained  satisfaction  on  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  is  to  put  to  sea  in  a  storm  without  a  rudder.  One  great  reason 
why  men  are  "carried  about  with  divers  and  strange  doctrines"  is — their 
"  hearts  are  not  established  with  grace."  They  have  no  principles  of  their 
own,  and  therefore  are  carried  away  with  any  thing  that  wears  the  appear- 
ance of  plausibility. 

But  one  of  the  worst  inferences  drawn  from  the  discordant  doctrines  which 
abound  in  the  world  is  that  doctrine  itself  is  of  little  or  no  account.     As 


TRUTH.  537 

intolerance  and  bigotry,  under  the  specious  name  of  zeal,  distinguished  for- 
mer ages,  so  sceptical  indifference,  under  the  specious  names  of  candour, 
liberality,  and  moderation,  distinguishes  this.  This  is  the  grand  temptation, 
perhaps,  of  the  present  times.  It  would  seem  as  if  men  must  either  fight 
for  truth  with  carnal  weapons,  or  make  peace  with  error;  either  our  religious 
principles  must  be  cognizable  by  human  legislators,  or  they  are  neither  good 
nor  evil,  and  God  himself  must  not  call  us  to  account  for  them ;  either  we 
must  call  men  masters  upon  earth,  or  deny  that  we  have  any  master,  even  in 
heaven. 

It  is  a  favourite  principle  with  unbelievers,  and  with  many  professing 
Christians  who  verge  towards  them,  that  error  not  only  has  its  seat  in  the 
mind,  but  that  it  is  purely  intellectual,  and  therefore  innocent.  Hence  they 
plead  against  all  church  censures,  and  every  degree  of  unfavourable  opinion 
on  account  of  doctrinal  sentiments,  as  though  it  were  a  species  of  persecu- 
tion. But  if  the  causes  of  error  be  principally  moral,  it  will  follow  that  such 
conclusions  are  as  contrary  to  reason  as  they  are  to  Scripture. 

The  above  remarks  are  far  from  being  designed  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  bit- 
terness against  one  another,  as  men,  or  as  Christians.  There  is  a  way  of 
viewing  the  corruption  and  depravity  of  mankind,  so  as  to  excite  bitterness 
and  wrath,  and  every  species  of  evil  temper;  and  there  is  a  way  of  viewing 
them,  that,  without  approving  or  conniving  at  what  is  wrong,  shall  excite  the 
tear  of  compassion.  It  does  not  become  us  to  declaim  against  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  wicked  in  a  manner  as  if  we  expected  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of 
thistles ;  but  while  we  prove  ourselves  the  decided  friends  of  God,  to  bear 
good-will  to  men.  It  becomes  those  who  may  be  the  most  firmly  established 
in  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  to  consider  that  a  portion  of  the  errors  of  the 
age,  in  all  probability,  attaches  to  them  ;  and  though  it  were  otherwise,  yet 
they  are  directed  to  carry  it  benevolently  towards  others  who  may  err :  "  In 
meekness  instructing  those  that  oppose  themselves ;  if  God,  peradventure, 
will  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth." 

Finally,  There  is  an  important  difference  between  razing  the  foundation, 
and  building  upon  that  foundation  a  portion  of  wood,  and  hay,  and  stubble. 
It  becomes  us  not  to  make  light  of  either ;  but  the  latter  may  be  an  object 
of  forbearance,  whereas  the  former  is  not.  With  the  enemies  of  Christ,  we 
ought,  in  religious  matters,  to  make  no  terms ;  but  towards  his  friends,  though 
in  some  respects  erroneous,  it  behoves  us  to  come  as  near  as  it  is  possible  to 
do,  without  a  dereliction  of  principle.  A  truly  Christian  spirit  will  feel  the 
force  of  such  language  as  the  following,  and  will  act  upon  it :  "All  that  in 
every  place  call  upon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  both  theirs  and 
ours,  grace  be  unto  them,  and  peace,  from  God  our  Father,  and  from  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ. — Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity !" 


THE  MANNER  IN  WHICH  DIVINE  TRUTH  IS  COMMUNICATED 
IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

It  is  a  fact  which  must  have  struck  every  attentive  reader,  that  God  has 
not  communicated  his  mind  to  us  by  giving  us  a  set  of  principles,  arranged 
in  the  form  of  a  scheme ;  or  that  we  have  no  such  creed  as  formally  includes 
all  the  things  necessary  to  be  believed  in  either  the  Old  or  New  Testament, 
On  the  contrary,  we  see  Divine  truth  introduced  rather  incidentally  than 
systematically.  It  is  scattered  from  one  end  to  the  other,  through  all  the 
historical,  devotional,  prophetic,  and  epistolary  writings. 

Vol,  III.— 68 


538  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

r  have  no  intention  to  derive  an  argument  from  this,  as  some  have  done, 
against  creeds  and  confessions  of  faith ;  nor  do  I  conceive  that  such  an 
argument  can  hence  be  fairly  derived.  We  might  with  equal  justice  argue 
against  the  science  of  botany  being  reduced  to  a  system,  on  the  ground  of 
herbs  and  flowers  of  the  same  kind  not  growing  together,  but  being  scattered 
over  the  earth  in  beautiful  variety.  The  variegated  face  of  nature  is  not 
marred  by  its  productions  being  scientifically  collected  and  arranged :  on 
the  contrary,  its  beauties  are  so  much  the  better  understood.  Yet,  with 
respect  to  the  achial position  of  the  products  of  nature,  we  must  needs  decide 
in  favour  of  variety ;  and  the  same  may  be  .said  of  the  actual  position  of 
Divine  truth  in  the  Holy  Scriptures:  the  incidental  manner  in  which  it  is 
commonly  introduced  gives  it  great  energy  and  beauty.  It  may  be  worthy 
of  attention  to  consider  a  few  of  the  incidents  and  occasions  on  which  some 
of  the  most  important  truths  are  introduced,  and  to  notice  the  wisdom  of 
God  in  his  thus  introducing  them. 

It  is  a  truth  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  religion,  that  there  is  a 
First  Cause  and  Creator  of  all  things,  visible  and  invisible.  But  this  truth 
is  never  introduced,  that  I  recollect,  in  the  form  of  an  abstract  proposition. 
At  the  commencement  of  revelation  it  is  rather  supposed  than  asserted  :  "  In 
the  beginning,  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  Moses  does  not 
expressly  inform  us  that  there  was  a  God  who  existed  prior  to  this,  but 
leaves  us  to  infer  it ;  hereby  intimating,  perhaps,  that  this  is  so  evident  a 
truth  that  they  who  doubt  it  need  reproof  rather  than  information. 

The  perfections  of  God  are  taught  abundantly  in  the  Scriptures;  yet  I  do 
not  recollect  a  single  instance  where  they  are  introduced  merely  as  a  propo- 
sition, without  some  practical  end  to  be  answered.  When  Abraham,  through 
Sarah's  unbelief  and  impatience,  had  deviated  from  his  usual  conduct,  in 
taking  Hagar  to  wife,  hoping  thereby  to  see  the  Divine  promise  fulfilled, 
Jehovah  thus  reproved  him :  "  I  am  the  Almighty  (or  all-sufficient)  God. 
Walk  before  me,  and  be  thou  perfect."  When  Israel  despondingly  exclaimed, 
"  My  way  is  hid  from  the  Lord,  and  my  judgment  is  passed  over  from  my 
God,"  he  was  thus  answered :  "  Hast  thou  not  known,  hast  thou  not  heard, 
that  the  everlasting  God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
faintcth  not,  neither  is  weary  ?    There  is  no  searching  of  his  understanding." 

In  this  manner  also  we  are  taught  the  moral  government  of  God,  and  the 
accoiintahleness  of  rational  creatures.  These  important  truths,  as  they  stand 
in  the  sacred  page,  do  not  barely  meet  our  eyes,  or  our  understandings,  but 
our  consciences.  They  give  us  no  time  to  dispute :  ere  we  are  aware  we 
feel  ourselves  arrested  by  them,  as  by  an  almighty  and  irresistible  force. 
"  They  say,  the  Lord  shall  not  see,  neither  shall  the  God  of  Jacob  regard. 
Understand,  ye  brutish  among  the  people ;  and  ye  fools,  when  will  ye  be 
wise?  He  that  planted  the  ear,  shall  he  not  hear?  He  that  formed  the 
eye,  shall  he  not  see  ?  He  that  chastiseth  the  heathen,  shall  not  he  correct  ? 
He  that  teacheth  man  knowledge,  shall  not  he  know  ?  Verily  there  is  a 
reward  for  the  righteous;  verily  he  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth !" 

Thus  also  we  are  instructed  respecting  the  fall  and  depravity  of  human 
nature.  We  have  no  encouragement  curiously  to  inquire  beyond  the  fact; 
but  we  are  told  that  "  God  made  man  upright,  and  he  sought  out  many 
inventions."  If  we  would  wish  to  flatter  ourselves,  or  our  species,  from  a 
partial  view  of  human  virtue,  we  are  instantly  cut  short,  in  being  told  that 
"  God  saw  that  the  wickedness  of  man  was  great  in  the  earth,  and  that  every 
imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was  only  evil  continually.  They  are 
all  gone  out  of  the  way,  they  are  together  become  unprofitable ;  there  is  none 
that  doeth  good,  no,  not  one."    And  the  substance  of  this  is  stated  to  induce 


TRUTH.  539 

our  acquiescence  in  the  doctrine  of  justification  "  by  free  grace,  through  the 
redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 

The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  never  proposed  to  us  as  an  object  of  spe- 
culation, but  as  a  truth  affecting  our  dearest  interests.  John  introduces  the 
sacred  Three  as  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  as  objects  of 
instituted  worship,  into  whose  name  we  are  baptized ;  and  Paul  exhibits 
them  as  the  source  of  all  spiritual  good :  "  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  with  you 
all.  Amen."  Again,  "  The  Lord  direct  your  hearts  into  the  love  of  God, 
and  into  the  patient  waiting  for  Christ." 

In  this  manner  we  are  taught  that  great  mystery  of  godliness,  "  God  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh,"  or  the  proper  Deity  and  humanity  of  Christ.  One  sacred 
writer  announces,  in  prophetic  language,  "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  and  his 
name  shall  be  called  The  mighty  God."  Again,  he  describes  him  as  the 
Lord  God,  coming  with  strong  hand;  yet  feeding  his  fiock  like  a  shepherd, 
gathering  his  lambs  with  his  arm,  carrying  them  in  his  bosom,  and  gently 
leading  those  that  are  with  young.  Another  directs  his  followers  to  him, 
and  says,  "  This  is  he  of  whom  I  said.  After  me  cometh  a  man  who  is  pre- 
ferred before  me,  for  he  was  before  me."  A  third  draws  from  his  quiver  an 
arrow  of  conviction  :  "  Ye  have  killed  the  author  of  life !"  A  fourth  finds  in 
it  a  motive  of  compassion  to  the  murderers :  "  Who  are  Israelites,  of  whom 
as  concerning  the  flesh  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all,  God  blessed  for  ever." 
On  one  occasion,  it  is  introduced  as  affording  a  pattern  of  humility  and  con- 
descension :  "  Let  this  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus,  who, 
being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  loith  God;  but 
made  himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and 
was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men."  On  another,  it  accounts  for  the  won- 
derful extremes  in  his  character :  the  sacred  writer  having  exhibited  him  as 
God,  whose  "throne  was  for  ever  and  ever" — as  having  "laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  earth,"  and  declared  the  heavens  to  be  the  work  of  his  hands — 
an  objection  might  arise  from  his  being  well  known  to  be  a  man,  and  to 
have  lived  among  men.  In  answer  to  this  he  adds,  "  He  was  made  a  little 
lower 'than  the  angels. — The  children  being  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood,  he 
also  himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same. — In  all  things  it  behoved  him  to 
be  made  like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  faithful  and  merciful 
High  Priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins 
of  the  people."  Finally,  it  is  brought  in  at  the  close  of  the  Revelation,  to 
seal  it  with  Divine  authority  ;  "  I  Jesus  have  sent  mine  angel,  to  testify  unto 
you  these  things  in  the  churches.  I  am  the  root  and  the  offspring  of  David." 
What  a  majestic  sweetness  does  this  truth  afford  in  these  connexions ! 

It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  the  various  occasions  on  which  the  Scrip- 
tures introduce  the  doctrine  of  atonement  by  the  death  of  Christ.  This  is, 
to  the  doctrines  and  precepts  of  the  Bible,  as  the  life-blood  to  the  animal 
system.  The  first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  often  resorted 
to,  as , treating  on  evangelical  blessings;  but  there  is  a  design  which  runs 
through  that  whole  chapter,  nay,  almost  through  the  whole  Epistle,  which  is 
to  endear  the  name  of  Christ,  and  to  exhibit  the  invaluable  icorth  of  his  re- 
deeming love.  Are  we  blessed  with  all  spiritual  blessings  1  It  is  "  in  Christ 
Jesus."  Were  we  predestinated  to  the  adoption  of  children  ?  It  was  "  by 
Jesus  Christ."  Are  we  accepted  ?  It  is  "  in  the  Beloved."  Have  we 
redemption,  even  the  forgiveness  of  sins?  It  is  "through  his  blood."  And 
so  on.  Christ  crucified  is  the  substance  of  the  Jewish  ceremonial,  and  the 
spirit  of  its  prophecies ;  the  theme  of  the  Christian  ministry  on  earth,  and 
the  song  of  the  blessed  above ! 

It  is  not  very  diflicult  to  discern  the  wisdom  of  God  in  introducing  truth 


540  MISCELLANEOUS   TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

in  such  a  manner.  If  every  species  of  plants  and  flowers  were  to  grow 
together,  instead  of  the  whole  being  scattered  over  the  earth,  the  effect  would 
be  very  different,  and  much  for  the  worse;  and  if  all  truth  relating  to  one 
subject  were  to  be  found  only  in  one  book,  chapter,  or  epistle,  we  should 
probably  understand  much  less  than  we  do.  There  are  some  Divine  truths 
which  are  less  pleasant  than  others.  Even  good  men  have  their  partialities, 
or  favourite  principles,  which  would  induce  them  to  read  those  parts  of 
Scripture  which  favoured  them,  to  the  neglect  of  others.  But  truth  being 
scattered  throughout  the  Scriptures,  we  lire  thereby  necessitated,  if  we  read 
at  all,  to  read  tlie  whole  mind  of  God ;  and  thus  it  is  that  we  gradually  and 
insensibly  imbibe  it,  and  become  assimilated  to  the  same  image.  The  con- 
duct of  God  in  this  matter  resembles  that  of  a  wise  physician,  who,  in  pre- 
scribing for  a  child,  directs  that  its  medicines  be  mixed  up  with  its  necessary 
food. 

Moreover,  Scripture  doctrines  being  introduced  in  some  practical  con- 
nexion, we  learn  them  in  that  connexion.  The  occasions  and  ends  of  truth 
being  associated  in  our  minds  with  the  truth  itself,  the  great  design  of  God 
in  giving  us  a  revelation,  which  is  to  sanctify  our  spirits  and  fit  us  for  every 
good  word  and  work,  is  more  effectually  answered.  To  one  that  has  learned 
truth  from  the  Scriptures,  and  in  whom  it  dwells  richly,  in  all  wisdom  and 
spiritual  understanding,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  think  of  a  doctrine  but  in 
connexion  with  its  correspondent  duties,  or  of  a  duty  without  the  principles 
by  which  it  is  enforced. 

Once  more,  Truth  being  introduced  in  connexion  with  some  case  or  inci- 
dent, it  more  readily  occurs  to  us,  when  such  case,  or  something  similar  to 
it,  becomes  our  own.  If,  through  distrust  of  the  Divine  power  and  goodness, 
and  with  hope  of  better  accomplishing  my  object,  I  be  tempted  to  turn  aside 
from  the  straightforward  path  of  uprightness;  having  once  read  and  felt  the 
story  of  Abraham,  and  the  admonition  that  was  given  Mm  on  that  occasion, 
it  is  much  more  likely  to  occur  to  my  mind,  and  to  correct  my  folly,  than  if 
I  had  barely  read  that  God  was  "Almighty,"  or  had  only  found  a  general 
admonition  to  "  walk  before  him,  and  be  perfect."  Or  if  I  be  tempted  to 
sink  in  despondency  on  account  of  dark  and  intricate  providences,  having 
read  of  the  promises  of  God  to  Jacob,  of  his  subsequent  fears,  and  of  the 
happy  issue,  such  promises  are  much  more  likely  to  be  a  ready  remedy  than 
if  I  had  barely  read,  unconnected  with  any  particular  case,  that  God  will 
surely  do  his  people  good.  In  the  one  case  truth  is  laid  down,  as  it  were,  in 
abstract  propositions ;  in  the  other,  it  is  illustrated  by  particular  examples. 


THE  GREAT  QUESTION  ANSWERED. 

"And  he  brought  them  out,  and  said,  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  And  they  said. 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." — Acts  xvi.  30,  31. 

PART    THE    FIRST. 

That  great  numbers  of  people,  even  in  this  christianized  country,  are 
ignorant  of  the  way  of  salvation,  is  too  evident  to  be  denied.  It  is  mani- 
festly no  part  of  their  concern,  any  more  than  if  they  were  in  no  danger  of 
being  lost,  or  there  had  never  been  such  a  thing  as  salvation  heard  of  Nor 
is  this  true  only  of  weak  and  illiterate  people :  men,  who  in  all  other  con- 
cerns are  wise,  in  these  things  have  no  knowledge,  or  sense  to  direct  them. 
The  evil,  therefore,  cannot  be  ascribed  to  simple  ignorance,  which,  as  far  a ' 


THE  GREAT  QUESTION  ANSWERED.  541 

it  goes,  tends  to  excuse ;  but  to  being  loillingli/  ignorant ;  saying  unto  God, 
"  Depart  from  us — we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  thy  ways." 

God,  however,  has  a  witness  in  every  man's  conscience.  Every  man, 
whatever  he  may  pretend,  feels  himself  to  be  a  sinner,  and  to  need  forgive- 
ness. Ignorant  and  idolatrous  as  the  Philippian  jailer  had  been  all  his  life, 
yet,  when  death  looked  him  in  the  face,  he  trembled  and  cried  for  mercy. 
And  if  it  were  thus  with  the  heathen,  much  more  with  those  who  have  been 
educated  under  the  light  of  revelation.  The  most  careless  and  thoughtless 
cannot  stand  the  approach  of  death.  The  courage  of  the  most  hardened 
infidel  commonly  fails  him  at  that  solemn  period. 

Reader,  Are  you  one  of  the  many  who  scarcely  ever  think  of  these  things ; 
and  whose  chief  concern  is  what  you  shall  eat,  what  you  shall  drink,  and 
wherewithal  you  shall  be  clothed  ?  Let  the  anxiety  of  a  heathen  reprove 
you. 

If,  like  other  animals,  you  were  made  only  to  eat  and  drink,  and  figure 
away  for  a  few  years,  and  then  to  sink  into  nothing,  you  might  well  throw 
aside  every  care,  except  that  which  respects  your  present  gratification.  But 
you  are  of  an  order  of  beings  distinguished  from  all  others  in  the  creation. 
In  your  nature  is  united  mortality  and  immortality;  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  the  breath  of  the  Almighty.  Life  to  you  is  but  the  introduction  to  exist- 
ence, a  short  voyage  which  will  land  you  on  the  shores  of  eternity.  You 
are  surrounded  by  a  number  of  objects,  and  feel  an  interest  in  each.  You 
build  houses,  plant  orchards,  rear  animals,  and  form  to  yourselves  a  home ; 
but  you  are  not  at  home.  Your  feelings  associate  with  these  things;  but 
they  are  not  fit  associates  for  you.  You  may  have  a  portion  in  all  that  is 
doing  in  your  family,  and  in  your  country ;  yea,  in  some  sort,  in  all  that  is 
done  under  the  sun  :  but  this  is  not  sufficient  for  you.  The  time  dravveth 
nigh  when  there  will  be  an  end  to  all  these  things,  and  they  will  be  as  though 
they  had  not  been ;  but  you  will  still  live.  You  will  witness  the  wreck  of 
nature  itself,  and  survive  it;  and  stand  before  the  Son  of  man  at  his  appear- 
ing and  kingdom.     Can  you  think  of  these  things  and  be  unconcerned? 

Or,  though  you  be  an  immortal  and  accountable  creature,  (as  your  con' 
science  tells  you  you  are,  whenever  you  consult  it,  and  sometimes  when  you 
would  gladly  shut  your  ears  against  it,)  yet,  if  you  had  not  sinned  against 
your  Maker,  there  would  be  no  cause  for  alarm.  A  sinless  creature  has  no- 
thing to  fear  from  a  righteous  God.  TJie  approach  of  an  assize,  with  all  its 
solemn  pomp,  does  not  terrify  the  innocent:  neither  would  judgment  or  eter- 
nity inspire  the  least  degree  of  dread  if  you  were  guiltless.  But  you  are  a 
sinner,  a  corrupt  branch  of  a  corrupt  stock.  God  placed,  as  I  may  say,  a 
generous  confidence  in  our  species,  and  required  nothing  in  return  but  love; 
but  we  have  returned  him  evil  for  good.  You,  for  yourself,  are  conscious 
that  you  have  done  so,  and  that  it  is  in  your  very  nature  to  do  evil.  . 

Or,  though  you  be  what  is  called  a  sinner,  yet,  if  sin  loere  your  misfor^ 
tune,  rather  than  your  fault,  you  might  fly  for  refuge  to  the  equity  of  your 
Maker.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  manner 
in  which  you  became  a  sinner,  and  however  you  may  wish  to  excuse  yourself 
on  that  ground,  your  own  conscience  bears  witness  that  what  you  are  you 
choose  to  be,  and  occasionally  reproaches  you  for  being  so.  You  may  specu- 
late upon  sin  as  a  kind  of  hereditary  disease,  which  is  merely  a  misfortune, 
not  a  fault ;  but,  if  so,  why  do  you  feel  guilt  on  account  of  it,  any  more  than 
of  the  otlier?  Why  do  you  not  also  acquit  others  of  blame,  where  the  evil 
is  directed  against  you?  You  do  not  think  of  excusing  a  fellow  creature, 
when  he  injures  you,  upon  any  such  grounds  as  you  allege  in  excuse  of 
transgression  against  God.  If  the  party  be  rational  and  voluntary,  you  make 
no  further  inquiry ;  but,  without  any  hesitation,  pronounce  him  criminal. 

2Z 


54^  MTSCELLANEOTTS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Out  of  your  own  mouth  therefore  shall  you  be  judged.  The  inability  that 
you  feel  to  do  good  is  entirely  owing  to  your  having  no  heart  to  it.  It  is  of 
the  same  nature  as  that  of  an  unprincipled  servant,  who  cannot  seek  his 
master's  interest,  but  is  impelled,  by  his  selfishness,  to  be  always  defrauding 
him.  You  would  not  hold  such  a  servant  blameless,  nor  will  God  hold  you 
so.  You  are  not  destitute  of  those  powers  which  render  us  accountable 
beings,  but  merely  of  a  heart  to  make  use  of  them  for  God.  You  take  plea- 
sure in  knowledge,  but  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  his  ways;  in  conversa- 
tion, but  the  mention  of  serious  religion  strikes  you  dumb;  in  activity,  but 
in  his  service  you  are  as  one  that  is  dead.  You  are  fond  of  news :  but  that 
which  angels  announced,  and  the  Son  of  God  came  down  to  publish,  gives 
you  no  pleasure.  All  these  things  prove,  beyond  a  doubt,  where  the  inability 
lies. 

Or,  if  sin  should  be  allowed  to  be  your  fault,  yet,  if  it  were  a  small  offence, 
an  imperfection  that  might  be  overlooked,  or  so  slight  a  matter  that  you 
could  atone  for  it  by  repentance,  prayers,  or  tears,  or  any  effort  of  your  own, 
there  might  be  less  reason  for  alarm ;  but  neither  is  this  the  case.  If  sin 
were  so  light  a  matter  as  it  is  commonly  made,  how  is  it  that  a  train  of  the 
most  awful  curses  should  be  denounced  against  the  sinner?  Is  it  possible 
that  a  just  and  good  God  would  curse  his  creatures  in  basket  and  in  store, 
in  their  houses  and  in  their  fields,  in  their  lying  down  and  rising  up,  and  in 
all  that  they  set  their  hands  to,  for  a  mere  trifle,  or  an  imperfection  that  might 
be  overlooked  ?  If  sin  were  a  light  thing,  how  is  it  that  the  Father  of  mer- 
cies should  have  doomed  all  mankind  to  death,  and  to  all  the  miseries  that 
prepare  its  way,  on  account  of  it?  How  is  it  that  wicked  men  die  under 
such  fearful  apprehensions?  Above  all,  how  is  it  that  it  should  require  the 
eternal  Son  of  God  to  become  incarnate,  and  to  be  made  a  sacrifice,  to  atone 
for  it?  But  if  sin  be  thus  offensive  to  God,  then  are  you  in  a  fearful  situa- 
tion. If  you  had  the  whole  world  to  offer  for  your  ransom,  and  could  shed 
rivers  of  tears,  and  give  even  the  fruit  of  your  body  for  the  sin  of  your  soul, 
it  would  be  of  no  account.  Were  that  which  you  offered  ever  so  pure,  it 
could  have  no  influence  whatever  towards  atoning  for  your  past  guilt,  any 
more  than  the  tears  of  a  murderer  can  atone  for  blood;  but  this  is  not  the 
case;  those  very  performances  by  which  you  hope  to  appease  the  Divine 
anger  are  more  offensive  to  him  than  the  entreaties  of  a  detected  adulteress 
would  be  to  her  husband,  while  her  heart,  as  he  well  knows,  is  not  with  him, 
but  with  her  paramours.  You  are,  whether  you  know  it  or  not,  a  lost  sinner, 
and  that  in  the  strongest  sense  of  the  term.  Men  judge  of  sin  only  by  its 
open  acts,  but  God  looketh  directly  at  the  heart.  Their  censures  fall  only 
on  particular  branches  of  immorality,  which  strike  immediately  at  the  well- 
being  of  society  ;  but  God  views  the  root  of  the  mischief,  and  takes  into  con- 
sideration all  its  mischievous  bearings.  "  Know  thou,  therefore,  and  consider, 
that  it  is  an  evil  thing  and  bitter  that  thou  hast  done;  that  thou  hast  departed 
from  the  living  God,  and  that  my  fear  is  not  in  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

Finally,  Though  your  sin  be  exceedingly  offensive  to  your  Creator,  and 
though  you  can  make  no  atonement  for  it,  yet,  if  you  could  resist  his  poioer, 
escape  his  hand,  or  endure  his  wrath,  your  unconcernedness  might  admit  of 
some  kind  of  apology.  Surely  I  need  not  prove  to  you  that  you  cannot  re- 
sist his  power: — what  is  your  strength  when  tried?  You  may  in  the  hour 
of  health  and  festivity,  and  when  in  company  with  others  like  yourself,  look 
big,  and  put  out  great  words,  but  they  are  words  only.  If  God  do  but  touch 
you  with  his  afflicting  hand,  your  strength  and  your  courage  instantly  forsake 
you:  and  will  you  go  on  to  provoke  Omnipotence?  "  If  thou  hast  run  with 
the  footmen,  and  they  have  wearied  thee,  how  wilt  thou  contend  with  horses? 
If  in  the  land  of  peace  thou  hast  been  overcome,  how  wilt  thou  do  in  the 


THE  GREAT  QUESTION  ANSWERED.  543 

swellings  of  Jordan?"  Neither  canst  thou  "escape"  his  hand;  for  whither 
wilt  thou  flee?  If,  attentive  to  thy  safety,  the  rocks  could  fall  on  thee,  or 
the  mountains  cover  thee,  yet  should  they  not  be  able  to  hide  thee  "  from  the 
face  of  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb." — 
"  God  hath  beset  thee  behind  and  before,  and  laid  his  hand  upon  thee. 
Whither  wilt  thou  go  from  his  Spirit?  Whither  wilt  thou  flee  from  his  pre- 
sence? If  thou  ascend  to  heaven,  he  is  there!  Or,  if  thou  make  thy  bed 
in  hell,  behold,  he  is  there!" — The  only  question  that  remains  is,  whether 
you  can  "  endure  his  displeasure?"  And  this  must  surely  be  a  forlorn  hope! 
By  the  horrid  imprecations  which  we  so  commonly  hear  from  hardened  sin- 
ners, who  call  upon  God  to  damn  their  bodies  and  souls,  it  would  seem  as  if 
they  laid  their  account  with  damnation,  and  wished  to  familiarize  it;  as  if 
they  had  made  a  covenant  with  death,  and  with  hell  were  at  agreement:  but 
when  God  shall  lay  judgment  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet, 
these  refuges  of  lies  will  suddenly  be  swept  away. 

Reader!  "  Can  thine  heart  endure,  and  thine  hands  be  strong,  in  the  day 
that  he  shall  deal  with  thee?"  Think  of  the  "wrath  to  come."  If  it  were 
founded  in  caprice  or  injustice,  supported  by  conscious  innocence  you  might 
possibly  bear  it ;  but,  should  you  perish,  you  will  be  destitute  of  this.  Con- 
science will  certainly  say  Amen  to  the  justice  of  your  sufferings.  If  you 
had  mere  justice  done  you,  unmixed  with  mercy,  your  sufferings  would  be 
more  tolerable  than  they  will  be.  If  you  perish,  you  must  have  your  portion 
with  Bethsaida  and  Chorazin.  Goodness  gives  an  edge  to  justice.  The  dis- 
pleasure of  a  kind  and  merciful  being  (and  such  is  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb) 
is  insupportable. 

If  after  having  heard  these  things,  and  lived  in  a  country  where  they  are 
fully  declared,  you  do  not  feel  interested  by  them,  you  have  reason  to  fear 
that  God  has  given  you  up  to  hardness  of  heart,  and  that  that  language  is 
fulfilled  in  you :  "  Go  unto  this  people,  and  say.  Hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and 
not  understand ;  and  seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  not  perceive :  for  the  heart  of 
this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing;  and  their  eyes 
have  they  closed,  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears, 
and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  should  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal 
them."  Remember  that  in  Old  Testament  times,  when  God  blessed  his  peo- 
ple Israel  with  singular  temporal  blessings,  he  punished  their  transgressions 
mostly  by  temporal  judgments ;  but  now  that  we  are  favoured  with  singular 
spiritual  privileges,  the  neglect  of  them  is  commonly  punished  with  spiritual 
judgments. 

But  whether  you  will  hear,  or  whether  you  will  forbear,  I  will  declare  unto 
you  the  only  way  of  salvation.  That  which  was  addressed  to  the  Philippian 
jailer  is  addressed  to  you  "  God  hath  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  He  has  given  him  not  only  to  teach  us  the  good  and  the 
right  way,  but  to  be  made  a  sacrifice  for  sin,  and  as  such  to  be  himself  the 
way.  He  suffered  from  the  hands  of  wicked  men  ;  but  this  was  not  all :  "  it 
pleased  the  Lord  to  bruise  him.  He  hath  put  him  to  grief,"  and  made  "  his 
soul  an  offering  for  sin."  He  commanded  his  sword  to  awake  against  him, 
that  through  his  death  he  might  turn  his  hand  in  mercy  towards  perishing 
sinners.  He  hath  set  him  forth  "to  be  a  propitiation  to  declare  his  righteous- 
ness, that  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus." 
This  is  the  only  sacrifice  which  is  well-pleasing  to  God.  All  that  went  be- 
fore were  of  no  account,  but  as  they  pointed  to  it;  and  all  the  prayers  and 
praises  of  sinful  creatures  are  no  otherwise  acceptable  than  as  presented 
through  it.  It  is  not  for  you  to  go  about  to  appease  the  Divine  displeasure, 
or  to  recommend  yourself  to  the  Saviour  by  any  efforts  of  your  own ;  but. 


544  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

despairing  of  help  from  every  other  quarter,  to  "  receive  the  atonement  which 
Christ  lialh  made."  To  this  you  are  invited,  and  that  in  the  most  pressing 
terms.  He  that  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  liim,  hath  on  this  ground  committed 
to  his  servants  the  ministry  of  reconciliation;  and  they  as  "ambassadors  for 
Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you"  by  them,  "pray  you,  in  Christ's 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." 

The  blessings  of  pardon,  peace,  and  eternal  life  are  compared  to  a  feast 
or  marriage-supper,  which  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth  hath  made  for  his 
Son ;  and  lie  hath  commanded  his  servants  to  go  forth,  as  to  the  highways 
and  hedges,  and  to  invite,  without  distinction  ;  yea,  to  "  compel  them  to  come 
in."  Nor  is  this  all ;  you  are  exhorted  and  commanded  to  believe  in  Christ, 
on  pain  of  damnation.  All  your  other  sins  expose  you  merely  to  the  curse 
of  the  law ;  but  the  sin  of  unbelief,  if  persisted  in,  will  expose  you,  like 
the  barren  fig-tree,  to  the  curse  of  the  Saviour,  from  which  there  is  no  re- 
demption. 

Say  not  in  thine  heart,  All  these  things  I  have  believed  from  my  youth  up. 
You  may  indeed  have  been  taught  them,  and  have  received  them  as  a  tradi- 
tion from  your  fathers;  but  such  faith  is  dead,  and  consequently  unoperative. 
It  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Jews  towards  Moses,  which  our  Saviour  would 
not  admit  to  be  faith.  "  If  ye  believed  Moses,"  saith  he,  "  ye  would  believe 
me,  for  he  wrote  of  me."  It  is  no  better  than  the  faith  of  devils,  and  in 
some  respects  has  less  influence ;  for  they  believe  and  tremble,  whereas  you 
believe  and  are  at  ease. 

But  it  may  be  you  will  say,  I  have  examined  Christianity  for.  myself,  and 
am  fully  persuaded  it  is  true. — Yet  it  has  no  effect  upon  you,  any  more  than 
if  you  disbelieved  it,  unless  it  be  to  restrain  you  within  the  limits  of  exte- 
rior decorum.  Your  fliith,  therefore,  must  still  be  "  dead,  being  alone."  Be- 
lieving in  Christ  is  not  the  exercise  of  a  mind  at  ease,  casting  up  the  evi- 
dences for  and  against,  and  then  coldly  assenting,  as  in  a  question  of  sci- 
ence, to  that  side  which  seems  to  have  the  greatest  weight  of  proof.  To  one 
whose  mind  is  subdued  to  the  obedience  of  faith,  there  is  indeed  no  want  of 
evidence ;  but  it  is  not  so  much  from  external  proofs  as  from  its  own  intrin- 
sic glory,  and  suitableness  to  his  case  as  a  perishing  sinner,  that  he  feels 
himself  impelled  to  receive  it.  The  gospel  is  too  interesting,  and  hath  too 
much  influence  on  our  past  and  future  conduct,  to  be  an  object  of  unfeeling 
speculation.  It  is  a  "  hope  set  before  us,"  which  none  but  those  who  are 
"  ready  to  perish"  will  ever  embrace.  To  believe  it  is  to  renounce  our  own 
wisdom,  our  own  righteousness  and  our  own  will,  (each  of  which  is  di- 
rectly opposed  to  it,)  and  to  flill  into  the  arms  of  mere  grace,  through  the 
atoning  blood  of  the  cross.  If  the  good  news  of  salvation  be  not  in  this 
manner  believed,  it  signifies  but  little  what  speculative  notions  we  may  en- 
tertain concerning  it;  for  where  there  is  no  renunciation  of  self,  there  is  no 
dependence  upon  Christ  for  justification ;  and  where  there  is  no  such  de- 
pendence, there  is  no  revealed  interest  in  that  important  blessing;  but  the 
curses  and  threatenings  of  God  stand  in  all  their  force  against  us. 

If  after  all  your  examinations  you  continue  to  make  light  of  the  gospel 
feast,  and  prefer  your  farms,  merchandises,  or  any  thing  else  before  it,  you 
will  be  found  to  have  no  part  in  it.  Yet  be  it  known  unto  you  that  the  feast 
shall  not  be  unattended.  Heaven  shall  not  go  without  inhabitants,  nor  Christ 
without  reward,  whether  you  be  saved  or  lost.  The  Stone  set  at  nought  by 
man  is  nevertheless  "the  Head  of  the  corner."  Consider  then,  take  advice, 
and  speak  your  mind. 


THE  GREAT  QUESTION  ANSWERED.  64^ 


PART  THE  SECOND. 

Had  this  question  been  addressed  to  the  first  genius  upon  earth,  unac- 
quainted with  the  gospel,  it  could  not  have  been  answered.  Had  it  been 
put  to  all  the  great  philosophers  of  antiquity  one  by  one,  and  to  all  the 
learned  doctors  among  the  Jews,  none  of  them  could  have  resolved  it  to  any 
good  purpose.  Nor,  amidst  all  the  boasted  light  of  modern  times,  can  a 
single  unbeliever  be  found  who  would  know  what  to  do  with  it.  Yet  it  is  a 
question  which  arises  in  almost  every  man's  mind  at  one  period  or  other  of 
his  life,  and  a  question  that  must  be  resolved,  or  we  are  lost  for  ever. 

Reader !  is  it  possible  this  important  question  has  already  occupied  your 
mind.  An  alarming  sermon,  a  death  in  your  family,  a  hint  from  a  faithful 
friend,  or  it  may  be  an  impressive  dream,  has  awakened  your  attention.  You 
cannot  take  pleasure  as  formerly  in  worldly  company  and  pursuits,  yet  you 
have  no  pleasure  in  religion.  You  have  left  off  many  vices,  and  have  com- 
plied with  many  religious  duties,  but  can  find  no  rest  for  your  soul.  The 
remembrance  of  the  past  is  bitter;  the  prospect  of  the  future  may  be  more 
so.  The  thoughts  of  God  trouble  you.  You  have  even  wished  that  you 
had  never  been  born,  or  that  you  could  now  shrink  back  into  non-existence, 
or  that  you  were  any  thing  rather  than  a  man.  But  you  are  aware  that  all 
these  wishes  are  vain.  You  do  exist;  your  nature  is  stamped  with  immor- 
tality; you  must  go  forward  and  die,  and  stand  before  this  holy  Lord  God! 

If  these  or  such  like  exercises  occupy  your  mind,  the  question  of  the  Phi- 
lippian  jailer  is  yours ;  and  to  you  let  me  address  a  few  directions  included 
or  implied  in  the  answer. 

If  by  this  question  you  mean.  What  can  you  do  to  appease  the  wrath  of 
God,  or  recommend  yourself  as  a  fit  object  of  his  mercy.'  What  can  you 
do  as  a  good  deed,  or  the  beginning  of  a  course  of  good  deeds,  in  reward  of 
which  he  may  bestow  upon  you  an  interest  in  the  Saviour?  I  answer, iiothing. 
An  interest  in  Christ  and  eternal  life  is  indeed  given  as  a  reward,  but  not 
of  any  thing  we  have  done  or  can  do;  no,  not  by  Divine  assistance;  it  is 
the  reward  of  the  obedience  of  Christ  unto  death.  To  us  it  is  of  mere 
grace,  and  as  such  must  be  received.  Faith,  though  in  itself  a  holy  exer- 
cise of  the  mind,  yet,  as  that  by  which  we  are  justified,  is  directly  opposed 
to  doing.  "  To  him  that  worketh  is  the  reward  not  reckoned  of  grace,  but 
of  debt;  but  to  him  that  worketh  not,  but  believeth  on  him  that  justifieth 
the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  counted  for  righteousness."  He  that  worketh  seeks 
to  obtain  life  and  the  favour  of  God  in  some  way  or  other  as  a  reward ;  but 
he  that  believeth  receives  it  as  a  free  gift  to  the  unworthy.  And  let  me  ap- 
prise you  that  this  is  the  state  of  mind  you  must  be  brought  to,  or  you  must 
perish  for  ever.  So  far  as  you  think  of  doing  any  thing,  call  it  what  you 
may,  with  a  hope  of  being  pardoned  and  justified  for  its  sake,  so  far  you 
reject  the  only  way  of  salvation,  and  have  reason  to  expect  your  portion  with 
unbelievers. 

Let  me  deal  freely  with  you.  Yours  is  a  most  serious  situation.  The 
gospel  rest  is  before  you;  and  if  you  enter  not  in,  it  will  be  because  of  un- 
belief You  know  the  answer  given  to  the  jailer;  and  this  is  the  only  an- 
swer that  can  with  safety  be  given  to  you.  Consider  and  beware,  as  you 
regard  your  eternal  salvation,  that  you  take  up  your  rest  in  nothing  short 
of  it. 

But,  in  the  first  place,  let  me  declare  unto  you  the  gospel  of  God,  which 
you  are  directed  to  believe.  If  this  meet  your  case — if,  rightly  understood, 
it  approve  itself  not  only  to  your  conscience,  but  your  whole  soul — if  it  ac- 
cord with  your  desires,  as  it  undoubtedly  does  with  your  necessities — all  is 
well,  and  well  forever.     I  shall  not  trouble  you  with  the  opinions  of  men  as 

Vol.  III.— G9  2  z  2 


546  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

to  what  the  gospel  is,  nor  even  with  my  own,  but  direct  you  to  the  accounts 
given  of  it  by  him  whose  it  is.  The  New  Testament  abounds  with  epitomes, 
or  brief  descriptions  of  it,  delivered  in  such  plain  and  pointed  language  that 
he  that  runs  may  read  it.  Such  are  the  following:  "  God  so  loved  the  world 
that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life. — Moreover,  brethren,  I  declare  unto  you 
the  gospel  \\h.\ch  I  preached  unto  you,  which  also  ye  have  received,  and 
wherein  ye  stand;  by  which  also  ye  are  saved,  if  ye  keep  in  memory  what 
I  preached  unto  you,  unless  ye  have  believed  in  vain.  For  I  delivered  unto 
you,  first  of  all,  that  which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins 
according  to  the  Scriptures ;  and  that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again 
the  third  day,  according  to  the  Scriptures. — This  is  a  faithful  saying,  (a  truth 
of  such  importance  as  to  have  become  a  kind  of  Christian  proverb,)  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sin- 
ners, of  whom  I  am  chief. — We  preach  Christ  crucified. — I  determined  not 
to  know  any  thing  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified. —  This  is 
the  record,  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son." 
It  is  not  meant,  by  these  brief  descriptions  of  the  gospel,  that  there  is  no 
other  truth  necessary  to  be  believed;  but  that  the  doctrine  of  the  cross,  pro- 
perly embraced,  includes  all  others,  or  draws  after  it  the  belief  of  them. 

The  import  of  this  gospel  is,  that  God  is  in  the  right,  and  we  are  in  the 
wrong;  that  we  have  transgressed  against  him  without  cause,  and  are  justly 
exposed  to  everlasting  punishment;  that  mercy,  originating  purely  in  himself, 
required  for  the  due  honour  of  his  government  to  be  exercised  through  the 
atonement  of  his  beloved  Son ;  that  with  this  sacrifice  God  is  well  pleased, 
and  can,  consistently  with  all  his  perfections,  pardon  and  accept  of  any 
sinner,  whatever  he  hath  done,  who  believeth  in  him. 

What  say  you  to  this?  The  truth  of  it  has  been  confirmed  by  the  most 
unquestionable  proofs.  It  first  began  to  be  spoken  by  the  Lord  himself,  and 
has  been  confirmed  unto  us  by  them  that  heard  him;  God  also  bearing  them 
witness,  with  signs  and  wonders,  and  divers  miracles.  The  witness  of  the 
three  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  borne  to  this; 
namely,  that  "God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  Son;" 
and  to  this  also  is  directed  the  witness  of  the  three  on  earth,  the  spirit,  and 
the  water,  and  the  blood.  Can  you  subscribe  to  this  great  truth  in  all  its 
bearings,  and  rest  the  salvation  of  your  soul  upon  it?  or  do  you  doubt  whether 
you  be  so  guilty,  so  helpless,  and  in  so  dangerous  a  state  as  this  doctrine 
supposes?  Is  it  as  one  of  the  chief  of  sinners  that  you  view  yourself?  or 
does  it  grate  with  your  feelings  to  receive  forgiveness  in  that  humble 
character?  In  suing  for  mercy,  are  you  content  to  stand  on  the  same  low 
ground  as  if  you  were  a  convict  actually  going  to  be  executed?  or  does  your 
heart  secretly  pine  after  a  salvation  less  humiliating,  in  which  some  account 
might  be  made  of  that  difference  of  character  by  which  you  may  have  been 
distinguished  from  the  vilest  of  men,  and  in  which  you  might  be  somewhat 
a  co-operator  with  God?  Does  that  which  pleases  God  please  you?  or  does 
your  mind  revolt  at  it?  It  meets  all  your  wants;  but  not  one  of  your  preju- 
dices, proud  thoughts,  or  vicious  propensities :  all  these  must  come  down, 
and  be  made  a  sacrifice  to  it.     Can  you  subscribe  it  on  these  terms? 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  great  concern  of  persons  in  your  situation  is  to 
obtain  peace  of  mind;  and  any  thing  which  promises  to  afford  this  attracts 
your  attention.  If  this  gospel  be  believed  with  all  your  heart,  it  will  give 
you  peace.  This  is  the  good,  and  the  old  way;  wajk  in  it,  and  you  will  find 
rest  for  your  soul ;  but  it  is  not  every  thing  which  promises  peace  that  will 
ultimately  afflird  it.  It  is  at  our  peril  to  offer  you  other  consolation,  and  at 
yours  to  receive  it. 


THE  GREAT  QUESTION  ANSWERED.  547 

Consider,  and  beware,  I  say  again,  as  you  regard  your  eternal  salvation, 
that  you  take  up  your  rest  in  nothing  short  of  Christ ! — With  a  few  serious 
cautions  against  some  of  your  principal  dangers,  I  shall  conclude  this  address. 

First,  Beware  of  brooding  over  yoxir  guilt  in  a  way  of  unbelieving  despond- 
ency, and  so  standing  aloof  front  the  hope  of  mercy.  Say  not,  My  sins  have 
been  too  great,  too  numerous,  or  too  aggravated  to  be  forgiven.  "The  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  from  all  sin:"  believest  thou  this?  You 
are  not  straitened  in  him;  but  in  your  own  bowels.  " God's  thoughts  are 
not  as  your  thoughts,  nor  his  ways  as  your  ways :  as  the  heavens  are  higher 
than  the  earth,  so  are  his  thoughts  higher  than  your  thoughts,  and  his  ways 
than  your  ways."  On  the  sinner  that  relurneth  to  our  God  he  bestoweth 
abundant  pardon.  It  is  not.  If  thou  canst  do  any  thing,  help  me;  but,  "If 
thou  canst  believe — all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth."  Of  what 
dost  thou  doubt — of  his  all-sufficiency?  "  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  Jttter- 
jnost  all  that  come  unto  God  by  him."  Of  his  willingness?  Ought  not  his 
gracious  invitations  to  satisfy  thee  on  this  head?  Can  you  imagme  that  he 
would  proclaim,  saying,  "Whosoever  thirsteth,  let  him  come  unto  me  and 
drink,"  and  yet  be  reluctant  to  gratify  the  desires  of  those  that  come  to  him? 
Objections  on  the  ground  of  the  greatness  of  guilt  and  unworthiness  may 
seem  to  wear  the  face  of  modesty  and  humility;  but,  after  all,  it  becomes  you 
to  consider  whether  they  be  any  other  than  the  workings  of  a  self-righteous 
spirit.  If  you  could  find  in  your  heart  to  accept  of  mercy  as  one  of  the  chief 
of  sinners,  all  your  objections  would  vanish  in  a  moment.  One  sees  in  your 
very  tears  of  despondency  a  pining  after  acceptance  with  God  by  something 
in  yourself.  Were  tiiey  put  into  words,  they  would  amount  to  something 
like  this: — If  I  had  but  somewhat  to  recommend  me  to  the  Saviour,  I  could 
go  to  him  with  assurance;  or,  if  I  had  been  less  wicked,  1  might  hope  for 
acceptance.  And  what  is  this  but  making  good  the  complaint  of  our  Saviour? 
"Ye  will  not  come  to  me  that  ye  may  have  life!"  Such  longing  after  some- 
thing to  recommend  you  to  the  Saviour  is  no  other  than  "going  about  to 
establish  your  own  righteousness ;"  and,  while  this  is  the  case,  there  is  great 
danger  of  your  being  given  up  to  imagine  that  you  find  the  worthiness  in 
yourself  which  your  soul  desireth. 

Secondly,  Beware  of  dwelling  in  a  way  of  self-complacency  on  those  reforma- 
tions which  may  have  been  produced  by  the  poiver  of  conviction.  This  is 
another  of  those  workings  of  unbelief  by  which  many  have  come  short  of 
believing,  and  so  of  entering  into  rest.  There  is  no  doubt  but  your  convic- 
tions have  driven  you  from  the  commission  of  grosser  vices,  and  probably 
have  frightened  you  into  a  compliance  with  various  religious  duties;  but 
these  are  only  the  loppings-off  of  the  branches  of  sin:  the  root  remains  un- 
mortified.  It  is  not  the  breaking  off  of  your  sins  that  will  turn  to  any  account, 
unless  they  be  broken  off  by  righteousness;  and  this  will  not  be  the  case  but 
by  believing  in  Christ.  The  power  of  corruption  may  have  only  retired  into 
its  strong  holds,  from  whence,  if  you  embrace  not  the  gospel  way  of  salva- 
tion, it  will  soon  come  forth  with  increased  energy,  and  sweep  away  all  your 
cobweb  reformations.  Nay,  it  is  very  possible  that,  while  the  "  lusts  of  the 
flesh"  have  seemed  to  recede,  those  of  the  mind,  particularly  spiritual  pride, 
may  have  already  increased  in  strength.  If,  indeed,  you  dwell  on  your 
reformations,  and  draw  comfort  from  them,  it  is  an  undoubted  proof  that  it 
is  so;  and  then,  instead  of  being  reformed,  or  nearer  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
than  you  were  before,  your  character  is  more  offensive  to  God  than  ever. 
Publicans  and  harlots  are  more  likely  to  enter  into  it  than  you. — Besides,  if 
your  reformations  were  ever  so  virtuous,  (which  they  are  not,  in  His  sight 
by  whom  actions  are  weighed,)  yet,  while  you  are  an  unbeliever,  they  cannot 
be  accepted.     You  yourself  must  first  be  accepted  in  the  Beloved,  ere  any 


548  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

thing  that  you  offer  can  be  received.  "It  does  not  consist  with  the  honour 
of  the  majesty  of  the  King  of  heaven  and  earth  to  accept  of  any  thing  from 
a  condemned  malefactor,  condemned  by  the  justice  of  his  own  holy  law,  till 
that  condemnation  be  removed." 

Thirdly,  Beware  of  deriving  comfort  from  the  distress  of  mind  which  i/ou 
may  have  undergone,  or  from  any  feelings  icithin  you.  Some  religious 
people  will  tell  you  that  these  workings  of  mind  are  a  sign  that  God  has 
mercy  in  reserve  for  you ;  and  that  if  you  go  on  in  the  way  you  are  in,  wait- 
ing as  at  the  pool,  all  will  be  well  in  the  end :  but  do  not  you  believe  them. 
They  have  no  Scripture  warrant  for  what  they  say.  It  is  not  your  being 
distressed  in  mind  that  will  prove  any  thing  in  your  favour,  but  the  issue  of 
it.  Saul  was  distressed,  as  well  as  David ;  and  Judas  as  well  as  Peter.  When 
the  murderers  of  our  Lord  were  pricked  in  their  hearts,  Peter  did  not  com- 
fort them  by  representing  this  their  unhappiness  as  a  hopeful  sign  of  con- 
version ;  but  exhorted  them  to  "  repent  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of  them, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the  remission  of  sins."  And  thus  it  was 
with  Paul  and  Silas,  when  the  jailer  was  impressed  with  fear  and  dismay; 
they  gave  him  no  encouragement  from  thence,  but  preached  Jesus  Christ  as 
the  only  source  of  hope.  If  one  who  had  slain  a  man  in  Israel  had  stopped 
short  of  the  city  of  refuge,  and  endeavoured  to  draw  comfort  from  the  alarm 
which  he  had  felt  lest  the  avenger  of  blood  should  overtake  him,  would  he 
have  been  safe?  There  is  no  security  to  you,  or  to  any  man,  but  in  fleeing 
immediately  to  the  gospel  refuge,  and  laying  hold  of  the  hope  set  before  you. 
If  you  take  comfort  from  your  distress,  you  are  in  imminent  danger  of  stop- 
ping short  of  Christ,  and  so  of  perishing  for  ever.  Many,  no  doubt,  have 
done  so ;  and  that  which  they  have  accounted  waiting  at  the  pool  for  the 
moving  of  the  waters  has  proved  no  other  than  settling  upon  a  false  founda- 
tion. Indeed  it  must  needs  be  so;  for  as  there  is  no  medium,  in  one  that 
has  heard  the  gospel,  between  faith  and  unbelief,  he  that  does  not  believe  in 
Jesus  for  salvation,  if  he  have  any  hope  of  it,  must  derive  that  hope  from 
something  in  himself. 

Fourthly,  Beware  of  making  faith  itself,  as  an  act  of  yours,  the  ground 
of  acceptance  with  God.  It  is  true  that  believing  is  an  act  of  yours,  and  an 
act  of  obedience  to  God.  Far  be  it  from  me  that  I  should  convey  an  idea 
of  any  thing  short  of  a  cordial  reception  of  the  gospel  being  accompanied 
with  salvation — a  reception  that  involves  a  renunciation  of  self-righteousness, 
and  a  submission  to  the  righteousness  of  God.  But  if  you  consider  it  as  a 
species  of  sincere  obedience  which  God  has  consented  to  accept  instead  of 
a  perfect  one,  and  if  you  hope  to  be  justified  in  reward  of  it,  you  are  still 
"going  about  to  establish  your  own  righteousness"  under  an  evangelical 
name.  This  is  the  commandment  of  God,  that  ye  believe  on  the  name  of 
his  Son.  Faith  is  an  act  of  obedience  to  God,  yet  it  is  not  as  such  that  it 
justifies  us,  but  as  receiving  Christ,  and  bringing  us  into  a  living  union  with 
him,  for  lohose  soke  alone  we  are  accepted  and  saved.  If  you  truly  believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  for  salvation,  you  will  think  nothing  of  the  work- 
ings of  your  own  mind,  but  of  his  work  who  came  into  the  world  to  save  the 
chief  of  sinners. 

Finally,  Beware  of  taking  comfort  from  any  imptdse,  or  unfounded  per- 
suasion that  your  sins  are  forgiven,  and  that  you  are  a  favourite  of  God. 
Many  are  deceived  in  this  way,  and  mistake  such  a  persuasion  for  faith  itself. 
When  a  sinner  is  driven  from  all  his  former  holds,  it  is  not  unusual  for  him, 
instead  of  falling  at  the  feet  of  Christ  as  utterly  lost,  to  catch  at  any  new  con- 
ceit, however  unscriptural  and  absurd,  if  it  will  but  afford  him  relief  If,  in 
such  a  state  of  mind,  he  receive  an  impression,  perhaps  in  the  words  of 
Scripture,  that  God  has  forgiven  and  accepted  him,  or  dream  that  he  is  in 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  549 

heaven,  or  read  a  book  or  hear  a  sermon  which  is  favourable  to  such  a 
method  of  obtaining  relief,  he  eagerly  imbibes  it,  and  becomes  intoxicated 
with  the  delicious  draught.  The  joy  of  hope  being  so  new  and  unexpected 
a  thing,  and  succeeding  to  great  darkness  and  distress,  produces  a  wonderful 
change  in  his  mind.  Now  lie  thinks  he  has  discovered  the  light  of  life,  and 
feels  to  have  lost  his  burden.  Now  he  has  found  out  the  true  religion,  and 
all  that  he  read  or  heard  before,  not  affording  him  relief,  is  false  doctrine,  or 
legal  preaching.  Being  treated  also  as  one  of  the  dear  children  of  God,  by 
others  of  the  same  description,  he  is  attached  to  his  flatterers,  and  despises 
those  as  graceless  who  would  rob  him  of  his  comforts,  by  warning  him 
against  the  lie  which  is  "in  his  right  hand." 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  all  consolation  which  comes  suddenly  to  the 
mind,  or  by  the  impression  of  a  passage  of  Scripture,  any  more  than  by 
reading  or  hearing,  is  delusive.  It  is  not  the  manner  in  which  we  obtain 
relief  that  is  of  any  account,  but  what  it  is  that  comforts  us.  If  it  be  the 
doctrine  of  the  cross,  or  any  revealed  truth  pertaining  to  it,  this  is  gospel 
consolation;  but  if  it  be  a  supposed  revelation  from  heaven  of  something 
which  is  not  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  that  is  a  species  of  comfort  on  which  no 
dependence  can  be  placed.  A  believer  may  be  so  far  misled  as  to  be  carried 
away  with  it;  but  if  a  man  has  nothing  better,  he  is  still  an  unbeliever. 

To  conclude :  If  ever  you  obtain  that  rest  for  your  soul  which  will  bear 
the  light,  it  must  be,  not  from  any  thing  within  you,  but  by  looking  out  of 
yourself  to  Christ  as  revealed  in  the  gospel.  You  may  afterwards  know  that 
you  have  passed  from  death  unto  life  by  the  love  you  bear  to  the  brethren, 
and  by  many  other  Scriptural  evidences ;  and,  from  the  time  of  your  era- 
bracing  the  gospel  remedy,  you  may  be  conscious  of  it,  and  so  enjoy  the 
hope  of  the  promised  salvation;  but  your  first  relief,  if  it  be  genuine,  will  be 
drawn  directly  from  Christ,  or  from  finding  that  in  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
through  his  death  which  suits  your  wants  and  wishes  as  a  perishing  sinner. 


THE  AWAKENED   SINNER. 


[A  Correspondence  between  Archippus,  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  Epaphras,  a  young 
man  who  had  been  one  of  his  hearers.] 

LETTER  I. 

[Epaphras  to  Archippus.] 

My  dear  Sir, 

For  several  years  past,  you  know,  I  have  sat  under  your  ministry.  Having 
lately  been  removed  by  providence  beyond  the  reach  of  it,  many  things, 
which  made  but  little  impression  upon  my  mind  at  the  time,  have  been 
called  to  remembrance.  My  heart  often  sinks  at  the  thought  of  the  non- 
improvement  of  my  former  mercies,  and  trembles  lest  those  solemn  warn- 
ings and  tender  expostulations  which  I  have  heard  from  you  should,  on  a 
future  day,  bear  witness  against  me. 

You  have  more  than  once  talked  to  me  on  the  concerns  of  my  soul ;  but 
I  could  never  be  free  to  answer  you.  Indeed  I  did  not  like  to  hear  of  the 
subject.  It  always  struck  a  damp  upon  my  spirits,  and  rendered  your  com- 
pany, which  otherwise  was  very  agreeable,  a  burden.  But  now,  seldom  see- 
ing your  face,  I  feel  a  wish  to  open  my  mind  to  you ;  and  the  rather  because 
the  salvation  of  my  soul  has  of  late  concerned  me  more  than  at  any  former 
period. 


550  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Though  you  were  well  acquainted  with  my  person,  you  knew  but  little  of 
my  character,  or  of  the  tilings  which  were  at  work  in  my  mind.  I  have 
been  guilty  of  many  evils  from  my  youth.  I  have  also  been  the  subject  of 
occasional  convictions;  and  strange  thoughts  have  passed  my  mind  concern- 
ing religion.  When  about  twelve  years  of  age,  the  death  of  several  persons 
around  me  impressed  my  mind  with  solemn  reflections  about  my  own  future 
state,  I  conceived  of  God  as  an  almighty  Being;  but  had  no  just  ideas  of 
his  moral  character.  It  appeared  to  me  that,  being  stronger  than  we,  his 
will  must  be  our  law.  I  saw  no  justness  or  fitness  in  its  being  so;  but,  as 
we  were  unable  to  dispute  with  him,  it  must  be  so.  I  entertained  many  hard 
thoughts  of  his  government,  on  the  ground  of  our  first  parent  being  consti- 
tuted the  head  of  his  posterity,  and  of  the  consequence  of  his  sin  as  affecting 
us.  Sometimes  I  wished  I  had  never  been  born ;  but  then  again  it  would 
recur  to  me,  born  I  am,  and  die  I  must,  and  after  death  is  a  judgment!  At 
other  times,  my  thoughts  would  turn  to  the  only  hope  set  before  us,  the  sal- 
vation of  Jesus  Christ.  I  conceived  of  him,  however,  as  coming  into  the 
world,  not  to  satisfy  the  injured  justice  of  God,  but  to  make  us  amends  for 
the  injury  we  had  received  from  Adam's  transgression,  and  to  give  us,  as  it 
were,  another  chance  for  our  life.  I  thought  God  must  know  that  he  had 
dealt  hardly  with  us;'  and,  therefore,  was  constrained  by  equity  to  do  as  he 
did,  in  giving  his  Son  to  die  for  us;  and  that,  if  he  had  not  done  this,  we 
should  have  had  just  cause  for  complaint,  whatever  we  might  have  as  it  was. 

I  read  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  necessity  of  repentance  and  conversion ; 
and  many  thoughts  passed  through  my  mind  on  this  subject;  but  I  generally 
postponed  a  serious  attention  to  it  to  some  future  day.  I  formed  resolutions 
of  amendment,  and  fixed  times  when  I  would  return  to  God  by  repentance; 
but  as  the  former  seldom  proved  to  be  of  any  account  in  the  hour  of  tempta- 
tion, so  the  latter  passed  over,  and  left  me  where  I  was.  About  this  time  I 
fell  into  company,  which  often  drew  me  into  a  breach  of  the  sabbath.  During 
the  summer  season  we  used  to  walk  in  the  fields,  to  the  neglect  of  public 
worship.  I  could  not  do  this,  however,  without  its  being  followed  by  keen 
remorse.  Such  was  the  bitterness  of  my  soul  on  one  of  these  occasions, 
that  I  invoked  the  curse  of  the  Almighty  upon  myself,  and  wrote  it  upon  the 
walls  of  a  building  near  the  outside  of  the  town,  if  I  passed  that  building 
any  more  on  the  sabbath  day,  to  the  neglect  of  his  worship. 

I  now  began  to  think  myself  a  little  better;  but  still  suspected  I  was  not 
right  at  heart.  The  words  of  Christ  to  Nicodemus  would  in  a  manner  strike 
me  dead,  "  Ye  must  be  born  again!"  The  ideas  which  I  formed  of  the  new 
birth,  as  nearly  as  I  can  remember,  were,  that  I  must  be  in  some  very  deep 
distress,  next  to  despair ;  and  in  that  state  of  mind  a  voice  from  heaven,  or 
something  like  it,  was  to  set  me  at  liberty.  1  used  to  go  alone  into  the 
fields  in  an  evening,  and  there  weep  over  my  condition,  and  pray  that  I 
might  be  converted ;  but  it  always  seemed  to  me  that  God  would  not  hear 
me.  At  length  I  began  to  despair.  I  thought  I  never  should  be  converted, 
and  so  must  perish  for  ever.  Sometimes  I  thought  of  giving  up  all  concern 
about  it,  and  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  life  while  I  could  ;  but  as  I  knew  not 
how  to  shake  off  my  uneasiness,  I  thought  I  would  try  another  year,  and 
wait  and  pray  ....  peradventure  by  that  I  might  be  converted. 

During  this  year  I  was  often  beset  with  thoughts  like  these — Perhaps, 
after  all,  there  is  nothing  in  religion ;  perhaps  the  Bible  is  nothing  more 
than  the  invention  of  some  great  man,  to  keep  the  world  in  order;  perhaps 
the  Mahomedans  have  as  good  ground  to  believe  in  the  Alcoran  as  we  have 
in  the  Scriptures;  perhaps  there  is  no  hereafter;  perhaps  there  is  no  God. — 
My  heart,  I  believe,  would  willingly  have  received  these  principles,  shock- 
ing as  they  are ;  but  my  conscience  would  not  suffer  me  do  it.     I  even  took 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  551 

pains  to  convince  myself  of  their  falsehood,  by  walking  out  into  the  fields  in 
a  star-light  evening,  viewing  the  heavens,  and  inferring  thence  the  being  of 
a  God;  which,  when  admitted,  the  reality  of  religion  followed  as  a  neces- 
sary consequence. 

About  this  time  I  read  "Alleine's  Alarm  to  the  Unconverted."  He  said, 
"There  were  some  who  thought  themselves  converted,  but  were  not  so; 
and  others  who  thought  they  were  not  converted,  but  were  so."  I  overlooked 
the  alarming  part  of  the  treatise,  and  caught  hold  of  this,  gathering  from  it 
some  soit  of  hope  that  the  latter  might  possibly  be  my  case.  My  year  was 
now  expired ;  and  though  I  had  a  few  hopes,  I  felt  no  ground  for  any  satis- 
factory conclusion.  I  thought  I  must  be  better  than  I  was;  yet  how  to 
make  myself  so  I  knew  not. 

But  my  sheet  is  full;  I  therefore  at  present  subscribe  myself  yours  with 
much  respect,  Epaphras. 

LETTER  II. 

[Epaphras  to  Archippus.] 
Mr  DEAR  Sir, 

Let  me  presume  upon  your  patience,  while  I  resume  the  narrative  of  my 
past  exercises  of  mind.  When  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  I  remember,  as 
I  was  one  morning  musing  by  myself,  and  thinking  of  the  number  and  mag- 
nitude of  my  offences,  the  bitter  pangs  of  despair  seized  me.  Iniquify,  said 
I,  will  he  my  ruin.  A  sigh,  as  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  succeeded  this 
exclamation.  But,  all  on  a  sudden,  I  seemed  to  hear  as  it  were  a  voice  from 
heaven,  saying  to  me,  "  Sin  shall  not  have  dominion  over  thee ;  for  thou  art 
not  under  the  law,  but  under  grace."  1  instantly  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears, 
and  went  on  weeping  for  joy,  till  my  weeping  powers  seemed  to  be  exhausted. 
In  reflecting  upon  this,  I  thought,  I  am  now  surely  converted ;  this  must  be 
the  new  birth.  I  was  the  subject  of  transporting  joy,  and  confidence  of  hav- 
ing found  the  pearl  of  price. 

From  what  I  have  heard  you  say  concerning  impressions,  even  in  Scrip- 
ture language,  where  it  is  not  the  truth  contained  in  the  words,  but  the  idea 
of  their  being  an  extraordinary  revelation  from  heaven  made  to  the  soul  of 
the  forgiveness  of  its  sins,  I  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  your  thoughts 
of  this  singular  part  of  my  experience  will  accord  with  what  at  that  time 
were  mine.  Indeed,  from  what  followed,  I  have  no  reason  to  think  favour- 
ably of  it  myself,  for  within  a  few  hours  all  was  forgotten,  as  though  it  had 
not  been ;  and  what  is  worse,  I  returned  to  my  sins  as  eagerly  as  ever,  and 
lived  several  years  after  this  in  the  unbridled  indulgence  of  almost  every 
species  of  iniquity  that  came  within  my  reach.  It  is  true,  I  could  not  sin 
without  occasional  pangs  of  remorse,  and  such  as  were  very  bitter;  but  my 
heart  was  set  on  evil.  I  formed  intimacies  with  dissolute  young  people,  and 
did  as  they  did.  I  drew  many  into  my  wicked  courses,  as  others  had  drawn 
me  into  theirs ;  and  having  never  made  any  profession  of  religion,  I  felt  the 
less  concern.  I  seemed  to  consider  religion  as  a  kind  of  discretional  service. 
Those  who  made  profession  of  it  I  thought  were  obliged  to  act  accordingly ; 
but  others,  except  so  far  as  they  might  be  induced  to  attend  to  it  for  their 
own  safety,  were  at  liberty  to  give  scope  to  their  inclinations. 

My  heart  was  so  hardened  by  repeated  acts  of  sin  that  God  was  scarcely 
in  any  of  my  thoughts.  His  all-piercing  eye  did  not  restrain  me.  There 
was  a  poor  godly  man,  however,  one  of  my  father's  labourers,  whose  eye  and 
ear  used  to  strike  me  with  terror.  If  at  any  time  I  had  been  reading,  or 
had  gone  a  few  miles  to  hear  a  sermon,  or  any  thing  else  that  looked  like 
religion,  I  used  to  imagine  that  he  looked  upon  me  with  complacency  and 


$5^  MISCELLANEOTJS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

hope;  but  when  I  had  been  indulging  in  sin,  I  thought  I  saw  in  his  face 
the  very  frowns  of  Heaven.  It  was  a  strange  and  singular  regard  that  I  felt 
for  this  poor  man.  His  good  opinion  was  what  I  desired  above  that  of  all 
other  persons.  When  he  has  been  going  to  worship  on  a  Lord's-day  morn- 
ing, I  have  run  with  eagerness  to  overtake  him ;  yet  when  in  his  company  I 
had  nothing  to  say.  If  ever  I  wished  for  riches,  it  was  that  I  might  be  able 
to  confer  them  upon  him. 

Within  the  last  year  my  concern  has  been  renewed.  Having  been  deeply 
engaged  in  a  very  ungodly  piece  of  conduct,  which  was  publicly  known,  I 
dreaded  nothing  so  much  as  meeting  the  eyes  of  this  poor  man.  He,  how- 
ever, said  nothing  to  me ;  and  I  suppose  thought  no  more  of  it  than  he  would 
of  seeing  evil  fruit  growing  upon  an  evil  tree ;  but  my  mind  from  that  time 
became  habitually  wretched.  Like  Samson,  1  strove  to  shake  myself,  and 
to  do  as  at  other  times ;  but  my  strength  was  gone ;  the  joy  of  my  heart  was 
fled.  From  this  time,  many  of  my  open  vices  were  relinquished ;  the  love 
of  sin,  however,  was  not  subdued.  On  the  contrary,  in  proportion  to  the 
restraints  under  which  my  convictions  laid  me  as  to  some  evils,  such  was 
the  strength  of  my  inclinations  towards  others.  For  two  or  three  months 
together,  it  was  common  for  me  to  indulge  in  sin  in  an  evening;  and  when 
I  waked  in  the  morning,  to  be  overwhelmed  with  guilt  and  horror.  In  the 
hour  of  dejection  I  would  resolve  against  future  compliances.  In  some  few 
instances  I  kept  to  my  resolutions;  and  when  I  did  so  I  had  peace;  as  also 
when  at  any  time  I  had  wept  over  my  sin,  and  bemoaned  my  miserable  con- 
dition, I  enjoyed  a  kind  of  secret  satisfaction :  but  when  my  resolutions 
failed  me,  as  they  mostly  did  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  all  my  peace  and 
comfort  would  forsake  me.  I  have  learned,  by  these  things,  that  there  is  no 
help  in  me;  and  that,  if  God  were  to  forgive  me  all  that  is  past,  I  should  in 
one  hour  destroy  my  soul. 

Formerly  I  used  to  sin  away  my  convictions ;  but  have  not  been  able  to 
do  so  of  late.  Conscience  has  seemed  to  follow  me  wherever  I  have  gone, 
or  rather,  like  an  angel  of  God  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  to  meet  me 
in  my  wicked  course.  Indeed,  I  am  now  afraid  of  losing  my  convictions, 
knowing  that  eternal  ruin  must  be  the  consequence  in  that  case,  whatever 
it  be  as  it  is. 

O  sir!  I  am  a  miserable  sinner.  My  crimes  have  been  much  more  numer- 
ous and  aggravated  than  you  or  any  of  my  friends  can  have  imagined.  I 
have  long  known  myself  to  be  a  sinner;  but  now  I  feel  it.  I  often  repeat 
to  myself  the  lamentations  of  a  sinner  as  described  by  Mr.  Mason — 

"I  have  been  Satan's  willing  slave. 
And  his  most  easy  prey  ; 
He  was  not  readier  to  command 
Than  I  was  to  obey. 

If  any  time  he  left  my  soul, 

Yet  still  his  work  went  on  ; 

I  've  been  a  tempter  to  myself: 

Ah,  Lord,  what  have  1  done .'" 

I  sometimes  think  I  feel  the  wrath  of  God,  as  an  earnest  of  hell,  kindled 
already  in  my  bosom.  My  former  hopes,  instead  of  affording  me  any  encour- 
agement, work  despair.  It  seems  to  me  presumptuous,  after  so  many  base 
and  repeated  relapses,  to  hope  for  mercy.  When  I  look  into  the  Scriptures, 
I  see,  as  I  have  long  seen,  that  except  I  repent,  and  believe  in  Christ,  I  must 
inevitably  perish ;  but,  alas  1  loaded  as  I  am  with  sorrow,  my  heart  is  too 
hard  to  repent;  and  as  to  faith,  and  the  prayer  of  faith,  they  are  things 
foreign  from  the  state  of  my  mind.  I  would  give  the  world,  if  I  had  it,  to 
be  possessed  of  them ;  but  oh,  I  cannot,  I  dare  not,  believe ;  I  am  unworthy 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  553 

of  mercy.  I  fear  lama  reprobate,  of  whom  God  hath  determined  to  make 
an  example,  and  therefore  tliat  there  is  no  hope  for  me.  My  heart  has  often 
revoked  at  that  awful  doctrine,  and  now  it  overwhelms  me.  I  know  you 
will  feel  for  me .  but  whether  any  relief  can  be  afforded  to  a  soul  like  mine 
I  know  not.  Let  me  conjure  you,  however,  to  be  plain  with  me,  and  tell 
me,  without  reserve,  what  you  think  of  my  case;  and  if  you  have  any  coun- 
sel to  offer,  let  me  entreat  you  to  impart  it. 

I  am,  with  unfeigned  respect,  yours,  &.c. 

Epaphras. 

LETTER  III. 

[Archippus  to  Epaphras.] 
My  dear  young  Friend, 

The  narration  with  which  you  have  favoured  me  has  deeply  interested  my 
feelings  on  your  behalf  My  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  you  is  that  you 
may  be  saved.  In  the  early  workings  of  your  mind  I  see  much  of  the  enmity 
and  error  of  the  human  heart.  Your  thoughts  of  God  and  his  government, 
Christ  and  his  gospel,  and  of  the  nature  of  conversion,  are  the  thoughts  of 
many  much  older  than  you ;  but  they  are  not  the  better  on  this  account. 
These  are  among  the  "  imaginations  and  high  thoughts  that  exalt  themselves 
against  the  knowledge  of  God,"  and  require  to  be  "  cast  down,  and  every 
thought  to  be  brought  into  subjection  to  the  obedience  of  Christ." 

Your  temptations  to  disbelieve  the  Bible,  and  even  the  being  of  God,  were 
no  more  than  the  ordinary  operations  of  a  depraved  heart,  disturbed  by  the 
light  of  the  gospel  having  made  its  way  into  the  conscience.  Your  vows 
and  endeavours  to  repent  and  be  converted  appear  to  have  arisen  from  a 
mixture  of  slavish  fear  and  self-righteous  hope.  You  were  not  sorry  for  your 
sin,  nor  wished  to  be  sorry,  from  any  dislike  you  bore  to  it;  but  you  trem- 
bled at  the  wrath  to  come,  and  wished  to  become  any  thing  that  you  might 
escape  it ;  and,  not  knowing  the  deceitfulness  of  your  own  heart,  you  flattered 
yourself  that,  by  putting  on  a  good  resolution,  you  could  bend  it  into  a  com- 
pliance with  the  will  of  God. 

I  need  not  say  much  concerning  the  impression  by  which  your  mind  was 
filled  with  joy.  You  yourself  seem  sufficiently  convinced,  by  what  followed, 
that  it  was  not  conversion,  but  a  blossom  without  fruit.  Those  who  con- 
clude, from  such  feelings,  that  they  are  in  a  state  of  salvation,  are  objects  of 
pity. 

Concerning  your  late  and  present  distress,  I  feel  much  for  you ;  not  only 
in  a  way  of  sympathy,  but  of  concern  for  the  issue ;  for  many  persons  have 
been  as  deeply  distressed  about  their  salvation  as  you  appear  to  be,  who  have 
yet  taken  up  their  rest  in  something  short  of  Christ ;  which  is  a  much  more 
dangerous  state  than  that  from  which  they  were  first  awakened,  and,  if  per- 
sisted in,  will  render  their  case  less  tolerable  than  if  they  had  lived  and  died 
in  ignorance. 

Your  sins,  you  say,  "  are  much  more  numerous  and  aggravated  than  I  or 
any  of  your  friends  can  have  imagined."  DoubUess  you  have  been  guilty 
of  things  which  neither  I  nor  any  other  creature  can  have  been  privy  to ;  but 
I  apprehend  that,  at  present,  you  have  but  a  very  imperfect  sense  of  them. 
So  far  from  thinking  that  you  view  the  evil  of  your  way  in  too  strong  a  light, 
I  am  persuaded  you  are  a  thousand  times  more  wicked  in  the  sight  of  God, 
whose  judgment  is  according  to  truth,  than  ever  you  have  yet  been  in  your 
own  sight :  your  heart  condemns  you  ;  but  "  God  is  greater  than  your  heart, 
and  knoweth  all  things !" 

I  write  not  thus  to  drive  you  to  despair;  for  though  your  sins  were  ten 
Vol.  III.— 70  3  A 


654  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

times  more  numerous  and  more  aggravated  than  they  are,  while  the  good 
news  of  eternal  life,  through  the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  held  up  to 
you,  there  is  no  reason  for  this.  You  have  learned,  you  think,  "  that  there 
is  no  help  in  you."  Be  it  so;  it  does  not  follow  that  there  is  none  without 
you.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  by  a  thorough  and  practical  knowledge  of  the 
one  that  the  other  becomes  acceptable.  If  the  help  that  is  provided  without, 
therefore,  give  you  no  relief,  I  am  constrained  to  think  it  is  because  you 
are  not  yet  brought  to  despair  of  help  from  within. 

Let  me  speak  freely  to  you  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  You  may  think 
this  to  contain  no  jieivs  to  you ;  but  I  am  persuaded  that  hitherto  you  have 
neither  understood  nor  believed  it.  Your  despair  is  like  that  of  a  man  who 
gives  himself  up  for  lost  without  having  tried  the  only  remedy.  You  have 
prayed  for  mercy,  but  hitherto  you  have  asked  nothing  with  a  pure  respect  to 
the  atonnnent  of  Jesus.  Ask  in  his  name,  and  you  shall  receive,  and  your 
joy  shall  be  full. 

Consider  well  the  following  passages  of  Scripture,  as  expressing  the  sum 
of  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God  :  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not 
perish,  but  have  eternal  life. — This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom 
I  am  chief — I  declare  unto  you  the  gospel  which  I  preached  unto  you,  which 
also  ye  have  received,  and  wherein  ye  stand,  unless  ye  have  believed  in  vain 
— how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Scriptures;  and  that 
he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day,  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures.— The  Jews  require  a  sign,  and  the  Greeks  seek  after  wisdom ;  but 
we  preach  Christ  crucified. — I  determined  not  to  know  any  thing  among 
you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified, — God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling 
the  world  unto  himself,  not  imputing  their  trespasses  unto  them ;  and  hath 
committed  unto  us  the  word  of  reconciliation.  Now  then  we  are  ambas- 
sadors for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  men  by  us :  we  pray  you  in 
Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God. — If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful 
and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness. — 
The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin. — By  him  all 
that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from  which  they  could  not  be  jus- 
tified by  the  law  of  Moses. — Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest. — Him  that  cometh  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out." 

This,  my  dear  friend,  was  the  all-efficacious  doctrine  by  which  the  pressure 
of  guilt  was  removed  from  thousands  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  and  has 
been  removed  from  millions  in  succeeding  ages.  When  a  perishing  sinner 
inquired,  "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  the  answer  was  at  hand,  "  Believe 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  he  saved."  This  was  the  plenteous 
redemption  which  even  Old  Testament  sinners  embraced  by  faith.  These 
were  the  water,  the  wine,  and  the  milk,  which  they  were  freely  invited  to 
buy,  "  without  money,  and  without  price."  This  is  the  M'edding  supper, 
which  the  Lord  hath  prepared,  and  concerning  which  he  hath  declared, 
"All  things  are  ready ;  come  ye  to  the  marriage." 

But,  you  will  say,  I  have  read,  and  considered,  and  believed  all  this  long 
ago ;  and  yet  I  am  not  relieved.  I  remember  Saul,  on  a  certain  occasion, 
said  to  Samuel,  "I  have  performed  the  commandment  of  the  Lord;"  but 
Samuel  answered,  "  What  meaneth,  then,  this  bleating  of  the  sheep  in  mine 
ears ;  and  this  lowing  of  the  oxen  which  I  hear  1"  That  you  have  read  these 
things,  and  thought  of  them,  may  be  admitted ;  but  if  you  have  believed 
them  with  all  your  heart,  how  is  it  that  I  hear  of  peace  and  satisfaction 
arising  from  tears  and  moans,  and  a  compliance  with  resolutions?  How  is 
it  that  the  magnitude  of  guilt,  instead  of  leading  you  to  confess  it  upon  the 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  555 

head  of  the  gospel  sacrifice,  and  to  sue  iox  incrcy  wholly  in  his  name,  should 
induce  you  to  despair?  How  is  it  that  your  being  urnvorthy  of  mercy  is 
made  an  objection  to  believing?  Indeed,  my  young  friend,  these  are  but 
too  manifest  indications  that  hitherto  you  have  been  going  about  to  establish 
your  own  righteousness,  and  have  not  "  submitted  to  the  righteousness  of 
God;"  a  course  which,  if  not  relinquished,  will  ruin  your  soul.  The  over- 
throw of  the  Jews,  in  the  times  of  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles,  was  owing 
to  this.  They  were  anxiously  concerned  about  religion;  they  "followed 
after  the  law  of  righteousness ;"  yet  they  attained  it  not:  and  wherefore? 
"  Because  they  sought  it  not  by  faith ;  but  as  it  were  by  the  works  of  the 
law;  for  they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone!"  It  is  not  the  magnitude 
of  your  sins  that  will  prove  a  bar  to  your  salvation ;  if  there  be  any  bar,  it 
will  be  your  unbelief  "If  thou  canst  believe — all  things  are  possible  to 
him  that  believeth!" 

I  am  apprehensive  that  you  have  never  yet  cordially  admitted  the  humbling 
import  of  the  gospel.  It  is  not  your  believing  from  the  tradition  of  your 
fathers  that  there  was  a  person  called  Jesus  Christ,  who  came  into  the  world 
about  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  who  is  in  some  way  or  other  the 
Saviour  of  sinners.  The  gospel  is  a  Divine  system ;  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a 
mystery.  It  implies  a  number  of  important  truths  to  which  the  corrupt  heart 
of  man  is  naturally  averse ;  and  cannot  properly  be  said  to  be  believed  while 
they  are  rejected  or  overlooked.  Such  are  the  equity  and  glory  of  the  Divine 
law,  and  the  guilty,  lost,  and  perishing  condition  of  those  who  have  trans- 
gressed it.  More  particularly,  that  God  is  worthy  of  being  loved  with  all  the 
heart,  however  depraved  that  heart  may  be ;  that  our  transgressions  against 
him  have  been  without  cause;  that  we  are  justly  deserving  of  his  eternal  dis- 
pleasure ;  that  there  is  no  help  in  us,  or  hope  of  recovery  by  our  own  efforts; 
finally,  that  we  are  utterly  unworthy  of  mercy,  and  must  be  saved,  if  at  all, 
by  mere  grace.  These  truths  are  plainly  implied  in  the  doctrine  o{  atonement 
and  of  a  free  salvation ;  and  without  admitting  them  it  is  impossible  we 
should  admit  the  other.  While  we  conceive  of  ourselves  as  injured  creatures, 
and  of  the  gift  of  Christ  and  of  salvation  by  him  as  a  recompense  for  the 
injury,  it  is  no  wonder  we  should  imagine  it  to  be  confined  to  the  compara- 
tively worthy,  or  the  least  criminal,  and  so  begin  to  despair  as  we  perceive 
the  magnitude  of  our  guilt.  Or  if  in  words  we  disavow  all  merit,  and  con- 
fess ourselves  to  be  in  a  helpless  and  hopeless  condition,  yet  we  shall  view 
it  as  our  misfortune  rather  than  our  sin,  and  ourselves  as  more  deserving  of 
pity  than  punishment.  And  while  this  is  the  case,  our  supposed  love  to  the 
Saviour  is  certain  to  operate  at  the  expense  of  the  Lawgiver. 

You  acknowledge  that  in  your  earlier  years  such  notions  possessed  your 
mind.  Let  me  entreat  you  to  consider  whether  they  have  not  still  a  place 
in  you,  and  whether  your  present  unhappy  state  of  mind  be  not  chiefly  to  be 
ascribed  to  them.  If  you  do  not  admit  what  the  gospel  necessarily  implies, 
and  that  in  a  practical  way,  so  as  to  act  upon  it,  how  can  you  admit  the  thing 
itself?  There  is  no  grace  in  Christ's  laying  down  his  life  for  us,  and  bestow- 
ing salvation  upon  us,  but  upon  the  supposition  of  the  justice  of  the  Divine 
government,  and  therefore  we  cannot  perceive  any;  for  it  is  impossible  to 
see  that  which  is  not  to  be  seen.  But  if  you  perceive  the  rectitude  of  the 
Divine  character  and  government,  and  feel  yourself  to  be  a  justly  condemned 
sinner  without  help  or  hope,  or  a  single  plea  to  offer  in  arrest  of  judgment, 
the  gospel  will  appear  in  its  glory,  and  all  its  blessings  will  be  welcome  to 
your  heart.  Thus,  knowing  the  "  only  living  and  true  God,"  you  will  know 
"Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  hath  sent;"  hearing  and  learning  of  the  Father, 
you  will  come  to  the  Son  ;  and  thus  after  every  self-righteous  effort  has  been 
tried  in  vain,  you  will,  ere  you  are  aware,  "  repent  and  believe  the  gospel." 


556  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Then  you  will  no  longer  conceive  of  God  as  a  being  who  avails  himself  of 
his  almighty  power  to  awe  you  into  silence;  but  as  one  who  has  rio-hteous- 
ness  on  his  side,  on  account  of  which  "  every  mouth  will  be  stopped,  and 
all  the  world  be  guilty"  before  him.  Then,  instead  of  being  overwhelmed 
and  driven  to  despair  by  the  doctrine  of  election,  it  will  appear  not  only  equi- 
table, but  the  only  source  of  hope.  You  will  perceive  that  what  would  have 
been  just  towards  all  mankind  cannot  be  unjust  towards  a  part  of  them ; 
and  feeling  yourself  divested  of  all  claim,  unless  it  be  to  shame  and  confu- 
sion of  face,  you  will  throw  yourself  at  the  feet  of  sovereign  mercy.  I  do 
not  say  you  will  be  willing  to  be  saved  or  lost  as  it  shall  please  God.  Some 
worthy  men  have  worked  themselves  and  others  into  a  persuasion  that  they 
were  the  subjects  of  such  resignation ;  but  resignation  of  this  kind  is  not 
required  at  our  hands,  as  it  would  be  inconsistent  with  that  importunity  for 
the  blessing  with  which  we  are  encouraged  to  besiege  the  throne  of  grace, 
and  even  with  love  to  God  itself,  which  cannot  possibly  be  reconciled  to  be 
everlastingly  banished  from  him,  and  to  live  in  enmity  against  him.  But 
this  I  say,  you  will  feel  and  acknowledge  that  God  might  justly  cast  you  off 
for  ever;  and  that,  if  he  accept  and  save  you,  it  must  be  purely  of  undeserved 
mercy. 

You  say  you  dare  not  believe.  If  you  mean  that  you  dare  not  entertain 
the  persuasion  of  your  being  saved  in  your  present  condition,  that  may  be 
very  proper :  but  has  God  any  where  revealed  that  you  shall  1  If  not,  such 
a  persuasion  would  not  be  faith,  but  presumption.  That  faith  which  has 
the  promise  of  eternal  life  has  revealed  truth,  and  particularly  the  gospel  of 
salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  for  its  object.  And  dare  you  not  believe  this  ? 
Rather,  how  dare  you  disbelieve  it?  How  will  you  "escape  if  you  neglect 
so  great  salvation?"  Is  it  presumption  to  take  God  at  his  word?  Is  it  pre- 
sumption to  renounce  your  own  righteousness,  and  submit  to  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  ?  Is  it  presumption  to  believe  that  Christ  "  is  able  to  save  to 
the  uttermost  all  them  that  come  unto  God  by  him  V  Rather,  is  it  not  the 
greatest  of  all  sins  to  question  these  truths,  after  all  that  God  has  said  in 
confirmation  of  them? 

But  you  will  answer.  That  at  which  I  hesitate  is  embracing  the  promises, 
with  application  to  myself.  You  are  not  required  or  allowed  to  take  the 
promises  in  any  other  than  their  true  meaning.  So  far  as  that  meaning 
includes  yoiir  case,  so  far  you  are  warranted  to  apply  them  to  it,  and  no  fur- 
ther. For  example,  if  you  return  to  the  Lord,  you  have  a  right  to  conclude 
that  you  as  readily  as  any  sinner  in  the  world  shall  receive  abundant  pardon; 
li you  come  to  Jesus,  you  shall  in  nowise  be  cast  out;  but  neither  these  pro- 
mises nor  any  other  hold  up  any  assurance  of  salvation  to  the  impenitent 
and  unbelieving.  First  believe  the  promises  to  be  what  they  profess  to  be, 
true,  great,  and  precious,  to  the  renouncing  of  every  other  foundation  of 
hope;  and  then  the  consciousness  of  this  will  afford  a  ground  of  persuasion 
that  the  blessings  contained  in  them  are  your  own. 

But  you  add,  you  cannot  repent,  and  cannot  believe.  Consider,  I  beseech 
you,  what  it  is  that  hindereth ;  and  whether  it  be  any  thing  else  than  the 
latent  enmity  of  your  heart  to  God.  If  you  loved  him,  surely  you  could 
repent;  nay,  surely  you  could  not  but  repent,  and  mourn  for  all  your  trans- 
gressions against  him :  surely  you  could  not  be  insensible  to  the  glory  of 
Christ,  and  the  way  of  salvation  by  him.  You  love  yourself,  and  can  mourn 
on  your  own  account ;  but  for  all  that  you  have  done  against  him  you  cannot 
be  grieved  !  You  love  yourself,  and  would  give  the  world,  if  you  had  it,  to 
escape  the  wrath  to  come ;  but,  for  all  that  the  Saviour  has  done  and  suf- 
fered, you  can  perceive  no  loveliness  in  him!  You  can  see  no  glory  in  being 
pardoned  for  the  sake  of  his  atonement;  no  comeliness  in  him,  no  beauty, 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  557 

that  you  should  desire  him !     Do  I  misrepresent  the  case?     Let  conscience 
answer. 

O  my  dear  young  friend,  do  not  cover  your  sin,  nor  flatter  yourself  that 
the  bar  to  your  salvation  does  not  lie  in  your  own  heart.  With  the  secret 
purposes  of  God  you  have  nothing  to  do  as  a  rule  of  conduct:  the  things 
tliat  are  revealed  belong  to  you ;  and  these  are,  that  you  should  repent  of 
your  sins  and  believe  in  Christ  alone  for  salvation.  If  you  be  not  found  an 
unbeliever,  you  need  not  fear  being  found  a  reprobate.  I  am  yours,  with 
much  affection,  Archippus. 


LETTER  IV. 
[Archippus  to  Epaphras.] 
My  dear  Friend, 

Several  months  have  elapsed  since  I  wrote  to  you,  and  I  have  received 
no  answer.  Am  I  to  interpret  your  long  silence  as  an  intimation  that  you 
do  not  wish  for  any  further  correspondence  with  me  on  the  important  subject 
of  your  last?  If  I  felt  no  concern  for  your  eternal  welfare,  I  might  not  only 
so  consider  it,  but  remain  as  silent  on  my  part  as  you  do  on  yours.  But  I 
must  write  at  least  this  once.  When  I  think  of  your  situation,  I  feel  some- 
what as  the  apostle  did  towards  the  Galatians — "  a  travailing  in  birth  that 
Christ  may  be  formed  in  you." 

In  looking  over  the  copy  of  my  last,  I  acknowledge  I  have  felt  some  mis- 
givings of  heart.  I  am  sometimes  ready  to  ask,  May  it  not  appear  to  him  as 
though  I  were  unfeeling?  Though  what  I  wrote  was,  according  to  the  best 
of  my  judgment,  the  truth  of  God,  yet  was  there  not  too  much  use  of  the 
probe  for  a  single  letter?  Might  I  not  have  dwelt  less  on  the  searching,  and 
more  on  the  consolatory?  Yet,  after  all,  I  am  not  sure  that  I  ought.  But 
as  the  apostle,  after  addressing  a  searching  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  had 
many  conflicts  in  his  own  mind  concerning  the  issue,  and  at  times  half  re- 
pented, so  it  is  with  me.  Yet  what  counsel  or  direction  have  I  to  offer,  which 
has  not  already  been  offered?  If  the  free  grace  of  the  gospel,  or  the  all- 
sufficient  redemption  of  Jesus  Christ,  would  comfort  you,  I  could  joyfully 
enlarge  upon  them.  The  provisions  of  mercy  are  free  and  ample.  "All  things 
are  ready:  millions  of  sinners  have  already  come  to  the  marriage,  "  and  yet 
there  is  room."  If  there  were  only  a  pcradventure  that  you  should  be  ac- 
cepted, that  were  sufficient  to  warrant  an  application.  Thus  the  lepers  rea- 
soned in  their  perishing  condition :  "Why  sit  we  here  until  we  die?  If  we 
say  we  will  enter  into  the  city,  the  famine  is  there;  and  if  we  sit  still  here, 
we  die  also.  Now  therefore  come,  and  let  us  fall  into  the  host  of  the  Syrians : 
if  they  save  us  alive,  we  shall  live ;  and  if  they  kill  us,  we  can  but  die." 
Thus  also  reasoned  Esther:  "I  will  go  in  unto  the  king,  which  is  not  ac- 
cording to  law  ;  and  if  I  perish,  I  perish!"  But  in  applying  to  the  Saviour 
of  sinners  there  are  no  such  peradventures.  To  cut  off  every  objection,  he 
has  proclaimed  with  his  own  lips,  "Ho!  everyone  that  thirsteth,  let  him 
come  unto  me  and  drink!" — "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest!" — "Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you; 
seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you :  for  everi/ 
one  that  askefh  receivetJi ;  and  he  that  seeketh  Jindeth ;  and  to  him  that 
knockcth  it  shall  he  opened!" 

But  to  all  this  you  repulsively  answer,  I  cannot  repent,  I  cannot  believe. 
What  then  can  I  do? — If  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  contain  no  charms  which 
can  attract  you,  it  is  not  for  me  to  coin  another  gospel,  nor  to  bend  the 
Scriptures  to  the  inclination  of  man's  depraved  heart.     We  must  bend  to 

3a2 


558  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

them,  and  not  they  to  us ;  or,  if  not,  they  will  be  found  to  be  true,  to  our 
confusion. 

I  am  aware  that  persons  in  your  condition  desire  above  all  things  to  be 
soothed  and  comforted  by  something  else  than  the  gospel.  They  imagine 
themselves  to  be  willing  to  be  saved  in  God's  way, — as  willing  as  the  impo- 
tent man  that  waited  at  the  pool  was  to  be  made  whole;  therefore  they  wish 
to  be  directed  to  wait  and  hope  in  the  way  that  they  are  in,  till  it  shall  please 
God  to  release  them,  as  by  the  moving  of  the  waters.  It  is  also  grateful  to 
them  to  be  encouraged,  on  the  ground  of  their  present  distress,  to  hope  that 
God  has  mercy  in  reserve  for  them ;  for  that  it  is  his  usual  way  first  to  con- 
vince of  sin,  and  afterwards  to  impart  the  joys  of  salvation.  A  company 
of  gentlemen  (on  board  a  ship  that  touched  at  one  of  the  southernmost 
parts  of  South  America)  had  a  mind  to  make  a  short  botanical  excursion. 
They  accordingly  ascended  one  of  the  mountains.  Ere  they  were  aware 
night  came  on,  and  a  very  cold  fog.  They  felt  an  unusual  propensity  to 
sleep;  but  a  medical  friend,  who  was  with  them,  strongly  remonstrated 
against  every  indulgence  of  the  kind,  as  they  would  be  in  the  utmost  danger 
of  never  waking  again.  What  would  you  have  thought  of  this  gentleman's 
conduct,  if,  instead  of  urging  his  companions  to  escape  from  the  moun- 
tain, he  had  indulged  them  in  their  wishes?  The  Scriptures  declare  that 
"he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life;  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him ;"  and  surely  we  ought  not  to  contradict  this  declaration, 
either  by  directing  to  the  use  of  means  short  of  believing,  or  encouraging 
those  who  use  them  to  hope  for  a  happy  issue.  The  crucifiers  of  Christ 
were  in  great  distress;  but  Peter  did  not  encourage  them  to  take  comfort 
from  this,  but  directed  them  to  repent  and  be  converted — to  repent  and  be 
baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  for  the  remission  of  sins.  The 
Philippian  jailer  was  in  great  distress;  but  Paul  had  no  comfort  for  him  on 
this  ground,  nor  any  counsel  to  offer  but  believing  in  Jesus. 

A  necessity  is  laid  upon  me,  and  woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel !  I 
have  not  deviated  from  this  point  in  what  I  have  hitherto  written ;  nor  will 
I  deviate,  whatever  be  the  consequence.  Wherefore?  Because  I  love  you  not? 
God  knoweth!  I  am  determined  not  to  know  anything  but  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified.  If  this  doctrine  fail  to  relieve  you,  the  cause  must  be  looked 
for,  not  in  the  want  of  encouragement,  but  of  desire  to  embrace  it.     But, 

0  my  dear  young  man,  consider  Jesus  Christ,  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest 
of  our  profession !  As  one  that  has  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  though 
a  perishing  sinner  like  yourself,  I  do  most  heartily  recommend  him  to  you. 

1  was  brought  low,  and  he  helped  me !  The  sorrows  of  death  compassed 
me,  and  the  pains  of  hell  gat  hold  upon  me ;  I  found  trouble  and  sorrow. 
Then  called  I  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  O  Lord,  I  beseech  thee,  deliver 
my  soul !  By  happy  experience  I  can  bear  witness  that  gracious  is  the  Lord 
and  righteous;  yea,  our  God  is  merciful.  He  delivered  my  soul  from  death, 
my  eyes  from  tears,  and  my  feet  from  falling.  O  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord 
is  gracious!  The  eyes  of  many  are  upon  you;  saints  and  angels  stand  ready 
to  embrace  you  as  a  brother,  as  soon  as  you  shall  embrace  their  Lord.  The 
Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come;  and  he  that  heareth  saith.  Come;  and  Jesus 
himself,  who  testifieth  these  things,  exalted  as  he  is  in  the  highest  heavens, 
closes  the  invitation,  saying,  "  Whosoever  will,  let  him  come,  and  take  of 
the  water  of  life  freely."  Pore  no  longer  on  your  misery  ;  look  no  longer 
for  any  worthiness  in  yourself;  but,  as  an  unworthy  sinner,  rely  for  accept- 
ance with  God  on  the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone.  This  is  the  good  old 
way  in  which  believers  m  every  age  have  walked;  walk  therein,  and  you 
shall  find  rest  unto  your  soul.     I  am  your  affectionate  friend, 

Archippus. 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  559 

LETTER  V. 

[Epaphrae  to  Archippus.] 

My  dear  Sir, 

My  mind  has  been  for  some  time  in  so  confused  and  unhappy  a  state,  that 
though  I  felt  my  obligations  to  you,  and  by  no  means  intended  to  slight 
your  kindness,  yet  I  knew  not  how  to  answer  you.  I  rather  felt  a  wish  to 
be  secluded,  at  least  for  a  time,  that  I  might  bemoan  ray  case  by  myself  in 
secret. 

Your  first  letter,  I  must  say,  yielded  me  no  comfort.  On  the  contrary, 
it  wounded  me  not  a  little.  I  confessed  to  you  that  I  had  been  a  great  sin- 
ner; you  persuaded  me  that  I  was  much  worse  than  I  imagined.  1  acknow- 
ledged the  hardness  of  my  heart,  and  the  prevalence  of  my  unbelief;  you 
attributed  both  to  my  being  destitute  of  the  love  of  God.  I  wanted  relief, 
and  you  cut  off  every  source  of  consolation  save  that  which  arises  from  faith 
in  Christ,  of  which  I  had  told  you  I  felt  myself  incapable.  When  I  con- 
sidered my  inability  to  believe,  however,  I  did  not  mean  that  I  could  not  be- 
lieve the  gospel;  I  supposed  I  could  and  did  believe  that:  you  have  shown, 
however,  that  in  this  I  was  mistaken.  My  heart,  it  seems,  is  that  of  an  infi- 
del. Alas  for  me!  instead  of  obtaining  any  relief,  such  things  sink  me 
deeper  and  deeper  into  despondence.  Your  letter  seemed  to  me  a  kind  of 
message  from  God;  but  it  was  a  message  of  death.  After  reading  it  I  felt 
myself  locked  up  as  it  were  in  a  dungeon,  and  loaded  with  inextricable 
chains.  I  could  find  no  words  to  vent  the  sorrow  of  my  heart  but  those  of 
the  weeping  prophet.  "  He  hath  builded  against  me,  and  compassed  me 
with  gall  and  travail.  He  hath  set  me  in  dark  places  as  those  that  be  dead 
of  old.  He  hath  hedged  me  about  that  I  cannot  get  out ;  he  hath  made  my 
chain  heavy.  Also  when  I  cry  and  shout,  he  shutteth  out  my  prayer!  In 
such  a  state  of  mind,  you  will  not  wonder  that  I  should  have  no  heart  to 
write. 

Since  that  time,  however,  I  have  conversed  with  different  persons,  and 
have  heard  different  ministers;  from  one  of  whom,  especially,  I  obtained 
what  I  could  never  obtain  before — encouragejncnt.  As  you  may  suppose,  it 
was  impossible  wholly  to  conceal  my  unhappiness  of  mind  from  those  about 
me.  One  day  I  fell  in  company  with  a  gentleman  of  very  respectable  appear- 
ance. He,  observing  in  my  countenance  an  habitual  dejection,  and  learn- 
ing, it  should  seem,  by  some  means  the  cause  of  it,  wished  to  offer  me  a 
little  advice.  I  heard  what  he  had  to  say;  but  it  did  me  no  good.  He  ob- 
served that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  being  righteous  over-much;  that  he  did 
not  apprehend  I  had  been  a  greater  sinner  than  other  men ;  and  that  if  I 
were  sober,  just,  and  devout  in  moderation,  all  would  be  well  enough  at  last. 
I  had  too  much  light  to  be  imposed  upon  by  this.  I  thought  I  saw  plainly 
that  though  he  might  be  a  gentleman  and  a  scholar,  yet  he  had  not  learned 
to  speak  a  word  in  season  to  him  that  is  weary. 

After  this  I  met  with  a  poor  man  who  appeared  to  be  very  zealous  in  reli- 
gion. On  perceiving  my  unhappiness,  he  was  very  desirous  that  I  should 
go  with  him  to  his  place  of  worship.  He  told  me  that  their  minister  would 
pray  for  me,  and  give  me  the  best  of  counsel ;  and  that  great  numbers  of 
people  in  my  case  had,  on  going  to  hear  him,  obtained  relief  They  had 
gone,  he  said,  under  the  most  pungent  distress,  but  had  come  away  pardoned, 
and  justified,  and  full  of  joy.  He  moreover  cautioned  me  against  the  licen- 
tious and  horrible  doctrines  of  imputed  righteousness,  invincible  grace,  and 
predestination.  I  heard  what  he  said,  and  it  appeared  to  me  that  he  was 
very  sincere  in  his  way :  but  I  thought  I  had  long  ago  experienced  what  he 


S6{J  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,   ESSAYS,   ETC. 

called  a  being  pardoned  and  justified;  namely,  a  strong  impression  upon  my 
mind,  even  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  that  I  was  so,  which  yet  had  proved 
delusive.  And  as  to  his  warnings,  though  I  had  felt  many  inward  struggles 
against  those  doctrines,  yet  I  could  never  persuade  myself  to  think  them  any 
other  than  Scriptural.  I  went,  however,  two  or  three  times  to  hear  at  the 
place  which  he  recommended;  but  though  they  might  be  very  good  people, 
yet  the  religion  which  they  taught  appeared  to  me  exceedingly  superficial 
and  enthusiastic.  1  saw,  plainly  enough,  that  almost  any  kind  of  unhappiness 
concerning  one's  future  state  would  be  admitted  as  godly  sorrow;  and  any 
sudden  impression  that  should  fill  the  mind  with  joy  would  be  deemed  the 
joy  of  the  gospel.  My  conscience,  therefore,  would  not  suffer  me,  however 
desirable  consolation  would  have  been  to  me,  to  take  up  my  rest  with  them. 

One  day  I  was  induced  to  hear  a  stranger  who  preached  an  occasional 
sermon  near  to  where  I  reside.  In  the  course  of  his  sermon  he  spoke  much 
of  the  duty  and  privilege  of  prayer;  and,  when  addressing  himself  to  the 
unconverted,  observed  that  they  had  no  power  of  themselves  to  turn  to  God 
through  Christ ;  but  they  could  pray  to  the  Lord  for  grace  to  enable  them  to 
do  it :  and,  if  they  did  so,  he  would  hear  them,  and  grant  them  the  thing  they 
prayed  for.  At  first  I  caught  at  this  idea,  as  appearing  to  exhibit  something 
that  was  more  within  my  reach  than  repentance  and  faith  themselves:  but 
when  I  came  to  the  trial,  I  found  it  was  only  in  appearance;  for  unless  I 
prayed  \n  faith,  that  is,  with  an  eye  to  the  Saviour  in  all  I  asked,  God  would 
not  hear  me.  But  to  pray  in  faith  could  not  be  more  within  my  reach  than 
faith  itself.  I  thought  of  you  at  the  time;  and  that  this  was  a  kind  of  lan- 
guage that  you  would  not  use,  on  account  of  its  implying  that  a  sinner  is  not 
to  be  exhorted  immediately  to  repent  and  believe  in  Christ,  nor  to  any  thing 
spiritually  good  :  but  merely  to  what  may  be  done  without  repentance,  and 
without  faith,  as  the  means  of  obtaining  them. 

If  I  understand  your  sentiments,  you  would  direct  an  unconverted  sinner 
to  pray,  and  to  pray  for  spiritual  blessings,  as  Peter  did  the  sorcerer;  but  it 
must  be  with  repentance,  and  in  the  name  of  Jesus;  that  is,  it  must  be  the 
prayer  of  penitence  and  faith.  I  also  was  conscious  to  myself  that  I  was 
equally  able  to  repent  and  believe  in  Christ  as  I  was  sincerely  to  pray  for 
grace  to  enable  me  to  do  so;  and  that,  if  I  could  once  find  a  heart  for  the 
one,  I  could  for  the  other. 

I  pass  over  some  other  interviews  and  sermons,  and  proceed  to  relate  what 
has  been  more  interesting  to  my  heart  than  any  thing  else.  One  Lord's-day 
morning,  I  was  very  much  dejected,  owing  to  some  struggles  of  mind  about 
embracing  the  scheme  of  unioersal  salvation.  Having  read  a  publication  in 
favour  of  it,  my  heart  would  gladly  have  acquiesced ;  but  my  judgment  and 
consciense  would  not  suffer  me.  I  saw  clearly  that  that  doctrine  could  never 
be  embraced  without  offering  the  most  indecent  violence  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. Indeed,  I  was  conscious  that  I  should  never  have  thought  of  believing 
it  to  be  true,  if  I  had  not  first  wished  to  have  it  so. 

These  thoughts,  however,  sunk  me  into  the  deepest  despondency,  as  they 
seemed  to  darken  a  gleam  of  hope  which,  though  faintly,  I  cherished.  In 
this  dejected  state  of  mind,  I  went  to  hear  a  minister  whom  I  had  more  than 
once  heard  spoken  of  as  singularly  evangelical,  and  his  preaching  as  being 
much  in  an  experimental  strain.  1  attended  both  parts  of  that  day,  and  once 
or  twice  more,  before  I  obtained  any  relief  As  he  generally  addressed  him- 
self to  believers,  and  dwelt  upon  the  privileges  and  blessings  to  which  they 
are  entitled,  I  did  not,  at  first,  feel  interested  in  his  discourses.  At  length, 
he  took  his  text  from  Matt.  xi.  28,  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour  and 
are  heaven  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  I  was  glad  to  hear  the  passage 
named,  as  I  hoped  that  something  might  now  be  said  suited  to  my  case.     I 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  561 

knew  I  was  weary  and  heavy  laden  to  a  great  degree,  and  rest  for  my  soul 
was  the  very  thing  I  wanted.  He  proposed  first  to  notice  the  characters 
addressed ;  and,  secondly,  the  blessings  to  which  they  are  invited;  or,  as  he 
explained  it,  which  belonged  to  them.  Under  the  first  head  of  discourse  he 
distinguished  sinners  into  insensible  and  sensible;  and  endeavoured  to  prove 
that  it  was  the  latter  only  who  were  here  invited  to  come  to  Christ.  He 
mentioned  several  other  invitations,  as,  "Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come 
ye  to  the  waters,  and  he  that  hath  no  money :  come  ye,  buy  and  eat,  yea, 
come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money,  and  without  price." — "If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink." — "The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say, 
Come, — and  let  him  that  is  athirst  come:  and  whosoever  will,  let  him  take 
of  the  water  of  life  freely."  Each  of  these  passages  was  explained  in  the 
same  way,  as  descriptive  of  the  spiritual  thirst  of  a  soul  made  sensible  of  its 
wants. 

I  was  apprehensive,  at  first,  that  this  distinction  would  exclude  me  from 
having  any  part  or  lot  in  the  matter ;  but  when  the  minister  came  to  explain 
himself,  and  to  depict  the  case  of  the  weary  and  heavy  laden,  he  entered  so 
fully  into  my  experience  that  all  my  apprehensions  were  removed.  I  was 
conscious  that  I  was  just  that  poor  miserable  creature  that  he  described,  who 
had  long  been  seeking  rest,  but  could  find  none.  He  warned  us  against 
making  a  righteousness  of  our  tears  and  moans,  but  insisted  that  they  were 
evidences  of  a  work  of  grace;  proving  from  God's  promises  to  the  "poor  in 
spirit,"  to  the  "broken-hearted,"  and  the  like,  that  there  was  hope  in  Israel 
for  such  characters;  and  that  these  their  distresses  were  sure  signs  of  their 
future  deliverance,  for  that  whom,  the  Lord  wounded  he  healed,  and  whom 
he  killed  he  would  make  alive. 

After  worship  was  over,  I  could  not  forbear  speaking  to  the  minister,  and 
thanking  him  for  his  discourse;  and  the  greater  part  of  the  congregation 
being  withdrawn,  I  opened  my  mind  freely  to  him,  told  him  how  long  I  had 
been  under  distress  of  mind,  and  that  I  could  never  before  obtain  relief  A 
few  of  his  most  intimate  friends  were  present,  who  also  heard  what  I  said. 
They  affectionately  smiled,  and  congratulated  me  on  my  having  been  brought 
under  an  evangelical  ministry,  and  by  means  of  it  found  rest  unto  my  soul. 
Nor  did  they  scruple  to  say,  that  the  reason  why  so  many  of  God's  dear 
children  were  held  in  bondage  for  so  long  a  time  was  that  the  pure  gospel 
was  withheld  from  them,  and  a  kind  of  linsey-woolsey  doctrine  substituted 
in  its  place.  I  confess  my  heart  had  some  misgivings  at  that  time,  fearing 
lest  I  should  be  cheered  by  flattering  words,  instead  of  the  water  of  life.  I 
told  them  that  I  dare  not  at  present  consider  myself  a  converted  man;  but 
that  I  hoped  I  should  be  such.  They  answered  me  with  a  smile,  intimating 
that  such  thoughts  were  a  sign  of  grace;  and  that  there  was  no  doubt  but 
that  in  waiting  at  the  pool  of  God's  ordinances,  I  should  obtain  all  that  peace 
and  joy  which  my  soul  desired. 

On  my  return  home,  I  cannot  say  that  I  was  wholly  free  from  apprehen- 
sions; but  my  heart  was  greatly  lightened  of  its  load.  I  have  attended  at  the 
same  place  ever  since;  and  have  often  been  encouraged  in  the  same  way.  I 
am  not  without  my  doubts  and  fears  lest  my  peace  should  prove  unfounded; 
and,  by  a  careful  reperusal  of  both  your  letters,  I  perceive  that,  if  your  prin- 
ciples be  (rue,  it  is  so.  Yet  surely  my  hope  is  not  all  in  vain !  I  tremble  at 
the  thought  of  sinking  again  into  the  horrors  of  despondency. 
I  am  yours,  with  much  respect, 

Epaphkas. 


Vol.  III.— 71 


51^  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

LETTER  VI. 
[Archippiis  to  Epaphras.] 
My  dear  young  Friend, 

If  I  have  been  interested  by  your  former  letters,  I  must  say  I  am  doubly 
so  by  your  last.  Your  case  appears  to  me  to  be  delicate  and  dangerous. 
Yet  I  feel  myself  in  a  very  unpleasant  situation.  I  cannot  speak  the  truth 
without  its  having  the  appearance  of  a  want  of  feeling  towards  you,  and  of 
something  like  invidiousness  towards  those  with  whom  you  associate.  If  I 
could  remain  silent  with  a  good  conscience,  I  should  certainly  do  so. 

It  afforded  me  pleasure  to  learn  that  you  had  refused  consolation  from 
several  of  those  sources  which  heal  the  hurt  of  a  sinner  slightly,  crying, 
"Peace,  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace;"  but,  without  taking  upon  me  to 
decide  upon  the  personal  religion  of  the  parties,  I  must  declare  my  firm  per- 
suasion that  you  have  not  refused  them  all.  I  cannot  think  a  whit  the  better 
of  a  ministry  on  account  of  its  being  spoken  of  as  "singularly  evangelical." 
Such  language  frequendy  means  no  more  than  that  a  preacher  is  very  ortho- 
dox in  his  own  esteem,  or,  at  most,  that  his  preaching  is  singularly  adapted 
to  soothe  and  comfort  his  people.  But  these  things  are  no  proof  that  it  is 
the  pure  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  do  not  deny  the  character  of  good  men, 
or  of  gospel  ministers,  to  all  who  have  advanced  doctrines  like  those  by 
which  you  were  comforted;  but  I  am  persuaded  that,  in  respect  of  these 
principles,  they  are  anti-evangelical.  I  have  no  desire,  however,  to  impose 
my  opinion  upon  you.  Believe  neither  of  us  any  further  than  what  we 
advance  accords  with  the  oracles  of  God. 

^Vhat  is  it,  I  would  ask,  that  has  given  you  relief  7  Is  it  any  thing  in 
the  gospel?  any  thing  in  the  doctrine  of  the  cross?  If  so,  rejoice  in  your 
associates,  and  let  your  associates  rejoice  in  you.  If  it  be  so,  you  have  no 
reason  to  "doubt  or  fear,"  or  cherish  any  "misgivings  of  heart."  That  con- 
solation which  proceeds  from  these  sources  is  undoubtedly  of  God.  But, 
you  will  ask,  is  there  no  true  consolation  but  what  is  derived  directly  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  cross?  may  we  not  be  comforted  by  a  consciousness  of 
that  in  our  own  souls  to  which  God  has  promised  everlasting  life?  I  answer, 
We  certainly  may:  the  Scriptures  point  out  many  things  as  evidences  of  a 
work  of  grace;  and,  if  we  be  conscious  that  we  are  the  subjects  of  them,  we 
are  warranted  to  conclude  ourselves  interested  in  eternal  life.  But  it  be- 
comes us  to  beware  of  reckoning  those  things  as  evidences  of  grace  which 
are  not  so,  and  to  which  no  promises  are  made  in  the  word  of  God.  If  the 
account  which  you  have  given  be  accurate,  the  evidence  from  which  your 
encouragement  was  drawn  was  mere  distress — distress  in  which  your  "  heart 
was  too  hard  to  repent,"  and  under  which  you  "could  not  believe."  Yet,  on 
account  of  this  distress,  you  have  been  complimented  with  possessing  a 
"  broken  heart,  a  poor  and  contrite  spirit;"  and  the  promises  made  to  such 
characters  have  been  applied  to  you.  If  these  things  be  just,  a  hard  heart 
and  a  contrite  spirit  may  be  found  in  the  same  person,  and  at  the  same  time. 
To  this  may  be  added,  though  believers  derive  consolation  from  a  conscious- 
ness of  that  within  them  to  which  the  Scriptures  promise  everlasting  life; 
yet  this  is  not  the  way  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  first  imparts  relief  to  the 
soul.  The  first  genuine  consolation  that  is  afforded  is  by  something  without 
ourselves,  even  by  the  doctrine  of  the  cross:  whilst  this  is  rejected  or  disre- 
garded, we  are  unbelievers,  and  cannot  possibly  be  the  subjects  of  any  dis- 
position or  exercise  of  mind  which  is  pleasing  to  God,  or  to  which  he  has 
promised  salvation;  and,  consequently,  cannot  be  conscious  of  any  thing  of 
the  kind. 


THE  AWAKENED  SINNER.  563 

The  first  relief  enjoyed  by  the  manslayer  was  from  a  city  of  refuge  being 
provided:  after  he  had  entered  in,  he  would  derive  additional  consolation 
from  knowing  that  he  was  within  its  gates :  and  thus  it  is  that  rest  to  the  soul 
is  promised  to  them  that  come  to  Jesus, — take  his  yoke, — and  learn  his  spirit. 
But  the  rest  which  you  have  found  was  not  by  coming  to  him  as  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  but  from  a  consciousness  that  you  were  weary  and  heavy  laden, 
and  by  being  taught  that  this  was  a  true  sign  of  future  deliverance.  You 
have  found  rest,  it  seems,  without  coming  to  Jesus  that  you  may  have  life! 

If  indeed  your  spirit  is  "  poor  and  contrite" — if  it  be  a  grief  of  heart  to 
you  to  reflect  on  your  conduct  towards  the  best  of  beings — if  a  view  of  the 
cross  of  Christ  excite  to  mourning,  on  account  of  that  for  which  he  died— 
then  is  thy  heart  with  my  heart;  and  with  the  greatest  satisfiction  I  can  add, 
give  me  thy  hand.  Yes;  if  so,  your  heart  is  with  God's  heart,  with  Christ's 
heart,  and  with  the  heart  of  all  holy  beings;  and  all  holy  beings  will  offer 
thee  their  hand.  But  in  this  case  you  not  only  can,  but  do  repent  and  be- 
lieve in  Jesus.  The  question  is.  Is  that  distress  of  soul  which  is  antecedent 
to  all  godly  sorrow  for  sin,  and  in  the  midst  of  which  the  sinner  is  not  willing 
to  come  to  Jesus  as  utterly  unworthy  that  he  may  have  life,  any  evidence  of 
a  work  of  grace?  If  it  be,  Saul  during  his  last  years,  and  Judas  in  his  last 
hours,  were  both  gracious  characters.  If  ever  men  were  weary  and  heavy 
laden,  they  were ;  but  neither  of  them  came  to  Jesus  with  his  burden — 
neither  of  them  found  rest  for  his  soul. 

Consider,  I  beseech  you,  whether  that  distress  of  soul  which  has  preceded 
and  issued  in  true  conversion  be  ever  represented  in  the  Scripture  as  an 
evidence  of  a  work  of  grace;  or  whether  the  parties  were  ever  comforted  on 
that  ground.  Do  reperuse  the  cases  already  referred  to,  of  Peter's  address 
to  the  murderers  of  Christ,  and  that  of  Paul  and  Silas  to  the  jailer. 

Consider  impartially  whether  the  distinction  of  sinners  into  insensible  and 
sensible,  with  a  design  to  exclude  the  former  from  being  the  proper  objects 
of  gospel  invitation,  be  justifiable.  A  compliance  with  the  invitation  doubt- 
less implies  a  just  sense  of  sin,  and  a  thirst  after  spiritual  blessings;  and  so 
does  a  compliance  with  the  Divine  precepts;  but  it  does  not  follow  that 
either  the  invitations  or  the  precepts  are  improperly  addressed  to  sinners, 
whether  sensible  or  insensible.  Those  who  made  light  of  the  gospel  supper 
were  as  really  and  properly  invited  to  it  as  those  who  accepted  it.  Those 
also  who  were  invited  to  buy  and  eat,  to  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money 
and  without  price,  are  described  as  spending  their  money  for  that  which  was 
not  bread,  and  their  labour  for  that  which  satisfieth  not.  The  same  invita- 
tion which,  in  the  beginning  of  that  chapter,  is  given  in  figurative  language, 
is  immediately  afterwards  expressed  literally,  and  runs  thus — "  Let  the  wicked 
forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts:  and  let  him  return 
unto  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him ;  and  to  our  God,  for  he 
will  abundantly  pardon."  The  thirst,  therefore,  which  they  are  supposed  to 
feel,  could  be  no  other  than  the  desire  of  happiness,  which  they  vainly  hoped 
to  assuage  in  the  enjoyments  of  this  world;  but  which  God  assures  them 
could  never  be  assuaged  but  by  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  the  sure  mercies 
of  David.  The  invitation  of  our  Saviour  to  the  weary  and  heavy  laden  is 
manifestly  a  quotation  from  Jer.  vi.  16,  and  the  people  who  were  there  invited 
to  stand  in  the  ways  and  see,  to  inquire  after  the  old  paths,  and  the  good 
way,  and  to  walk  therein,  with  the  promise  that  they  should  find  rest  to  their 
souls,  were  so  far  from  being  sensible  of  their  sin  that  they  impudently 
answered,  "We  will  not  walk  therein."  To  confine  the  invitations  of  Scrip- 
ture to  sensible  sinners,  and  to  hold  up  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  as  belong' 
ing  to  them,  before  and  as  the  ground  of  their  compliance,  is  to  pervert  the 
word  of  God. 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

But  why  do  I  thus  write?  Is  it  because  I  want  to  plunge  my  dear  young 
friend  into  the  gulf  of  despondency?  Far  be  this  from  me!  My  desire  ia 
to  draw  hiin  off  from  all  false  dependences,  and  to  lead  him,  if  it  might  be, 
to  rest  upon  the  Rock  of  ages.  Is  it  consolation  that  he  wants?  Let  me 
remind  him  of  what  I  have  said  before.  If  he  be  willing  to  relinquish  every 
other  ground  of  hope,  and  to  embrace  Jesus  as  the  only  name  given  under 
heaven  and  among  men  by  which  we  can  be  saved,  there  is  nothing  m  hea- 
ven or  earth  to  hinder  it.  I  have  no  desire  to  persuade  you  that  you  are  not 
in  a  converted  state.  It  may  be  that  what  you  have  said  of  your  being 
unable  to  repent  or  believe  in  Christ  was  the  language  of  despondency. 
Hardness  of  heart  and  unbelief  are  found  even  in  believers  themselves,  and 
are  frequently  the  objects  of  lamentation.  There  are  seasons  especially  in 
which  it  may  seem,  even  to  a  good  man,  as  if  he  were  void  of  all  tenderness 
of  heart,  and  all  regard  for  Christ.  Whether  this  was  your  case  at  that  time, 
or  not,  I  feel  no  regret  for  having  directed  you,  as  a  perishing  sinner,  to 
believe  in  Jesus  for  salvation,  rather  than  encouraged  you  to  think  the  best 
of  your  state,  from  any  supposed  symptoms  of  grace  that  might  be  found  in 
you.  I  would  do  the  same  with  any  religious  professor  who  should  be  in  a 
state  of  doubt  and  darkness  respecting  the  reality  of  his  religion  ;  for  if  there 
be  any  true  religion  in  us,  it  is  much  more  likely  to  be  discovered  and 
drawn  forth  into  actual  exercise  by  an  exhibition  of  the  glory  and  grace  of 
Christ,  than  by  searching  for  it  among  the  rubbish  of  our  past  feelings.  To 
discover  the  small  grains  of  steel  mixed  among  a  quantity  of  dust,  it  were 
much  better  to  make  use  of  a  magnet  than  a  microscope. 

An  exhibition  of  the  name  of  Christ  is  that  by  which  the  thoughts  of  the 
heart  are  revealed.  To  him,  therefore,  as  a  guilty  and  perishing  sinner,  I 
must  still  direct  you.  If  you  be  indeed  of  a  broken  and  contrite  spirit,  if 
true  grace  have  a  being  in  your  soul,  though  it  be  but  as  the  smoking  flax, 
his  name  will  so  far  be  precious  to  you.  To  him  your  desires  will  ascend; 
in  him  they  will  centre;  on  his  righteousness  all  your  hope  of  acceptance 
with  God  will  be  placed ;  and,  when  this  is  the  case,  you  will  find  rest  to 
your  soul.  I  am  yours,  with  suicere  affection, 

Archippus. 


SPIRITUAL  PRIDE : 


OR  THE  OCCASIONS,  CAUSES,  AND  EFFECTS  OF  HIGH-MINDEDNESS  IN  RELIGION; 
WITH  CONSIDERATIONS  EXCITING  TO  SELF-ABASEMENT. 

INTRODUCTION. 

As  there  is  nothing  pertaining  to  holiness  which  renders  us  more  like  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  than  lowliness  of  mind,  so  there  is  nothing  pertaining  to 
sin  which  approaches  nearer  to  the  image  of  Satan  than  pride.  This  appears 
to  have  been  the  transsression  for  which  he  himself  was  first  condemned, 
and  by  which  he  seduced  our  first  parents  to  follow  his  example.  It  was 
insinuated  to  them  that  they  were  kept  in  ignorance  and  treated  as  under- 
lings, and  that  by  following  his  counsel  they  would  be  raised  in  the  scale  of 
being :  "  Ye  shall  be  as  gods,  knowing  good  and  evil." 

All  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world  is  comprehended  in  three  things — "  the 
lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life."  Each  of  these 
cardinal  vices  implies  that  man  is  alienated  from  God,  and  that  all  his  affec- 
tions and  thoughts  centre  in  himself;  but  the  last  is  the  most  subtile  in  its 
influence.     It  consists  in  thinking  3iore  highly  of  ourselves  than  we 


•  SPIRITUAL   PRIDE.  565 

OUGHT  TO  THINK.  It  is  a  mental  flatulency  that  pervades  all  the  soul,  and 
and  pufFs  it  up  with  vain  conceits.  It  is  visible  to  all  about  us,  but  to  us 
invisible.  It  seizes  those  revenues  of  glory  which  are  due  to  God,  and 
applies  them  to  selfish  uses.  Strength,  beauty,  genius,  opulence,  science, 
the  success  of  labour,  and  the  achievements  of  enterprise,  all  are  perverted 
to  its  purpose.  Finally,  It  renders  man  his  own  idol ;  he  worshippeth  the 
creature  more  than  the  Creator ;  he  sacrificeth  to  his  own  net,  and  burnetii 
incense  to  his  own  drag. 

But  the  particular  species  of  pride  which  I  shall  attempt  to  delineate  is 
that  which  is  spiritual,  or  which  has  religious  excellence,  real  or  supposed, 
for  its  object. 

Religion  is  not  the  only  object  by  which  religious  professors  may  be 
elated ;  but  the  elatedness  occasioned  by  it  is  that  only  which  is  denominated 
spiritual  pride. 


SECTION  I. 
THE  OCCASIONS,  OR  OBJECTS,  OF  SPIRITUAL  PRIDE. 

Though  a  considerable  part  of  the  following  remarks  will  have  respect  to 
the  faults  of  good  men ;  yet  not  the  whole  of  them ;  spiritual  pride  is  not 
confined  to  spiritual  men.  The  subject  of  it  indeed  must  needs  be,  if  not  a 
professor  of  religion,  yet  a  religious  man  in  his  own  esteem,  but  that  may 
be  all.  One  of  its  principal  operations  is  in  a  way  of  self-righteous  hope, 
which  is  the  reigning  disposition  of  millions  who  have  no  just  claim  to  the 
character  of  religious ;  and  as  this  is  a  species  of  spiritual  pride  which 
appears  at  a  very  early  period,  it  may  be  proper  to  begin  with  this,  and  pro- 
ceed to  others  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  commonly  manifested. 

The  likeness  which  is  drawn  by  our  Saviour  of  the  Pharisees  in  his  time 
bears  a  minute  resemblance  to  the  character  of  great  numbers  in  every  age: 
all  their  works  are  done  to  be  seen  of  men,  and  constitute  the  ground  of 
their  hope  of  acceptance  with  God.  The  sentiments  of  their  hearts  in  their 
devout  addresses  to  their  Maker,  if  put  into  words,  would  be  to  this  effect : 
"God,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men,  extortioners,  unjust,  adul- 
terers, or  even  as  this  publican."  It  is  not  common  for  those  who  pay  any 
regard  to  the  Scriptures  expressly  to  arrogate  to  themselves  the  honour  of 
making  themselves  to  differ.  Most  men  will  thank  God  that  they  are  what 
they  are;  and  the  Pharisee  did  the  same.  Many  will  now  acknowledge,  in 
addition  to  this,  that  their  hopes  of  being  accepted  of  God  are  "through  the 
merits  of  Jesus  Christ;"  but  it  is  not  by  such  language  that  a  self-righteous 
spirit  is  to  be  disguised.  Nor  is  it  peculiar  to  those  whom  we  call  decent 
characters  "  to  trust  that  they  are  righteous  and  despise  others ;"  for  the  same 
spirit  may  be  seen  in  the  most  profligate  of  mankind.  Judging  of  them- 
selves by  others,  they  derive  comfort;  for  they  can  always  find  characters 
worse  than  their  own.  Reprove  a  common  swearer,  and  he  will  thank  God 
he  means  no  harm;  for  he  is  frank  and  open,  and  not  as  that  liar.  Con- 
vict a  liar,  and  he  will  argue  that  in  this  wicked  world  a  man  cannot  live  if 
he  always  speak  truth ;  and  he  is  not  a  thief  The  thief  pleads  that  he 
never  was  guilty  of  murder;  and  even  the  murderer  was  provoked  to  it. 
Thus  they  can  each  find  worse  characters  than  their  own  :  the  motto  of  each 
is,  "  God,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men." 

A  minister  of  the  Church  of  England  was  some  years  since  appointed 
chaplain  to  a  certain  charitable  asylum,*  where  his  constant  business  would 

*  The  Rev.  Thomas  Scott,  the  excellent  commentator,  and  minister  of  the  Lock  Hospi- 
tal, an  insiilution  appropriated  to  unhappy  females B. 

3B 


566  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC.  • 

be  to  visit  and  converse  with  persons  who,  by  their  own  misconduct,  were 
reduced  to  the  most  deplorable  condition.  On  receiving  his  appointment, 
he  thought  within  himself,  I  shall  have  one  advantage  however:  I  shall  not 
have  to  encounter  a  self-righteous  spirit.  But  on  entering  upon  his  office 
he  soon  perceived  his  mistake,  and  that  there  was  no  less  pharisaism  in  these 
dregs  of  society  than  among  the  more  refined  and  sober  part  of  mankind. 

Much  of  this  spirit  is  seen  under  the  convictions  and  alarms  of  awakened 
simicrs.  The  conflicts  of  mind  by  which  many  for  a  long  time  are  deprived 
of  all  peace  and  enjoyment,  are  no  other  than  the  struggles  between  the 
gospel  way  of  salvation  and  a  secret  attachment  to  self-righteousness.  When 
terrified  by  the  threatenings  of  the  word,  or  the  near  approach  of  death,  the 
first  refuge  to  which  the  sinner  usually  betakes  himself  is  the  promise  of 
amendment.  He  vows  to  reform,  and  this  affords  him  a  little  ease.  For  a 
time  it  may  be  his  gross  vices  are  relinquished ;  he  carefully  attends  to  reli- 
gious duties;  and,  while  this  lasts,  he  flatters  himself  that  he  is  a  better  man, 
and  supposes  the  Almighty  is  no  less  pleased  with  him  than  he  is  pleased 
with  himself.     If  he  rest  here,  his  pride  proves  his  eternal  overthrow. 

But  it  may  be  his  rest  here  is  short.  It  commonly  proves  that  the  vows 
and  resolutions  thus  made  are  like  the  morning  cloud  and  the  early  dew  that 
goeth  away.  A  new  temptation  to  some  old  sin,  which  was  not  mortified, 
but  had  merely  retired  during  the  present  alarm,  undoes  all.  Now  remorse 
and  fearful  apprehension  take  possession  of  the  soul,  not  only  on  account  of 
its  having  sinned  against  greater  light  than  heretofore,  but  for  destroying  its 
own  refuge.  The  gourd  is  smitten,  and  the  sinner,  exposed  as  to  a  vehe- 
ment east  wind,  fainteth.  Yet  even  here  spiritual  pride  will  insinuate  itself 
and  offer  a  species  of  false  comfort.  While  he  is  weeping  over  his  sins,  and 
bemoaning  the  unhappiness  of  his  case,  that  he  should  thus  undo  all  his 
hopes,  a  soothing  thought  suggests  itself.  Will  not  the  Almighty  have  com- 
passion on  me  for  these  penitential  tears?  surely  my  mournings  will  be 
heard,  and  my  lamentations  go  up  before  him  !  Many  have  stopped  short 
here,  and,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have  missed  of  eternal  life! 

But  it  may  be  he  is  disturbed  from  this  repose  also.  Conscience  becomes 
more  enlightened  by  reading  and  hearing  the  word.  He  is  convinced  that 
neither  tears  nor  prayers,  nor  aught  else  but  the  blood-shedding  of  the 
Saviour,  will  take  away  sin ;  and  that  there  is  no  way  of  being  saved  by  him 
but  by  believing  in  him.  Yet  a  thought  occurs,  Can  such  a  sinner  as  I 
believe  in  Christ?  Would  it  not  be  presumption  to  hope  that  one  so  unfit 
and  unworthy  as  I  am  should  be  accepted?  This  thought  proceeds  upon 
a  supposition  that  some  degree  of  previous  fitness  or  worthiness  is  necessary 
to  recommend  us  to  the  Saviour,  which  is  repugnant  to  the  whole  tenor  of 
the  gospel,  and  so  long  as  it  continues  to  influence  our  decisions  will  be  an 
insuperable  bar  to  believing. 

Self-righteousness,  at  some  stages,  will  work  in  a  way  of  despair.  The 
sinner,  finding  that  no  duties  performed  in  impenitence  and  unbelief  are  any 
way  available,  or  in  the  least  degree  pleasing  to  God — that  no  means  are 
pointed  out  in  the  Scriptures  by  which  a  hard-hearted  sinner  may  obtain  a 
heart  of  flesh — and  that,  nevertheless,  he  is  told  to  repent  and  believe  in 
Jesus,  or  perish  for  ever — sinks  into  despondency.  Hard  thoughts  are  en- 
tertained of  God.  He  thinks  he  has  taken  all  possible  pains  with  himself; 
and  if  what  he  possesses  be  not  repentance  nor  faith,  he  has  no  hopes  of 
ever  obtaining  them.  God,  it  seems  to  him,  requires  impossibilities,  and 
can  therefore  be  no  other  than  a  hard  master,  reaping  where  he  has  not 
sown,  and  gathering  where  he  has  not  strawed.  The  religious  efforts  of 
some,  like  those  of  the  slothful  servant,  end  here.    All  is  given  up  as  a  hope- 


SPIRITUAL    PRIDE.  567 

less  case,  and  the  things  which  their  hearts,  amidst  all  their  convictions, 
have  been  lingering  after,  are  again  pursued. 

To  come  to  Jesus  as  a  sinner  ready  to  perish,  justifj'ing  God  and  con- 
demning self,  suing  for  mercy  as  utterly  unworthy,  as  one  of  the  chief  of 
sinners,  pleading  mercy  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  atonement,  is  a  hard  les- 
son for  a  self-righteous  heart  to  learn.  The  shiftings  of  pride  in  such  cases 
are  fitly  expressed  by  the  sinner's  "going  about"  to  establish  his  own  right- 
eousness, and  not  submitting  to  "  the  righteousness  of  God."  Like  the  priests 
of  Dagon,  he  will  set  up  his  idol  as  long  as  he  can  possibly  make  it  stand. 
But  if  ever  he  obtain  mercy  he  must  desist.  There  is  no  rest  for  the  soul 
but  in  coming  to  Jesus.  And  if  he  be  once  brought  to  this,  all  his  self- 
righteous  strivings,  and  the  hopes  which  he  built  upon  them,  with  all  his 
hard  thoughts  of  God  for  requiring  what  in  his  then  present  state  of  mind 
he  could  ixot  comply  with,  will  appear  in  their  true  light,  the  odious  icorkings 
of  a  deceitful  and  deceived  heart. 

Such,  and  many  other,  are  the  workings  of  spiritual  pride  in  the  form  of 
a  self-righteous  spirit  under  first  awakenings;  but  it  is  not  in  this  form  only, 
nor  at  this  period  only,  that  it  operates.  You  may  have  obtained  rest  for 
your  souls  in  the  doctrine  of  the  cross;  you  may  have  communicated  your 
case  to  others,  joined  a  Christian  church,  and  may  purpose  to  walk  in  com- 
munion with  it  through  life;  but  still  it  becomes  you  to  be  upon  the  watch 
against  this  as  well  as  other  evils  to  which  you  are  exposed. 

The  apostle,  in  giving  directions  for  the  office  of  a  bishop,  objects  to  a 
*'  novice,"  or  one  newly  converted  to  the  faith ;  and  for  this  reason,  "  lest, 
being  lifted  up  with  pride,  he  fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the  devil."  It 
is  here  plainly  implied  that  the  early  stages  of  even  true  religion,  in  persons 
possessed  of  promising  gifts,  are  attended  with  peculiar  temptations  to  high- 
mindedness.  Alas,  what  numerous  examples  of  this  are  daily  apparent  in 
young  ministers !  The  transition,  in  many  instances,  is  great :  from  a 
dejected  state  of  mind  to  become  guides  of  others,  or  from  obscure  circum- 
stances to  be  elevated  to  the  situation  of  a  public  teacher,  attracting  the 
smiles  and  applauses  of  the  people,  is  what  few  young  men  are  able  to  bear. 
When  alone,  conversing  with  God,  or  with  their  own  souls,  they  can  see 
many  reasons  for  self-abasement;  but  when  encircled  with  srniling  crowds, 
and  loaded  with  indiscreet  applause,  these  thoughts  evaporate.  Every  one 
proclaims  the  preacher's  excellence;  and  surely  what  every  one  affirms  must 
be  true !  In  short,  he  inhales  the  incense,  and  becomes  intoxicated  with  its 
fumes. 

Such  a  man,  we  sometimes  say,  possesses  talents,  but  he  is  aware  of  it. 
In  one  sense  a  man  must  needs  be  aware  of  it.  Humility  does  not  consist 
in  being  ignorant  of  our  talents,  be  they  what  they  may ;  but  in  being  pro- 
perly impressed  with  the  end  for  which  they  are  given.  The  attention  of  a 
vain  mind  is  fixed  upon  the  talents  themselves,  dwelling  on  them  with 
secret  satisfaction,  and  expecting  every  one  to  be  sensible  of  them  no  less 
than  himself  Hence  it  is  that  the  most  fulsome  adulation  is  acceptable. 
Hungering  and  thirsting  after  applause,  he  is  ever  fishing  for  it,  and  the 
highest  degrees  of  it,  when  bestowed,  strike  but  in  unison  with  his  own  pre- 
vious thoughts.  Hence  the  flatterer,  whom  others  can  easily  see  through, 
appears  to  be  a  sensible  and  discerning  man,  who  has  discovered  that  of 
which  the  generality  of  people  around  him  are  insensible.  Not  so  the  humble. 
His  attention  is  not  fixed  so  much  upon  his  talents  as  on  the  use  which  is 
required  to  be  made  of  them.  Feeling  himself  accountable  for  all  that  he 
has  received,  and  conscious  of  his  unspeakable  defects  in  the  application  of 
them,  he  finds  matter  for  continual  shame  and  self-abasement.     In  this  view 


668  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

the  greatest  of  men  may  consider  themselves  as  the  "  least  of  all  saints,'  and 
unworthy  of  a  place  among  them. 

Vanity  of  mind,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  our  behaviour  towards  man,  will 
frequently  effect  its  own  cure.  It  is  certain  to  work  disgust  in  others,  and 
that  disgust  will  be  followed  by  neglect,  and  other  mortifying  treatment. 
Thus  it  is  that  time  and  experience,  if  accompanied  by  a  moderate  share  of 
good  sense,  will  rub  off"  the  excrescences  of  youthful  folly,  and  reduce  the 
party  to  propriety  of  conduct.  And  if  there  be  true  religion  as  well  as  good 
sense,  such  things  may  be  the  means  of  really  mortifying  the  evil,  and  may 
teach  a  lesson  of  genuine  humility;  but  where  this  is  wanting,  the  change 
is  merely  exterior.  Though  the  branches  may  be  lopped  off",  the  root 
remains,  and  is  strengthened  by  time,  rather  than  mortified.  Youthful 
vanity,  in  these  cases,  frequently  ripens  into  pride  and  overbearing  contempt. 

From  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity,  those  who  were  possessed  of  spiri- 
tual gifts,  and  official  situations  in  the  church,  were  in  danger  of  being 
elated  by  them.  Though  the  eye  cannot  in  truth  say  to  the  hand,  "  I  have 
no  need  of  thee,  nor  the  head  to  the  feet,  T  have  no  need  of  you ;"  yet  if 
there  had  not  been  something  nearly  resembling  it  in  the  church,  such  lan- 
guage would  not  have  been  used.  Neither  would  the  primitive  ministers 
have  been  charged  not  to  "  lord  it  over  God's  heritage,"  if  such  things  had 
never  made  their  appearance.  The  primitive  churches  had  their  Diotrephes, 
who  cast  out  such  as  displeased  him  (3  John  9,  10);  and  such  men  have 
not  been  wanting  for  successors  in  every  age.  This  lust  of  domination  has 
sometimes  been  formed  in  preachers,  and  sometimes  in  men  of  opulence 
among  private  members;  but  commonly  in  persons,  whether  preachers  or 
hearers,  who  were  the  least  qualified  for  the  exercise  of  legitimate  rule.  The 
churches  of  Christ,  as  well  as  all  other  societies,  require  to  be  governed,  and 
he  has  prescribed  laws  for  this  purpose ;  but  no  man  is  fit  to  govern  but  he 
that  is  of  a  meek  and  lowly  disposition.  The  greatest  of  all  must  be  the 
servant  of  all.  The  authority  which  he  maintains  must  not  be  sought  after, 
nor  supported  by  improper  measures ;  but  be  spontaneously  conferred  on 
account  of  superior  wisdom,  integrity,  and  love. 

There  are  various  other  things,  as  well  as  official  situations,  which  furnish 
occasion  for  spiritual  pride.  Members  of  churches  being  equal,  as  members, 
with  their  pastors,  may  assume  a  kind  of  democratic  consequence,  and  forget 
that  it  is  their  duty  to  honour  and  obey  them  that  have  the  "  rule  over  them 
in  the  Lord."  If  ministers  are  called  the  servants  of  the  churches,  it  is  be- 
cause their  lives  are  laid  out  in  promoting  their  best  interests ;  and,  when 
this  is  the  case,  they  are  entitled  to  an  affectionate  and  respectful  demeanour. 
To  be  a  servant  of  a  Christian  church  is  one  thing,  and  to  be  a  slave  to  the 
caprice  of  a  few  of  its  members  is  another.  Whatever  it  he  in  which  ice 
excel,  or  imagine  ourselves  to  do  so,  there  it  becomes  us  to  beware  lest  we  he 
lifted  up  to  our  hurt.  Those  differences  which  are  produced  by  religion 
itself  may,  through  the  corruptions  of  our  nature,  be  converted  into  food  for 
this  pernicious  propensity. 

Those  who  name  the  name  of  Christ  are  taught  to  relinquish  the  chase 
of  fashionable  appearance,  and  to  be  sober  and  modest  in  their  apparel  and 
deportment ;  but  while  they  are  renouncing  the  pride  of  life  in  one  form,  let 
them  beware  that  they  cherish  it  not  in  another.  We  have  seen  persons 
whose  self-complacency,  on  account  of  the  plainness  of  their  apparel,  has 
risen  to  a  most  insufferable  degree  of  arrogance ;  and  who  have  appeared  to 
be  much  more  affected  by  a  ribbon  or  a  bonnet  on  another's  head  than  by 
all  the  abominations  of  their  own  hearts.  The  genuine  "  adorning"  of  the 
Christian  is  not  that  of  the  putting  on  of  apparel ;  no,  not  that  which  is 
plain,  any  more  than  that  which  is  gaudy;  but  the  "ornament  of  a  meek  and 


SPIRITUAL  PRIDE.  569 

quiet  spirit,  which  is  in  the  sight  of  God  of  great  price."  To  value  ourselves 
on  account  of  outward  finery,  which,  where  it  is  followed,  is  commonly  the 
case,  i§  offensive  to  God,  and  inconsistent  with  a  proper  attention  to  the 
inner  man  ;  but  to  value  ourselves  for  the  contrary  may  be  still  more  so.  The 
former,  though  a  proof  of  a  vain  and  little  mind,  yet  is  never  considered,  I 
suppose,  as  an  exercise  of  holiness;  but  the  latter  is:  great  stress  is  laid 
upon  it,  and  commonly  to  the  neglect  of  the  weightier  matters  of  religion. 
In  short,  a  righteousness  is  made  of  it,  which  of  all  things  is  most  odious  in 
the  sight  of  God. 

Those  who  name  the  name  of  Christ  are  taught  also  to  demean  thrmselves 
in  such  a  manner  as  will  naturally  inspire  respect  from  persons  of  character, 
and  this  may  become  a  snare  to  the  soul.  Religion,  by  changing  the  course 
of  a  man's  conduct,  often  raises  him  to  a  much  superior  station  in  society 
than  he  occupied  before.  From  being  a  drunkard,  a  liar,  or  in  some  form  a 
loose  character,  he  becomes  sober,  faithful,  and  regular  in  his  conduct. 
Hence  he  naturally  rises  in  esteem,  and,  in  some  cases,  is  intrusted  with  im- 
portant concerns.  All  this  is  doubtless  to  the  honour  of  God  and  religion ; 
but  let  us  beware  lest  a  self-complacent  thought  enter  our  heart,  and  we  be 
lifted  up  to  our  hurt.  This  species  of  pride  will  frequently  appear  in  a 
scornful  behaviour  towards  others  who  are  still  in  their  sins,  and  in  a  censo- 
rious and  unforgiving  spirit  towards  such  members  of  the  church  as  have 
conducted  themselves  with  less  regularity  than  ourselves.  A  lowly  mind 
will  drop  a  tear  over  the  evil  courses  of  the  ungodly,  and,  feeling  its  obliga- 
tions to  renewing  and  keeping  grace  that  hath  made  the  difference,  will  find 
matter  even  in  a  public  execution  for  humiliation,  prayer,  and  praise.  The 
falls  of  fellow  Christians  will  likewise  excite  a  holy  fear  and  trembling,  and 
induce  a  greater  degree  of  watchfulness  and  supplication,  lest  we  should  in 
a  similar  way  dishonour  the  name  of  God;  and  if  called  to  unite  with  others 
in  the  exercise  of  scriptural  discipline,  it  will  be  with  a  spirit  of  tenderness; 
not  for  the  purpose  of  revenge,  but  of  recovery.  Seest  thou  a  man  whose 
resentments  rise  high  when  another  falls,  who  is  fierce  and  clamorous  for 
the  infliction  of  censure,  and  whose  anger  cannot  be  otherwise  appeased, 
there  is  little  reason  to  expect  that  he  will  stand  long.  He  "thinketh  he 
standeth;"  let  him  "take  heed  lest  he  fall!" 

!  He  whose  character  is  established  by  a  steady  and  uniform  conduct  is 
doubtless  worthy  of  our  esteem ;  but  if  with  this  he  be  unfeeling  towards 
others  less  uniform,  there  are  three  or  four  questions  which  it  might  be  well 
for  him  to  consider.  First,  Whether  the  diiference  between  him  and  them 
be  owing  so  much  to  the  prevalence  of  Christian  principles  as  to  other 
causes.  It  may  arise  merely  from  a  difference  in  natural  temper.  The  sin 
which  easily  besets  them  may  be  of  a  kind  which  exposes  them  to  the  cen- 
sures of  the  world;  while  his  may  be  something  more  private,  which  does 
not  come  under  their  cognizance.  It  may  arise  from  a  greater  regard  to 
reputation  in  him  than  in  them.  Some  men  pique  themselves  much  more 
than  others  upon  the  immaculacy  of  their  character.  But  these  are  motives 
which  if  weighed  in  the  balance  will  be  found  wanting.  Secondly,  Whether 
a  censorious  spirit  towards  those  who  have  fallen  does  not  prove  that  we  arro- 
gate to  ourselves  the  difference,  and  depend  upon  ourselves  for  the  resisting 
of  temptation.  We  may  "  thank  God"  in  words  that  we  are  "  not  as  other 
men,"  and  so  did  the  Pharisee;  but  we  may  be  certain  while  this  spirit  pre- 
vails that  God  is  not  the  rock  on  which  we  rest.  Thirdly,  Wliether  arro- 
gancy  and  self-dependence  be  not  as  odious  in  the  sight  of  God  as  the  great- 
est outward  vices,  and  whether  it  be  not  likely  that  he  will  give  us  up  to  the 
latter  as  a  punishment  for  the  former.  We  might  have  thought  it  a  pity  that 
so  eminent  a  character  as  Simon  Peter,  one  that  was  to  take  so  important  a 
Vol.  III.— 72  2  b  2 


570  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

part  in  spreading  the  gospel,  should  not  have  been  preserved  from  so  shame- 
ful a  denial  of  his  Lord.  He  prayed  for  him  that  his  faith  should  not  fail: 
why  did  he  not  pray  that  he  should  be  either  exempted  from  the  trial,  or  pre- 
served from  nUling  in  it?  Surely  if  this  self-confidence  had  not  been  more 
offensive  to  Christ  than  even  his  open  denial  of  him  it  had  been  so;  but  as 
it  was,  rather  than  he  should  be  indulged  in  spiritual  pride,  he  must  be  rolled 
in  the  dirt  of  infamy. 

God  abhors  the  occasional  exercises  of  self-confidence  in  his  own  people, 
and  still  more  the  habitual  self-complacency  of  hypocrites.  I  remember  a 
professor  of  religion,  a  member  of  one  of  our  churches,  who  for  a  series  of 
years  maintained  a  very  uniform  character.  He  was  constant  in  his  attend- 
ance on  all  opportunities.  At  his  own  expense  he  erected  a  place  of  wor- 
ship in  his  village  for  the  occasional  preaching  of  the  gospel.  Few  men 
were  more  respected  both  by  the  world  and  by  the  church.  To  the  surprise 
of  every  one  that  knew  him,  all  at  once  he  was  found  to  be  guilty  of  fornica- 
tion. The  church  of  which  he  was  a  member  excluded  him.  From  this 
time  he  sunk  into  a  kind  of  sullen  despondency,  shunning  all  company  and 
conversation,  and  giving  himself  up  to  melancholy.  His  friends  felt  much 
for  him,  and  would  often  represent  to  him  the  mercy  of  God  to  backsliders 
who  return  to  him  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  But  all  was  of  no  account:  he 
was  utterly  inconsolable.  His  sorrow  did  not  appear  to  be  of  that  kind  which, 
while  it  weeps  for  sin,  cleaves  to  the  Saviour;  but  rather,  like  "the  sorrow 
of  the  world"  which  "  worketh  death,"  was  accompanied  with  a  hard  heart, 
and  seemed  to  excite  nothing  unless  it  were  a  fruitless  sigh.  I  well  recol- 
lect having  some  conversation  with  him  at  the  time,  and  that  his  state  of 
mind  struck  me  in  an  unfavourable  light.  It  appeared  to  me  that  the  man  in 
the  height  of  his  profession  was  eaten  up  with  spiritual  pride;  that  God  had 
let  loose  the  reins  of  his  lust  to  the  staining  of  his  glory,  and  that  now,  look- 
ing upon  his  reputation  as  irrecoverably  lost,  he  sunk  into  despair. — A  few 
years  after,  when  his  friends  had  begun  to  despair  of  him,  all  at  once  he 
wanted  to  come  before  the  church  and  be  restored  to  his  place.  In  his  con- 
fession little  was  said  of  the  evil  of  his  sin,  or  of  the  dishonour  brought  upon 
the  name  of  Christ  by  it ;  but  of  certain  extraordinary  impulses  which  he 
had  received,  by  which  the  pardon  of  his  sin  was  sealed  to  him.  The  church, 
though  with  some  hesitation,  received  him.  They  were  soon  under  the  ne- 
cessity, however,  of  re-excluding  him,  as  from  that  time  he  became  a  most 
self-important  and  contentious  Antinomian. 

God  in  calling  sinners  by  his  grace  has  given  great  proof  of  his  sove- 
reignty, passing  over  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  revealing  himself  to  babes; 
the  mighty  and  the  noble,  and  choosing  the  base;  yea,  the  devout  and  the 
honourable,  and  showing  mercy  to  publicans  and  sinners.  This  is,  doubtless, 
of  a  humbling  nature,  and  its  design  was  that  "  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his 
presence."  But  even  in  this  case  there  is  an  avenue  at  which  spiritual  pride 
may  insinuate  itself;  and  it  seems  to  have  found  its  way  among  the  believing 
Gentiles.  Hence  the  following  language  :  "  Boast  not  against  the  branches. 
But  if  thou  boast,  thou  bearest  not  the  root,  but  the  root  thee.  Thou  wilt 
say  then.  The  branches  were  broken  off  that  I  might  be  grafted  in.  Well, 
because  of  unbelief  they  were  broken  off,  and  thou  standest  by  faith.  Be 
not  high-minded,  but  fear."  It  is  easy  to  perceive  how  the  same  thoughts 
may  be  admitted  in  weak,  ignoble,  and  once  profligate  characters  who  have 
obtained  mercy,  while  others  more  respectable  are  yet  in  their  sins. 

Moreover,  the  Christian  religion  tends  to  enlighten  and  enlarge  the  mind. 
Men  that  have  lived  a  number  of  years  in  the  grossest  ignorance,  on  becom- 
ing serious  Christians  have  gradually  obtained  a  considerable  degree  of  in- 
telligence.    They  have  not  only  been  spiritually  illuminated  so  as  to  read 


SPIRITUAL    PRIDE.  571 

the  Scriptures  as  it  were  with  other  eyes,  and  to  discourse  on  Divine  sub- 
jects with  clearness  and  advantage  ;  but  have  formed  a  habit  of  reading  many 
other  useful  publications,  and  of  thinking  over  their  contents.  All  this  is 
to  the  honour  of  Christianity  ;  but  through  the  corruption  of  the  heart  it  may 
become  a  snare.  It  is  true  that  spiritual  knowledge  in  its  own  nature  tends 
to  humble  the  soul  both  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man  ;  but  all  the  know- 
ledge that  good  men  possess  is  not  spiritual ;  and  that  which  is  so,  when  it 
comes  to  be  reflected  upon  in  unworthier  moments,  may  furnish  food  for 
self-complacency.  Neither  are  all  whose  minds  are  enlightened  by  the  gos- 
pel, and  whose  light  is  so  far  operative  as  even  to  effect  some  change  of  con- 
duct, good  men:  we  read  of  some  who  "escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world 
through  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour,"  who  were  afterwards  en- 
tangled and  overcome,  2  Pet.  ii.  10.  An  influx  of  knowledge  to  some  men, 
like  an  influx  of  wealth  to  others,  is  more  than  they  are  able  to  bear,  and,  if 
they  have  not  the  grace  of  God  at  heart  as  a  balance,  they  will  certainly  be 
overset.  A  disposition  for  raising  difhculties  and  speculating  upon  abstruse 
and  unprofitable  questions,  a  captiousncss  in  hearing,  an  eagerness  for  dis- 
puting, and  an  itch  for  teaching,  are  certain  indications  of  a  vain  mind,  which 
at  best  is  but  half  instructed,  and,  in  many  cases,  destitute  of  the  truth.  Such 
characters  are  minutely  described  by  Paul  in  his  First  Epistle  to  Timothy: 
"Give  no  heed,"  saith  he,  "to  fables  and  endless  genealogies,  which  minis- 
ter questions,  rather  than  godly  edifying  which  is  in  faith.  The  end  of  the 
commandment  is  charity  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  conscience,  and 
of  faith  unfeigned :  from  which  some  having  swerved  have  turned  aside 
unto  vain  jangluig;  desiring  to  be  teachers  of  the  law  ;  understanding  neither 
what  they  say,  nor  whereof  they  affirm." 

If  a  little  knowledge  happen  to  unite  with  a  litigious  temper,  it  is  a  dan- 
gerous thing.  Such  characters  are  the  bane  of  churches.  If  they  might 
be  believed,  they  are  the  faithful  few  who  contend  for  the  "  faith  once  de- 
livered to  the  saints;"  but  they  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit  they  are  of, 
nor  consider  that  there  is  a  species  of  "  contention  "  that  "  cometh  only  by 
pride."  There  were  men  of  this  stamp  in  the  times  of  the  apostle  Paul,  and 
whose  character  he  described,  with  the  effects  produced  by  their  wrangling. 
Such  a  one,  saith  he,  is  "  proud,  knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about  ques- 
tions, and  strifes  of  words,  whence  cometh  envy,  strife,  railings,  evil-surmisings, 
perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds  and  destitute  of  the  truth."  It 
is  to  be  hoped  that  some  who  have  manifested  this  litigious  spirit  may  not 
be  altogether  "  destitute  of  the  truth  ;"  and  it  may  be  worthy  of  notice  that  the 
persons  referred  to  by  the  apostle  are  not  thus  denominated,  but  are  supposed 
to  kindle  the  fire  which  "  men  of  corrupt  minds  and  destitute  of  the  truth" 
keep  alive.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  not  more  than  doubtful,  whether  the 
description  given  of  them  will  admit  of  hope  in  their  favour.  But  if  it  will, 
and  the  same  hope  be  admitted  of  some  litigious  spirits  in  our  times,  it  is 
doubtless  a  very  wicked  thing  to  furnish  the  enemies  of  religion  with  brands, 
as  I  may  say,  wherewith  to  burn  the  temple  of  God. 

Another  branch  of  this  species  of  pride  is  seen  in  the  conduct  of  pro- 
fessors who  will  take  such  liberties,  and  go  such  lengths  in  conformity  to  the 
world,  as  frequently  prove  a  stumbling-block  to  the  weak  and  the  tender- 
hearted. If  reproved  for  it,  they  are  seldom  at  a  loss  in  vindicating  them- 
selves, attributing  it  to  a  more  liberal  and  enlarged  way  of  thinking,  and 
ascribing  the  objections  of  others  to  weakness,  and  a  contractedness  of 
mind.  Thus  some  men  can  join  in  the  chase,  frequent  the  assembly  room,  or 
visit  the  theatre,  and  still  think  themselves  entitled  to  the  character  of  Chris- 
tians, and  perhaps  to  a  place  in  a  Christian  church.  A  ca?c  nearly  resem- 
bling this  occurred  in  the  primitive  times.     The  heathen  sacrifices  were 


572  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

accompanied  with  feasts,  at  which  the  people  ate  of  that  which  had  been 
offered  to  their  gods.  When  a  number  of  Corinthian  idolaters,  who  had  always 
lived  in  this  practice,  became  Christians,  it  proved  a  snare  to  them.  They 
seem  to  have  thought  it  hard  to  be  obliged  to  deny  themselves  of  these  so- 
cial repasts.  Some  of  them  ventured  to  break  through;  and,  when  spoken 
to  on  the  subject,  pleaded  that  the  "  idol  was  nothing,"  and  therefore  could 
have  no  influence  on  the  food  ;  adding  that  they  were  not  so  void  of  "  know- 
ledge" as  not  to  be  able  to  distinguish  between  the  one  and  the  other. 
Paul,  in  answer,  first  reasons  with  them  on  their  oicn  principles.  You  have 
knowledge  ....  what  do  you  know?  That  an  idol  is  nothing  in  the  world, 
and  there  is  none  other  God  but  one.  Very  well :  we  know  the  same.  You, 
it  seems,  by  your  superior  discernment,  can  partake  of  the  food  simply  as 
food,  without  considering  it  as  offered  to  an  idol,  and  so  can  preserve  your 
consciences  from  being  defiled.  Be  it  so;  yet  there  is  not  in  every  one  this 
knoivkdge.  Granting,  therefore,  that  the  thing  itself,  as  performed  by  you, 
is  innocent;  it  becomes  an  occasion  of  stumbling  to  others.  Your  mental 
reservations  are  unknown  to  them  :  while,  therefore,  you  preserve  your  con- 
sciences from  guilt,  theirs  may  be  defiled  in  following  your  example.  And 
why  boast  of  your  knowledge  ?  "knowledge  puffeth  up,  but  charity  edifieth." 
And  if  any  one  think  that  he  knoweth  any  thing,  "  he  knoweth  nothing  yet 
as  he  ought  to  know." 

Having  thus  condemned  their  vain  conduct,  even  upon  their  own  princi- 
ples, the  apostle  proceeds  to  show  that  it  is  in  itself  sinful,  as  participating 
of  idolatry !  "  Flee  from  idolatry !  I  speak  as  to  wise  men,  judge  ye  what  I 
say.  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the 
blood  of  Christ?  The  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of 
the  body  of  Christ?  Behold  Israel  after  the  flesh,  are  not  they  who  eat  of 
the  sacrifices />or^aA;crs  of  the  altar?  What  say  I  then?  that  the  idol  is  any 
thing?  But  this  I  say,  that  the  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice  they  sacri- 
fice to  demons,  and  not  to  God  :  and  I  would  not  that  ye  should  have  fellow- 
ship with  demons!  Do  we  provoke  the  Lord  to  jealousy?  Are  we  stronger 
than  he? — Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to 
the  glory  of  God." 

This  admirable  counsel  will  serve  as  a  universal  test  of  right  and  wrong. 
Instead  of  vindicating  fleshly  indulgences,  and  priding  ourselves  on  the  supe- 
riority of  our  knowledge  to  that  of  others,  before  we  engage,  let  us  seriously 
ask  ourselves  whether  that  which  we  are  about  to  do  be  capable  of  being 
done  "  to  the  glory  of  God."  We  can  take  exercise,  and  enjoy  agreeable 
society,  with  various  other  things,  for  the  purpose  of  unbending  and  recreating 
the  mind.  By  these  means  we  are  enabled  to  return  to  the  duties  of  our  sta- 
tions with  renewed  vigour.  In  such  cases  we  should  feel  no  difficulty  in 
asking  a  Divine  blessing  upon  them  to  this  end.  But  can  we  pursue  the 
chase,  frequent  the  theatre,  or  unite  at  the  card  table,  with  such  an  object  in 
view?  Dare  we  pray  for  a  Divine  blessing  to  attend  these  exercises  before 
we  engage  in  them?     If  not,  they  must  needs  be  sinful. 

Moreover,  Christianity,  confers  great  and  '\m])OX\?ini  privileges  upon  those 
who  embrace  it.  "To  as  many  as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to 
become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to  them  that  believe  on  his  name."  They 
are  "justified  freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus."  However  they  may  have  been  estranged  from  God,  and  every  thing 
that  is  good,  they  are  now  "  no  more  strangers  and  foreigners,  but  fellow 
citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God."  The  various  dis- 
tinctions of"  male  and  female,  rich  and  poor,  bond  and  free,"  are  here  of  no 
account,  "  all  are  one  in  Christ  Jesus."  This  is,  undoubtedly,  one  of  the 
glories  of  the  gospel,  and  that  which  proves  it  to  be  a  religion  framed  for 


SPIRITUAL    PEIDE.  673 

man.  In  its  own  nature  it  is  also  adapted  to  fill  the  soul  with  humility  and 
gratitude.  The  natural  language  inspired  by  a  proper  sense  of  it  is,  "  Who 
am  I,  O  Lord  God,  and  what  is  my  father's  house,  that  thou  hast  brought 
me  hitherto?"  But  even  this  may  be  converted  into  food  for  spiritual  pride. 
To  be  raised  from  worse  than  nothing,  and  placed  among  "  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  Lord  Almighty,"  is  a  wonderful  transition;  and,  if  contem- 
plated in  an  unfavourable  state  of  mind,  may  prove  the  occasion  of  evil.  A 
place  and  a  name  in  a  Christian  church,  though  in  the  esteem  of  some  per- 
sons reproachful,  yet  in  that  of  others  may  be  honourable;  and  the  party 
may  be  much  more  affected  by  it  in  this  than  in  the  other.  Members  of 
churches  have  been  known  to  be  more  than  a  little  vain  of  the  distinction. 
In  some  it  has  operated  in  a  way  of  turbulence;  leading  a  member  to  watch 
with  an  evil  eye  every  measure  that  did  not  originate  with  himself,  as  if  it 
were  aimed  to  raze  the  foundations  of  all  religion.  Li  others  it  has  operated 
in  a  way  of  meanness.  Pleased  with  the  familiarity  and  friendly  treatment 
which,  while  their  conduct  is  uniform,  they  receive  from  men  of  superior 
stations,  they  have  no  principle  of  their  own ;  their  study  is  to  please  others, 
rather  than  to  show  themselves  approved  unto  God.  The  same  persons,  if 
guilty  of  any  thing  which  exposes  them  to  censure,  commonly  discover  far 
more  concern  for  the  dishonour  of  the  thing  than  for  the  sin  of  it;  and  their 
confessions  wear  the  appearance,  not  so  much  of  the  humble  acknowledg- 
ments of  a  contrite  spirit,  as  of  the  abject  cringings  of  a  mind  terrified  at  the 
idea  of  losing  its  consequence. 

From  an  idea  of  the  honour  and  privileges  attached  to  Christianity,  some 
have  been  tempted  to  look  down  upon  their  carnal  connexions  as  though 
they  were  beings  of  an  inferior  nature.  Religious  children  have  been  in 
danger  of  losing  a  proper  filial  respect  towards  their  irreligious  parents,  and 
religious  servants  towards  their  irreligious  masters.  Indeed,  we  have  heard 
heavy  complaints  against  religious  servants.  Some  have  resolved,  on  this 
account,  to  employ  none  of  them.  I  hope  this  is  far  from  being  a  general 
case.  Within  tlie  sphere  of  my  observation  there  are,  I  am  persuaded,  more 
respectable  families  who  prefer  them  than  otherwise.  I  may  add,  that  such 
complaints  too  often  proceed  from  persons  who  either  are  prejudiced  against 
religion,  or  who  possess  but  a  small  portion  of  it.  Nor  are  their  declarations 
confined  to  servitude;  but  generally  extended  to  all  dealings  with  religious 
people.  I  have  heard  men  of  extensive  connexions  in  the  world,  however, 
speak  a  very  different  language.  "Of  mere  professors,"  say  they,  "we  have 
no  opinion ;  but  give  us  men  of  religion  to  deal  with :  others  may  be  held  by 
their  honour,  and  their  interest;  but  that  is  all:  a  religious  man  is  a  man  of 
principle."  But  true  it  is  that  many  have  acted  as  though  their  extraordinary 
hopes  and  privileges  as  Christians  tended  to  free  them,  in  some  degree  at 
least,  from  the  ordinary  obligations  of  men ;  and  as  though  it  were  beneath 
them  to  respect  and  honour  those  persons  who  are  destitute  of  piety.  The 
repeated  injunctions  of  the  New  Testament  on  this  head,  while  they  acquit 
Christianity  of  the  evil,  imply  that  Christians  are,  nevertheless,  in  danger  of 
falling  into  it. 

Nor  is  this  spirit  confined  in  its  operation  towards  the  irreligious:  among 
Christians  themselves  in  their  behaviour  towards  one  another  it  too  often 
intrudes  itself  The  parent  and  the  children,  the  master  and  the  servant, 
the  magistrate  and  the  subject,  being  all  on  an  equal  footing  in  the  house 
of  God,  there  is  danger  of  the  latter  forgetting  the  inequality  when  out  of  it, 
and  disregarding  that  order  and  subordination  which  are  essential  to  the 
well-being  of  society.  If  we  indulge  in  high-mindedness,  it  will  be  natural 
to  dwell  in  our  thoughts  upon  that  relation  wherein  we  stand  upon  even 
ground  with  another,  rather  than  upon  that  wherein  we  are  beneath  him  j 


^74  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

and  thus  a  parent,  a  master,  or  a  magistrate,  will  not  be  honoured  by  us  in 
these  relations,  on  account  of  his  being  a  fellow  Christian.  If  nothing  like 
this  had  existed  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  it  is  not  likely  we  should  have 
had  the  exhortation  in  1  Tim.  vi.  1,  2,  "Let  as  many  servants  as  are  under 
the  yoke  count  their  own  masters  worthy  of  all  honour ;  that  the  name  of 
God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed.  And  they  that  have  believing 
masters,  let  them  not  despise  them,  because  they  are  brethren ;  but  rather  do 
them  service,  because  they  are  faithful  and  beloved,  partakers  of  the  benefit. 
These  things  teach  and  exhort." 

To  the  above  may  be  added  privileges  and  advantages  which,  though  of  a 
toorldly  nature,  are  accidentally  attached  to  religion.  The  circumstance  of 
being  of  a  party  or  denomination  which  has  the  sanction  of  authority,  or  the 
greatest  numbers,  or  people  of  the  greatest  opulence  and  respectability 
belonging  to  it,  is  frequently  known  to  furnish  occasion  for  spiritual  pride. 
What  airs  have  some  men  assumed  on  account  of  their  religion  happening 
to  be  established  by  law!  and  what  an  outcry  have  they  made  against  schism! 
as  though  the  true  church  and  the  true  religion  were  to  be  known  by  human 
legislation;  not  considering  that  the  same  legislature  establishes  different 
forms  of  religion  in  different  parts  of  the  empire ;  and  that  Episcopalians, 
therefore,  are  no  less  schismatical  in  Scotland  than  Presbyterians  and  other 
Dissenters  in  England.  What  airs  also  have  some  men  assumed  among 
Dissenters  on  account  of  their  denomination,  or  the  congregation  where 
they  have  attended  being  distinguished  for  its  opulence ;  as  if,  since  the 
times  of  our  Saviour  and  his  aposdes,  things  were  turned  upside  down,  and 
that  which  was  then  a  matter  of  no  account  was  now  become  all  in  all. 

Even  where  persons  are  of  the  same  denomination,  the  mere  circumstance 
of  a  regidar  and  strict  adherence  to  its  rides,  though  of  little  or  no  import- 
ance, becomes  the  occasion  of  a  sort  of  spiritual  pride.  We  have  heard  much 
of  the  regular  clergy,  and  of  the  regular  Dissenters  too,  who  each  value 
themselves  and  despise  others  whom  they  consider  as  irregular,  though,  in 
many  instances,  they  be  men  whose  worth  is  superior  to  their  own. 

Nor  is  this  spirit  apparent  on  one  side  only.  If  some  are  lifted  up  by 
being  of  that  party  which  has  the  greatest  number,  others  are  no  less  so  in 
being  of  that  which  has  the  smallest.  To  despise  the  multitude,  and  to  pique 
themselves  on  being  among  the  discerning  few,  is  common  with  men  who 
have  nothing  better  on  which  to  ground  their  self-esteem.  Pride  will  also 
find  footing  to  support  it  in  being  irregidar,  as  well  as  regular.  The  con- 
tempt with  which  some  affect  to  treat  all  forms  and  rules,  and  those  who 
adhere  to  them,  is  far  from  being  to  their  honour,  and  bears  too  near  a 
resemblance  to  the  spirit  of  Diogenes,  who  trampled  upon  the  pride  of  Plato, 
and  that,  as  Plato  told  him,  "  with  greater  pride." 

SECTION  II. 
THE    CAUSES    OF    SPIRITUAL   PRIDE. 

The  operations  of  this  principle  may  not  only  be  traced  by  those  things 
which  furnish  occasion  for  it,  but  by  other  things  which  have  a  direct  and 
positive  influence  in  producing  it.  The  occasion  and  the  cause  must  not  be 
confounded.  The  one  is  the  object  upon  which  pride  fastens,  and  which  it 
perverts  to  its  use;  the  other  is  the  principle  by  which  it  is  produced.  The 
apostle  himself  was  in  danger  of  being  "  exalted  above  measure,  through  the 
abundance  of  revelations  that  were  given  him :"  not  that  those  revelations 
tended  in  their  own  nature  to  produce  this  effect;  but,  like  all  other  good 
things,  they  were  capable  of  being  abused  through  the  remains  of  indwelling 


SPIRITUAL    PRIDE.  575 

sin.  To  be  the  occasion  of  spiritual  piide  reflects  no  dishonour;  but  that 
which  in  its  own  nature  causes  it  must  needs  be  false  and  pernicious.  The 
principal  sources  of  this  overwhelming  stream  will  be  found  among  the  dark 
mountains  of  error  and  delusion. 

It  may  not  be  in  our  power  to  determine  with  certainty  whether  the  spirit 
ual  pride  which  we  see  in  others  originates  in  their  religion  or  operates  not- 
icithstanding  it ;  but  if  we  be  only  able  to  show  that  the  former  may  possibly 
be  the  case,  we  shall  at  least  furnish  grounds  for  self-examination;  and  if 
withal  it  can  be  proved  that  certain  notions  have  a  natural  tendency  to  pro- 
duce that  very  eft(3ct  which  is  manifest  in  the  spirit  of  those  who  avow  them, 
we  shall  thereby  be  able  to  judge  with  some  degree  of  satisfaction  what  is 
true  and  false  religion.  That  which  worketh  lowliness  of  mind  is  from 
above;  but  that  which  produces  self-complacency  is  assuredly  from  beneath. 

It  requires  also  to  be  noticed  that  these  things  may  prevail  in  different 
degrees.  Tiie  religion  of  some  is  iclwlly  false;  and  spiritual  pride  com- 
passeth  them  as  doth  a  chain ;  that  of  others  is  partly  so;  and  they  are  greatly 
affected  by  it:  but  the  tendency  is  the  same  in  both. 

Once  more,  It  requires  to  be  noticed  that  the  prevalence  of  true  or  false 
religion  in  individuals  cannot  be  ascertained  with  certainty  by  the  truth  or 
falsehood  of  their  professed  creed.  This  may  be  true,  and  we,  notwithstand- 
ing, be  essentially  erroneous;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  include  much 
error,  and  yet  the  principles  which  really  govern  our  spirit  and  conduct  may 
be  so  diiferent  that  the  truth  may  nevertheless  be  said  to  dwell  in  us.  Such 
cases  may,  however,  be  considered  as  rare — a  kind  of  exception  from  a 
general  rule. 

It  is  a  general  truth,  manifestly  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  that  spiritual 
pride  is  fed  by  false  religion.  All  the  false  teachers  of  whom  they  give  us 
an  account  were  distinguished  by  this  spirit.  "They  loved  to  pray  standing 
in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  corners  of  the  streets,  that  they  might  be  seen 
of  men. — They  loved  the  uppermost  rooms  at  feasts,  and  the  chief  seats  in 
the  synagogues,  and  greetings  in  the  markets,  and  to  be  called  of  men,  Rabbi, 
Rabbi. — There  was  a  certain  man  called  Simon,  who  beforetime  in  the  same 
city  used  sorcery,  and  bewitched  the  people  of  Samaria,  giving  out  that  him- 
self was  some  great  one. — I  will  come  unto  you  shortly,  and  not  know  the 
speech  of  them  that  are  puffed  up,  but  the  power:  for  ye  suffer  if  a  man 
bring  you  into  bondage,  if  a  man  devour  you,  if  a  man  take  of  you,  if  a  man 
exalt  himself,  if  a  man  smite  you  on  the  face. — Let  us  not  be  desirous  of 
vain-glory;  if  a  man  think  himself  to  be  something  when  he  is  ncXliing  he 
deceiveth  himself — As  many  as  desire  to  make  a  fair  show  in  the  flesh  con- 
strain you  to  be  circumcised.  Beware  lest  any  man  spoil  you  through  philo- 
sophy and  vain  deceit,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after  Christ. — 
Let  no  man  beguile  you  of  your  reward  in  a  voluntary  humility,  and  worship- 
ping of  angels,  intruding  into  those  things  which  he  hath  not  seen,  vainly 
puffed  up  by  his  fleshly  mind. — Presumptuous  are  they,  self-willed ;  they  are 
not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  dignities. — When  they  speak  great  swelling  words 
of  vanity,  they  allure  through  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  those  that  were  clean 
escaped  from  them  who  live  in  error. — Diotrephes,  who  loveth  to  have  the 
pre-eminence,  receivelh  us  not." 

It  should  seem,  from  hence,  that  though  all  spiritual  pride  does  not  arise 
from  false  religion,  yet  all  false  religion  produces  spiritual  pride.  The  best 
of  men,  and  those  who  adhere  to  the  best  of  principles,  are  in  danger  of  this 
sin :  but  as  there  is  a  wide  and  manifest  ditTerence  between  sinning  and 
living  in  sin,  so  it  is  one  thing  to  be  occasionally  lifted  up,  and  that  at  a 
time  when  the  great  principles  we  imbibe  are  in  a  manner  out  of  sight,  and 
another  to  be  habitually  intoxicated jvith  self-complacency,  and  that  as  the 


576  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

immediate  effect  of  our  religion.  See  you  a  man  whose  meditation,  preach- 
ing, or  writing  produces  humble  charity,  a  pure  heart,  a  good  conscience,  and 
you  may  expect  to  find  in  \\\m  faith  unfeigned.  But  if  you  perceive  in  him 
a  fondness  for  unprofitable  themes  of  discourse,  which  "minister  questions 
rather  than  godly  edifying  which  is  in  faith,"  with  a  forwardness  to  affirm 
what  he  does  not  understand,  you  may  be  almost  certain  that  he  has  "swerved 
from  the  truth,  and  turned  aside  to  vain  jangling." 

As  true  religion  principally  consists  in  "the  knowledge  of  the  true  God, 
and  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  hath  sent,"  or  in  just  sentiments  of  the  Lato- 
giver  and  the  Saviour  of  men;  so  almost  every  species  of  error  will  be  found 
in  the  contrary.  If  we  err  in  our  conceptions  of  the  Divine  character,  it 
resembles  an  error  at  the  outset  of  a  journey,  the  consequence  of  which  is 
that  the  farther  we  travel  the  farther  we  are  off.  Without  a  proper  sense  of 
the  holy  excellence  of  the  Divine  nature,  it  will  be  impossible  to  perceive 
the  fitness  of  the  law  which  requires  us  to  love  him  with  all  our  heart.  Such 
a  requirement  must  appear  rigorous  and  cruel.  Hence  we  shall  be  disposed 
either  to  contract  it,  and  imagine  that  our  Creator  cannot  now  expect  any 
thing  more  at  our  hands  than  an  outward  decency  of  conduct ;  or,  if  we 
admit  that  perfect  love  is  required,  we  shall  still  perceive  no  equity  in  it,  and 
feel  no  manner  of  obligation  to  comply  with  it.  The  law  will  be  accounted 
a  task-master,  and  the  gospel  praised  at  its  expense.  In  both  cases  we  shall 
be  blinded  to  the  multitude  and  mngnitude  of  our  sins;  for  as  where  no  law 
is  there  is  no  transgression,  so  in  proportion  as  we  are  insensible  of  the 
spirituality  or  equity  of  it,  we  must  needs  be  insensible  of  the  evil  of  having 
transgressed  it.  And  thus  it  is  that  men  are  whole  in  their  own  esteem,  and 
think  they  need  no  physician,  or  one  of  but  little  value.  Thus  it  is  that 
degrading  notions  are  entertained  of  the  Saviour,  and  diminutive  represen- 
tations given  of  his  salvation.  In  short,  thus  it  is  that  justification  by  free 
grace,  through  the  redemption  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  either  becomes  inad- 
missible, or,  if  admitted  in  words,  is  considered  as  a  victory  over  the  law, 
and  as  exonerating  from  all  obligations  to  obey  its  precepts.  Here,  or  here- 
abouts, will  be  found  the  grand  springs  of  spiritual  pride. 

It  is  difhcult  to  conceive  whence  the  notion  of  sinless  perfection  in  the 
present  life,  and  all  the  spiritual  piide  that  attaches  to  it,  could  arise,  unless 
it  was  from  ignorance  of  the  glorious  holiness  of  God,  the  spirituality  of  his 
law,  and  the  corruption  of  the  human  heart.  A  proper  sense  of  these  truths 
would  impel  the  best  character  upon  earth  to  exclaim,  with  the  prophet, 
"Woe  is  me!     I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips." 

And  how  is  it  that  an  obligation  to  love  the  Lord  supremely,  and  with  all 
our  hearts,  should  be  so  hard  to  be  understood?  Yet  few  think  themselves 
obliged  to  love  him.  "We  are  sintiers,"  say  they,  "and  cannot  love  him! 
and  if  we  now  and  then  yield  him  a  little  formal  service,  though  it  be  by 
putting  a  force  upon  our  inclinations,  we  imagine  we  do  great  things,  nearly 
as  much  as  ought  to  be  required  of  us,  and  much  more  than  many  do  whom 
we  could  name!" 

Thus  the  sin  of  not  loving  God  from  our  heart,  and  our  neighbour  as  our- 
selves, is  made  nothing  of  in  the  world,  though  it  be  the  fountain  and  sum 
of  evil.  The  conscience  itself  is  so  defiled,  that  if  we  manifest  but  a  decent 
behaviour  in  our  relations  among  men,  it  very  nearly  acquits  us.  We  claim 
a  kind  of  exemption  from  every  thing  else.  And  whether  it  be  by  the  dint 
of  repetition  with  which  this  claim  has  been  preferred,  or  whether  those  who 
ought  to  resist  it  be  themselves  too  much  inclined  to  favour  it,  so  it  is,  that 
too  many  ministers  give  it  up,  contenting  themselves  with  exhorting  their 
hearers  to  things  with  which  they  ca?i  comply  consistently  with  reigning 
enmity  to  God  in  their  hearts — to  things  which  contain  nothing  truly  good 


SPIRITUAL    PRIDE.  577 

in  them,  and  which  a  sinner  may  therefore  perform  through  his  whole  life, 
and  be  shut  out  of  heaven  at  last  as  "a  worker  of  iniquity."  There  is  not  a 
precept  in  the  Bible  that  can  be  obeyed  without  love,  or  with  which  a  man 
may  comply  and  be  lost  for  ever :  to  exhort  sinners,  therefore,  to  things 
which  merely  qualify  them  for  this  world,  or  even  to  reading,  hearing,  or 
praying,  in  such  a  manner  as  cannot  please  God,  is  deviating  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  yielding  up  the  first  principles  of  moral  government  to  the  inclina- 
tions of  depraved  creatures.  In  short,  it  is  no  better  than  to  enforce  the 
tithing  of  mint  and  cummin,  to  the  neglect  of  judgment,  mercy,  and  the  love 
of  God. 

On  this  sandy  foundation  rests  the  whole  fabric  of  self-righteous  hope,  and 
all  the  spiritual  pride  which  attaches  lo  it.  So  long  as  we  are  blinded  to  the 
spirituality  and  requirements  of  the  Divine  law,  we  are  in  effect  without  the 
law  and  alive  in  our  own  conceit;  and  while  this  is  the  case,  we  shall  see  no 
necessity  for  salvation  by  free  grace  through  a  mediator,  nor  any  fitness  in  it. 
Seeking  to  be  justified,  as  it  were,  by  the  works  of  the  law,  we  shall  continue 
to  stumble  at  the  stumbling-stone.  But  when  the  commandment,  in  its  true 
extent,  comes  home  to  the  conscience,  we  find  ourselves  the  subjects  of 
abundance  of  sin,  of  which  we  never  before  suspected  ourselves;  and  then, 
and  not  till  then,  we  die,  or  despair  of  acceptance  with  God  by  the  works 
of  our  hands. 

We  are  clearly  and  expressly  taught  what  that  doctrine  is  which  excludes 
boasting;  and,  by  consequence,  what  it  is  that  nourishes  and  cherishes  it. 
"  Being  justified  freely  by  his  grace  through  the  redemption  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus :  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith  in 
his  blood,  to  declare  his  righteousnesss  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  are  past, 
through  the  forbearance  of  God;  to  declare,  1  say,  at  this  time  his  righte- 
ousness: that  he  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in 
Jesus.  Where  is  boasting  then?  It  is  excluded.  By  what  law?  of  works? 
Nay ;  but  by  the  law  of  faith.— Not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast." 
But  if,  in  direct  opposition  to  this,  men  be  taught,  and  induced  to  believe, 
that  Christ  came  into  the  world  only  to  give  us  good  instruction,  and  set  us 
a  gold  example — that  there  is  no  need  of  any  atonement,  for  that  "  Repent- 
ance and  a  good  life  are  of  themselves  sufficient  to  recommend  us  to  the 
Divine  favour" — and  that  "  all  hopes  founded  upon  any  thing  else  than  a 
good  moral  life  are  merely  imaginary ;" — where  is  boasting  now  ?  Is  it 
excluded? 

Moreover,  Though  the  Divinity  and  atonement  of  Christ  be  allowed,  yet 
if  men  be  taught  and  induced  to  believe  that  the  grand  object  obtained  by 
his  death  is  that  repent ance,  faith,  and  sincere  obedience  should  be  accepted 
as  the  ground  of  justification,  instead  of  sinless  perfection,  the  effect  will  not 
be  materially  different.*  On  this  principle,  the  gospel  is  as  really  a  cove- 
nant of  works  as  the  law,  only  that  its  terms  are  supposed  to  be  somewhat 
easier.  Nor  is  boasting  excluded  by  it.  The  ground  of  acceptance  with 
God,  be  it  what  it  may,  must  be  that  which  is  made  our  plea  for  mercy.  If 
faith,  considered  as  a  virtue,  be  that  ground,  we  may  then  plead  it  before 
God,  as  that  for  the  sake  of  tohich  we  hope  to  be  saved ;  and  if  this  be  not 

*  This  seems  to  have  been  the  idea  of  Bishop  Butler.  "  The  doctrine  of  the  gospel," 
he  says,  "appears  to  be,  not  only  that  he  [Christ]  taught  the  efficacy  of  repentance;  but 
rendered  it  of  the  efficacy  which  it  is,  by  what  he  did  and  suffered  for  us  ;  that  he  obtained 
for  us  the  benefit  of  having  our  repentance  accepted  unto  eternal  life :  not  only  that  he 
revealed  to  sinners  that  they  were  in  a  capacity  of  salvation,  and  how  they  might  obtain  it; 
but,  moreover,  that  he  put  them  into  this  capacity  of  salvation,  by  what  he  did  and  suffered 
for  them;  put  us  into  a  capacity  of  escaping  future  punishment,  and  obtaining  future  hap- 
piness." See  his  Analogy,  Part  II.  Chap.  V.  p.  305.  [The  worthy  prelate  seems,  however, 
to  have  taken  refuge  in  "more  scriptural  views  in  the  hour  of  death, — Ed.] 

Vol.  III.— 73  3  C 


578  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

boasting,  nothing  is.  This,  I  am  persuaded,  no  real  Christian  ever  did,  or 
dares  attempt.  Many  good  men,  I  doubt  not,  have  been  entangled  with 
these  disputes  in  theory ;  but,  when  upon  their  knees,  it  is  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  that  their  petitions  for  mercy  are  presented,  and  for  his  sake  only  that 
they  hope  for  their  sins  to  be  forgiven  them.  Faith,  in  the  one  case,  is  pay- 
ing a  composition,  and  all  that  in  such  circumstances  ought  to  be  required : 
but  faith,  in  the  other  case,  is  acquiescing  in  the  bestowment  of  mercy  as  a 
free  and  undeserved  favour ;  not  as  the  reward  of  any  thing  good  in  us,  but 
of  the  obedience  and  death  of  the  Saviour.  The  intercession  of  Christ,  in 
the  first  instance,  would  be  an  apology  for  the  well-disposed,  resembling  that 
which  he  offered  for  Mary  of  Bethany — They  have  clone  ichat  they  could; 
but,  in  the  last,  it  is  what  the  Scripture  denominates  it,  an  intercession  for 
transgressors.  Here  the  Divine  government  is  justified,  the  conduct  of 
sinners  condemned,  and  the  all-prevailing  worthiness  of  the  Intercessor 
alleged  as  the  only  ground,  or  reason,  for  the  sake  of  which  mercy  should 
be  bestowed.  Thus  it  is  that,  while  officiating  as  the  Advocate  of  sinners, 
he  sustains  the  character  of  "  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous."  Finally,  Influ- 
enced by  the  former  of  these  statements,  I  feel  myself  on  respectable  terms 
with  my  Creator ;  though  not  sinless,  yet  entitled  to  mercy,  as  doing  my 
best :  influenced  by  the  latter,  I  approach  my  Creator  as  a  sinner  ready  to 
perish,  without  a  single  plea  for  mercy  but  what  arises  from  his  own  gracious 
nature,  operating  through  the  atonement  of  his  Son.  And  through  my  whole 
life,  whatever  be  my  repentance,  my  faith,  or  the  sincerity  of  my  obedience, 
I  never  ground  a  single  plea  on  any  of  these  things  as  a  procuring  cause  of 
mercy,  but  invariably  desire  that  I  may  be  "  found  in  him." 

There  is  another  species  of  spiritual  pride,  very  different  from  any  thing 
which  Ims  yet  been  described,  and  which  originates  in  what  some  would  call 
the  extremes  of  orthodoxy  ;  but  which  might,  with  greater  propriety,  be  termed 
gNss  heterodoxy,  ox  false  notions  of  the  doctrines  of  grace. 

I  have  said  it  arises  from  fcdse  vieics  of  the  doctrines  of  grace ;  and  this 
I  am  persuaded  is  the  case  even  where  the  most  orthodox  language  is  retained. 
The  same  terms  may  be  used,  by  different  persons,  to  express  very  different 
ideas.  Thus  it  is  that  the  doctrines  of  election,  the  atonement,  justification 
by  imputed  righteousness,  efficacious  grace,  and  perseverance  in  a  life  of 
faith,  are  held  fast  in  words,  but  in  fact  perverted.* 


REMARKS  ON  TWO  SERMONS  BY  W.  W.  HORNE  OF  YARMOUTH. 

[A  letter  to  a  friend,] 

My  dear  Friend, 

You  have  sent  me  two  sermons  by  William  Wales  Home,  entitled  "The 
Faith  of  the  Gospel  Vindicated,"  requesting  my  opinion  of  them.  Why  did 
you  wish  to  impose  upon  me  the  task  of  reading  such  a  performance?  I 
suppose  it  was  owing  to  your  being  a  Norfolk  man,  and  feeling  interested 
in  any  thing  that  is  done  among  the  churches  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom. 
I  hope  this  is  not  a  fair  sample  of  Norfolk  divinity.  If  it  be,  they  are  low 
indeed !     It  would  appear,  however,  that  the  author  is  a  man  of  some  con- 

*  It  is  supposed  that  the  conclusion  of  this  Essay  is  identical  with  certain  parts  of  the 
treatise  on  Antinomianism,  as,  in  the  first  edition  of  the  works,  by  Dr.  Ryland,  the  reader 
IS  referred  for  the  remainder  to  the  Introduction  and  Part  II.  of  that  piece. — Ed. 


REMARKS  ON  HORNe's  TWO  SERMONS.  579 

eequence,  at  least  in  his  own  eyes,  as,  by  the  motto  he  has  chosen,  he  seems 
to  consider  himself  as  set  for  the  defence  of  the  gospel. 

Defence  implies  attack.  Has  any  body  in  Norfolk  then  been  attacking 
what  he  calls  the  gospel?  So  it  should  seem;  and  I  should  almost  suspect 
from  some  passages  that  the  assailants  were  in  his  own  congregation.  He 
certainly  appears  to  be  out  of  humour  with  some  of  them, — p.  32.  Indeed, 
I  entertain  a  hope  for  their  sakes  that  this«iay  be  the  case ;  for  it  is  grievous 
to  think  that  a  people  sustaining  the  character  of  a  Christian  church  should 
suffer  themselves  to  be  imposed  upon  by  such  flimsy,  incoherent,  and  erro- 
neous preaching,  and  reckon  it  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ ! 

Of  Mr.  Home  I  know  nothing,  save  from  this  publication.  He  seems 
disposed,  however,  to  give  his  readers  all  the  information  he  can  respecting 
himsef,  and  this  even  in  his  title-page.  From  thence  we  learn.  First,  That 
he  is  not  only  a  preacher,  (which  we  might  have  gathered  from  his  publish- 
ing "  Sermons,")  but  a  "  minister  of  the  gospel."  Secondly,  That  he  is  not 
an  ordinary  minister,  but  one  who  is  peculiarly  qualified  to  repel  the  attacks 
of  adversaries;  "set,"  like  an  apostle,  "for  the  defence  of  the  gospel." 
Thirdly,  That  he  not  only  preaches  and  defends  the  gospel,  but  does  all 
"  extempore ;"  that  is,  without  writing  or  studying  his  discourses  before  he 
delivers  them.  Fourthly,  That  though  he  neither  writes  nor  thinks  himself 
in  order  to  preaching,  yet  such  is  the  importance  of  what  he  delivers,  that 
"  James  Mnrden,"  a  short-hand  writer,  sits  and  takes  down  his  discourses, 
by  which  means  they  are  preserved  for  the  benefit  of  posterity.  Finally, 
On  the  back  of  the  same  leaf,  we  are  given  to  understand  that  if  the  public 
will  come  forward,  and,  by  a  liberal  subscription,  secure  him  in  a  pecuniary 
view,  he  will  give  them  a  whole  volume  of  these  sermons,  containing  300 
pages,  all  on  the  most  "  interesting  and  edifying  subjects."  Whether  all  this 
information  was  necessary,  especially  that  which  relates  to  the  sermons  being 
"  delivered  extempore,"  some  persons  may  doubt;  thus  much,  however,  may 
be  acknowledged,  that  if  from  this  time  we  remain  ignorant  of  Mr.  Home's 
extraordinary  talents,  and  be  either  uninterested  or  unedified  by  his  writings, 
it  must  be  our  own  fault.  ' 

After  a  great  deal  said  about  faith,  in  which  the  belief  of  the  truth  is  fre- 
quently confounded  with  the  truth  believed,  and  much  declamation  against 
error,  in  which  we  are  after  all  left  to  guess  wherein  it  consists,  the  preacher 
at  length  comes  to  the  point  which  he  appears  to  have  had  in  view ;  or  (as 
he  does  not  think  beforehand)  to  the  point  which  was  impressed  upon  his 
mind  at  the  time ;  that  is  to  say,  that  faith  is  not  the  duty  of  either  sinners 
or  saints. 

Mr.  Home  asserts  that  "  men  in  nature's  darkness  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  faith  of  God's  elect."  He  does  not  mean  by  this  that  they  are  desti- 
tute of  it,  for  that  would  be  saying  no  more  than  his  opponents  would  admit ; 
but  that  they  have  no  right  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  he  attempts  to 
prove  from  their  being  under  a  covenant  of  works."  "  The  law,"  he  says, 
"  is  their  first  husband ;  and  till  they  become  dead  to  him  they  cannot  be 
married  to  another  (that  is,  to  Christ  by  faith)  without  being  called  adul- 
teresses,"— p.  26.  If  this  reasoning  were  allowed  to  be  solid,  it  would  aifect 
only  those  who  are  in  "  nature's  darkness ;"  whereas  Mr.  Home's  position 
is,  That  faith  is  not  the  duty  of  any  man,  of  believers  any  more  than  of  un- 
believers. "  It  is  not,"  he  says,  "  a  duty  which  God  requires  of  his  people, 
but  a  grace  which  he  gives  them," — p.  26.  But  the  reasoning  itself  is  false. 
That  sinners  are  alive  to  the  law  as  a  covenant  of  works  is  too  true ;  but  that 
the  law  in  that  character  is  alive  to  them  is  not  true. 

The  covenant  of  which  the  apostle  speaks,  in  the  passage  alluded  to,  is 
that  which  was  made  with  Israel  at  Sinai,  to  which  they  as  a  nation  were 


530  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

bound  by  Divine  authority  till  the  coming  of  Christ,  but  which  being  then 
abolished,  they  were  no  longer  under  obligation  to  adhere  to  it  as  a  cove- 
nant, but  were  at  liberty  to  embrace  a  new  and  better  dispensation.  This  was 
applicable  to  the  Jews,  to  whom  the  apostle  addresses  himself  as  to  them  who 
kncio  the  law,  but  is  totally  inapplicable  to  Gentiles,  who  never  were  married 
to  the  law.  But  whether  the  covenant  of  works  be  considered  as  made  with 
Israel  at  Sinai  or  with  man  in  inaocence,  it  is  no  longer  in  force ;  that  is  tc 
say,  it  is  dead.  In  the  former  view,  it  was  rendered  null  by  the  introduction 
of  the  gospel :  "  For  in  that  he  saith,  a  new  covenant,  he  hath  made  the  first 
old.  Now  that  which  decayeth  and  waxeth  old  is  ready  to  vanish  away."  In 
the  latter  view  it  must  have  ceased  from  the  time  of  man's  apostacy.  The  law 
has  no  promise  of  life  to  a  single  transgressor,  and  never  had ;  but  merely  a 
threatening  of  death.  God  is  not,  therefore,  in  covenant  with  sinners,  nor 
they  with  him :  they  are  not  under  a  covenant  of  works ;  but  merely  under 
the  curse  for  transgressing  it.  Thus  taking  the  covenant  which  way  we  will, 
it  is  dead  :  and  therefore,  on  Mr.  Home's  own  principle,  sinners  ought  to  be 
dead  to  it;  and,  in  virtue  of  the  free  invitations  of  the  gospel,  are  at  liberty 
to  be  married  to  another. 

A  desire  to  be  under  the  law  is  not  now  an  attachment  to  a  Divine  consti- 
tution, nor  is  there  any  regard  to  God's  law  in  it ;  it  is  merely  a  proud  and 
unbelieving  reluctance  to  admit  that  we  have  broken  the  law,  and  a  vain 
desire  to  be  still  claiming  life  as  the  reward  of  our  own  good  deeds.  In 
short,  it  is  no  other  than  an  attachment  to  the  idol  of  our  own  righteousness; 
and  we  might  as  well  infer  that  while  a  sinner  is  joined  to  idols  he  has  no  7-ight 
to  desert  them,  and  return  to  God,  as  that  he  would  be  found  guilty  of  spiritual 
adultery  by  coming  off  from  all  dependence  on  self,  and  believing  in  Jesus 
Christ.  If  this  doctrine  were  true,  our  Saviour,  instead  of  complaining  of 
the  unbelieving  Jews  that  they  loould  not  come  to  him  that  they  might  have 
life,  ought  to  have  commended  them  for  their  fidelity  to  their  "first  husband." 
Nay,  if  this  doctrine  be  true,  I  see  not  why  Mr.  Home  should  exclaim  as 
he  does  against  people  being  of  a  pharisaical  or  self-righteous  spirit ;  they 
ought  rather  to  be  commended  for  their  chaste  adherence  to  the  law,  as  to 
their  own  proper  husband. 

Mr.  Home  tells  us  of  some  who  "  strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate,  and 
are  not  able;"  and  that  the  reason  why  they  are  not  able  is  that  they  "  do 
not  strive  lawfully,  or  consistently  with  the  mind  and  will  of  God,  not  coming 
to  God  in  his  own  lawful  and  appointed  way."  "  The  Jews  of  old,"  he 
says,  "strove  to  enter  in,  but  were  not  able;  because  they  strove,  like  our 
modern  Pharisees,  to  enter  in  by  the  works  of  the  law,"  Rom.  ix.  32,  33, — 
p.  7.  Very  good  ;  but  how  can  these  things  hang  together?  If  coming  to 
God  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law,  accord  with  the 
"  mind  and  will  of  God,"  and  be  God's  "  lawful  and  appointed  way,"  how 
can  it  be  unlawful  to  walk  in  it?  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  law  as  a  cove- 
nant be  the  proper  husband  of  the  unconverted,  and  they  ought  faithfully  to 
adhere  to  him,  and  not  to  come  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ,  on  pain  of  being 
called  "  adulteresses,"  why  complain  of  them  for  striving  tinlawfully,  and 
tax  them  with  losing  a  prize  by  this  their  unlawful  conduct,  with  which, 
after  all,  they  had  "  nothing  to  do?"  "  Self-righteous  thoughts  and  imagina- 
tions," says  he,  "  are  as  inimical  to  the  attributes  of  the  Deity,  and  as  otfen- 
sive  to  the  Lord  of  glory,  as  the  immorality  of  the  profligate  part  of  mankind." 
And  yet  they  have  no  right  to  relinquish  them  by  believing  in  Jesus  Christ! 
"A  self-righteous  sinner,"  he  adds,  "  is  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Lord, 
and  against  his  anointed  Son."  And  yet  he  has  no  right  to  be  reconciled 
to  him,  or  to  come  to  him  that  he  might  have  life  !  "  The  spirit  of  the  self- 
lighteous  is  directly  opposite  to  that  humility,  self-abhorrence,  and  self' 


REMARKS  ON  HORNE's  TWO  SERMONS.  581 

abasement  requisite  in  poor,  undone,  rebellious  sinners,  when  coming  before 
a  God  of  immaculate  purity," — p.  42.  And  yet,  strange  to  tell,  they  ought 
to  be  of  this  spirit,  and  not  of  that  which  renounces  these  self-exalting 
notions  and  depends  entirely  on  Jesus  Christ,  lest  they  be  called  "  adul- 
teresses !"  In  most  cases,  gross  inconsistencies  are  reckoned  blemishes :  whe- 
ther they  will  be  so  in  this,  I  cannot  determine.  As  the  preacher  does  not 
profess  to  think  before  he  speaks,  contradiction  may,  for  aught  I  know,  be 
here  in  character. 

"  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  universal  exhortations,  I  am  bold  to  assert," 
says  Mr.  Home,  "  that  not  one  of  the  self-righteous  are  invited  to  come  to 
Christ. — Christ  '  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance,'  " 
— p.  26.  Of  Mr.  Home's  "boldness"  there  is  certainly  no  doubt;  but 
"  wherein  he  is  bold  (I  speak  foolishly)  T  am'bold  also."  The  self-righteous 
Jews  were  invited  to  the  gospel  supper  before  the  Gentiles.  And  though 
they  made  light  of  it,  yet  the  kingdom  of  God  at  that  time  cajne  nigh  unto 
them.  The  same  characters  were  exhorted,  "  while  they  had  the  light,  to 
believe  in  the  light,  that  they  might  be  the  children  of  light."  Now,  whe- 
ther we  should  hearken  to  God's  word,  or  to  the  "  bold"  assertions  of  Mr. 
Home,  let  Christians  judge. — But  Christ  "came  not  to  call  the  righteous, 
but  sinners  to  repentance."  True  ;  and  he  came  into  the  world  to  save,  not 
the  righteous,  but  sinners  ;  yet  Paul  and  many  other  self-righteous  characters 
were  saved  by  him ;  not,  however,  in  their  self-righteousness,  but  from  it : 
and  thus  it  is  that  self-righteous  characters  are  called  to  relinquish  their  vain 
hopes,  and  to  come  to  Jesus  as  sinners  for  salvation. 

"Faith,"  says  Mr.  Home,  "is  not  a  natural  grace;  it  is  no  duty  of  the 
law."  Having  no  idea  what  a  "  natural  grace"  is,  unless  it  were  some  orna- 
ment of  the  body  or  mind,  I  can  make  no  answer  to  the  former  part  of  this 
assertion.  As  to  the  latter,  it  is  true  that  obedience  to  the  law  and  faith  in 
Christ,  as  mediums  of  obtaining  life,  are  in  the  Scriptures  opposed  to  each 
other.  The  one  receives  justification  as  a  reward,  the  other  as  a  free  gift  to 
the  unworthy,  wholly  out  of  respect  to  the  righteousness  of  another. 

It  is  on  the  medium  of  obtaining  life  that  the  apostle  speaks,  when  he 
says,  the  law  is  not  of  faith.  "  The  just,"  says  he,  "  shall  live  by  faith." 
And  "  the  law  is  not  of  faith ;  but  the  man  that  doeth  them  shall  live  in 
them."  Justification  by  obedience  to  the  law  was  entirely  distinct,  therefore, 
from  justification  by  faith  in  Christ;  the  one  would  be  by  works,  the  other 
is  by  grace. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  the  law,  considered  as  a  standard  of 
right  and  ivrong,  is  opposed  to  faith,  or  that  it  does  not  require  it.  It  is 
manifest  that  faith  is  a  part  of  the  revealed  zvill  of  God,  being  commanded 
in  the  Scriptures.  "  Repent,  and  believe  the  gospel." — "  While  ye  have  the 
liglit,  believe  in  the  light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light." — "  This  is 
his  commandment.  That  we  believe  in  the  name  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 
If  these  commandments  have  not  their  root  in  the  moral  law,  which  requires 
every  creature  to  love  God  under  every  manifestation  by  which  he  shall  at 
any  time  make  himself  known,  they  must  be  the  requirements  of  the  gospel, 
under  the  form  of  a  new  law;  a  principle  which  has  been  generally  rejected 
by  the  friends  of  evangelical  truth. 

"  Had  faith,"  says  Mr.  Home,  "  been  a  duty  of  the  law,  the  Jews  of  old 
would  have  obtained  that  which  they  sought  after  (the  peculiar  favour  of 
God) ;  for  they  sought  it  by  the  works  of  the  law.  But  faith  was  not  of  the 
law,  and  therefore  they  could  not  obtain  it, — p.  27.  By  this  reasoning,  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  carnal  Jews  really  complied  with  the  Divine  law ;  going 
to  tlie  utmost  of  its  requirements,  and  this  without  finding  faith  in  Christ 
among  them,  because  it  was  not  there  to  be  found.     But  has  Mr.  Home  yet 

3c2 


582  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

to  learn,  tliat  in  all  the  attachment  of  the  carnal  Jews  to  the  works  of  the 
law  there  was  no  real  conformity  to  any  Divine  precept?  "For  the  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God,  neither 
indeed  can  be." 

Mr.  Home  considers  faith  as  the  "  gift,  or  work,  of  God's  Holy  Spirit ;" 
and  therefore  concludes  that  it  cannot  be  a  duty.  I  have  no  dispute  with 
him  as  to  faith,  and  every  thing  else  which  is  truly  good  in  a  fallen  creature, 
being  of  grace:  but  it  does  not  follow  thence  that  it  is  not  a  duty;  for  there 
is  no  good  performed  in  the  world  but  that  which  grace  produces.  If,  there- 
fore, nothing  be  the  duty  of  sinners  but  that  which  may  be  done  without  the 
grace  of  God,  it  is  not  their  duty  to  do  any  thing  good :  and,  if  so,  all  their 
alienation  of  heart  from  God  and  goodness  is  not  their  sin ;  nor  does  it  re- 
quire forgiveness. — "  Is  it  the  duty  of  the  unconverted  man,"  asks  Mr.  Home, 
"  to  make  himself  a  new  creature  in  Christ;  to  give  himself  the  Holy  Ghost;" 
No ;  but  it  is  his  duty  to  be  that  which  nothing  short  of  the  regenerating 
influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  can  make  him. 

Finally,  "If  evangelical  faith  be  a  duty,  the  believer  may  glory,  and  boast 
himself  against  the  unbeliever," — p.  31.  If  it  were  a  duty  with  which  he 
complied  of  his  otv?i  accord,  malcing  himself  to  differ,  he  might;  but  not 
else.  I  suppose  Mr.  Home  reckons  himself  a  believer,  and  to  have  done 
some  good  in  the  world, by  preaching  and  "defending  the  gospel;"  and  does 
he  glory  on  this  account?  He  may;  but  he  cannot  have  so  learned  Christy 
if  so  he  he  have  heard  him,  and  been  taught  by  him,  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus. 

If  I  could  have  access  to  the  churches  in  Norfolk  who  are  connected  with 
Mr.  Home,  I  would  affectionately  and  earnestly  entreat  their  attention  to  the 
subject.  Not  that  1  wish  them  to  embroil  themselves  and  one  another  in 
furious  contentions.  Far  from  it  1  I  should  be  very  sorry  to  hear  of  any 
minister,  whom  I  considered  as  embracing  the  truth,  following  Mr.  Home's 
example.  It  is  not  by  converting  the  pulpit  into  a  stage  of  strife,  nor  by 
availing  ourselves  of  the  silence  which  decency  imposes  upon  an  audience  to 
pour  forth  personal  invective,  that  truth  is  promoted.  Such  conduct  may 
pass  with  some  people  for  faithfulness;  but  in  reality  it  is  as  mean  as  it  is 
injurious.  It  is  by  reading,  by  calm  and  serious  reflection,  by  humble  prayer, 
and  by  a  free  and  friendly  communication  of  our  thoughts  to  one  another  in 
private  conversation,  that  truth  makes  progress. 

I  do  not  wish  the  churches  in  Norfolk,  or  any  where  else,  to  be  engaged  in 
unprofitable  disputes ;  but  if  I  could  have  access  to  them,  I  would  address 
them  in  some  such  manner  as  the  following: — 

Be  not  led  away,  my  brethren,  by  vain  men.  Judge  for  yourselves.  If  you 
choose  to  examine  the  subject  to  which  Mr.  Home  refers  you,  read,  and  read 
impartially,  what  has  been  written  upon  it.*  Or  if  things  of  a  controversial 
nature  be  disagreeable  to  you,  read  the  lives  of  an  Edwards,  a  lirainerd, 
and  a  Pearce ;  and  know, — not  the  speeches  of  them  that  are  puffed  vp,  but 
the  power.  Above  all,  read  your  Bible,  and  carefully  notice  whether  these 
things  be  so.  Inquire  whether  the  Scriptures  do  not  exhort,  admonish,  and 
persuade  sinners  to  those  very  things  which,  where  they  exist,  are  ascribed 
to  the  grace  of  God.  Do  not  take  it  for  granted  that  you  are  soiind  in  the 
faith  because  such  preachers  as  Mr.  Home  exhort  you  to  hold  fast  your  pre- 
sent sentiments.  That  faith  is  sound,  and  that  only,  which  accords  with  the 
Scriptures,  and  finds  a  use  for  every  part  of  them.  The  Scriptures  are  not 
written  systematically ;  yet  they  contain  materials  for  a  system.  They  resem- 
ble the  stones  which  were  wrought  for  the  building  of  the  temple,  previously 
to  their  being  laid  in  it?  each  was  prepared  for  its  proper  place,  and  adapted 

*  Particularly,  Booth's  Glad  Tidings  to  Perishing  Sinners;  Scott  on  The  Nature  and 
Warrajit  of  Faith;  and  a  work  entitled.  The  Gospel  Worthy  of  all  Acceptation. 


RBMAKRS  ON  HORNE's  TWO  SERMONS.  583 

to  form  a  part  of  a  beautiful  whole.  Some  of  these  materials  might  have 
been  worked  up  in  any  one  of  those  "high  places"  which  were  a  snare  to 
Israel,  or  even  in  a  "temple  for  Moloch;"  but  no  other  building  than  that 
which  was  erected  according  to  the  Divine  pattern  delivered  to  Solomon 
would  have  found  a  use  for  all.  That  fabric  in  which  every  material  finds 
its  place  is  the  true  temple  of  God. 

Many  writers  and  preachers  have  formed  their  favourite  schemes,  or  adopted 
them  from  others,  and  been  very  eager  in  defending  them ;  but,  in  so  doing, 
a  great  part  of  the  Bible  has  been  thrown  aside  as  useless,  and  has  rarely 
been  mentioned  but  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  it  away.  Arminianism 
can  find  but  litUe  use  for  the  doctrinal  part  of  Paul's  Epistles,  in  which  free, 
discriminating,  and  effectual  grace,  is  clearly  taught;  and  false  Calvinism 
looks  with  an  evil  eye  on  the  exhortations,  warnings,  and  invitations  to  the 
unconverted,  in  the  four  evangelists,  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Is  not 
this  a  plain  proof  that  neither  of  these  systems  is  evangelical?  That,  I  say 
again,  is  the  true  gospel  which  gives  to  every  part  of  Scripture  its  fair  and 
full  meaning;  and  if  the  views  we  have  hitherto  entertained  will  not  do  this, 
we  ought  to  conclude  that,  whatever  we  may  have  learned,  we  have  yet  to 
learn  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus." 

Judge  impartially,  my  brethren,  whether  the  doctrine  taught  by  Mr.  Home, 
and  others,  will  admit  of  such  exhortations  to  the  unconverted  as  occur  in 
the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist,  Christ,  and  his  apostles.  If  the  language 
in  which  they  address  their  carnal  hearers  were  uttered  in  your  pulpits,  and 
nothing  added  by  the  preacher  to  explain  away  its  force,  would  you  not  begin 
to  suspect  him  of  error?  Yet  your  so  doing  ought  in  reality  to  make  you 
suspect  yourselves ;  and  to  fear  lest,  while  you  think  you  are  doing  God 
service,  you  should  be  found  fighting  against  him. 

In  calling  the  doctrine  defended  by  Mr.  Home  false  Calvinism  I  have  not 
miscalled  it.  In  proof  of  this,  I  appeal  to  the  writings  of  that  great  re- 
former, and  of  the  ablest  defenders  of  his  system  in  later  times — of  all 
indeed  who  have  been  called  Calvinists  till  within  a  hundred  years.  Were 
you  to  read  many  of  Calvin's  sermons,  without  knowing  who  was  the  author, 
you  would  be  led,  from  the  ideas  you  appear  at  present  to  entertain,  to  pro- 
nounce him  an  Arminian;  neither  would  Goodwin,  nor  Owen,  nor  Charnock, 
nor  Flavel,  nor  Bunyan,  escape  the  charge.  These  men  believed  and  preached 
the  doctrines  of  grace ;  but  not  in  such  a  way  as  to  exclude  exhortations  to 
the  unconverted  to  repent  and  believe  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  doctrine  which 
you  call  Calvinism  (but  which,  in  reality,  is  Antinoraianism)  is  as  opposite 
to  that  of  the  Reformers,  puritans,  and  nonconformists,  as  it  is  to  that  of  the 
apostles. 

We  do  not  ask  you  to  relinquish  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace  alone: 
so  far  from  it,  were  you  to  do  so  we  would,  on  that  account,  have  no  fellow- 
ship with  you.  We  have  no  doubt  of  justification  being  wholly  on  account 
of  the  righteousness  of  Jesus;  nor  of  faith,  wherever  it  exists,  being  the  free 
gift  of  God.  On  such  subjects  we  could  say  with  Job,  "We  have  under- 
standing as  well  as  you;  we  are  not  inferior  to  you;  yea,  who  knoweth  not 
such  things  as  these?"  But  we  ask  you  to  admit  other  principles,  equally 
true,  and  equally  important  as  they  are;  principles  taught  by  the  same  inspired 
writers,  and  which,  therefore,  must  be  consistent  with  them. 

Doctrinal  sentiments  will  have  a  great  influence  on  the  whole  of  our  reli- 
gion. They  will  operate  powerfully  in  the  forming  of  our  spirit,  and  the 
regulation  of  our  conduct.  Many  people  have  complained  of  the  unchris- 
tian spirit  discovered  by  Mr.  Huntington  and  his  followers.  "  We  have  not 
so  much  objection,"  say  they,  "to  his  doctrine;  but  such  an  awful  degree 
of  spiritual  pride  and  rancour  runs  through  all  he  writes — ."     For  my  part, 


584  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

I  never  make  such  complaint:  I  should  as  soon  complain  of  thistles  and 
thorns  for  their  bearing  prickles.  Mr.  Huntington's  spirit  comports  with  his 
doctrine ;  and  if  we  receive  one,  we  must  receive  both. 

False  doctrine  will  "eat  as  doth  a  canker:"  in  individuals  it  will  produce 
self-importance,  self-will,  and  almost  every  other  selfish  disposition;  and,  if 
admitted  into  churches,  it  will  be  followed  by  a  neglect  of  faithful  discipline 
and  holy  practice.  Such  have  been  the  effects  of  that  doctrine  for  which 
Mr.  Home  contends  in  many  of  the  churches  in  the  midland  parts  of  the 
kingdom ;  and  such,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have  been  its  effects  in  some  of 
yours. 

Though  the  apostles  of  our  Lord  renounced  all  dependence  upon  the 
works  of  the  law  for  justification,  yet  they  did  not  "  make  void  the  law," 
but  established  it:  accounting  it  "holy,  just,  and  good;"  and  "delighted  in 
it  after  the  imier  man:"  but  many  preachers,  who  are  eager  in  defending 
these  principles,  do  not  scruple  to  disown  it  entirely  as  a  rule  of  life;  and, 
though  Mr.  Home  has  not  done  this,  yet  he  continually  confounds  what  the 
Scriptures  distinguish,  applying  that  which  is  spoken  of  the  law  as  a  covenant,, 
or  term  of  justification,  to  that  which  respects  it  as  the  eternal  standard  of 
right  and  ivrong.  But  those  who  scarcely  ever  mention  the  law  of  God 
without  disrespect  are  not  far  from  disowning  it  as  a  rule  of  life;  and  those 
who  disown  it  as  a  rule  of  life  can  hardly  be  expected  to  walk  by  it.  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  deal  in  indiscriminate  censure.  That  good  men  have 
favoured  these  principles,  I  have  no  doubt ;  and,  where  the  heart  is  upright, 
an  erroneous  sentiment,  though  it  be  very  injurious,  will  not  be  the  great 
governing  principle  of  life.  It  is  also  allowed  that  bad  men  will  be  found 
under  every  form  of  religious  profession.  But,  so  far  as  my  observation  ex- 
tends, there  is  a  much  larger  proportion  of  such  characters  among  ministers 
of  this  description  than  any  others  who  are  accounted  evangelical.  Many 
of  them  are  not  only  known  to  be  loose  in  their  general  deportment,  but 
seem  to  have  laid  aside  all  honour  and  conscience  towards  the  churches. 
Some,  not  having  any  stated  employment,  (as  well  they  may  not,)  wander 
up  and  down  the  country,  as  if  for  a  piece  of  bread,  sowing  the  seeds  of 
dissension,  and  raising  a  party  for  themselves,  in  every  place  where  they  come. 
Others,  when  invited  to  preach  to  a  church  on  probation,  after  having  divided 
and  scattered  it  by  their  violence,  have  been  necessitated  to  leave  it;  and, 
finding  no  other  people  who  would  employ  them,  have  frequently  been  known 
to  retire  with  a  party  of  their  adherents,  and  to  set  up  an  opposite  interest  in 
the  same  place,  to  the  great  injury  and  reproach  of  religion.  Yet  these  men, 
if  they  be  believed,  are  each  "set  for  the  defence  of  the  gospel." 

From  the  pen  of  an  apostle  and  prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ  such  language 
was  proper;  but  the  "words  of  the  wise"  are  not  fitted  in  the  lips  of  every 
one.  Whether  these  men  wish  to  imitate  Mr.  Huntington,  who  takes  for 
his  motto  the  words  of  Job,  "  The  root  of  the  matter  is  found  in  me,"  or 
whetlier  it  be  natural  to  them  to  proclaim  to  the  world  the  high  opinion  they 
entertain  of  themselves,  I  cannot  determine ;  but  this  is  certain,  that  if  they 
and  he  had  each  studied  to  imitate  a  certain  impostor,  who  "  bewitched  the 
people,  giving  out  that  himself  was  some  great  one,"  they  could  scarcely  have 
acted  in  stricter  conformity  to  his  example. 

I  have  little  or  no  acquaintance  with  your  ministers;  but  I  know  something 
of  those  in  other  parts  of  the  country  who  embrace  the  doctrine  taught  by 
Mr.  Home,  and  have  reason  to  believe  that  their  preaching  is  mostly  com- 
posed of  ludicrous  rant  and  idle  declamation.  The  principal  objects  against 
which  they  declaim  are  pharisaism  and  the  devil;  and  the  method  taken  to 
persuade  their  hearers  that  they  are  the  greatest  enemies  to  both  is  telling 
them  that  they  are  so  !     As  to  the  former^  if  it  consist  in  trusting  that  we 


THE  LAW  A  RULE  OF  CONDUCT.  585 

are  righteous,  and  despising  others,  perhaps  there  are  few  religious  professors 
who  can  prefer  a  better  claim  to  it  than  themselves.  And  as  to  their  boast- 
ing and  brandishing  against  the  latter,  what  serious  mind,  nay,  what  mind 
possessed  of  common  understanding,  can  endure  it?  It  may  furnish  the 
ignorant  and  light-minded  with  a  laugh;  but  every  man  of  sense  must  be 
disgusted  by  it.  To  hear  the  low  and  vulgar  jokes  which  they  are  continu- 
ally uttering  against  the  grand  adversary  of  God  and  man,  both  in  the  pulpit 
and  out  of  it,  one  might  be  tempted  to  conclude  that,  instead  of  being  his 
enemies,  they  were  on  terms  of  more  than  ordinary  intimacy  with  him. 
Mr.  Merryman  may  have  high  words  with  his  master,  for  the  amusement  of 
the  audience;  but  he  will  not  hurt  him:  they  understand  one  another.  Sure 
I  am,  Satan  has  no  objection  to  be  thus  treated. 

So  they  have  preached,  and  so  too  many  have  believed.  Brethren,  "  Prove 
all  things,  hold  fast  that  which  is  good!  And  the  very  God  of  peace  sanctify 
you  wholly :  and  I  pray  God  your  whole  spirit,  soul  and  body,  be  preserved 
blameless  unto  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


THE  MORAL  LAW  THE  RULE  OF  CONDUCT  TO  BELIEVERS. 

[A  Letter  to  a  Friend.] 
My  dear  Brother, 

You  requested  me  to  give  you  my  reasons,  in  the  brief  compass  of  a  letter, 
for  considering  the  moral  law  as  the  rule  of  conduct  to  believers.  It  is  pain- 
ful that  a  question  of  this  nature  should  ever  have  been  started  amono-  pro- 
fessing Christians ;  but  this,  and  other  things  of  the  kind,  are  permitted,  that 
they  who  are  approved  may  be  made  manifest. 

You  do  not  wish  me,  my  dear  brother,  to  encounter  the  foul  dogmas  of 
our  pulpit  libertines;  but  to  state  a  fevv  plain,  scriptural  evidences,  which 
may  be  useful  to  some  serious  minds,  who  have  been  entangled  in  the  mazes 
of  their  delusions. — Before  I  proceed  to  this,  however,  it  will  be  proper  to 
make  a  remark  or  two  in  a  general  way. 

First,  There  is  no  dispute  on  the  ground  of  our  acceptance  with  God. 
We  are  not  justified  on  account  of  any  thing  inherent,  whether  before,  in,  or 
after  believing;  but  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  be- 
lieved in  and  imputed  to  us.  As  a  medium  of  life,  or  (as  our  divines  com- 
monly express  it)  as  a  covenant,  believers  are  dead  to  the  law,  and  the  law  to 
them,  being  united  to  another  husband. 

Secondly,  The  question  is  not  whether  the  whole  of  Christian  obedience 
be  fornialhj  required  in  the  ten  commandments.  Certainly  it  is  not.  Neither 
the  ordinance  of  baptism,  nor  that  of  the  supper,  is  expressly  required  by 
them ;  and  there  may  be  other  duties  which  they  do  not,  in  so  many  words, 
inculcate ; — but  the  question  is,  whether  it  be  not  virtually  required  by  them, 
and  whether  they  be  not  binding  on  believers.  If  we  allow  our  Saviour  to 
be  a  just  expositor,  the  sum  of  the  ten  commandments  is  the  love  of  God 
with  all  the  heart,  soul,  mind,  and  sti-ength,  and  of  our  neighbour  as  ourselves ; 
and  this  includes  all  the  obedience  that  can  possibly  be  yielded  by  a  crea- 
ture. If  we  love  God  with  all  our  hearts,  we  shall  comply  with  every  posi- 
tive institute  and  particular  precept  which  he  hath  enjoined  in  his  word; 
and  all  such  compliance  contains  just  so  much  obedience  as  it  contains  love 
to  him,  and  no  more.  Let  an  instance  of  Christian  obedience  be  produced, 
if  it  can,  which  is  not  comprehended  in  the  general  precept  of  love. 

Vol.  III.— 74 


586 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


In  objecting  to  the  perfection  of  the  ten  commandments,  our  adversaries 
would  seem  to  hold  with  an  extensive  rule;  but  the  design  manifestly  is  to 
undermine  their  authority,  and  that  without  substituting  any  other  compe- 
tent rule  in  the  place  of  them.  In  what  follows,  therefore,  I  shall  endeavour 
to  prove  both  the  authority  and  perfection  of  the  law ;  or  that  the  command- 
ments of  God,  whether  we  consider  them  as  ten  or  two,  are  still  binding  on 
Christians,  and  virtually  contain  the  whole  revealed  will  of  God,  as  to  the 
matter  of  obedience. 

First,  To  prove  that  the  ten  commandments  are  binding,  let  any  person 
read  them,  one  by  one,  and  ask  his  own  conscience  as  he  reads  whether  it 
would  be  any  sin  to  break  them.  Is  the  believer  at  liberty  to  have  other 
gods  besides  the  true  God?  Would  there  be  no  harm  in  his  making  to 
himself  a  graven  image,  and  falling  down  to  worship  it?  Is  it  any  less  sin 
for  a  believer  to  take  God's  name  in  vain  than  for  an  unbeliever?  Are  be- 
lievers at  liberty  to  profane  the  sabbath,  or  to  disobey  their  parents,  or  to  kill 
their  neighbours,  or  to  commit  adultery,  or  to  steal,  or  to  bear  false  witness, 
or  to  covet  what  is  not  their  own?  Is  this,  or  any  part  of  it,  the  liberty  of 
the  gospel  ?  Every  conscience  that  is  not  seared  as  with  a  hot  iron  must 
answer  these  questions  in  the  negative. 

Secondly,  It  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  nature  of  moral  government, 
and  of  the  great  designs  of  mercy,  as  revealed  in  the  gospel,  that  believers 
should  be  freed  from  obligation  to  love  God  with  all  their  hearts,  and  their 
neighbours  as  themselves.  The  requirement  of  love  is  founded  in  the  nature 
of  the  relation  between  God  and  a  rational  creature;  and  cannot  be  made 
void  so  long  as  the  latter  exists,  unless  the  former  were  to  deny  himself  The 
relation  between  a  father  and  son  is  such  that  an  obligation  to  love  is  indis- 
pensable; and  should  the  son,  on  having  offended  his  father,  be  forgiven  and 
restored,  like  the  prodigal  to  his  family,  to  pretend  to  be  free  on  this  account 
were  an  outrage  on  decency.  Every  one  must  feel  that  his  obligations,  in 
such  a  case,  are  increased,  rather  than  diminished. 

Thirdly,  It  was  solemnly  declared  by  our  Saviour,  "  that  he  came,  not  to 
destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it;"  yea,  "that  heaven  and  earth  should  pass 
away,  but  not  a  jot  or  tittle  of  the  law  should  fail."  A  considerable  part  of 
his  sermon  on  the  mount  is  taken  up  in  pointing  out  the  true  meaning  of  its 
particular  precepts,  and  in  enforcing  them  upon  his  disciples.  To  the  same 
purpose  the  apostle  Paul,  after  dwelling  largely  on  justification  by  fiith  in 
Christ,  in  opposition  to  the  works  of  the  law,  asks,  "  Do  we  then  make  void 
the  law  through  faith?  God  forbid ;  yea,  we  establish  the  law."  But  if  the 
law  ceases  to  be  binding  on  believers,  Christ  did  come  to  destroy  its  autho- 
rity over  them,  and  faith  does  make  it  void  in  respect  of  them.  The  faith 
of  those  who  set  Moses  and  Christ  at  variance  has  manifestly  this  effect ;  it 
is  therefore  in  opposition  to  the  faith  taught  by  our  Saviour  and  the  apostle 
Paul. 

Fourthly,  In  executing  the  great  work  of  redemption,  our  Saviour  invari- 
ably did  honour  to  the  law;  it  was  written  in  his  heart.  He  did  not  ask  for 
the  salvation  of  his  chosen  at  the  expense  of  the  law ;  but  laid  down  his  life 
to  satisfy  its  righteous  demands.  Now,  the  essence  of  true  religion  is  for  the 
"  same  mind  to  be  in  us  which  was  in  Christ  Jesus."  Hence  he  prayed 
that  they  all  might  be  one,  as  the  Father  was  in  him,  and  he  in  the  Father, 
that  they  might  be  one  in  both.  The  Lawgiver  and  the  Saviour  were  one ;  and 
believers  must  be  of  one  mind  with  the  former  as  well  as  with  the  latter:  but  if 
we  depreciate  the  law,  which  Christ  delighted  to  honour,  and  deny  our  obli- 
gations to  obey  it,  how  are  we  of  his  mind  ?  Rather,  are  we  not  of  that 
mind  which  is  "  enmity  against  God,  which  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God, 
neither  indeed  can  be  ?" 


THE  LAW  A  RULE  OF  CONDUCT.  587 

Fifihly,  The  apostle,  in  what  he  writes  to  the  Romans  and  GalatianS;  (two 
Epistles  in  which  he  largely  explodes  the  idea  of  justification  by  the  works 
of  the  law,)  enforces  hrotherhj  love  as  a  rcqiiircmcnt  of  the  law.  "  Love 
one  another,"  says  he,  "  for  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law — Brethren,  ye 
have  been  called  unto  liberty;  only  use  not  liberty  as  an  occasion  to  the 
flesh,  but  by  love  serve  one  another;  for  all  the  law  is  fulfilled  in  one  word: 
Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself"  If  the  liberty  of  the  primitive 
Christians  consisted  in  being  delivered  from  an  obligation  to  obey  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  law,  the  reasoning  of  the  apostle  was  self-contradictory :  Ye  are 
not  obliged  to  love  one  another  because  God  in  his  law  requires  it;  there- 
fore, love  one  another,  because  God  in  his  law  requires  it! ! 

Sixthly,  If  the  law  be  not  a  rule  of  conduct  to  believers,  and  a  perfect  rule 
too,  they  are  under  no  rule;  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  are  lawless.  But, 
if  so,  they  commit  no  sin;  for  "where  no  law  is,  there  is  no  transgression;" 
and  in  this  case  they  have  no  sins  to  confess,  either  to  God  or  to  one  another; 
nor  do  they  stand  in  need  of  Christ  as  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  nor  of 
daily  forgiveness  through  his  blood.  Thus  it  is  that,  by  disowning  the  law, 
men  utterly  subvert  the  gospel.  I  am  aware  that  those  who  deny  the  law  to 
be  the  rule  of  a  believer's  conduct,  some  of  them,  at  least,  will  not  pretend 
to  be  lawless.  Sometimes  they  will  profess  to  make  the  gospel  their  rule ; 
but  the  gospel,  strictly  speaking,  is  not  a  rule  of  conduct,  but  a  message  of 
grace,  providing  for  our  conformity  to  the  rule  previously  given.  To  set 
aside  the  moral  law  as  a  rule,  and  to  substitute  the  gospel  in  its  place,  is 
making  the  gospel  a  new  law,  and  affords  a  proof  how  Antinomianism  and 
Neonomianism,  after  all  their  differences,  can  occasionally  agree.  The 
Scriptures  teach  us  that  "  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin ;"  which  clearly 
implies  that  there  is  no  sin  but  what  is  a  breach  of  that  rule.  Hence  sin  is 
defined  "the  transgression  of  the  law."  But  if  sin  be  the  transgression  of 
the  law,  the  authority  of  the  law  must  be  still  binding;  for  no  crime  or  offence 
attaches  to  the  breach  of  a  law  which  is  abrogated  or  repealed  ;  nor  can  it  be 
known  by  such  a  law  how  much  any  man  hath  sinned,  or  whether  he  hath 
sinned  at  all.  Moreover,  if  there  be  no  sin  but  what  is  a  transgression  of 
the  law,  there  can  be  no  rule  binding  on  men  which  is  not  comprehended 
in  that  law. 

Seventhly,  The  apostle  writes  as  if  there  were  no  medium  between  being 
under  the  law  to  Christ  and  without  law,  1  Cor.  ix.  21.  If  we  be  not  the 
one,  we  are  the  other.  Paul  declares  himself  under  the  law  to  Christ,  which 
implies  that  Christ  has  taken  the  precepts  of  the  moral  law  as  the  first  prin- 
ciples of  his  legislative  code.  Believers,  therefore,  instead  of  being  freed 
from  obligation  to  obey  it,  are  under  greater  obligations  to  do  so  than  any 
men  in  the  world.  To  be  exempt  from  this  is  to  be  without  law,  and,  of 
course,  without  sin  ;  in  which  case  we  might  do  without  a  Saviour,  which  is 
utterly  subversive  of  all  religion. — I  have  been  told  that  believers  are  not  to 
be  ruled  by  the  law,  but  by  love ;  and  that  it  is  by  the  influence  of  the  Spirit 
that  they  are  moved  to  obedience,  rather  than  by  the  precepts  of  the  law. 
To  this  I  answer — 1.  If  a  believer  be  ruled  by  love  in  such  a  way  as  to  ex- 
clude obligation,  this  is  the  same  as  if  a  son  should  say  to  his  father,  I  have 
no  objection  to  oblige  you,  sir:  I  will  do  your  business  from  love;  but  I  will 
not  be  commanded !  That  is,  what  he  pleases  he  will  do,  and  no  more. — 
No  parent  could  bear  such  an  answer  from  a  child ;  and  how  can  we  sup- 
pose that  God  will  bear  it  from  us!  "  If  I  be  a  father,  where  is  my  honour?" 
— 2.  The  question  is  not.  What  moves  or  causes  obedience? — but,  What  is 
the  rule  of  it?  It  is  allowed  that  all  true  obedience  is  caused  by  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  that  to  which  he  influences  the  mind  was  ante- 
cedently required  of  us :  He  leadeth  us  "  in  the  way  that  we  should  go." — 


688  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS-,  ETC. 

3.  If  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  mind  be  made  the  rule  of  obli- 
gation, and  that  influence  be  effectual,  it  will  follow  that  believers  are  without 
sin  ;  for  whatever  they  are  effectually  influenced  to  do  they  do ;  and  if  this  be 
all  they  are  obliged  to  do,  then  do  they  comply  with  their  whole  duty,  and 
so  are  sinless.  Thus,  raethinks,  we  have  arrived  at  a  state  of  sinless  perfec- 
tion by  a  sort  of  back  way!  But  let  us  not  deceive  ourselves:  "God  is  not 
mocked;  whatsoever  a  man  sowedi,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

After  all,  my  dear  friend,  evidence,  even  that  which  is  drawn  from  the 
word  of  God,  will  have  little  or  no  influence  on  minds  which  have  drank 
deeply  into  these  corrupt  principles.  Where  men  have  found  out  the  secret 
of  happiness  without  holiness,  there  is  something  so  bewitching  in  it,  that 
you  might  almost  as  well  encounter  insanity  as  hope  by  reasoning  to  con- 
vince them.  Indeed,  I  know  of  no  character  to  whom  the  words  of  the  pro- 
phet, though  spoken  immediately  of  idolaters,  will  more  fully  apply :  "  He 
feedeth  on  ashes :  a  deceived  heart  hath  turned  him  aside,  that  he  cannot 
deliver  his  soul,  nor  say,  Is  there  not  a  lie  in  my  right  hand?"  There  are, 
however,  degrees  in  this  kind  of  infatuation ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  many  sin- 
cere minds  have  been  infected  with  it.  If  some  of  this  description  should 
be  recovered,  it  is  worth  our  utmost  attention ;  and  even  those  whose  preju- 
dices are  the  most  inveterate  are  not  beyond  the  reach  of  omnipotent  grace. 


STRICTURES  ON  SOME  OF  THE  LEADING  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR. 

R.  ROBINSON. 

LETTER  L 

on  the  iiniportance  of  truth  and  a  right  belief  of  it. 

My  dear  Friend, 

When  we  consider  the  shortness  of  time,  and  the  variety  of  weighty  con- 
cerns which  call  for  our  attention  during  that  transitory  period,  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  whatever  has  not  some  degree  of  importance  attending  it 
has  no  claim  upon  our  regard.  Every  object  certainly  deserves  regard  in 
proportion  to  its  importance.  If,  then,  truth  and  a  right  belief  of  it  are 
things  of  no  importance,  or  at  most  of  very  litde,  they  can  assuredly  lay  claim 
but  to  a  small  share  of  our  attention.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  truth — 
Divine  truth  I  mean — should  prove  to  be  a  matter  of  great,  yea,  of  the 
highest  importance,  then  inattention  to  it  would  be  a  conduct  chargeable 
with  the  greatest  culpability.  Were  you  and  I  of  that  fashionable  opinion — 
"  that  it  matters  not  what  we  believe,  if  our  lives  be  but  good," — all  attempts 
to  investigate  religious  sentiments,  it  should  seem,  would  be  to  no  purpose; 
for  why  need  I  put  myself  to  the  trouble  of  writing,  and  you  of  reading  what 
1  write,  if,  after  all,  it  is  very  immaterial  what  we  think  or  believe  in  these 
matters? 

Though  I  know  you  have  no  such  ideas  of  things,  yet,  seeing  that  the 
importance  of  truth  is  itself  a  truth  on  the  belief  of  which  our  attention  and 
attachment  to  all  other  truths  depends,  you  will  allow  me  to  begin  by  estab- 
lishing that.* 

*  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  this  is  Mr.  Tl.'s  grand  defect.  He  has  all  along  professed  him- 
self, I  suppose,  a  Calvinist ;  but  never  seems  to  have  been  in  earnest  in  preaching  or  writing 
on  these  principles — never  seems  to  have  acted  as  though  he  thought  they  were  of  import- 
ance. How  differently  has  he  acted  concerning  the  principles  of  nonconformity,  and  some 
other  favourite  subjects !  How  coldly  has  he  treated  those  in  comparison  with  these  ! 
Besides  acknowledging  Ariaus  and  Socinians  as  "mistaken  brethren,"  and  choosing  ratbei 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         589 

I  have  sometimes  wondered  why  it  should  be  thought  more  criminal  to 
disobey  what  God  commands  than  to  disbelieve  what  he  declares.  Certainly, 
if  any  master  of  a  family  came  into  his  own  house  and  told  a  plain  tale  from 
his  own  knowledge,  and  if  any  of  the  family  were  to  affect  to  doubt  it,  he 
would  take  it  as  ill  as  if  they  refused  to  do  what  he  commanded.  Yea,  for 
aught  I  know,  more  so;  for  to  call  in  question  his  integrity  would  probably 
be  more  heinous  in  his  view,  than  merely  to  disregard  his  authority. 

There  are  two  passages  of  holy  writ  that  have  especially  struck  my  mind 
on  this  subject.  One  is,  that  solemn  piece  of  advice  given  by  the  wise  man : 
"  Buy  the  truth,  and  sell  it  not."  He  does  not  name  the  price,  because  its 
value  was  beyond  all  price.  As  when  we  advise  a  friend  to  purchase  some 
very  valuable  and  necessary  article  we  say,  "  Buy  it,  give  what  you  will  for  it, 
let  nothing  part  you."  So  here, — Buy  it  at  any  rate!  It  cannot  be  too 
dear!  give  up  ease,  wealth,  or  reputation,  rather  than  miss  it!  part  with  your 
most  darling  prejudices,  preconceived  notions,  beloved  lusts,  or  any  thing 
else  that  may  stand  in  the  way!  And,  having  got  it,  make  much  of  it — sell 
it  not!  no,  not  for  any  price !  make  shipwreck  of  any  thing  rather  than  of  faith 
and  a  good  conscience!  part  with  life  itself  rather  than  with  Divine  truth  ! — 
But  why  so  tenacious  of  truth,  if  after  all  it  is  of  little  or  no  importance? 

I  remember  not  many  years  since  hearing  a  minister  preach  at  a  certain 
ordination  from  Heb.  x.  23,  "  Let  us  hold  fast  the  profession  of  our  faith 
without  wavering."  In  enforcing  his  subject  he  made  use  of  what  might  be 
supposed  to  be  the  call  of  the  martyrs  from  heaven.  He  represented  one  as 
crying  to  us,  "Hold  it  fast;  I  died  in  a  dungeon  rather  than  forego  it." 
"  Hold  it  fast!"  says  another,  "  I  bled  for  it."  "Hold  it  fast!"  says  a  third, 
"I  burned  for  it."  These  sentiments  and  motives,  I  own,  met  with  my 
warmest  approbation.  But  if,  after  all,  it  matters  not  what  we  believe,  why 
all  this  ado? 

The  other  passage  that  has  especially  struck  my  mind  is  that  memorable 
commission  of  our  Lord,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature:  he  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  but  he 
that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  He  that  believeth — what?  The  gospel, 
no  doubt,  which  they  were  commissioned  to  preach.  As  if  he  had  said,  Go 
preach  the  gospel :  he  that  shall  receive  your  message,  and  evidence  it  by  a 
submission  to  my  authority,  shall  be  saved;  but  he  that  shall  reject  it,  let  him 
see  to  it — he  shall  be  damned! — This  is  very  awful,  and  ought  to  excite  us, 
instead  of  playing  with  truth  and  error,  seriously  to  examine  whether  we  be 
in  the  faith! 

What  is  believing  the  gospel  but  heartily  admitting  what  it  implies  and 
what  it  declares?  What  but  admitting  that  God  is  an  infinitely  amiable 
Being,  and  that  his  law  is  "holy,  and  just,  and  good?"  for,  otherwise,  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  for  the  breach  of  it  would  have  been  injustice  and  cruelty. 

to  be  "a  frozen  formalist"  than  set  on  fire  of  hell,"  as  he  terms  it,  he  openly  avows  his 
belief  of  the  innocence  of  mental  error:  which,  I  think,  is  full  as  much  as  to  avow  the 
non-importance  of  truth. 

Here,  by  the  by,  I  think  it  must  require  a  very  large  stretch, of  charity  to  acquit  him  of 
manifest  known  sophistry.  After  having  called  those  who  deny  Christ's  Divinity  "mistaken 
brethren,"  he  supposes  an  objector  would  say,  But  all  this  argues  great  coldness  to  your 
Lord  !  and  in  reply  his  words  are — "  I  would  rather  be  frozen  into  a  formalist,  than  inflamed 
with  the  fire  of  hell  :  in  the  first  case  I  should  be  a  harmless  statue  ;  in  the  last  a  destroyer 
like  the  devil." — See  his  Plea  for  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  near  the  conclusion.  Surely,  he 
must  know  this  to  be  evasive  and  sophistical.  Could  he  be  ignorant  of  a  medium  between 
cool  indifference  and  a  criminal  heart?  If  he  be,  woe  be  to  him  !  Need  he  be  told  that 
the  word  of  God  requires  us  to  contend  earnestly,  though  not  angrily,  for  the  faith  ?  His 
answer  is  a  vindication  of  one  extreme  by  exclaiming  against  another.  As  though  a  man 
should  say,  when  reproved  for  sloth.  Better  be  a  sluggard  than  a  robber  ;  for  in  that  case  I 
should  do  a  world  of  mischief?  True ;  but  is  there  no  medium  ?  And  is  not  that  medium 
the  position  which  every  man  ought  to  occupy  1 


590  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

What  but  admitting  that  sin  is  an  infinite  evil,  and  that  we  are  infinitely  to 
blame  for  breaking  God's  law  without  any  provocation?  for,  if  otherwise,  an 
infinite  atonement  would  not  have  been  required:  God  would  have  accepted 
some  other  sacrifice  rather  than  have  given  up  his  own  Son.  What  but 
admitting  that  we  are  utterly  depraved  and  lost,  lying  entirely  at  God's  dis- 
cretion ?  If  he  save  us  alive,  we  live;  or  if  we  have  our  portion  with  devils, 
with  whom  we  have  sided  against  him,  he  and  his  throne  are  guiltless.  This 
is  implied  in  the  gospel  of  a  crucified  Saviour ;  for  if  we  had  not  been  utterly 
lost,  we  had  not  needed  a  Saviour — at  least,  such  a  great  one.  In  fine,  what 
is  it  but  admitting  that  the  plan  of  redemption  is  a  plan  full  of  infinite  glory, 
the  device  of  infinite  wisdom,  the  expression  of  infinite  love,  the  work  of 
infinite  power,  and  the  display  of  infinite  glory,  justice,  and  faithfulness? — a 
plan  originating  in  the  heart  of  God,  effected  by  means  the  most  astonishing, 
and  productive  of  ends  the  most  glorious ! — no  less  glorious  than  the  eternal 
honour  of  its  author,  the  triumph  of  truth  and  righteousness,  the  confusion 
of  Satan,  the  destruction  of  sin,  and  the  holiness  and  happiness  of  a  number 
of  lost  sinners  which  no  man  can  number! — a  plan  this,  therefore,  "worthy 
of  all  acceptation!"  worthy  of  being  approved  and  acquiesced  in  with  all  the 
heart !  These,  I  think,  are  some  of  the  principal  truths  which  the  gospel 
exhibits ;-  and  whosoever  really  believes  them  shall  be  saved. 

On  the  other  hand,  what  is  it  to  disbelieve  the  gospel,  but  to  remain  under 
a  persuasion  that  God  is  not  such  an  infinitely  amiable  Being  as  to  be  worthy 
of  being  loved  with  all  the  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and  strength  ? — that 
therefore  his  law  is  too  strict,  and  if  it  must  extend  to  the  heart,  too  broad, 
requiring  more  than  ought  to  be  required,  especially  of  fallen  creatures? — 
that  consequently  a  breach  of  it  is  not  so  very  criminal  as  to  deserve  damna- 
tion?— that  if  God  were  to  damn  us,  it  would  be  a  very  hard  and  cruel  thing? 
—that  we  are  not  so  depraved  and  lost  but  that,  if  God  were  but  to  deal  fairly 
with  us,  we  should  do  very  well  without  a  Saviour,  or  at  least  without  such  a 
Saviour  and  such  a  salvation  as  is  altogether  of  grace? — that  there  is  no  such 
excellence  in  the  Saviour  that  we  should  desire  him,  no  such  glory  in  his 
way  of  salvation  that  we  should  choose  it — so  choose  it,  however,  as  to  be 
willing  to  have  our  pride  mortified,  and  our  lusts  sacrificed  to  it? — in  fine, 
that  there  is  no  need  for  such  an  ado  about  the  concerns  of  our  souls — no 
need  to  become  new  creatures,  to  be  at  war  with  all  sin,  and  to  make  religion 
our  daily  business?  This  I  take  to  be  nearly  what  the  Scriptures  mean  by 
tinhclief.  However,  be  my  ideas  of  the  gospel  right  or  wrong,  that  affects 
not  the  present  question ;  for  be  the  gospel,  what  it  may,  the  belief  of  it  has 
attached  to  it  the  promise  of  salvation,  and  the  disbelief  of  it  the  threatening 
of  damnation. 

You  have  observed,  I  dare  say,  that  it  is  very  common  to  represent  truth, 
and  the  belief  of  it  as  of  small  account,  and  morality  as  all  in  all ;  nay, 
more,  that  the  preaching  of  the  former  is  the  way  to  subvert  the  latter.  And 
yet  how  easy  were  it  to  prove  that  this  is  no  other  than  destroying  the  means 
in  order  to  effect  the  end!  Whatever  may  be  pretended,  I  believe  it  will  be 
found  that  all  sin  springs  from  error,  or  the  belief  of  some  falsehood ;  and 
all  holy  actions  from  the  belief  of  the  truth.  The  former  appears  in  that 
the  will  of  man  is  so  constituted  as  never  to  choose  any  thing  but  an  appa- 
rent good.  It  is  impossible  we  should  choose  what  appears  to  us  at  the  same 
time  and  in  the  same  respects  unlovely.  Therefore  whenever  we  choose 
evil  we  must  believe  evil  to  be  lovely;  that  is,  we  must  believe  a  falsehood. 
This  the  Scripture  re.pvesents  as  calling  "  evil  good,  and  good  evil."  And 
thus  all  vice  springs  from  error,  or  false  views  of  things. 

On  the  other  hand,  whatever  there  ui?.^  be  of  what  is  called  morality, 
there  is  no  real  obedience  to  God,  or  true  hoJinfeS?,,,  in  the  world,  but  what 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.  591 

arises  from  a  conviction  of  the  truth.  Does  holiness,  for  instance,  consist 
in  love  to  God?  what  love  can  there  be  to  God,  but  in  proportion  as  we  dis- 
cern the  infinite  excellency  of  his  nature?  Does  it  consist  in  abhorring 
sin?  How  can  we  do  this  any  further  than  we  understand  and  believe  its 
odious  nature  ?  Does  it  consist  in  repentance  for  sin  ?  certainly  there  can 
be  nothing  of  this,  but  as  we  understand  the  obligations  we  are  under,  and 
the  unreasonableness  and  vileness  of  acting  contrary  to  them.  Or  does  it 
consist  in  prizing  salvation?  this  will  be  in  proportion  as  we  believe  our 
lost  estate.  From  whence  spring  those  heavenly  virtues  of  fear,  content- 
ment, diligence  in  Divine  ordinances,  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  God, 
humility,  &c.,  but  from  a  conviction  of  the  truth?  God  proclaims  before 
the  universe,  "I  am  the  Lord!"  This  truth  realized,  or  heartily  believed, 
begets  a  holy  fear  towards  this  fearful  name.  God  in  his  word  declares  the 
vanity  of  all  things  under  the  sun,  and  the  weight  of  future  bliss.  A  belief 
of  these  truths  damps  inordinate  anxiety,  and  raises  our  desires  after  a  glo- 
rious immortality.  God  declares  that  a  day  in  his  courts  is  better  than  a 
thousand  elsewhere.  A  belief  of  this  will  make  us  earnest  and  constant  in 
our  attendance — will  make  us  leave  our  farms  and  merchandise,  and  all,  to 
come  and  worship  in  his  house.  God  has  promised,  "  I  will  never  leave 
thee,  nor  forsake  thee ;" — that  "  they  who  trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good 
shall  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  they  shall  be  fed."  A  belief  of  this  calms 
and  composes  the  mind  under  the  darkest  providences.  Thus  it  was  with 
the  prophet  Habakkuk,  chap.  iii.  17,  18.  God  has  told  us  concerning  our- 
selves that  we  are  "a  generation  of  vipers," — a  race  of  abominable  and  filthy 
beings.  A  belief  of  this  humbles  us  in  the  dust  before  him.  In  fine,  he 
has  told  us  that  to  us  belongs  nothing  but  "  shame  and  confusion  of  face." 
A  belief  of  this  would  prevent  peevishness  under  adverse  providences.  Un- 
der the  belief  of  such  a  declaration  we  should  not  wonder  if  God  made  us 
as  miserable  as  we  had  made  ourselves  sinful.  What  in  this  world  ever  filled 
a  soul  with  greater  humility  than  a  realizing  view  of  a  holy  God  filled  Isaiah  ? 
Isa.  vi.  Then,  as  in  a  glass,  he  beheld  his  own  deformity.  It  was  this  that 
made  him  exclaim,  with  the  deepest  self-abasement,  "Woe  is  me!  for  I  am 
undone!  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King, 
the  Lord  of  hosts!"  Is  it  not  a  "beholding  of  the  glory  of  Uie  Lord" 
(which  is  no  more  than  discerning  and  believing  the  truth,  for  God  is  glo- 
rious whether  we  believe  it  or  not)  that  changes  into  the  same  image?  2  Cor. 
iii.  18.  And  is  not  our  being  made  like  Christ  at  last  ascribed  to  our 
"seeing him  as  he  is?" 

In  short,  I  believe  it  will  be  found  that  truth  wants  only  to  be  universally 
realized  in  order  to  produce  universal  holiness.  Should  it  be  asked.  Then 
why  is  not  universal  holiness  found  in  good  nien  who  believe  the  truth?  the 
answer  is.  Though  they  believe  the  truth,  they  believe  not  the  whole  truth, 
nor  perhaps  do  they  wholly  believe  any  truth.  When  they  shall  be  perfectly 
delivered  from  "  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,"  they  shall  possess  perfect  holiness. 

You  will  naturally  reflect — If  these  things  are  so,  what  an  important  thing 
is  truth  ;  and  what  awful  evils  are  error  and  unbelief;  and  yet  how  prevalent 
are  they  in  the  world,  and  even  in  the  best  of  men!  True;  and  I  will  add 
one  more  reflection,  and  that  is,  if  your  thoughts  coincide  with  the  senti- 
ments expressed  in  this  letter,  you  will  not  only  be  open,  but  eager  to  hear 
any  thing  that  may  tend  to  bring  it  to  light. 


692  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


LETTER  II. 
ON    THE    CRIMINALITY    OF    MENTAL    ERROR. 

My  DEAR  Friend, 

If  what  has  been  already  said  be  just,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  main- 
taining our  ground  here.  For  certainly,  the  belief  of  that  which  ought  to 
be  bought  and  held  fast  at  any  rate  cannot  be  a  matter  of  indifference.  An 
error  which  has  no  less  than  eternal  damnation  threatened  against  it  must 
be  criminal,  and  that  in  a  high  degree. 

One  main  article  in  Mr.  Robinson's  creed  is,  that  the  Bible  knows  nothing 
of  mystery,  but  is  a  plain  book — so  plain  as  to  be  level  with  the  common 
sense  of  mankind.  Whether  the  Scriptures  contain  any  thing  mysterious, 
or  not,  it  appears  to  me  altogether  a  mystery  that  any  man  of  common  sense 
should  maintain  two  such  opposite  positions  as  the  simpUcity  of  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  innocence  of  mental  error :  asserting  that  the  Bible  is  so  plain 
a  book  that  nobody,  without  either  neglecting  or  doing  violence  to  com- 
mon sense,  can  mistake  its  meaning;  and  yet  that  even  a  thousand  errors 
concerning  this  plain  book  are  altogether  iimocent  !* 

I  agree  with  Mr.  R.  in  believing  that,  upon  the  whole,  the  Bible  ?s  a  plain 
book,  adapted  to  the  common  understandings  of  mankind;  and  that  men 
in  general  may  understand  all  they  are  required  to  understand,  if  their  hearts 
arc  righthj  disposed.  At  the  same  time,  there  are  things  revealed  in  the 
Scriptures  which  must  be  to  us  incomprehensible;  as  the  incarnation  of  the 
Son  of  God,  which  even  an  inspired  apostle  declares  to  be  "a  great  mystery." 
There  are  some  things  also  in  the  prophetic  writings  which  can  never  be 
fully  understood  till  their  accomplishment.  But  then  our  not  comprehend- 
ing these  things  is  not  criminal,  though  the  little  attention  we  devote  to  them 
may  be. 

In  proportion,  however,  as  the  Scriptures  are  plain,  and  easy  to  be  under- 
stood, must  be  our  criminality,  if  we  be  endowed  with  common  sense,  in 
not  understanding  them.  If  the  way  of  salvation  is  so  plain  that  "  a  way- 
faring man,  though  a  fool,  shall  not  err  therein,"  then  the  errors  of  men 
concerning  it  cannot  be  innocent.  And  the  same  is  true  of  the  perceptive 
parts  of  Scripture.  If  error  arise  not  from  the  obscurity  of  Scripture,  from 
its  being  beyond  the  capacity  of  men  in  general,  it  must  arise  from  other 
causes;  and  what  these  can  be  besides  indifference,  indolence,  carelessness, 
prejudice,  pride,  or  aversion,  I  know  not. 

"Why  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech?"  said  our  Lord  to  the  Jews. 
Was  it  because  it  was  not  important  enough  to  demand  their  attention,  or 
because  it  was  not  plain  enough  to  meet  their  capacities? — No.  Mark  the 
answer.     Why  ?     "  Because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word."     What,  then,  were 

*  "  The  New  Testament  is  a  book  so  plain,  and  the  religion  of  it  so  easy,  that  any  man 
of  common  sense  might  understand  it  if  he  would."  A  person  who  has  examined  a  Scrip- 
ture  doctrine,  "  and  cannot  obtain  evidence  of  the  truth  of  it,  is  indeed  in  a  state  in  which 
his  knowledge  is  imperfect;  bnt  his  imperfection  is  innocent,  because  he  hath  exercised  all 
the  ability  and  virtue  he  has,  and  his  ignorance  is  involuntary;  yea,  perhaps  he  may  have 
exercised  ten  times  more  industry  and  application,  though  without  success,  than  many 
others  who  have  obtained  evidence." — General  Doctrine  of  Toleration,  ^-c. 

*'  Any  man  of  common  sense  might  understand  it  if  he  would  ;"  and  yet  many  such  men 
may  examine  it,  "  with  all  their  ability  and  all  their  virtue,"  and  "  not  obtain  evidence  !" 
This  is  a  mystery,  let  what  will  be  plain.  And  such  a  man's  imperfection  is  innocent,  be- 
cause he  hath  exercised  all  the  ability  and  virtue  he  has  !  If  our  obligations  are  to  be  mea- 
sured by  the  degree  o^  virtue  we  possess,  the  way  to  get  clear  of  all  oljligation  is  to  become 
totally  abandoned  to  vice.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  attach  to  others  more  blame  than  I  would 
acknowledge  belongs  to  myself,  if  I  continue  in  error.  We  are  all  imperfect ;  but  let  U3 
not  call  our  imperfections  innocent. 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR,  R.  ROBINSON.  593 

they  naturally  deaf? — No.  That  had  been  their  felicity.  Better  have  no 
ears,  than  ears  and  hear  not.  Their  deafness  was  like  that  of  the  adder, 
that  "  will  not  hear  the  voice  of  the  charmer,  charm  he  never  so  wisely." 
Then  would  they  not  listen  to  his  discourses?  This  does  not  appear.  But 
they  could  not  receive  his  doctrine.  This  is  the  import  of  the  answer.  And 
tchy  could  they  not  receive  it?  Evidently  because  of  their  pride,  prejudice, 
and  love  of  sin.  The  pride  of  their  hearts  could  not  bear  the  doctrine 
which  represented  them  as  slaves  to  ignorance  and  sin,  and  proposed  their 
being  made  free  by  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  With  a  haughty,  con- 
temptuous air,  they  spurn  the  proposal ;  replying,  "  We  be  Abraham's  seed, 
and  were  never  in  bondage  to  any  man :  how  sayest  thou,  Ye  shall  be  made 
free?"  Their  prejudice  in  favour  of  their  old  religion  hardened  them  ao-ainst 
conviction,  and  their  love  of  sin  set  them  against  that  gospel  which  laid  the 
axe  at  the  root  of  that  evil  tree.  Our  Lord,  in  effect,  told  them  so.  "Ye 
are  of  your  father,  the  devil,  and  the  deeds  of  your  father  ye  will  do."  As 
if  he  had  said,  You  would  rather  continue  slaves  to  Satan  than  that  "  the 
Son"  should  make  you  free! 

There  seems  to  be  a  beautiful  propriety  in  our  Lord's  parable  of  the 
sower.  It  is  observable  that,  of  the  four  sorts  of  ground,  only  one  received 
the  seed  so  as  to  bring  forth  fruit;  and  that  one  is  explained  of  persons  who 
have  "  good  and  honest  hearts :"  plainly  implying  that,  if  men's  hearts  were 
but  honest,  they  would  be  sure  to  embrace  the  word  of  God.  Indeed,  the 
nature  of  Divine  revelation  is  such  that  its  rejection  implies  a  dishonest 
heart.  For  instance,  does  the  word  of  God  set  forth  the  rights  of  Deity, 
and  human  obligation?  This  is  what  an  honest  heart  loves.  That  heart 
cannot  be  honest  which  does  not  rejoice  in  every  one  having  his  due,  and 
consequendy  in  God's  having  his.  Does  it  represent  man  as  having  forfeited 
all  claim  to  the  goodness  of  God?  An  honest  heart  will  acquiesce  in  this, 
and  be  willing  to  receive  all  as  a  free  donation.  Does  it  exhibit  such  a  way 
of  salvation  as  provides  for  the  honour  of  injured  Majesty?  This  is  sure  to 
be  embraced  by  an  honest  heart:  such  a  mind  could  not  bear  the  thought 
of  being  saved  at  the  expense  of  righteousness.  To  desire  to  receive  mercy 
in  any  other  than  an  honourable  way  indicates  a  dishonest  heart.  Whoever, 
therefore,  does  not  cordially  approve  and  embrace  the  salvation  of  the  gos- 
pel, the  reason  is  plain. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  said  these  things  are  spoken  of  wicked  men,  and  indi- 
cate the  criminality  of  their  errors.  But  surely  the  errors  of  good  men  arise 
from  different  causes.  Surely  they  may  be  innocent.  It  must  be  allowed 
that  good  men  have  errors  in  judgment,  as  well  as  in  practice;  but  that  the 
former,  any  more  than  the  latter,  are  innocent,  does  not  appear.  I  wish  not 
to  think  worse  of  any  man's  errors  than  I  do  of  my  own,  or  of  him  than  of 
myself,  for  being  in  error.  No  doubt  I  have  mistaken  apprehensions  of 
some  things,  as  well  as  other  people;  though  wherein  is  unknown  to  me: 
but  I  would  abhor  the  thought  of  pleading  innocence  in  such  affairs.  If  my 
mistakes,  be  they  what  they  may,  do  not  arise  from  the  obscurity  of  Scrip- 
ture, they  must  arise  from  some  other  cause.  It  is  vain  to  allege  that  our 
errors  arise  {xom  weakness ;  for  the  Scriptures  can  be  no  otherwise  plain 
and  easy  than  as  they  are  level  with  common  capacities.  If  the  Scriptures 
were  written  for  the  bulk  of  mankind,  and  yet  the  generality  of  men  are  too 
tpeak  to  understand  them,  instead  of  being  plain  and  easy,  they  must  be 
essentially  obscure. 

The  truth  is,  our  mistakes,  as  well  as  the  ignorance  of  wicked  men,  arise 
from  our  criminal  dispositions.  We  are  too  careless  about  truth,  and  so  do 
not  search  for  it  "  as  one  searcheth  for  hid  treasure,"  Prov.  ii.  1-9.  Or  we 
are  self-sufficient,  and  think  ourselves  competent  to  find  out  the  truth  by  our 

Vol.  III.— 75  3  u  2 


594  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

mere  reason ;  and  so  neglect  to  pray  for  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
Or  we  are  prejudiced  in  favour  of  preconceived  notions,  and  so  are  apt  to 
stifle  evidence.  The  prejudices  of  mankind,  of  both  bad  and  good  men, 
are  almost  infinite.  There  is  not  a  mind  in  the  world  without  prejudice,  in 
a  greater  or  less  degree.  And  these  are  the  causes  why  the  truth  of  God's 
word  is  not  believed  and  obeyed.  We  might  as  well  plead  weakness  for  not 
obeying  God's  commands  as  for  not  believing  his  declarations.  The  one, 
as  well  as  the  other,  is  a  moral  weakness ;  and  that,  strictly  speaking,  is  not 
weakness,  but  wickedness.  Doubtless,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  excusable  weak- 
ness, both  in  reference  to  obeying  God's  commands  and  to  believing  his  sacred 
truth.  If  a  man  be  afflicted,  so  as  to  be  incapable  of  attending  the  house  of 
God,  or  if  he  be  detained  by  the  afflictions  of  others,  the  command  for  pub- 
licly worshipping  God  ceases,  at  that  time,  to  be  binding.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  mental  debility.  If  a  man  be  in  any  way  deprived  of  reason,  his 
weakness,  in  proportion  as  it  prevails,  excuses  him  from  blame,  in  not  under- 
standing and  believing  the  truth.  Nay,  I  think  persons  of  extremehj  loeak 
capacities  are  comparatively  excusable.  If  they  be  weak  in  other  things,  as 
well  as  in  religion,  we  are  bound  not  to  impute  it  to  the  want  of  a  disposi- 
tion, any  further  than  their  weakness  in  both  may  be  imputed  to  the  want 
of  diligent  application.  The  same  may  be  said  of  persons,  who  never  had 
the  means,  or  the  opportunity  of  knowing  the  truth.  The  heathen  will 
not  be  condemned  for  rejecting  the  gospel,  unless  they  have,  or  might  if 
they  would  have  heard  it ;  but  for  rejecting  the  light  of  nature,  Rom.  i. 
18-25. 

But  I  believe,  if  we  examine,  we  shall  find  the  far  greater  part  of  our 
ignorance  and  error  to  arise  from  very  different  causes — causes  of  which 
our  Lord  complains  in  his  own  immediate  disciples:  "O  fools,  and  slow  of 
heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken."  Our  ignorance  and 
errors,  like  theirs,  are  owing  in  a  great  degree  to  that  dulness  to  spiritual 
things  of  which  the  best  Christians  have  sometimes  reason  to  complain. 
The  Lord  Jesus,  so  remarkable  for  his  tenderness,  and  especially  to  his  dis- 
ciples, would  not  have  rebuked  them  so  severely  for  an  error  wherein  they 
were  blameless.  Besides,  they  were  prejudiced  in  favour  of  another  sys- 
tem. They  had  been  long  dreaming  of  an  earthly  kingdom,  and,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  of  the  figure  they  were  to  cut  in  it.  Their  pride,  therefore,  and  car- 
nal-mindedness,  tended  greatly  to  warp  their  judgments  in  this  matter;  so 
that  all  Christ  had  said  (and  he  had  said  much)  about  his  death  and  resurrec- 
tion seemed  to  stand  for  nothing.  Their  foolish  minds  were  so  dazzled  with 
the  false  ideas  of  a  temporal  kingdom  that  they  were  blinded  to  the  true  end 
of  Christ's  coming,  and  to  all  that  the  prophets  declared  concerning  it. 

Mr.  R.  says,  "Variety  of  sentiment,  which  is  the  life  of  society,  cannot 
be  destructive  of  real  religion.  Mere  mental  errors,  if  they  be  not  entirely 
innocent  in  the  account  of  the  Supreme  Governor  of  mankind,  cannot,  how- 
ever, be  objects  of  blame  and  punishment  among  men."* 

So  far  as  this  relates  to  a  cognizance  of  the  civil  powers,  or  any  powers 
which  inflict  civil  penalties,  we  are  perfectly  agreed.  But  I  suppose  Mr.  R. 
means  to  extend  it  to  the  opinion  and  behaviour  of  churches  towards  indi- 
vidual members.  If,  for  instance,  a  member  of  a  church  were  to  become  a 
Socinian,  and  the  church  were  to  blame  him  for  what  they  accounted  apos- 
tacy  from  the  truth,  and  ultimately,  if  he  continued  in  this  error,  were  to 
exclude  him,  this  would  include  a  part  of  what  is  meant  by  "blame  and 
prinishmcnt  among  men."  And  though  it  is  expressly  said,  "A  heretic  re- 
ject, after  the  frst  and  second  admonition,"  Mr.  R.  would  deny  that  the 

*  Saurin's  Sermons,  vol.  III.  Pref. 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  H.  ROBINSON.  595 

church  had  any  right  to  judge,  in  respect  to  others,  what  is  heresy.*  Herein 
I  am  of  a  different  opinion :  but  as  I  may  consider  this  subject  more  par- 
ticularly in  my  next  letter,  on  Liberty,  I  shall  now  offer  a  few  mere  remarks 
on  the  above  passage. 

"  Variety  of  sentiment  is  the  life  of  society."  True,  as  one  person  dis- 
covers one  truth,  and  another  another;  as  one  views  the  same  truth  in  this 
light,  and  another  in  that;  and  so  all  together  become  serviceable  to  each 
other:  but  this  does  not  prove  that  a  variety  of yhZse  sentiments  does  any 
good.  I  greatly  query  if  Mr.  R.,  or  any  one  else,  would  hold  this,  when  it 
affected  themselves.  Suppose,  for  instance,  a  variety  of  sentiment  concern- 
ing his  character  as  a  minister :  one  thinks  he  is  a  loorthy  minister  of  Christ, 
as  well  as  a  learned,  ingenious  man,  and  an  honour  to  the  dissenting  inte- 
rest; another  thinks  him,  though  very  ingenious,  iiot  equally  ingenuous; 
and  a  third,  for  variety's  sake,  might  suggest  that  his  principles  were  even 
pernicious  in  their  tendency.  Now  it  is  very  doubtful  if  Mr.  R.,  however 
he  may  admire  variety  of  sentiment,  would  in  his  heart  consider  this  variety 
of  sentiment  good,  either  in  itself,  or  as  tending  to  enliven  society.  It  is  a 
question  if  he  would  not  greatly  prefer  that  people  should  plod  on,  in  the 
old  dull  path  of  uniformity ,  and  all  cordially  agree  in  believing  him  to  be 
an  honest  man.  And,  in  the  absence  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  this  uni- 
formity of  sentiment  ought  to  exist.  But  why  in  this  case  only  ?  Why  should 
not  people  be  obliged  to  unite  in  thinking  highly  and  honourably  of  the  Lord 
and  Saviour  of  men,  as  well  as  of  a  creature  of  yesterday? 

"  But  Mr.  R.  does  not  positively  affirm  the  entire  innocence  of  mental 
error  in  the  account  of  the  Supreme  Governor  of  mankind."  True  ;  but  he 
writes  as  if  he  thought  it  very  nearly  innocent,  and  as  if  it  were  very  doubt- 
ful whether  it  is  not  entirely  innocent ;  and  in  one  sense,  it  seems,  it  is 
beneficial,  as  tending  to  enliven  society. 

"But  he  guards  his  language,  by  saying  mere  mental  error;  by  which, 
may  he  not  mean  such  errors  only  as  arise  from  mental  weakness,  and  not 
from  disposition  ?"  If  so,  we  are  agreed  as  to  its  innocence.  But,  if  so,  he 
would  not  have  scrupled  to  assert  its  entire  innocence  in  the  account  of  the 
Supreme  Governor  of  mankind.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  by  mere  mental 
error  he  means  errors  which  have  their  existence  in  the  mind  merely,  or 
which  relate  to  principles,  in  distinction  from  those  which  relate  to  practice. 
If  he  were  accosted  by  a  Calvinist,  he  might  illustrate  his  meaning  by  an 
error  respecting  "  the  weight  of  the  shekel,"  or  an  error  in  "  chronology," 
or  something  of  that  kind ;  but  follow  him  into  the  company  of  Arians  and 
Socinians,  and  then  his  meaning  extends  to  their  peculiar  sentiments!  This 
is  founded  on  fact,  and  not  on  supposition.  Indeed,  it  is  plain  by  his  writ- 
ings, life,  and  conduct,  that  he  means  to  include  Arianism  and  Socinianism. 
But  to  call  these  mere  mental  errors,  in  the  innocent  sense  of  the  phrase,  is 
begging  the  question ;  it  is  taking  for  granted  what  remains  to  be  proved, 
that  such  sentiments  (if  they  be  errors)  are  in  that  sense  merely  mental. 
Certainly  it  cannot  be  pleaded,  in  behalf  of  the  generality  of  those  who  em- 
brace these  sentiments,  that  they  are  endowed  with  the  use  of  reason,  or  that 
they  are  persons  of  v)eak  natural  capacities,  or  that  they  have  not  opportunity 
to  obtain  evidence. 

Should  it  be  said  that  some  of  them  have  given  proof  of  their  being  honest 
and  sincere,  by  their  frankness  in  declaring  their  sentiments,  and  relinquish- 

*  This  is  not  mere  supposition.  It  is  well  known  that  Mr.  R.  espoused  the  cause  of  some 
who  were  expelled  from  the  Homerton  Academy  for  what  the  tutors  of  that  institution 
thought  heresy.  Of  their  principles  I  knoiv  little  or  nothing,  and  therefore  cannot  judge: 
but  Mr.  R.  has  not  only  endeavoured  to  vindicate  them  from  the  charge  of  heresy,  but  he 
has  also  denied  that  the  Society  has  any  right  to  judge  what  is  heresy. 


596  '  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

ing  worldly  emoluments  for  the  sake  of  enjoying  them;  I  answer,  in  the 
words'  of  VVaterland,  "A  man  may  be  said  to  be  sincere — 1.  When  he  speaks 
•what  he  really  thinks  truth.  2.  When  he  searches  after  truth  with  impartia- 
lity and  perseverance."  The  former,  we  believe,  many  of  these  gentlemen 
possess ;  and  we  think  it  very  commendable,  far  preferable  to  a  mean-spirited 
concealment,  or  a  doubtful  and  ambiguous  declaration  of  sentiment.  But  to 
believe  that  any  who  fundamentally  err,  whether  they  or  ourselves,  "  search 
after  truth  with  impartiality  and  perseverance,"  is  to  disbelieve  the  promise 
of  God,  who  declares,  "  the  meek  will  he  guide  in  judgment;  the  meek  will 
he  teach  his  way." 

I  wish  it  to  be  considered  whether,  if  not  the  whole,  a  great  part  of  Divine 
truth  may  not  be  included  under  some  such  general  topics  as  these ;  viz. 
Truth  concerning  God,  Christ,  ourselves,  sin,  the  world,  heaven,  hell,  &ic. 
Now  of  which  of  these  is  it  innocent  for  me  to  think  falsely?  Am  I  at 
liberty  to  think  more  meanly  of  God  than  he  has  revealed  himself? — Can  I 
think  him  such  a  one  as  myself,  without  offending  him?  May  I  think  more 
meanly  of  Chi-ist  than  the  word  of  God  exhibits  him?  Can  I  detract  from 
his  excellence,  and  be  blameless?  Am  I  allowed  to  think  more  highly  of 
myself  ihdiW  the  word  of  God  represents  me?  Can  I  be  bloated  up  with  false 
ideas  of  my  own  super-excellence,  and  be  innocent?  May  I  think  better  of 
sin  than  it  deserves?  Must  I  not  view  it  as  it  is  represented  in  the  Bible? 
Am  I  at  liberty  to  put  a  false  estimate  on  the  good  things  of  this  life?  Is 
not  too  low  an  estimate  of  them  ingratitude,  and  too  high  an  estimate 
idolatry?  And  can  either  of  these  be  innocent?  May  I  undervalue  the  life 
to  come?  Or  ought  I  not,  seeing  God  has  called  it  a  "  weight  of  glory,"  to 
give  it  its  weight  in  determining  my  pursuits?  Lastly,  seeing  that  God  has 
threatened  everlasting  destruction  to  the  finally  impenitent,  am  I  at  liberty 
to  quality  these  terms,  and  accommodate  them  to  my  own  wishes  and  feel- 
ings, and  so  administer  comfort  to  God's  enemies,  as  such  ?  Am  I  not  bound 
to  believe  that  God  means  what  he  says?  May  I  presume  that  the  threaten- 
ings  of  the  Bible  were  never  intended  to  be  executed,  but  were  uttered  merely 
to  frighten  tlie  vulgar?  Ought  I  not  to  believe  that  God  is  as  much  in 
earnest  when  he  threatens  as  when  he  promises?  If  the  Bible  is  a  plain 
book,  can  I  misunderstand  it  and  be  innocent? 

Let  me  conclude  with  one  remark  more.  Much  has  been  said,  of  late 
years,  about  the  Scriptures  being  the  only  rule  of  faith,  in  opposition  to  all 
rules  of  human  imposition.  In  this  I  agree.  But  let  it  be  considered  whe- 
ther the  avowal  of  the  innocence  of  mental  error  be  not  a  virtual  denial  of  the 
Scriptures  being  any  rule  of  faith  at  all.  According  to  this  sentiment,  faith 
seems  to  have  no  rale — at  least  none  that  is  obligatory ;  for  there  can  be  no 
obligation  where  deviation  is  no  crime.  If  mental  error  be  innocent,  the 
mind  can  be  subject  to  no  law ;  and  if  the  mind,  which  has  so  great  an 
influence  on  the  soul,  and  with  which  the  will  and  all  the  other  powers  con- 
stantly act  in  concert — if  this  be  without  a  law,  it  can  be  of  very  little  con- 
sequence to  the  Supreme  Legislator  whether  any  thing  else  in  man  be  left 
under  his  dominion  or  not.  While  we  are  so  jealous,  then,  lest  others  should 
infringe  on  our  liberty,  it  becomes  us  to  tremble  lest  we  infringe  on  the 
Divine  authority.  And  while  we  are  exclaiming,  "  Call  no  man  master," 
let  us  not  forget,  "One  is  our  Master,  even  Christ." 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OP  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.  597 

LETTER  III. 

on  liberty. 
My  dear  Friend, 

It  has  long  been  the  opinion  of  many  persons,  who  are  by  no  means 
unfriendly  to  liberty,  that  Robinson's  notions  of  it  are  licentious  and  extra- 
vagant; and  in  this  opinion  I  cannot  help  concurring. 

Liberty  seems  to  consist  in  tlie  power  of  acting  ivitliout  control  or  impedi' 
ment.  But  the  term,  being  relative,  must  be  understood  in  relation  to  the 
different  objects  which  are  supposed  to  be  impediments. 

Some  have  defined  liberty  the  power  of  doing  what  we  please ;  and  this 
definition  will  doubdess  apply  to  every  kind  of  liberty  except  mored.  But 
moral  liberty,  which  is  of  greater  importance  than  any  other  kind  of  liberty, 
does  not  consist  in  this.  Though  we  do  as  we  please  in  the  exercise  of 
moral  liberty,  this  is  not  that  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from  other  things; 
no,  not  from  morcd  slavery  itself  Moral  slavery  is  not  that  state  in  which 
a  person  is  compelled  to  act  against  his  ivill;  but  rather  a  state  in  which  he 
is  impelled  to  act  against  his  conscience.  A  person  may  have  the  power  of 
doing  whf/t  he  pleases,  to  the  greatest  possible  degree,  and  yet  be  totally 
destitute  of  moral  liberty,  being  a  perfect  slave  to  his  own  appetites. 

Some  persons,  perhaps  justly,  have  classed  liberty  under  four  kinds — 
physical,  moral,  civil,  and  religious.  Physical  liberty  is  the  power  of  doing 
what  we  please  without  any  natural  restraints  or  impediments.  If  our  actions 
are  not  the  free  result  of  our  choice,  that  is,  if  they  are  directed  or  impeded 
by  an  influence  contrary  to  our  will,  we  are  destitute  of  this  liberty.  31oral 
liberty  is  the  power  of  doing  what  is  right,  without  being  impeded  by  sinful 
dispositions  or  passions.  A  libertine,  with  all  his  boasted  freedom,  is  here 
a  perfect  slave.  "  While  they  promise  themselves  liberty,  they  themselves 
are  the  servants  of  corruption  ;  for  of  whom  a  man  is  overcome,  of  the  same 
is  he  brought  in  bondage."  Civil  liberty,  as  it  is  commonly  understood  in 
Britain,  is  freedom  from  all  fear  of  punishment  contrary  to  law,  and  from 
subjection  to  any  laws  but  those  to  which  a  man  himself,  by  his  representa- 
tives, gives  consent.  Religious  liberty  is  the  power  of  forming  our  religious 
sentiments,  and  conducting  our  religious  worship,  agreeably  to  the  dictates 
of  our  consciences,  without  being  liable  to  civil  penalties. 

Now,  suppose  Mr.  R.'s  notions  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  be  just,  yet 
surely  he  makes,  if  not  too  much  of  these,  yet  too  little  of  that  which  is  of 
far  greater  importance — inoral  liberty.  This  is  the  liberty  of  which  the 
Scriptures  chiefly  speak  ;  this  is  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  gospel.  This  is 
that  of  which  every  unregenerate  man  is  destitute,  being  a  slave  to  sin  and 
Satan.  This  is  the  liberty  with  which  the  Son  makes  us  free;  without  which 
all  other  liberty  is  but  a  shadow  and  an  empty  boast.  This  is  implied  in 
the  reply  of  our  Lord  to  the  boasting  Jews,  who  said  they  were  never  in 
bondage  to  any  man :  "  If  the  Son  make  you  free,  then  are  ye  free  indeed." 
It  is  allowed,  indeed,  that  religious  liberty,  or  a  freedom  to  think  and  act 
according  to  our  consciences,  without  fear,  is  of  great  value,  and  perhaps  we 
none  of  us  prize  it  sufficiently;  but  what  is  this  to  inoral  liberty?  Suppose 
a  man  liberated  from  the  tyranny  of  sin  and  Satan,  and  deprived  of  all  reli- 
gious and  civil  liberty,  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  powerful  persecution, 
would  he  not  be  in  an  unspeakably  better  situation  than  another  man,  pos- 
sessed of  all  the  liberty  he  desired,  whose  soul  was  enslaved  to  sin  ? 

Is  it  not  strange,  then,  that  whenever  Mr.  R.  finds  the  term  liberty  in  the 
New  Testament  he  should  reduce  it  to  a  simple  liberty  of  doing  as  we  please? 
And  is  it  not  passing  strange  that  "  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God" 


593 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


should  be  thus  explained?  Rom.  viii.  21.  Mr.  R.,  having  given  us  several 
quotations  on  the  text  from  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  sums  up  the  whole  in 
English,  by  adding — "The  amount,  then,  is  this:  The  heathens  expected 
some  great  revolution  to  be  brought  about  by  some  extraordinary  person 
about  St.  Paul's  time.  St.  Paul  was  well  acquainted  with  their  opinion :  it 
is  natural,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  the  apostle  would  speak  on  this  article, 
and  direct  the  eyes  of  the  pagans  to  Jesus  Christ.  The  passage  is  capable 
of  such  a  meaning,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  this  is  the  sense  of  it.  The 
Gentiles  are  earnestly  looking  for  such  a  liberty  as  the  gospel  proposes 
to  mankind."  "  The  question  is,"  continues  Mr.  R.,  "  what  liberty  the 
gospel  does  bestow  on  mankind."  Very  good;  and  now  let  us  see  what  his 
"  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God"  amounts  to.  "  In  days  of  yore,"  says 
he,  "  divines  were  not  ashamed  to  affirm  that  liberty  of  judging  and  deter- 
mining matters  of  faith  and  conscience  was  a  prerogative  of  the  papal  tiara" 
— and  so  on  ;  a  long  story  of  this  kind,  for  four  or  five  columns,  reducing 
"the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God"  to  a  mere  liberty  of  "judging  and 
determining  for  ourselves  in  matters  of  faith  and  conscience ;"  a  freedom 
from  the  control  of  creeds  and  systems — as  though  it  did  not  signify  what 
we  imbibed  so  that  we  acted  fredy.  Suppose  this  freedom  were  included, 
yet  surely  it  is  not  the  whole  of  the  meaning.  Probably  the  apostle  alluded 
especially  to  the  redemption  of  the  bodies  of  believers  at  the  resurrection. 
But  if  Mr.  R.  were  right  in  applying  the  passage  to  the  Gentile  world,  surely 
he  might  have  conceived  of  a  more  glorious  liberty  than  that  of  thinking  and 
acting  for  ourselves — a  moral  liberty — a  freedom  from  the  bondage  of  sin 
and  Satan,  particularly  from  the  slavery  of  idolatry  and  superstition.  This 
were  a  liberty  worth  while  for  the  Son  of  God  to  come  from  heaven  to 
bestow. 

Mr.  Robinson  may  be  right  in  censuring  the  bishops  "  for  sacrificing 
Christianity  to  save  episcopacy  ;"  but  let  him  beware  of  undervaluing  moral 
liberty  for  the  sake  of  that  of  which  he  is  so  tenacious,  of  an  inferior  kind. 
Christianity  is  of  greater  importance  than  nonconformity.  A  remark  of  Mr. 
Whitefield,  when  he  had  attended  one  of  the  synods  of  Scotland,  and  had 
heard  one  of  the  associate  presbytery  preach,  may  not  be  inappropriate  :— 
"The  good  man,"  says  he,  "so  spent  himself  in  talking  against  prelacy,  the 
Common  Prayer  Book,  the  surplice,  the  rose  in  the  hat,  and  such  like  exter- 
nals, that  when  he  came  to  the  latter  part  of  his  subject,  to  invite  poor  sin- 
ners to  Jesus  Christ,  his  breath  was  so  gone  that  he  could  scarce  be  heard." 
This  passage  Mr.  R.  introduces  into  his  arcana  with  great  approbation,  and 
adds — "This  will  always  be  the  case:  that  learning,  eloquence,  strength,  and 
zeal,  which  should  be  spent  in  enforcing  '  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law, 
judgment,  mercy,  and  faith,'  will  be  unprofitably  wasted  on  the  '  tithing  of 
mint,  anise,  and  cummin' — on  discarding  or  defending  a  bow  to  the  east,  or 
a  rose  in  the  hat," — p.  ]09.  How  far  this  describes  Mr,  R.'s  subsequent 
conduct,  I  leave  you  to  judge. 

But  not  only  has  he  neglected  weightier  things  in  defending  those  of  infe- 
rior importance,  but  it  appears  to  me  that  his  notions  of  liberty  are  latitudina- 
rian,  unscriptural,  and  unreasonable. 

Though  in  regard  to  men,  we  are  at  liberty  to  act  and  think  as  we  please 
in  religion,  this  is  not  true  in  regard  to  God.  He  requires  us  to  believe  the 
truth,  as  well  as  to  obey  his  commands.  He  has  given  us  a  rule  of  faith,  as 
well  as  of  practice,  and  requires  us  to  think  and  act  according  to  itj  and, 
moreover,  it  is  at  our  peril  that  we  allow  ourselves  in  the  contrary.  This, 
however,  is  a  distinction  which  I  never  knew  Mr.  R.  to  have  made;  though 
I  could  scarcely  have  thought  he  would  have  avowed  the  contrary,  had  he 
not  told  me  in  conversation  that  no  man  loas  hound  to  believe  the  gospel — 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         599 

that  their  only  duty  was  to  examine  it — and  that  to  make  it  their  duty  to 
believe,  as  well  as  to  examine,  would  destroy  their  liberty,  and  render  their 
errors  criminal !  But  what  can  be  made  of  such  a  liberty  as  this,  unless  it 
be  a  Divine  right  to  do  icrong?  This  Mr.  R.  ridicules  in  politics  (Claude, 
vol.  ii.  p.  42) :  is  it  not  a  pity  he  should  retain  it  in  Divinity  ? 

Further,  there  is  a  material  difference  between  my  being  at  liberty  to  be- 
lieve and  act  in  religious  matters  without  being  accountable  to  the  civil 
authorities,  or  to  any  fellow  creature  as  such ;  and  my  having  a  right,  be  my 
religious  principles  what  they  may,  to  a  place  in  a  Christian  church.  If  I 
act  with  decorum  in  my  civil  capacity,  I  have  a  right,  whatever  be  my  reli- 
gious principles,  to  all  the  benefits  of  civil  government;  but  it  does  not  there- 
fore follow  that  I  am  entitled  to  the  privileges  of  the  house  of  God.  Mr.  R. 
blames  the  Church  of  England  for  not  allowing  avowed  Socinians  to  con- 
tinue in  its  service  and  receive  its  emoluments  (Claude,  vol.  ii.  p.  212) ;  and 
not  long  since,  unless  I  am  misinformed,  he  declared  in  public  company,  at 
an  ordination,  that  no  church  had  a  right  to  refuse  any  man  communion, 
whether  he  were  an  Arian,  a  Sabellian,  a  Socinian,  or  an  Antinomian,  pro- 
vided he  was  of  good  moral  character! 

If,  however,  this  notion  consist  with  either  Scripture  or  common  sense,  I 
must  confess  myself  a  stranger  to  both.  The  church  of  God  is  represented 
as  a  city — a  city  with  walls  and  bulwarks ;  a  city  with  gates,  of  which  they 
themselves  have  the  care  and  keeping. — It  is  true  they  are  commanded  to 
open  the  gates — but  to  whom  ?  To  the  righteous  nation  "  who  keep  the 
truth."  These,  and  these  only,  are  to  enter  in,  Isa.  xxvi.  1,  2.  I  know  the 
objection  Mr.  R.  would  make  to  this ;  viz.  Who  is  to  be  judge  what  is  truth? 
But,  on  this  principle,  we  may  doubt  of  every  thing,  and  turn  sceptics  at 
once;  or  else  consider  that  to  be  truth  which  any  man  thinks  is  truth.  But 
if  it  be  indeed  so  difficult  to  ascertain  the  truth  as  that  we  must  needs  give 
over  judging  in  that  matter,  and  that  must  pass  for  truth  which  every  person 
thinks  to  be  such,  then  surely  the  Bible  cannot  be  such  a  plain  book  as  Mr. 
R.  represents.  Besides,  we  might  on  the  same  principle  refrain  from  judg- 
ing between  right  and  wrong;  for  there  are  various  opinions  about  these,  as 
well  as  about  truth  and  error.  Suppose,  for  instance,  a  person  were  to  apply 
to  a  Christian  church  for  communion  who  approved  and  practised  polygamy, 
or  who  should  think  that  Scripture  sanctioned  concubinage,  and  therefore 
practised  it:  upon  this  principle,  the  church  must  be  silent,  for  should  they 
object  to  such  practices  as  immoral,  it  might  be  replied — /  think  they  are 
right;  and  who  are  you  that  i/ou  should  set  up  forjudges  of  right  and  wrong 
in  other  men's  conduct? — Mr.  R.  therefore,  need  not  have  been  so  squeamish 
in  his  proposed  reception  of  Arians  and  Socinians  as  to  provide  for  their  good 
moral  character.  Upon  his  principle,  the  want  of  character  ought  to  be  no 
objection,  provided  they  are  so  abandoned  in  vice  as  to  believe  that  evil  is 
good,  or  so  versed  in  hypocrisy  as  to  say  they  believe  so,  whether  they  do 
or  not. 

I  do  not  see  how  the  church  at  Pergaraos  could  have  been  blamed  by  the 
Lord  Jesus  for  having  those  among  them  that  held  the  doctrine  of  Balaam 
and  of  the  Nicolaitanes,  unless  they  were  authorized,  and  even  required,  to 
judge  of  right  and  wrong,  truth  and  error,  in  relation  to  those  whom  they 
received  as  members.  On  Mr.  R.'s  principles,  they  might  have  excused 
themselves  in  some  such  manner  as  this : — "Lord,  we  never  apprehended 
we  had  any  thing  to  do  in  judging  of  the  doctrines  that  people  held  who 
became  members  with  us:  we  came  together  upon  the  liberal  principles  of 
universal  toleration,  and  never  expected  to  be  called  to  account  about  any 
one's  sentiments  but  our  own,  whatever  we  were  for  these."   But  in  reply  to 


600  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

all  such  pleas  as  this,  it  is  sufficient  to  say — "Thus  saith  He  that  hath  the 
sharp  two-edged  sword,  I  have  somewhat  against  thee." 

As  to  the  bugbear  frequently  held  up — that  if  we  presume  to  judge  in 
these  matters  we  assume  to  ourselves  infallibility,  to  what  does  it  amount? 
On  this  principle  all  human  judgment  must  be  set  aside  in  civil  as  well  as 
in  sacred  things.  No  man,  nor  any  set  of  men,  can  pretend  to  this ;  neither 
need  they.  It  is  sufficient  that  they  act  to  the  best  of  their  capacity,  avail- 
ing themselves  of  all  the  means  of  information  they  possess.  All  men,  un- 
doubtedly, are  fallible;  it  becomes  them,  therefore,  to  judge  with  meekness 
and  fear;  and  to  consider  that  their  decisions  are  not  final — that  they  must 
all  be  brought  over  again,  and  themselves  be  tried  with  them  at  the  great 
assize!  But  does  it  thence  follow  that  all  human  judgment  must  be  laid 
aside?     Surely  not. 

The  great  outcry  that  Mr.  R.  has  made  of  our  Lord's  words — "  Call  no 
man  master,"  &,c.,  is  no  more  to  his  purpose  than  the  other.  Surely  it  is 
one  thing  to  dictate  to  a  man  what  he  shall  believe,  and  persecute  him  if  he 
does  not;  and  another  to  require  a  union  of  principles,  in  order  that  we  may 
unite  with  him  in  church  fellowship,  and  have  communion  with  him  in  the 
ordinances  of  Jesus  Christ.  As  an  individual,  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
him :  to  his  own  Master  he  standeth  or  falleth ;  and  we  the  same.  But  if 
he  propose  to  have  Christian  fellowship  with  us,  it  is  right  that  we  should 
inquire  whether  his  principles  so  far  coincide  with  ours  as  that  the  end  pro- 
posed may  be  accomplished.  Is  there  not  a  wide  difference  between  my 
persecuting,  or  wishing  to  persecute,  a  deist,  and  refusing  to  unite  with  him 
in  church  fellowship? 

I  believe  also  that  Mr.  R.'s  principles  are  as  opposed  to  right  reason,  to 
common  sense,  and  to  the  rules  of  society  in  general,  as  they  are  to  Scripture. 

In  large  societies,  the  government  of  a  nation  for  instance,  they  are  obliged 
to  be  very  general,  and  cannot  maintain  such  a  minute  regularity  as  in  socie- 
ties of  less  extent.  But  even  here  some  union  of  sentiment  is  required. 
Suppose  a  Jacobite,  for  example,  were  to  insist  that  King  George  was  not 
the  rightful  possessor  of  the  throne,  would  he  have  a  right  to  form  one  of  his 
majesty's  ministry?  And  suppose  he  were  to  express  his  intention,  if  oppor- 
tunity offered,  of  uniting  to  dethrone  him,  would  not  the  government  have 
a  right  to  banish  him  the  kingdom?  Whether  they  would  invariably  use 
their  right  is  another  thing;  but  the  right  itself  they  would  undoubtedly 
possess. 

In  smaller  societies,  where  persons  unite  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  certain 
ends,  it  was  always  expected  that  they  should  agree  in  certain  leading  prin- 
ciples necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  those  ends.  Hence,  there  is 
scarcely  a  society  formed  without  articles,  testifying  the  agreement  of  the 
members  in  certain  fundamental  particulars.  Suppose,  for  example,  a  common 
club,  united  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  each  other  in  time  of  affliction.  It 
is  supposed  to  be  a  leading  principle  of  such  a  society,  that  the  lesser  number 
of  members  should,  in  all  matters  of  debate,  submit  to  the  greater;  and 
another  that  a  certain  sum  of  money  should  be  paid  by  each  member  at  cer- 
tain times.  Now,  just  suppose  any  one  member  should  dissent  from  the 
rules;  common  sense  suggests  the  necessity  of  his  being  convinced  or  ex- 
cluded. But  it  seems  a  Christian  society  has  not  the  authority  of  a  common 
club ! 

It  cannot  be  difficult  to  prove  that  a  union  of  faith  respecting  the  proper 
Deity  of  the  Great  Author  of  our  religion,  and  the  object  of  our  worship,  is 
of  quite  as  much  importance  in  religious  society  as  any  of  the  above  in  civil 
society.  Surely,  the  dethroning  of  the  Son  of  God,  by  the  denial  of  his 
essential  Deity,  cannot  be  less  pernicious  in  the  gospel  dispensation,  than  the 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         GOl 

denial  of  his  majesty's  authority,  and  the  endeavour  to  dethrone  him,  would 
be  in  these  realms. 

Some  of  tlie  grand  ends  of  Christian  society  are,  unitedly  to  worship  God 
— to  devote  ourselves  to  the  blessed  Trinity  by  Christian  baptism — and  to 
acknowledge  the  atonement  made  by  the  Redeemer,  by  a  participation  of  the 
ordinance  of  the  Lord's  supper.  But  what  union  could  there  be  in  worship 
where  the  object  worshipped  is  not  the  same — where  one  party  believes  the 
other  to  be  an  idolater,  and  the  other  believes  him  to  be  a  di grader  of  Him 
who  is  "over  all,  God,  blessed  for  ever?"  What  fellowship  could  there  be 
in  the  Lord's  svpper,  for  instance,  (not  to  mention  baptism,)  where  one  party 
thought  sin  to  be  an  infinite  evil — that  they,  being  the  subjects  of  it,  deserved 
an  infinite  curse — that  no  atonement  could  be  made  but  by  an  infinite  sacri- 
fice— that  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  such,  and  an  instance  of  infinite  orace 
and  love — and  that  the  design  of  the  sacred  supper  is  to  revive  in  our  minds 
these  affecting  truths; — and  where  the  other  party  believed  none  of  these 
things — had  no  conception  that  sin  was  so  great  an  evil  as  to  deserve  infinite 
punishment,  or  to  need  an  infinite  atonement — that,  in  fact,  they  are  not  such 
great  sinners  as  to  need  not  only  a  Saviour,  but  a  great  one?  That  which 
is  to  the  one  "  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed  God"  is  to  the  other  fool- 
ishness, and  an  insult,  forsooth,  upon  his  dignity! 

If  ever  any  professed  Christians  difl'ered  in  the  essentials  of  religion,  Cal- 
vinists  and  Socinians  do.  I  wish  to  conduct  myself  towards  a  Socinian  no 
otherwise  than  I  believe  a  Socinian  ought  to  conduct  himself  towards  me 
on  the  supposition  that  I  am  in  error.  Dr.  Priestley  acts  more  consistently, 
and  more  like  an  honest  man,  than  Mr.  R.  He  denies  the  propriety  of 
Unitarians  and  Trinitarians  uniting  together  in  Divine  worship,  and  exhorts 
all  of  the  former  class  to  form  separate  societies.  This  I  cordially  approve; 
for  verily,  whatever  esteem  we  may  entertain  for  each  other  as  men,  in  reli- 
gion there  can  be  no  harmony.  Either  we  are  a  company  of  idolaters,  or 
they  are  enemies  to  the  gospel — rendering  the  cross  of  Christ  of  none  effect. 
Either  they  are  unbelievers,  or  we  are  at  least  as  bad — renderino-  to  a  creature 
that  homage  which  is  due  only  to  the  Creator;  and,  in  either  case,  a  union  is 
the  last  degree  of  absurdity. 

Whatever  then,  my  dear  friend,  Mr.  R.  or  any  one  else  may  suggest,  under 
the  specious  pretence  of  liberality  of  sentiment,  I  trust  you  and  1  shall  ever 
give  heed  to  the  better  reasonings  of  an  inspired  apostle: — "What  fellowship 
hath  righteousness  and  unrighteousness?  and  what  communion  hath  lio-ht 
witii  darkness?  and  what  concord  liath  Christ  with  Belial?  and  what  part 
hath  he  that  believeth  with  an  infidel?  Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  too-ether 
with  unbelievers." 


LETTER  IV. 

on  the  necessity  of  the  holy  spirit  for  the  right  understanding  and 
believing  the  holy  scriptures. 

My  dear  Friend, 

I  DO  not  know,  from  any  thing  Mr.  R.  has  ivritten,  unless  it  be  his  sermon 
on  "The  Sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  that  on  the  subject  of  the 
present  letter  there  is  any  difference  between  his  sentiments  and  my  own. 
That  sermon,  which  I  read  sometime  since,  appears  to  me  to  contain  some 
things,  obscurely  expressed,  of  which,  I  confess,  I  can  form  very  little  judg- 
ment. But  I  have  been  lately  informed  by  a  friend  of  unquestionable  judg- 
ment and  veracity,  and  who  was  far  from  being  prejudiced  against  Mr.  R., 

Vol.  hi.— 76  3  E 


603  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

that  such  sentences  as  this  not  unfrequently  escape  him : — "  What  more  than 
common  sense  is  necesssary  to  understand  the  Holy  Scriptures?  Not  the 
Holy  Spirit;  for  then  Judas  could  not  have  understood  them."  So  also,  1 
have  been  informed,  by  equally  good  authority,  that  he  denies  any  thing  of  a 
'principle  being  created  or  produced  in  the  soul  in  regeneration.  In  the  ser 
mon  just  alluded  to  he  seems  to  ridicule  the  idea:  "A  positive  act  of  power 
(he  says)  would  produce  an  occult  quality,  for  which  we  have  no  name,  and 
of  which  we  know  no  use." — Occasional  Sermons,  V.  p.  98. 

However,  if  he  would  adhere  to  what  he  says  in  his  notes  to  Claude,  vol. 
ii.  p.  320, 1  am  inclined  to  think  we  should  agree.  "  The  Holy  Spirit  pro- 
poseth  truth  in  the  Sa-iptures,  andformcth,  in  those  2cho  believe,  dispositions 
to  admit  it."  By  this,  it  would  seem  as  if  he  thought  something  more  than 
common  sense  was  necessary  to  the  reception  of  Divine  truth;  viz.  disposi- 
tions formed  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  With  this  I  am  perfectly  satisfied.  What 
ideas  some  may  have  entertained  of  the  production  of  a  Divine  principle  I 
know  not ;  but  the  whole  idea  that  I  have  of  it  is,  that  it  is  the  formation  of 
a  disposition. 

With  this  representation  of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  I  am  satisfied.  For 
aught  I  see,  it  is  clear  and  comprehensive.  And  I  only  wish  Mr.  R.  would 
adhere  to  it.  It  supposes  three  things,  on  each  of  which  I  shall  offer  a  few 
remarks: — 1.  That  holy  dispositions  are  necessary,  in  order  to  the  admis- 
sion of  Scripture  truth.  2.  That  men  by  nature  have  no  such  disposition. 
3.  That  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  necessary  to  produce  it. 

First,  Holy  dispositions  are  necessary  in  order  to  the  admission  of  Scrip- 
ture truth.  This,  I  think.  Scripture  and  common  sense  concur  to  prove. 
Really  and  properly  to  understand  any  writer,  it  is  necessary  that  we  enter 
into  his  spirit,  sentiments,  and  feeling.  Thus,  to  understand  Sir  Isaac  New- 
ton, we  must  have  a  taste  for  philosophy ;  otherwise,  though  we  understand 
the  words  and  sentences  abstractedly,  we  shall  never  enter  into  his  spirit  and 
views.  The  writings  of  a  philosopher  must  he  philosophically  discerned.  So, 
without  a  taste  for  poetry,  we  shall  never  enter  into  the  views  and  feelings 
of  a  Milton  ;  his  writings  must  be  poetically  discerned.  And,  by  a  parity  of 
reasoning,  properly  to  understand  the  inspired  writers,  we  must  enter  into 
their  views  and  feelings,  and  be,  in  a  sort,  inspired  too.  We  must  have,  in 
some  degree,  the  same  spirit  in  reading  as  they  had  in  writing.  Hence  the 
apostle  Paul,  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  principles  of  right  reasoning  and 
common  sense,  declares  that  the  things  of  God,  which  are  spiritual  things, 
must  be  spiritually  discerned.  To  suppose  the  Scriptures  within  the  com- 
prehension of  an  abandoned,  vicious  mind,  would  be  to  their  reproach  rather 
than  to  their  praise — a  far  greater  reproach  than  would  attach  to  the  writings 
of  the  most  profound  philosopher,  were  they  supposed  to  be  within  the  com- 
prehension of  an  idiot.  It  would  be  to  the  eternal  dishonour  of  the  sacred 
writings,  if  they  did  not  exhibit  a  beauty  and  a  life  utterly  incomprehensible 
to  an  unholy  mind,  and  to  which  such  a  mind  is  an  absolute  stranger. 

Secondly,  3Icn  by  nature  have  no  disposition  to  admit  Divine  truth.  The 
gospel  contains  a  system  of  principles  directly  levelled  against  the  evil  bias 
of  the  human  heart.  Wherever  Divine  truth  is  admitted,  pride  must  be 
abased,  lust  be  mortified,  and  every  sinful  enjoyment  abandoned.  No  wonder, 
therefore,  that  the  carnal  mind  should  be  indisposed  to  the  reception  of  this 
truth.  It  would  be  a  much  greater  wonder  if  it  were  not  thus  indisposed. 
But  this  aversion  blinds  the  understanding,  and  warps  the  judgment. 
Take,  for  example,  four  or  five  Scripture  truths — the  evil  of  sin — the  justice 
of  God  in  punishing  it  with  everlasting  destruction — the  unspeakable  love  of 
God  in  the  gift  of  his  Son — the  grace  of  God  in  saving  sinners — and  the 
beauty  and  bliss  of  a  holy  life.     Now  what  unholy  mind  can  receive  these 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         693 

truths?  He  that  receives  one  will  receive  all ;  but  he  that  is  blind  to  one 
will  be  blind  to  all. 

Common  sense  proves  a  number  of  dispositions  necessary  to  the  right 
understanding  of  Divine  truth,  of  which  Scripture  and  experience  prove  men 
by  nature  to  be  destitute.  One  thing  absolutely  necessary  is  an  earnestness 
of  s]]irit  after  it.  We  must  have  a  heart  to  know  God,  Jer.  xxiv.  7.  We 
must  search  for  Divine  knowledge  as  one  searcheth  for  hid  treasure.  "  If 
thou  wilt  incline  thine  ear  unto  wisdom,  and  apply  thine  heart  to  understand- 
ing— if  thou  criest  after  knowledge,  and  liflcst  up  thy  voice  for  understand- 
ing— if  thou  seekcst  her  as  silver,  and  searchest  for  her  as  for  hid  treasures 
— then  shalt  thou  understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find  the  knowledge 
of  God,"  Prov.  ii. 

But  he  that  is  under  the  dominion  of  sin  is  generally  under  the  dominion 
of  carelessness  and  indifference  to  Divine  truth ;  and,  so  long  as  this  is  the 
case,  all  the  common  sense  in  the  world  will  be  of  no  avail.  A  price  is, 
indeed,  put  into  his  hand  to  get  wisdom ;  but  it  is  a  price  in  the  hand  of  a 
fool,  seeing  he  has  «o  heart  to  possess  it.  His  attention  is  absorbed  by  carnal 
objects;  what  cares  he  for  religion?  Hence  the  complaint — "Whom  shall 
he  teach  knowledge?  whom  shall  he  make  to  understand  doctrine?  Them 
that  are  weaned  from  the  milk,  and  drawn  from  the  breasts."  So  long  as 
people  are  careless  about  spiritual  things,  and  know  no  pleasure  beyond  that 
of  drinking  at  the  fountains  of  sensual  enjoyments,  "  precept  may  be  upon 
precept,  precept  upon  precept,  line  upon  line,  line  upon  line,"  over  and  over 
again;  but  they  will  not  hear,  Isa.  xxviii.  7-13. 

Or  suppose  carelessness  and  sensual  indulgences  be  not  the  obstacle — 
suppose  a  diligent  attention  to  the  acquirement  of  religious  knowledge — still 
how  many  want  a  spirit  of  meekness,  openness  to  conviction,  self -diffidence, 
and  impartialifj/  !  all  which  are  necessary  to  a  right  understanding  of  Divine 
truth.  The  Bereans  not  only  searched  the  Scriptures  daily,  but  received  the 
word  with  readiness  of  mind.  God  declares  "the  meek  he  will  guide  in  judg- 
ment; the  meek  he  will  teach  his  way."  But  the  natural  man,  with  all  his 
common  sense,  is  not  emptied  oi  self-sufficiency.  On  the  contrary,  his  heart 
puffeth  him  up;  and,  while  he  "  thinketh  he  knoweth  any  thing,  he  knoweth 
notliing  as  he  ought  to  know."  This,  I  apprehend,  was  the  case  with  Balaam 
and  Judas,  and  every  other  naturally  but  not  divinely  enlightened  sinner. 
With  all  their  knowledge,  they  know  not  God ;  nor  can  they,  in  such  a  state 
of  mind,  enter  into  the  spirit  of  his  word. 

I  have  sometimes  wondered  that  the  words  of  the  apostle  Paul  should 
seem  so  difficult  to  be  understood: — "The  natural  man  discerneth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  neither  can  he  know  them;  for  they  are  spiritu- 
ally discerned." 

Any  man  may  affirm,  and  no  man  misunderstand  him,  or  doubt  the  truth 
of  the  assertion, — that  a  careless  man  cannot  find  out  knowledge,  that  a  self- 
conceited  mdiW  cannot  be  wise,  or  that  a  man  under  the  influence  oi prejudice 
will  not  ascertain  the  truth;  why,  then,  should  the  words  of  the  apostle  be 
accounted  mysterious,  and  their  truth  be  called  in  question,  or  explained 
away  ? 

In  any  common  quarrel  among  men,  it  is  sure  to  be  the  case  that  he  that 
is  in  the  wrong  is  blind  to  truth  and  reason.  To  a  bystander  the  matter  ap- 
pears plain;  but  should  he  attempt  to  mediate  between  the  parties — to  reason 
with  the  offender,  and  convince  him  of  his  evil — he  will  soon  find  that  a 
right  spirit  is  necessary  to  render  his  mediation  successful.  The  man  cannot 
see  this,  nor  understand  that ;  he  cannot  perceive  wherein  he  was  to  blame  in 
this  thing,  or  so  much  in  fault  in  the  other.  And  why?  Surely  not  for 
want  of  a  natural  capacity ;  for  he  is  exceedingly  ingenious  in  finding  excuses. 


604 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


Should  the  mediator  proceed  on  the  supposition  of  the  man's  being  wholly 
and  greatly  to  blame,  and  require  satisfaction  to  be  made,  proposing,  how- 
ever, from  his  regard  for  the  offender,  as  well  as  to  equity,  to  make. satisfac- 
tion yr^?-  him,  only  insisting  that  the  offender  should  acknowledge  the  ofience, 
and  ask  pardon;  so  long  as  the  man  indulged  a  icrong  spirit,  all  this  would 
be  inexplicable.  True,  he  must  admit  the  generosity  of  the  mediator ;  but 
he  cannot  see  what  necessity  there  is  for  such  a  proposition,  and  especially 
why  so  7nuch  should  be  made  of  it;  and  as  to  his  fldling  under,  and  asking 
pardon,  these  are  terms  to  which  he  cannot  submit,  and  the  propriety  of 
which  he  cannot  discern.  Should  these  terms  be  proposed  to  him  in  writing, 
it  is  a  hundred  to  one  but  he  puts  so?7ie  other  meaning  upon  the  words  than 
that  apparent  to  an  impartial  person,  and  so  excuses  himself  If,  however, 
the  offended  party  be  a  person  oi power,  so  that  the  offender  »z?«f  yield,  self- 
interest  may  dictate  a  feigned  submission ;  but,  after  all,  he  will  secretly 
think  the  whole  an  unfair  procedure.  The  application  of  this  to  the  quarrel 
between  God  and  the  sinner,  the  mediation  of  Christ,  and  the  reception 
given  to  it  by  the  unregenerate,  is  perfectly  easy.  The  sinner  has  no  dispO' 
sition  to  see  things  in  their  true  light. 

Thirdly,  The  icork  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  necessary  to  produce  a  right  dis- 
position for  the  reception  of  the  gospel.  This  accords  with  our  Lord's  repre- 
sentations to  Nicodemus.  We  have  no  reason  to  think  that  this  "ruler  of 
the  Jews"  was  destitute  of  common  sense.  Yet  Jesus  told  him  that,  unless 
he  was  born  again,  he  could  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  If  ever  we  have 
a  heart  to  know  God,  it  .nust  be  of  God's  giving,  Jer.  xxiv.  7.  A  man  may 
read  his  Bible,  and  be  mightily  pleased  with  himself  for  the  discoveries  he 
makes  by  the  mere  dint  of  common  sense;  but  if  he  have  no  other  percep- 
tion, with  all  his  ingenuity  he  will  be  blind  to  its  real  glory.  Our  own  times 
furnish  us  with  too  many  exemplifications.  Let  us  tremble,  lest  we  grieve 
the  Holy  Spirit  by  undervaluing  his  influences.  If  those  who  think  they  can 
do  without  the  Spirit  were  left  to  their  own  ingenuity.  He  would  be  just,  nor 
could  they  complain.  I  wish  our  character  be  not  drawn  in  that  of  the  Lao- 
diccans :  "  Thou  sayest,  I  am  rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have  need 
of  nothing;  but  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched,  and  miserable,  and 
poor,  and  blind,  and  naked."  May  we  hearken  to  the  counsel  given  to  that 
deluded  people,  and  apply  to  the  true  source  of  all  spiritual  light,  for  "  eye- 
salve  that  we  may  see."  They  were  wonderfully  enamoured  with  their  dis- 
cernment ;  but  Christ  pronounced  them  blind.  They  had  applied  to  the 
wrong  source  for  light.  If  they  wished  for  knowledge  worth  obtaining, 
they  must  apply  to  him  for  it.  Oh  that  we  had  a  heart  to  hearken  to  this 
counsel ! 

You  will  not  understand,  by  what  I  have  written,  that  I  think  there  is 
nothing  in  the  Scriptures  which  a  man  may  discern  by  common  sense  with- 
out the  Holy  Spirit.  Doubtless  this  is  the  case  with  many  of  the  facts  of 
Scripture.  All  I  mean  to  affirm  is,  that  there  are  truths  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures— truths,  too,  which  constitute  the  essence  and  glory  of  the  gospel- 
truths  the  discernment  and  belief  of  which  form  the  essence  of  true  religion, 
which  cannot  he  admitted  without  an  ansioerable  disposition ;  and  that  this 
disposition  must  be  produced  by  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Whoever  may  think  lightly  of  his  influences,  and  fondly  imagine  they  can 
do  without  them,  may  it  be  your  prayer  and  mine — "  Take  not  thy  Holy 
Spirit  from  me" — "  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things 
out  of  thy  law." 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         605 

LETTER  V. 
ON   THE    CANONICALNESS    OF    SOLOMOn's   SONG.* 

My  dear  Friend, 

It  is  an  important  observation  of  an  inspired  writer,  "  Happy  is  the  man 
who  condemneth  not  himself  in  the  thing  which  he  alloweth."  Such  is  the 
darkness,  and  such  are  the  prejudices,  of  the  present  state,  that  a  consistent 
character  is  a  rarity.  I  am  naturally  led  to  these  reflections  by  a  survey  of 
the  course  pursued  by  Mr.  R.  in  relation  to  the  word  of  God.  It  is  well 
known  that,  for  many  years,  he  has  levelled  all  his  artillery  against  the  prac- 
tice of  sacrificing  Scripture  to  creeds  and  systems.  So  far  he  has  done  well ; 
but,  alas!  how  much  easier  is  it  to  ridicule  the  foibles  and  propensities  of 
others  than  to  keep  in  subjection  our  own.  Here,  I  think,  he  has  failed. 
There  teas  a  time  when  he  did  not  hold  that  there  is  nothing  mysterious  in 
Scripture;  as  witness  the  postscript  to  his  plea  for  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  on 
mystery.  But  of  late  years  two  capital  articles  of  his  creed  are,  "That  the 
Scriptures  contain  in  them  nothing  mi/sterious — nothing  but  ichat  common 
sense  alone  is  sufficient  to  understand ;  and  that  to  explain  them  in  a  icay 
of  allegory  is  all  froth  and  ?ionsense."  He  lately  preached  a  sermon  from 
Micah  ii.  5,  which  was  taken  down  in  short-hand,  in  which  he  pronounced, 
among  other  things,  that  "Rome  first  attached  the  idea  of  mystery  to  reli- 
gion." Now  it  is  easy  to  see  that,  if  Solomon's  Song  be  a  Divine  allegory, 
(which  it  certainly  is,  if  canonical,)  it  bears  very  hard  upon  both  these  posi- 
tions. As  to  the  first,  I  suppose  that  Mr.  R.,  with  that  great  share  of  com- 
mon sense  of  which  he  is  undoubtedly  possessed,  would  find  some  things 
here,  like  what  Peter  said  of  some  things  in  Paul's  Epistles,  "  hard  to  be 
understood."  And  as  to  the  latter,  if  this  Song  be  Divine,  it  must  either  be 
entirely  neglected,  or  an  allegorical  style  of  preaching,  occasionally,  is  un- 
avoidable. 

That  I  have-not  misrepresented  Mr.  R.  is  evident  from  his  own  words,  in 
his  Dissertation  on  Preaching,  prefixed  to  the  second  volume  of  Claude : 
"  The  fathers  were  fond  of  allegory  ;  for  Origen,  that  everlasting  allegorizer, 
had  set  them  the  example.  I  hope  they  had  better  proofs  of  the  canonical- 
ness  of  Solomon's  Song  than  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing."  The 
amount  of  which  is,  "  The  fathers  were  fond  of  allegory — Solomon's  Song 
supported  them  in  it — I  do  not  like  allegory — I  reject  Solomon's  Song." 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  countenance  all  that  has  appeared  in  the  world  in 
the  way  of  spiritualizing  Scripture,  as  it  is  called.  Whether  the  "  fathers," 
or  the  children,  were  the  publishers,  it  matters  not.  Doubtless  the  greater 
part  deserves  no  better  name  than  that  of  "froth  and  nonsense."  Yet  there 
are  parts  of  Scripture  which  cannot,  without  doing  violence  to  "  common 
sense,"  be  understood  otherwise  than  as  types  or  allegories.  The  whole 
Jewish  ceremonial,  if  thus  understood,  bespeaks  the  wisdom  of  its  author, 
has  an  intrinsic  glory,  and  answers  to  the  New  Testament  exposition  of  it. 
But  if  otherwise,  to  say  the  least,  it  must  have  been  an  intolerable  load  of 
unmeaning  ceremonies. 

One  would  think  that  no  Christian  could  doubt  whether  the  sacriA-  :s 

*  Before  these  letters  were  penned  a  review  of  "  Williams  on  Solomon's  Song  "  had 
appeared  in  the  "  Biblical  Magazine,"  containing  the  following  query — "  Had  Solomon  in 
writing  this  poem  any  spiritual  intention  in  reference  to  the  Messiah,  or  was  it  accommo- 
dated by  some  pious  teachers  in  the  Jewish  church  to  illustrate  the  sublime  connexion  be- 
tween the  Son  of  God  and  his  church,  as  the  domestic  relation  of  Sarah  and  Hagar,  Isaac 
and  Ishmaeljdo  that  of  the  two  covenants?"  To  this  Mr.  Fuller  wrote  a  brief  reply,  which 
it  is  not  thought  necessary  to  retain  in  the  present  edition  of  his  works,  as  it  is  embodied 
and  every  topic  more  amply  discussed  in  this  letter Ed. 

3e2 


606  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

under  the  law  were  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  pointing  to  the  great  sacri- 
fice under  tlie  gospel ;  or  that  the  manna  of  which  the  Israelites  partook,  and 
the  water  of  which  they  drank,  had  a  tj^pical  allusion,  1  Cor.  x.  3,  4.  And 
if  any  entertain  doubts  whether  their  ceremonial  ptirifi/  (consisting  in  eating 
none  but  clean  creatures — in  their  priests  wearing  none  but  clean  garments 
— and  in  their  frequent  tcashings)  were  intended  to  typify  moral  purity,  they 
may  have  those  doubts  removed,  if  they  wish,  by  inquiring  of  an  inspired 
apostle.     Compare  1  Pet.  i.  IG,  with  Lev.  xi.  44. 

To  account  for  these  ceremonial  injunctions,  as  Mr.  R.  does,  in  his 
"  Christian  Doctrine  of  Ceremonies,"  by  suggesting  the  necessity  of  linen 
garments,  frequent  washings,  &c.,  because  they  had  so  much  "  hutchcrij  and 
dirty  ivork  to  do,"  is  neither  to  the  honour  of  God,  nor  of  his  people  Israel. 
To  suppose  the  Most  High  to  deliver  such  injunctions  and  prohibitions,  and 
to  annex  such  awful  penalties,  in  accommodation  to  a  system  of  "  butchery" 
is  not  much  to  the  honour  of  his  character,  or  his  consummate  wisdom. 
And  to  suppose  that  the  people  of  Israel  did  not  know  how  to  do  "  dirty 
70ork,"  without  such  a  body  of  laws  and  penalties  to  instruct  and  to  awe 
them,  is  not  much  to  the  credit  of  their  common  sense.  I  submit  to  you 
whether  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews  had  not  a  much  better  notion  of  things, 
when  he  styled  the  whole  Jewish  ceremonial  "  a  shadow  of  good  things  to 
come?"  Heb.  x.  1.  And  what  but  an  allegorical  meaning  can  be  attached 
to  the  forty-fifth  Psalm  ?  The  "  King,"  of  whom  David  sang,  can  be  none 
other  than  the  Son  of  God,  Heb.  i.  8.  And  throughout  the  whole  Psalm  he 
is  described  under  precisely  the  same  character  as  in  Solomon's  Song. 

But,,  not  longer  to  exercise  your  patience,  by  remarks  on  types  and  alle- 
gories in  general,  allow  me  to  offer  a  few  reasons  why  I  think  the  Song  of 
Solomon  a  Divine  allegory. 

It  is  allowed  on  all  hands  that  this  Song  was  esteemed  canonical  by  the 
Jewish  church  before  and  at  our  Lord's  coming.  This  is  evident  by  its 
being  retained  in  the  Septuagint;  and  nothing  appears  that  in  the  least 
degree  invalidates  the  conclusion  that  it  was  always  received  by  the  Jews  as 
authentic. 

There  are  two  things  which  render  this  fact  of  weight  in  determining  the 
question  : — \.  That  to  the  Jewish  church,  until  their  rejection  of  the  Messiah, 
were  committed  the  oracles  of  God  (Rom.  iii.  2) ;  to  keep  them,  no  doubt, 
from  all  additions  and  diminutions.  Now,  had  they  betrayed  their  trust, 
surely  our  Lord  would  not  have  overlooked  a  matter  of  such  importance. 
Since,  therefore,  he  never  charged  them  with  any  such  thing,  there  is  every 
reason  to  conclude  that  in  this  matter  they  were  blameless.  It  is  true,  they 
invented  a  number  of  traditions,  by  which  they  made  void  the  law  of  God; 
but  they  never  pretended  that  these  were  Scripture,  but  simply  what  they 
were — the  traditions  of  the  rabbles.  For  making  void  the  law,  by  these 
traditions,  Jesus  rebuked  them  in  the  severest  terms;  but  he  never  once 
hinted  that  they  had  corrupted,  added  to,  or  diminished  from  the  Scriptures. 
On  the  contrary,  2.  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  in  addressing  the  Jews,  appealed 
to  those  very  Scriptures  of  which  they  had  possession,  for  the  truth  of  their 
doctrine.  "  Search  the  Scriptures,"  said  our  Lord,  "  for  in  them  ye  think  ye 
h-''*^  eternal  life;  and  these  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  By  Scriptures 
undoubtedly  they  must  have  understood  him  to  mean  all  the  books,  at  that 
time  in  their  hands,  accounted  canonical.  Had  he  meant  any  thing  else,  he 
should,  and  doubtless  would,  have  explained  his  meaning.  For  Christ  to 
inveigh  so  sharply  and  so  frequently  as  he  did  against  traditions,  which  were 
never  pretended  to  be  canonical,  or  a  part  of  the  inspired  writings,  and  at  the 
same  time  know  that  the  Jews  had  added  a  mere  love-song  to  the  sacred  canon, 
and  yet  say  nothing  about  that — but  on  the  contrary,  by  appealing  to  their 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.  607 

Scriptures  In  the  bulk,  allow  their  purity — is  most  unaccountable,  quite 
unworthy  of  such  a  Divine  Instructor,  and  past  all  belief.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  apostolic  declaration,  "All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration,'' 
&c.  By  "  all  Scripture"  the  apostle  must  have  meant  to  include  either  all 
those  books  which  the  Jews  accounted  canonical,  or  only  a  part  of  them. 
If  the  former,  the  point  is  granted ;  and  the  apostle  may  be  considered  as 
setting  his  seal  to  all  the  loritings  of  the  Old  Testament.  If  the  latter,  then 
it  became  him,  as  an  inspired  guide,  to  detect  and  expose  the  forgery,  and 
not  to  speak  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  gross,  knowing  that  so  idle  an  affair  as 
a  mere  love-song  was  universally  received  as  a  part  of  them. 

In  fine,  if  the  Song  of  Solomon  is  a  corrupt  addition  to  the  Bible,  either 
Christ  and  his  apostles  were  ignorant  of  the  fict,  or  thought  it  unimportant, 
or  designedbj  avoided  its  exposure,  ^he  first  of  these  suppositions  is  totally 
inadmissible,  unless  we  deny  the  omniscience  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  the 
inspiration  of  the  apostles.  The  second  would  imply  that  they  were  indiffer- 
ent to  the  great  end  of  their  mission,  viz.  to  seal  up  the  vision  of  prophecy, 
and  to  perfect  the  holy  canon;  and  render  null  and  void  all  those  solemn 
charges  and  awful  threatenings,  to  those  who  should  presume  to  add  to  or  to 
take  from  it.  And,  to  suppose  the  last,  is  deliberately  accounting  Christ  and 
his  apostles  a  company  of  impostors  ;  and  then,  to  adopt  Mr.  R.'s  own  words 
on  another  occasion,  (Plea  for  Divinity  of  Christ,  p.  50,  first  edition,) 
"What  becomes  of  all  their  fine  professions  of  declaring  the  ichole  counsel 
of  God — of  keeping  back  nothing  that  might  be  profitable — of  imparling 
their  own  souls — and  so  on?     Are  not  all  these  rather  romantic  ?" 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  veil,  covering,  or  colouring  of  this  Song,  is  bor- 
rowed from  an  Epithalamium,  or  marriage  song.  This  certainly  appears  to 
be  carried  on  throughout,  as  it  is  also  in  the  forty-fifth  Psalm ;  and  probably 
the  speakers  introduced,  in  addition  to  the  bridegroom  and  the  bride,  allude 
to  the  companions  who  usually  attended  at  Jewish  marriages.  Yet  it  is  easy 
to  see,  in  several  expressions  scattered,  probably  on  purpose,  throughout  the 
Song,  marks  of  its  sacred  meaning ;  expressions  which  are  totally  inapplica- 
ble to  any  thing  but  what  is  Divine.  This  is  observable  in  many  of  the 
Psalms,  particularly  in  the  sixteenth,  wherein  are  many  things  applicable  to 
David,  and  which  the  reader  would  naturally  apply  to  him,  without  thinking 
of  Christ.  But  as  he  proceeds,  he  finds  some  things  which  cannot  apply  to 
David — such  as  that  God  would  not  suffer  his  Holy  One  to  see  corruption ; 
but  show  him  the  path  of  life ;  in  his  presence,  fulness  of  joy ;  and  at  his 
right  hand,  pleasures  for  evermore.  Hence  it  is  evident  that,  though  many 
things  were  true  of  David,  yet  the  main  design  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was,  under 
the  form  of  a  prayer  of  David,  to  furnish  a  glorious  prophecy  of  the  Messiah 
— his  resurrection,  ascension,  and  glorification  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father. 
Thus  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  understood  it,  and  thus  they  reasoned  from 
it,  Acts  ii.  25-36 ;  xiii.  35-37.  Other  instances,  equally  in  point,  might 
be  quoted,  but  this  is  sufficient.  And  so  here,  in  this  Song  of  Solomon,  it 
is  easy  to  observe  (and  that  without  the  help  of  a  wild  imagination)  a  Divine 
glory,  the  beams  of  which  are  too  bright  not  to  be  seen  through  the  veil,  too 
resplendent  for  all  this  covering  to  conceal. 

To  begin  with  the  introduction  of  the  poem — "The  song  of  songs,  which 
is  Solomon's."  It  is  allowed,  I  suppose,  whether  it  be  canonical  or  not,  that 
Solomon  was  the  author.  Now  for  him  to  compose  a  song  abounding  with 
idleness  and  impurity,  which  is  insinuated  of  this,  and  to  style  it  "  The  song 
of  songs,"  that  is,  the  most  excellent  of  all  songs,  bears  hard  on  his  charac- 
ter either  as  a  good  or  a  wise  man.  If  he  knew  tlie  w^hole  was  dictated  by 
wantonness,  and  yet,  by  setting  out  with  such  high  pretensions,  gave  the 
reader  to  expect  great  and  glorious  things,  he  was  an  impostor.     Or,  if  he 


608  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

did  not  intend  any  imposition,  but  really  thought  his  poem,  though  not  a 
Divine  allegory,  yet  a  most  excellent  song,  then  it  proves  him,  so  far  from 
being  the  tciscst  of  men,  little  better  than  a  fool ;  for  however,  in  some  parts, 
it  may  abound  with  liner  language,  equal,  and  perhaps  su[)erior,  to  any  other 
human  composition,  yet  the  self-commendation  which,  upon  this  principle, 
runs  through  the  whole,  renders  it  in  the  last  degree  fulsome  and  disgusting. 
"  I  am  the  rose  of  Sharon,  and  the  lily  of  the  valley — white  and  ruddy — the 
chief  among  ten  thousand,  and  the  altogether  lovely,"  are  expressions,  I  will 
venture  to  say,  impossible  to  drop  from  the  pen  of  any  mere  creature,  if  ap- 
plied to  himself,  but  a  stark  fool.  And  either  of  the  above  suppositions 
would  invalidate,  not  this  Song  only,  but  the  book  of  Proverbs  and  Ecclesi- 
astes;  which  are  referred  to  as  canonical  by  an  inspired  apostle.  Compare 
Heb.  xii.  5,  6,  with  Prov.  iii.  11,  12.  And  not  only  so,  but  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, as  such,  would  be  invalidated,  for  representing  him  as  a  loise  and  ^ooc? 
man. 

Many  other  things  are  uttered  in  this  Song,  of  which  I  may  instance  a 
few,  which  cannot  comport  with  the  idea  of  a  mere  love-song.  For  example: 
in  chap.  i.  4,  the  bride  is  represented  as  saying  to  her  beloved,  "  The  npright 
love  thee."  This,  if  applied  to  Christ,  is  eminendy  true,  and  conveys  this 
glorious  sentiment — that  such  is  the  excellence  of  his  person,  character,  and 
conduct,  that  every  "  upright"  heart  must  needs  love  him.  But  apply  this  to 
mere  creatures,  and  what  uprightness  of  character  is  required?  Especially 
apply  it  to  Solomon  and  some  of  his  associates — I  presume  they  were  not 
pre-eminently  "  upright"  that  loved  him  1 

Immediately  after,  the  bride  is  represented  as  calling  herself  "  black,  but 
Cornell/:"  and,  by  black,  it  is  evident  she  meant  the  very  opposite  of  comely; 
seeing  she  further  compares  herself  to  the  black  and  beggarly  "  tents  of 
Kedar,"  as  well  as  to  the  beautiful  "  curtains  of  Solomon."  This,  if  applied 
to  the  church  of  Christ,  sets  forth,  in.  a  most  lively  manner,  her  external 
meanness  and  deforinity  in  the  estimation  of  the  world,  and  her  spiritual 
beauty  in  the  eyes  of  Christ.  Thus,  in  the  forty-fifth  Psalm,  the  king's 
daughter  is  represented  as  "  all  glorious  within."  But  apply  the  language  to 
a  female  as  such,  and  I  see  not  how  she  could  be  both  black  and  comely, 
repulsive  and  beautiful ;  and,  if  this  were  possible,  it  is  scarcely  conceivable 
that  she  should  so  freely  acknoivlcdge  her  uncomeliness,  any  more  than  that, 
consistently  with  modesty,  she  should  sing  of  her  beauty.  Especially  apply 
this  to  one  of  Solomon's  wives;  and  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  she  should 
be  a  sunburnt  vineyard  keeper  ! 

Again,  in  the  ninth  verse,  the  bridegroom  is  represented  as  comparing  his 
bride  to  "  a  company  of  horses  in  Pharaoh's  chariot."  This,  if  applied  to 
the  church  of  Christ,  is  a  fine  representation  of  her  union,  order,  and  activity, 
in  her  social  capacity.  But  how  a  female,  as  such,  can  be  likened  to  a  com- 
pany of  horses,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  conceive. 

Again,  the  bride  is  represented  as  endeavouring  to  endear  her  beloved  to 
others,  setting  him  forth  in  all  his  beauty;  and  the  consequence  is,  they  are 
taken  with  him;  and  instead  of  the  scornful  question,  "What  is  thy  beloved 
more  than  another  beloved  1"  they  change  their  note,  and  ask  very  respect- 
fully, "  Where  is  thy  beloved,  that  we  may  seek  him  with  thee  ?"  This,  if 
applied  to  Christ  and  the  church,  is  a  beautiful  representation  of  that  con- 
cern which  occupies  every  pious  breast  that  others  should  know  and  love  the 
Saviour  as  well  as  themselves,  of  their  eagerness  to  proclaim  his  excellencies, 
and  of  the  good  effects  which  frequently  follow,  as  in  the  case  of  the  woman 
of  Samaria.  But,  to  apply  it  to  one  of  Solomon's  wives  endeavouring  to 
excite  the  admiration  of  others,  is  most  extraordinary,  and  far  enough  from 
the  way  in  which  female  affection  ordinarily  works ! 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         609 

Again,  the  bridegroom,  in  expressing  his  admiration  of  the  bride,  declares 
her  to  be  "  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners."  How  this  could  be  a  recom- 
mendation of  one  of  Solomon's  wives  I  cannot  conceive.  But  apply  it  to 
the  church  of  Christ,  and  it  beautifully  sets  forth  the  terror  with  which  their 
testimony,  attended  with  unity,  order,  zeal,  and  iiiflezible  piety,  strikes  the 
enemies  of  God.  Mary,  queen  of  Scotts,  declared  that  she  feared  the  prayers 
of  John  Knox  more  than  an  army  of  ten  thousand  men! 

"But  is  it  not  an  unseemly  allegory?"  I  answer  by  asking,  Is  there  any 
thing  unseemly  in  virtuous  love?  Has  not  the  Holy  Ghost  made  use  of  this 
imagery  throughout  the  Scriptures?  The  forty-fifth  Psalm  will  stand  or  fall 
with  this  Song. — See  also  John  iii.  29;  Eph.  v.  23-32.  Moreover,  did  not 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  inspiring  the  sacred  writers,  make  use  of  their  natural 
propensities,  so  that  each  writer  wrote  according  to  his  turn  and  taste?  Thus 
David,  who  had  a  taste  for  music,  tuned  his  harp,  and  wrote  an  inspired 
Psalm  book.  John,  who  was  naturally  amiable,  treated  largely  on  love.  And 
Solomon,  who  was  famed  for  wisdom,  wrote  the  Proverbs  and  Ecclesiastes. 
Nor  was  this  the  only  prominent  feature  in  the  character  of  Solomon.  God 
had  made  him  susceptible  of  the  tenderest  and  most  endearing  affections, 
which,  under  the  dominion  of  virtue,  are  productive  of  the  happiest  social 
effects.  And  under  the  dominion  of  virtue  these  affections  in  Solomon, 
doubdess,  were  for  a  time;  and  during  that  time  he  was  inspired  to  compose 
this  Song. 

"But  does  it  not  contain  indelicate  imagery?"  Suppose  it  should  appear 
so  in  our  age  and  country,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  was  so  when  and  where  it 
was  written.  It  is  well  known  that  words  become  indelicate  in  one  age  which 
were  in  another  considered  pure.  Words  are  but  arbitrary  signs,  and  their 
meaning  varies  according  to  the  variations  of  custom.  Custom,  which  is 
governed  by  ten  thousand  accidents,  may  affix  ideas  to  a  word  in  one  age 
which  in  another  it  never  included.  There  are  words  which  our  fathers  used 
in  English  which  would  offend  a  modern  ear,  and  which  would  now  convey 
very  different  ideas  from  what  they  did  then.  It  is  also  well  known  that 
Eastern  imagery  is  widely  different  from  ours,  in  respect  of  what  we  account 
delicacy,  as  well  as  boldness.  They  would  have  scorned,  if  I  may  so  say,  to 
have  truckled  to  our  finical  rules.  If  we  reject  all  the  scriptures  which  do 
not  accord  with  these  rules,  we  must  reject  much  more  than  Solomon's 
Song. 

Mr.  R.  enumerates  a  long  list  of  Scripture  phrases  which  he  accounts 
indelicate  to  repeat  in  this  age  and  country,  and  tells  of  a  young  clergyman 
of  his  acquaintance  to  whom  the  mention  of  some  such  in  a  sermon  had  well 
nigh  proved  an  emetic! — Claude,  vol.  ii.  p.  32.  I  must  confess,  I  am  so 
attached  to  Scripture  phraseology,  that  I  am  not  so  apt  to  sicken  at  the  sound 
as  some  people  may  be.  Mr.  R.  has  much  better  expressed  my  mind  on  this 
subject  in  another  page  of  the  same  volume,  (p.  341,)  where,  speaking  on 
"finical  delicacy,"  he  says,  "We  may  observe,  on  the  one  hand,  that  purity 
and  simplicity  of  manners  are  generally  accompanied  with  a  blunt,  rough, 
rank  speech;  and,  on  the  other,  that  depravity  of  manners  generally  hides 
itself  under  an  affected  refinement  and  delicacy  of  style.  The  old  prophets 
spoke  bluntly,  but  they  were  very  holy.  Modern  courtiers  speak  refinedly; 
but  they  are,  behind  the  curtain,  extremely  vicious." 

However,  as  he  has  selected  a  number  of  expressions  to  be  excluded  from 
the  pulpit,  without  rejecting  the  books  whence  they  are  taken  as  uncanoni- 
cal,  why  should  he  not  do  the  same  by  Solomon's  Song?  Two  or  three 
passages  at  most  would  have  sufficed.  Or,  if  a  whole  book  must  be  rejected, 
on  account  of  its  containing  such  and  such  expressions,  why  does  lie  not 
reject  the  other  parts  of  Scripture,  and  commence  deist  at  once? 

Vol.  HI.— 77 


610  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Surely  T  might  appeal  to  all  serious  Christians  whether  the  reading  of  this 
poem  has  had  an  improper  influence  on  tlieir  minds.  I  believe,  were  it  not 
for  some  wanton  would-be-wits,  encouraged,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  by  such  critics 
as  Mr.  R.,  the  sentiments  of  this  sacred  Song  would  never  have  been  so 
awfully  perverted.  Holi/  men  have,  in  all  ages,  found  in  liahoJij  tendency — 
a  tendency  to  raise  in  their  minds  a  flame  of  genuine  and  ardent  affection 
towards  Him  who  is  the  subject  of  the  Song — "  The  chief  among  ten  thou- 
sand, the  altogether  lovely !" — "  To  the  pure  all  things  are  pure !" 

LETTER  VI. 
on  the  influence  of  satan  upon  the  human  mind. 
My  dear  Friend, 

In  reply  to  your  observations  on  the  influence  of  Satan  on  the  human 
mind,  I  am  free  to  acknowledge  that  it  is  a  subject  of  such  a  nature  that  in 
speculating  upon  it  we  may  presently  lose  ourselves.  But  this  is  true  of 
every  subject  connected  with  the  operations  of  spirit. 

To  the  opinion  of  Mr.  R.  on  this  subject  I  was  not  wholly  a  stranger; 
nor,  probably,  are  you  ignorant  that  it  is  one  of  the  tenets  of  Dr.  Priestley 
and  the  modern  Socinians.  That  writer  thus  expresses  himself: — "The 
word  devil,  or  Satan,  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  signifies  only  the 
principle  of  natural  or  moral  evil,  personified  by  a  well-known  figure  in 
rhetoric.     The  devil  is  only  an  allegorical  personage." 

I  presume  Mr.  R.  would  not  go  quite  so  far  as  Dr.  P.,  to  deny  the  exist- 
ence of  evil  spirits  ;  yet  he  is  very  little  behind  him  in  denying  their  injiuence 
on  the  human  mind. 

It  is  no  contemptible  instance  of  Satan's  policy  to  get  the  notions  of  his 
existence  and  influence  exploded ;  well  knowing  that,  in  that  case,  no  prayers 
would  ascend  to  heaven,  and  no  vigilance  be  exercised  on  earth,  against  his 
allurements.  Nothing  would  discover  more  admirable  policy  in  a  thief  or 
a  murderer,  who  was  prowling  about  the  outskirts  of  a  town  for  the  pur- 
poses of  plunder,  than  to  quiet  the  alarms  of  the  people  by  procuring  the 
circulation  of  an  opinion,  either  that  no  such  person  existed,  or  that,  if  he 
did,  he  could  not  possibly  enter  their  houses;  in  fact,  that  the  whole  was  a 
popular  prejudice,  invented  by  designing  priests,  and  perpetuated  by  a  few 
old  women,  to  frighten  the  vulgar. 

It  is  allowed  that  the  devil  has  no  power  over  our  minds  without  Divine 
permission ;  yea,  further,  that  he  has  no  such  power  over  us  as  to  draw  us 
into  sin  without  our  own  consent.  I  will  not  say  that  he  cannot  suggest 
sinful  thoughts  without  our  consent;  but  certainly  he  cannot,  without  our 
consent,  draw  us  into  sin.  If  we  yield  not,  we  may  be  said  to  be  tempted, 
as  Christ  was;  but  sin  does  not  consist  in  being  tempted,  but  in  falling  in 
with  the  temptation. 

Further,  It  is  allowed  that  the  principal  and  immediate  objects  of  our 
dread  ought  to  be  the  snares  and  allurements  of  the  world.  These  are  some- 
times called  temptations,  being  the  means  adopted  by  the  god  of  this  world 
to  draw  away  the  heart.  But  not  a  fish  that  swims  need  fear  the  most  subtle 
and  expert  fisherman,  provided  it  keep  clear  of  his  nets  and  baits. 

Once  more,  It  is  allowed  that  the  doctrine  of  Satanic  influence  has  been 
greatly  abused  by  some  who  profess  to  maintain  it;  as  when  they  consider 
themselves  merely  passive,  and  that  all  the  evil  of  their  minds  is  to  be 
charged  upon  foreign  agency;  thus  imputing  all  their  wickedness  to  the 
devil,  for  the  purpose  of  exonerating  themselves.  But  this  is  ho  proof  that 
the  doctrine  itself  is  not  true.  Multitudes  abuse  the  doctrine  oi  human  dc 
gravity;  and  by  imputing  their  sinful  conduct  to  their  poor  wicked  hearts, 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         611 

or  to  the  old  man,  as  they  express  themselves,  endeavour  to  elude  the  blame. 
But  shall  we,  on  this  account,  deny  that  doctrine?     Surely  not. 

You  will  receive  my  present  thoughts  on  Satanic  influence  under  three 
observations. 

First — The  language  of  Scripture  on  this  subject  is  such  that  nothing  but 
an  absolute  impossibility  of  its  being  understood  literally  should  render  any 
other  sense  admissible. 

The  language  of  inspiration,  it  must  be  allowed,  not  only  represents  the 
devil  as  a  real  intelligent  agent,  but  describes  him  as  having  an  influence  on 
the  human  mind.  Among  others,  let  the  following  passages  be  seriously 
considered :  "  The  God  of  this  world  blindeth  the  minds  of  them  that  be- 
lieve not. — The  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now  worketh 
in  the  children  of  disobedience. — Be  sober,  be  vigilant,  because  your  adver- 
sary the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walketh  about,  seeking  whom  he  may 
devour. — That  they  may  recover  themselves  out  of  the  snare  of  the  devil 
who  are  taken  captive  by  him  at  his  will. — For  this  purpose  the  Son  of  God 
was  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil. — Satan  hath 
desired  to  have  thee,  that  he  may  sift  thee  as  wheat. — Resist  the  devil,  and 
he  will  flee  from  you. — Put  on  the  whole  armour  of  God,  that  ye  may  be 
able  to  stand  against  the  wiles  of  the  devil :  for  we  wrestle  not  against  flesh 
and  blood,  but  against  principalities  and  powers,  against  the  rulers  of  the 
darkness  of  this  world,  against  spiritual  wickedness  (or  wicked  spirits)  in 
high  places." 

In  considering  the  above  testimonies,  it  is  only  necessary  that  Satanic  in- 
fluence, literally  speaking,  is  possible;  and  no  man  ought  to  dispute  it,  un- 
less he  can  prove  it  absolutely  impossible.  But  by  what  mediums  will  that 
be  attempted?  Can  it  be  proved  that  Satan  canwof  communicate  ideas  to 
the  human  mind?  That  simple  finite  spirits  can  convey  ideas  to  each  other, 
and  influence  each  other,  cannot  be  denied,  without  denying  the  possibility 
of  reciprocal  communication  between  angels,  and  between  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect.  And  that  simple  spirit  can  influence  spirits  dwelling  in 
bodies  cannot  be  denied,  without  denying  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
on  the  souls  of  men.  If  there  be  any  impossibility  in  the  matter,  it  must 
consist  in  this:  for  ^  fnite  simple  spirit  to  convey  ideas  to  another  spirit 
dwelling  in  fiesh.  But  wherein  consists  the  impossibility  of  this?  He  that 
can  prove  it  so,  let  him  undertake  it.  But  let  him  reflect  that,  in  proving 
this,  he  will  also  prove  that  there  has  been  no  fellowship  between  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect  and  the  spirits  of  Enoch,  Elijah,  and  our  Lord; 
for  their  spirits  inhabit  bodies.  On  this  principle  the  translation,  instead  of 
the  death,  of  Enoch  and  Elijah,  is  a  disadvantage  rather  than  a  privilege; 
and  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord's  body  must  occasion,  for  the  present,  an 
unspeakable  loss  to  tJie  church  above.  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  man  is 
not  yet  born  who  will  undertake  to  prove  the  impossibility  of  Satanic  in- 
fluence on  the  human  mind. 

I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  Mr.  R.  does  not  reject  the  senti- 
ment on  the  ground  of  its  impossibility,  but  rather  on  this  principle  : — "  that 
there  is  iw  need  to  impute  that  to  infernal  agency  which  can  be  accounted 
for  in  a  more  simple  way."  Now,  if  we  had  no  other  source  of  information 
on  the  subject  than  our  own  observation,  this  maxim  might  be  a  good  one; 
but  if  God  has  told  us  that  Satan  has  an  influence  on  the  human  mind — 
(and  this,  if  words  have  any  meaning,  he  most  certainly  has) — that  ought  to 
put  the  matter  out  of  all  doubt.  Otherwise  it  will  amount  to  this: — That 
though  God  declares  that  such  things  are  the  effects  of  such  causes,  yet  there 
is  no  need  for  believing  this,  provided  we  can  discover  what  we  conceive  to 
be  a  more  simple  way  of  accounting  for  them !     And  that,  having  made 


612  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

this  important  discovery,  we  are  at  liberty  to  explain  away  the  literal  sense 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  understand  them  metaphorically !  But  this  is  settincr 
up  our  own  wisdom  as  the  standard  whereby  to  try  the  wisdom  of  God, 
which  is  the  very  essence  of  Socinianism — the  main  pillar  on  which  their 
system  rests.  Thus  they  metaphorize  the  Word,  or  Son  of  God,  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  John,  and  every  thing  else  that  stands  in  their  way. 
This  is  the  rock  on  which  they  split.  Mr.  R.  himself  says,  "The  difference 
between  the  Socinians  and  our  churches,  on  this  article,  seems  to  be  this: 
we  apply  reason  to  the  evidences  of  revelation;  and  they  to  all  its  doctrines: 
according  to  us,  reason  has  done  its  office  when  it  has  obtained  evidence 
that  God  speaks;  according  to  them,  reason  is  to  reject  what  is  spoken,  if 
theij  cannot  comprehend  it.'' — Claude,  vol.  i.  p.  153. 

In  short,  considering  the  plain  import  of  the  forecited  passages  to  any 
reader  of  common  sense  and  common  honesty,  if  no  such  influence  existed 
it  would  be  difficult  to  vindicate  the  writers  from  being  either  ignorant  men, 
carried  away  with  vulgar  prejudices;  or,  what  is  worse, designing  impostors, 
pretending  to  use  great  plainness  of  speech,  when,  at  the  same  time,  the 
whole  current  of  their  writings  tended  much  more  to  deceive  mankind,  and 
to  conjure  up  a  number  of  imaginary  bugbears,  than  to  convey  solid  and 
useful  instruction.  Mr.  R.  himself  adopts  this  reasoning  on  another  sub- 
ject. See  his  "  Plea  for  the  Divinity  of  Christ,"  the  first  two  arguments 
from  the  language  of  the  New  Testament. 

Secondly — If  the  Scriptures  on  this  stihject  are  not  to  he  understood 
literally,  but  metaphorically,  the  influence  of  Satan  meaning  no  more  than 
moral  evil — then  the  ivriters  must  have  been  metaphor  mad. 

According  to  this  they  first  metaphorize  things  into  persons,  and  then 
again  metaphorize  these  persons  into  things!  It  is  well  known  that  the 
devil,  in  his  influence  upon  men,  is  represented  under  the  names  of  a  ser- 
pent, a  lion,  fowls  of  the  air,  &c.  These  representations,  if  descriptive  of 
the  influence  of  a  real  intelligent  agent,  are  proper  and  beautiful.  They 
are  metaphors.  But  if  they  are  intended  to  describe  a  mere  principle  of 
moral  evil,  where  is  the  beauty,  where  the  propriety?  Is  it  not  all  confusion? 
First  moral  evil  is  personified,  or  converted  into  a  devil ;  and  then  this  devil 
is  metaphorized  into  a  serpent,  a  lion,  &c. 

To  suppose  Christ,  in  his  explication  of  the  parable  of  the  soieer,  for 
instance,  when  he  was  stripping  it  of  its  parabolical  clothing,  and  giving  the 
plain,  literal  meaning,  to  explain  one  dark  metaphor  by  another  equally  dark,, 
is  most  extraordinary.  "  When  any  one  heareth  the  word,  and  understandeth 
it  not,"  says  he,  "  then  cometh  the  wicked  one,  and  catcheth  away  that  which 
was  sown  in  the  heart :  this  is  he  which  received  seed  by  the  way-side."  A 
very  curious  explanation  indeed,  on  this  principle!  The  wicked  one  taking 
the  word  out  of  their  hearts  must  have  been  quite  as  obscure  as  the  fowls  of 
the  air  devouring  it — an  explanation  which  itself  needed  explaining! 

The  same  might  be  observed  of  the  parable  oi  the  tares.  It  is  said  that, 
while  men  slept,  the  enemy  came  and  sowed  tares  among  the  wheat,  and 
went  his  way.  In  giving  the  plain  and  real  meaning  of  this  parable,  our 
Lord  said  the  enemy  that  sowed  them  was  the  devil.  This,  we  may  pre- 
sume, he  thought  sufficiently  plain.  But  if  Satan  has  no  influence  on  the 
mind,  this  was  perplexing  the  subject,  not  explaining  it. 

In  fine,  it  is  easy  to  see  from  hence  that  the  existence  and  the  influence 
of  evil  spirits  must  stand  or  flill  together.  If  the  one  is  metaphorical,  so  is 
the  other.  The  word  of  God  speaks  as  explicitly  and  unequivocally  in 
favour  of  the  latter  as  of  the  former ;  and  if  the  one  be  abandoned,  so  must 
the  other.     And  thus  the  Scripture  account  of  "  angels  who  kept  not  their 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  MR.  R.  ROBINSON.         613 

first  estate  being  reserved  to  everlasting  chains,  under  darkness,  unto  the 
judgment  of  the  great  day,"  may  be  all  nothing. 

There  may  be  no  such  beings  in  reality;  the  whole  may  be  metaphorical. 
And,  in  that  case,  the  whole  testimony  of  Scripture  is  reduced  to  uncer- 
tainty ;  and  hell,  yea,  heaven  itself,  may  be  an  eastern  metaphor — a  poetic 
fiction! 

Thirdly — If  a  series  of  actions  take  place,  luliich  discover  sottie  great  de- 
sign, we  naturally  suppose  an  agent  equal  to  those  actions,  as  exercising  suck 
design. 

Every  design  must  have  a  designer,  every  contrivance  a  contriver.  Thus 
we  prove  the  being  and  superintending  providence  of  God.  We  see  a  crea- 
tion— a  system  full  of  design ;  and  we  conclude  that  there  must  be  a  Creator. 
We  see  also,  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  a  wonderful  combination  of  events, 
operating  in  many  cases  without  the  knowledge  of  those  who  are  instru- 
ments in  bringing  them  to  pass,  and  concurring  to  produce  the  most  aston- 
ishing results;  and  hence  we  infer  that  there  must  be  a  Supreme  Being, 
who  sits  at  the  helm  of  affairs,  and  controls  the  whole  with  an  invisible 
hand. 

Now  just  apply  this  reasoning  to  the  case  in  hand.  The  opposition  car- 
ried on  against  the  cause  of  God,  from  the  very  beginning,  bears  evident 
marks  o[  design — of  design  far  superior  to  theirs  who  were  the  visible  and 
immediate  instruments. 

When  God  instituted  sacrifices,  to  teach  mankind  the  necessity  of  an 
atonement,  they  were  presently  perverted  to  purposes  of  idolatry. 

When  all  people  were  become  idolaters,  and  God  separated  a  people  to 
himself,  to  serve  him,  every  measure  was  adopted  to  oppose  and  crush  that 
people.  Thousands  of  them  were  murdered  in  Egypt  in  infancy,  and  the 
remainder  cruelly  oppressed.  When  in  the  wilderness,  enchantments  and 
divinations  were  employed  to  curse  them.  And,  from  their  first  settlement 
in  Canaan,  until  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  the  surrounding  nations  were 
leagued  together  against  them.  Jerusalem  especially,  the  place  where  Jeho- 
vah had  fixed  his  name,  was  the  mark  of  their  hot  displeasure.  "  Raze  it 
— raze  it  to  the  foundation !"  was  their  cry, 

A  most  marked  opposition  was  discovered  to  the  great  Corner-stone  of  the 
church — Christ  Jesus.  When  he  came  into  the  world  the  children  of  a 
whole  town  must  be  slain,  in  the  hope  of  slaying /im«.  When  he  entered  on 
his  ministry,  an  especial  effort  was  made  to  draw  him  into  sin,  to  taint  his 
holy  mind  with  distrust,  presumption,  and  vain-glory ;  and  when  that  temp- 
tation failed,  the  main  object  was  to  get  him  despatched. 

After  his  ascension,  every  opposition  that  could  be  made  to  the  church  of 
God  was  pursued  with  greediness.  Persecution  raged  in  the  first  three  cen- 
turies with  relentless  fury,  carrying  off  its  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  by 
the  most  cruel  deaths.  At  a  very  early  period,  heresies  and  animosities  found 
their  way  into  the  bosom  of  the  church.  Even  the  apostles  were  fully  em- 
ployed in  stemming  the  torrent;  and,  after  their  decease,  a  variety  of  corrupt 
notions  and  idle  ceremonies  tarnished  the  glory  of  the  church,  and  intro- 
duced that  flood  of  iniquity — the  papal  apostacy. 

The  same  mighty  mischief  has  been  planned  and  executed  against  the 
church  ever  since.  In  every  age,  they  have  been  desolated  by  cruel  perse- 
cution, poisoned  by  pernicious  principles,  or  torn  in  pieces  by  intestine 
divisions. 

If  ever  any  opposition  can  be  said  to  be  carried  on  by  design,  surely  this 
must.  An  opposition  so  long  in  duration,  and  maintained  so  uniformly,  and 
by  such  complicated  and  opposite  measures,  could  not  have  been  conducted 
without  an  intelligent  agent  at  the  head  of  it.     And,  if  any  credit  is  to  be 

3F 


C14  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

given  to  tlie  word  of  God,  such  an  agent  does  exist.    Of  this  we  have,  in  the 
word  of  God,  several  striking  intimations. 

The  perversion  of  sacrifices  to  idolatrous  purposes  appears  very  much  like 
a  design  on  the  part  of  Satan  to  draw  off  the  attention  of  mankind  from  the 
Lord  Messiah.  Indeed,  this  seems  to  be  intimated  by  the  sacrifices  of  idols 
being  designated  by  an  inspired  apostle — "  The  sacrifices  of  devils,"  1  Cor. 
X.  20,  21. 

The  opposition  of  the  nations  to  Israel  may  he  ascribed  to  the  same  cause. 
In  the  days  of  David  they  repeatedly  made  war  against  them,  but  in  vain ; 
for  we  read  that  "  the  Lord  preserved  David  whithersoever  he  went."  But 
when  Satan  could  obtain  no  advantage  over  Israel  by  the  sword  of  his  hea- 
then vassals,  he  took  the  field  himself;  and  the  next  news  we  read  is,  that 
"  Satan  stood  up  against  Israel,  and  provoked  David  to  number  Israel."  He 
vented  his  malice  against  them  by  moving  their  chief  to  sin,  and  to  sin  of 
such  a  kind  as  should  provoke  the  Lord  to  diminish  their  numbers.  And 
it  proved  that,  by  drawing  David  into  sin, — inflating  his  heart  with  pride  on 
a  review  of  his  numerous  forces,  Satan  slew  more  Israelites  in  a  few  days 
than  his  vassals,  the  heathen  princes,  could  in  a  succession  of  years,  1  Chron. 
xviii.  13;  xxi.  1. 

The  efforts  that  were  made  to  draio  Christ  into  sin,  as  recorded  in  the 
fourth  chapter  of  Matthew,  are  expressive  of  the  same  design.  They  were 
natural,  from  one  whose  main  object  was  to  overthrow  the  work  of  human 
redemption.  It  might  be  supposed  he  would  try  all  he  could  to  undermine 
the  foundation  of  the  church,  well  knowing  that  in  that  case  the  structure 
must  fall.  This  is  intimated  in  that  memorable  saying  of  our  Lord — "  On 
this  rock  will  I  build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it. 

The  crucifxion  of  Christ  is  also  attributed  to  the  devil,  who  is  represented 
as  entering  into  Judas,  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  Son  of  man  betrayed 
into  the  hands  of  sinners.  Tormented,  it  seems,  with  the  success  of  our 
Lord,  and  perceiving  that  his  gospel  was  silently  insinuating  itself  into  the 
hearts  of  men,  he  determines  to  get  him  despatched  out  of  tlie  way.  Every 
circumstance  of  this  tragical  affair  unfolds  design,  (A\  bearing  on  one  point, 
the  crushing  of  the  rising  interest. 

Just  suppose  Satan  to  have  reasoned  with  himself: — What  shall  I  do?  If 
I  let  him  alone,  the  world  will  believe  in  him.  I  cannot  draw  him  into  sin: 
he  has  baflled  me  in  every  effort,  1  will  get  him  despatched ;  and  the  more 
effectually  to  make  an  end  of  him,  and  of  all  future  attachment  to  him,  I  will 
get  him  executed  in  the  most  shameful  manner.  He  shall  be  hanged  as  a 
common  malefactor,  at  the  place  of  public  execution;  so  that  his  name  shall 
be  had  in  execration  to  the  end  of  time.  Yea,  and,  that  his  memory  may  be 
covered  with  everlasting  infamy,  I  will  stir  up  his  own  countrymen,  the 
Jews,  the  only  religious  people  in  the  world,  to  put  him  to  death;  and  not 
merely  the  rabble,  but  the  sanhedrim,  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  the  very 
gods  of  the  people,  whose  reputation  is  such  that  all  the  world  will  conclude 
that  if  he  had  not  been  a  malefactor  he  had  not  been  put  to  death — and 
thus  I  hope  to  overcome  him !  Were  we  to  suppose,  I  say,  that  Satan  had 
reasoned  thus,  the  supposition  would  only  correspond  with  the  facts  of  the 
case. 

This,  moreover,  seems  to  be  intimated  in  those  scriptures  which  speak  of 
the  sufferings  of  Christ — as  "  the  hour  and  power  of  darkness — breaking  the 
serpent's  head — spoiling  principalities  and  powers — making  a  show  of  them 
openly — triumphing  over  them  in  his  cross." 

It  was  glorious,  indeed,  that  at  the  very  hour  when  hell  was  just  ready  to 
burst  forth  into  triumph,  then  it  should  receive  its  fatal  shock ;  and  that 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL,  015 

those  very  means  which  were  designed  to  crush  tlie  Lord  Jesus  and  his  rising 
interest,  and  overturn  the  work  of  human  redemption,  should  be  made  to 
subserve  the  overthrow  of  Satan's  empire,  and  lay  the  foundation  of  that  very 
work  which  they  were  intended  to  destroy!  This  was  killing  Goliath  with 
his  own  sword — this  was  making  a  show  of  him  indeed ! 

The  persecution  that  raged  against  the  church,  and  the  heresies  that  were 
introduced,  are  also  ascribed  to  the  devil,  and  equally  marked  by  design.  It 
was  said  to  the  church  at  Smyrna — "  The  devil  shall  cast  some  of  you  into 
prison."  And  the  persecutions  which  raged  are  represented  as  a  flood  coming 
out  of  the  mouth  of  the  great  red  dragon,  that  old  serpent  called  the  devil  and 
Satan,  against  the  woman  and  her  seed,  Rev.  ii.  10;  xii.  9,  14-17.  Not, 
indeed,  that  Satan  assumed  the  office  oi  justice  of  the  peace;  but  he  stirred 
up  his  vassals,  as  he  had  previously  moved  Judas,  to  betray  the  Lord. 

When,  in  the  days  of  Constantine  the  Great,  the  Roman  empire  became 
Christian,  and  so  an  end  for  a  time  was  put  to  persecution,  then  the  devil 
betook  himself  to  another  method.  Popery,  that  mystery  of  iniquity,  which 
had  long  begun  to  work,  now  made  its  appearance,  and  was  soon  openly 
revealed,  in  a  grand  though  gradual  apostacy,  2  Thess.  ii.  7,  8.  Arianism, 
Pelagianism,  and  the  whole  flurago  of  popery,  soon  overrun  the  church. 
False  doctrines  are  called  the  doctrines  of  devils :  and  the  beast  of  Rome  is 
said  to  receive  his  power  from  the  dragon,  1  Tim.  iv.  1 ;  Rev.  xiii.  2. 

And  now  I  leave  you  to  judge,  and  to  consider  whether  those  who  deny  the 
influence  of  evil  spirits  on  the  human  mind  are  very  far  from  denying  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Good  Spirit,  and  whether  the  one  may  not  very  naturally  pave 
the  way  for  the  other.  Lideed,  if  it  be  just  to  metaphorize  the  Scriptures  in 
the  one  case,  it  is  equally  just  in  the  other.  They  do  not  speak  more  fully 
and  decidedly  of  the  one  than  they  do  of  the  other.  Paul  was  sent  forth  to 
turn  men  "  from  darkness  to  light,  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,"  Acts 
xxvi.  18.  But  if  the  power  of  Satan  be  a  metaphor,  the  power  of  God,  in 
delivering  men  from  it,  may  be  so  too.  Li  short,  if  such  a  liberty  is  to  be 
taken  in  metaphorizing  Scripture  in  this  instance,  it  may  in  any  other;  and 
then  nothing  will  be  able  to  stand  before  it.  There  is  not  a  doctrine  in  the 
Bible  but  might  be  thus  metaphorized  away. 

I  have  made  my  observations  with  freedom.  My  desire  is  that  you  should 
do  the  same  in  perusing  them.  Read  them,  not  with  the  partiality  of  a 
friend,  but  with  the  non-prepossession  of  an  indifferent  person.  I  may  in 
some  things  be  mistaken.  Receive  nothing  but  in  proportion  to  evidence. 
Though  you  are  bound  implicitly  to  believe  God,  you  are  not  bound  .so  to 
believe  me  or  any  other  creature.  Whether  all  I  have  said  be  approved  or 
not,  believe  nie,  I  am,  and  desire  to  remain,  your  sincere  friend, 

Andrew  Fuller. 


ON  SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  THE  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL. 

It  is  a  matter  of  complaint  too  common,  as  well  as  too  well  founded,  that 
the  bulk  of  Christians  in  the  present  ag(^  are  very  deficient  in  spirituality, 
and  come  far  short  of  the  primitive  Christians  in  a  close  walk  with  God.  We 
lament  over  our  unfruitfulness,  our  want  of  growth  in  grace  and  increasing 
conformity  to  Christ.  Complaints  of  this  kind,  if  they  arise  from  the  integ- 
rity of  our  hearts,  are  necessary  and  proper;  but  complaining  alone  will  not 
effect  a  cure.  We  may  sigh  and  go  backward  to  the  last  period  of  our  lives. 
One  necessary  means  of  effecting  a  cure  is  to  inquire  into  the  cause  or  causes 


C16  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

of  the  complaint.  An  investigation  of  this  nature  may,  through  a  Divine 
blessing,  answer  some  good  end  upon  the  minds  of  those  whose  desire  it  is 
to  be  searched  and  tried,  that  every  evil  way  may  be  detected. 

It  is  not  here  intended  to  inquire  into  all  the  different  causes  of  unfruitful- 
ness,  but  only  to  point  out  a  few  of  those  which  are  the  most  obvious.  That 
which  I  shall  insist  upon  in  this  paper  is,  The  want  of  a  proper  regard 
TO  THE  WORD  OF  GoD.  It  has  been  the  pleasure  of  God  to  "  magnify  his 
word  more  than  all  his  name;"  and  if  we  are  under  the  influence  of  a  right 
spirit,  we  shall  magnify  it  too.  It  is  by  the  knowledge  of  its  sacred  truths 
that  we  are  freed  from  the  slavery  of  sin,  and  our  spirits  sanctified.  In  it, 
as  in  a  glass,  "  we  behold  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  are  changed  into  the 
same  image,  from  glory  to  glory,  by  the  Spirit  of  God." 

In  almost  all  the  remarkable  declensions  in  the  church  of  God,  a  neglect 
of  the  Scriptures  has  been  at  the  root.  On  the  contrary,  in  all  the  seasons 
of  revival  and  reformation,  the  Scriptures  have  been  the  grand  means  of  their 
being  brought  about.  During  the  long  and  wicked  reign  of  Manasseh,  the 
book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord  was  lost,  was  lost  even  in  the  temple;  and  then 
it  was  that  idolatry  prevailed:  when  Josiah  came  to  the  throne,  and  a  reforma- 
tion was  brought  about,  the  lost  book  was  found,  and  read,  and  regarded. 
During  the  captivity,  the  word  of  God  seems  to  have  been  neglected.  In  the 
times  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  a  glorious  reformation  was  brought  about;  but 
by  what  means?  The  sum  of  the  account  is  this:  Ezra  and  his  companions 
stood  vpon  a  pulpit  of  wood,  read  the  law,  and  gave  the  meaning ;  and  the 
people  understood  the  laio,  and  wept  bitterly,  and  entered  into  a  covenant  tcith 
their  God.  Religion  was  reduced  to  a  low  state  at  the  time  of  our  Lord's 
coming ;  and  one  cause  assigned  for  it  was,  that  the  Pharisees,  by  their  tradi- 
tions, had  "  made  void  the  law  of  God."  On  the  contrary,  the  glorious 
revival  which  then  succeeded,  by  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  Christ, 
and  his  apostles,  was  by  means  of  their  disseminating  the  true  knowledge  of 
God  as  revealed  in  the  Scriptures.  It  is  true,  they  themselves  were  inspired, 
but  yet  even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  appealed  to  the  word,  calling  upon  his 
hearers  to  "  search  the  Scriptures."  To  what  can  we  attribute  the  great  anti- 
christian  apostacy,  but  to  a  disregard  of  the  word  of  God?  The  original 
cause,  as  prophetically  given  us  by  the  apostle  himself,  was  this,  "  Because 
they  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved,  God  shall 
send  them  strong  delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie."  The  foundation 
of  popery  was  laid  in  a  disregard  to  the  Bible,  and  an  overweening  attach- 
ment to  traditions  and  unscriptural  ceremonies.  As  the  apostacy  ripened, 
the  Scriptures  were  neglected ;  and  at  length,  when  it  arrived  to  its  height, 
they  were  utterly  discarded,  being  absolutely  forbidden  to  be  read  by  the  com- 
mon people  even  in  their  own  language.  On  the  contrary,  by  what  means 
was  the  glorious  Reformation  effected?  Was  it  not  by  translating,  exposing, 
and  preaching  the  Scriptures?  From  the  foregoing  facts,  we  ought  at  least 
to  suspect  that  a  want  of  regard  to  the  Holy  Scripture  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  our  departures  from  God. 

There  are  several  ways  in  which  a  want  of  proper  regard  to  God's  word  is 
discovered.     I  shall  mention  three  in  particular: — 

First,  By  a  neglect  of  reading,  meditating,  and  praying  over  it.  We  have 
great  advantages  for  knowing  the  mind  of  God.  He  hath  told  us  all  his 
heart.  Our  advantages  are  superior,  not  only  to  heathens,  who  Avalk  in  the 
dark,  without  a  revelation,  but  to  those  of  the  church  of  God  itself  in  any 
former  period.  Old  Testament  saints  valued  the  Scriptures  "more  than  thou- 
sands of  gold  and  silver,"  more  than  their  necessary  food ;  and  yet  they  had 
but  a  small  part  of  the  sacred  canon  to  what  we  have.  That  which  has 
crowned  all,  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light,  was  then  wanting. 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  617 

■Phe  most  glorious  of  all  the  displays  of  God  has  been  added  since  their 
death.  Christians  themselves,  in  former  ages,  had  not  our  advantages.  Till 
the  art  of  printing  was  discovered,  it  must  have  been  very  difficult  for  many 
families  to  obtain  a  Bible;  and  no  doubt  a  great  number  of  Christians,  who 
were  generally  a  poor  people,  were  denied  the  pleasure  of  having  those  sacred 
books  in  their  families.  Since  then  circumstances  are  altered ;  we  have  now, 
through  a  kind  providence,  the  most  easy  access  to  the  Scriptures.  But 
whether  we  have  more  of  a  spiritual  understanding  into  the  mind  of  God 
than  our  predecessors  had  may  be  questioned;  yea,  whether  the  word  of  God, 
upon  the  whole,  is  read  more  now  by  Christians  than  it  was  then,  may  be 
a  matter  of  doubt.  Does  not  its  being  common  and  easy  of  access  seem  to 
diminish  its  value  in  our  eyes?  Are  we  not  apt  to  think  light  of  it,  as  Israel 
did  of  the  manna  when  rained  in  plenty  round  their  tents? 

The  sacred  Scripture  is  a  rich  mine  abounding  with  substantial  treasures; 
but  it  is  a  mine  that  must  be  worked.  If  we  would  read  it  to  advantage,  it 
must  be  with  prayer  and  meditation.  "  My  son,"  said  the  wise  man,  "  if 
thou  incline  thine  ear  unto  wisdom,  and  apply  thine  heart  to  understanding ;  if 
thou  criest  after  knowledge,  and  liftest  up  thy  voice  for  understanding;  if 
thou  seekest  her  as  silver,  and  searchest  for  her  as  for  hid  treasures;  then 
shalt  thou  understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find  the  knowledge  of  God." 
A  blessing  is  pronounced  upon  the  man  "  who  meditates  in  God's  law  by 
day  and  by  night.  He  shall  be  like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water, 
which  bringeth  forth  fruit  in  its  season."  If  any  think  to  excuse  themselves 
by  alleging  that  they  were  never  taught  to  read;  I  answer,  if  they  were  in- 
terested in  a  common  will,  or  testament,  they  would  never  think  of  remain- 
ing ignorant  of  its  contents.  If  they  could  not  read,  they  would  procure 
some  person  to  read  it  to  them;  or  if  that  could  not  be  done,  rather  than  not 
know  its  real  meaning,  they  would  be  at  some  considerable  pains  to  learn  to 
read  it  themselves.  Now  shall  all  this  regard  be  shown  to  a  common  will, 
and  that  spontaneously  of  our  own  accord ;  and  no  more  respect  be  paid  to 
the  invaluable  testament  of  our  dying  Redeemer?  Where  then  is  the  sin- 
cerity of  our  religious  profession?  "Where  a  man's  treasure  is,  there  will 
his  heart  be  also." 

Secondly,  By  not  reading  it  for  the  e7ids  and  purposes  for  which  it  was 
written.  What  those  ends  are,  we  are  expressly  informed  in  the  book  itself. 
"  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God  ;  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine, 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness."  To  read  the 
Scripture  for  doctrine  is  to  learn  our  religious  sentiments  from  it,  and  form 
them  by  it.  So  far  as  we  are  under  the  influence  of  prejudice,  or  receive 
systems  on  human  authority;  and  go  to  the  Scripture  not  so  much  with  a 
desire  to  be  instructed  in  what  we  know,  as  to  strengthen  ourselves  in  what 
we  have  already  imbibed,  be  it  right  or  wrong;  so  far  we  exercise  a  sinful 
disregard  to  the  Scriptures,  and  may  justly  be  given  up  of  God  to  our  own 
deceits.  If  we  read  the  word  of  God  to  any  good  purpose,  we  must  suppose 
beforehand  that  we  do  not  know  every  thing,  that  we  are  liable  to  error  in 
judgment  and  evil  in  practice;  how  else  shall  we  read  it  for  reproof  or  for 
correction  7 

If  we  set  up  our  oitm  reason,  so  as  to  resolve  to  admit  of  nothing  as  Divine 
truth  but  what  shall  be  within  its  comprehension,  we  despise  God's  word, 
and  cannot  be  said  to  read  it  either  for  doctrine  or  correction.  It  is  not 
enough  that  we  "  call  no  man  master;"  we  must  have  "one  Master,  even 
Christ."  Our  own  reason  is  also  another  word  for  our  own  creed;  and  we 
are  as  much  in  danger  of  being  ruined  by  our  own  creed  as  by  that  of 
another  man.  It  matters  not  by  what  name  we  call  it,  our  reason  or  our 
creed ;  if  the  infallible  dictates  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  to  give  way  to  this, 

Vol.  III.— 7S  2  f  2 


618  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

adieu  to  all  religion.  Where  such  presumption  begins,  it  may  truly  be  said, 
religion  ends. 

In  reading  the  'preceptive  part  of  Scripture,  it  will  be  but  of  little  use  to 
us,  unless  we  read  it  with  an  intention  and  determination,  through  Divine 
assistance,  to  form  our  conduct  by  it.  To  read  for  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness is  the  same  thing  as  searching  to  know  what  is  the  good,  perfect,  and 
acceptable  will  of  God,  with  a  design  to  do  it,  let  it  grate  ever  so  much  with 
our  carnal  inclinations.  It  answers  but  a  poor  end  to  read  a  chapter  once  or 
twice  a  day  in  the  family,  merely  for  the  sake  of  decency,  without  so  much 
as  an  intention  of  complying  with  what  shall  be  found  to  be  the  mind  of  God. 

If  our  judgment  or  conduct  is  formed  by  dreams,  visions,  or  supposed 
immediate  revelations  from  heaven,  and  not  by  the  plain  meaning  of  the  word 
of  God  as  it  stands  in  our  Bibles,  then  do  we  slight  the  word  of  God,  and 
God  may  justly  give  us  up  to  our  own  delusions.  It  is  no  just  plea  in  behalf 
of  these  supposed  revelations,  that  they  often  come  in  the  icords  of  Scripture. 
If  we  infer  any  thing  from  certain  words  of  Scripture  being  impressed  upon 
our  mind,  either  in  favour  of  ourselves,  or  for  the  guiding  of  our  conduct, 
which  cannot  be  proved  to  have  been  the  meaning  of  Scripture  independent 
of  that  impression,  it  is  no  other  than  real  enthusiasm,  and  will  in  the  great 
day  be  found  to  be  a  disregard  and  perversion  of  the  Scripture  itself 

Thirdly,  By  forming  a  low  opinion  of  the  importance  of  the  truths  contained 
in  it.  It  seems  to  be  very  much  the  spirit  and  opinion  of  the  present  age, 
that  it  matters  not  how  polluted  the  fountain  is,  if  the  streams  are  but  pure; 
but  the  question  is  whether  the  streams  can  be  pure,  if  the  fountain  is  pol- 
luted. Actions  materially  good  and  beneficial  to  society  may  flow  from  a 
heart  at  essential  variance  witii  the  doctrines  of  revelation;  but  it  wants  proof 
that  any  action  can  be  truly  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God,  unless 
it  originate  in  evangelical  principle.  On  the  contrary,  the  Scripture  is 
express,  that  "  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God." 

Some  good  people  have  contracted  a  strange  prejudice  against  the  doc- 
trines of  the  gos[)el,  accounting  them  di-y  and  uninteresting  matters.  They 
like  erpcrimental  religion  the  best,  they  tell  us.  But  I  do  not  understand 
tlie  distinction  of  religion  into  doctrinal  and  experimental  after  this  sort.  I 
would  ask  such  a  person.  What  is  experimental  religion?  Is  it  any  other 
than  the  influence  of  truth  upon  the  mind  by  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit? 
You  love  to  feel  godly  sorrow  for  sin  ;  so  do  I :  but  what  is  godly  sorrow  for 
sin  but  the  influence  of  truth  upon  your  heart?  Is  it  not  the  consideration 
of  the  great  evil  of  sin,  its  contrariety  to  what  ought  to  be,  its  being  com- 
mitted against  light,  love,  Sj'c,  that  dissolves  your  heart  in  grief?  Were  you 
not  to  realize  these  truths,  it  would  be  impossible  for  you  to  weep  over  your 
sin.  But  you  love  to  feel  joy  and  peace  in  believing;  so  do  I :  but  must  you 
not  have  an  object  to  believe  in  ?  Take  away  the  great  doctrine  of  the  atone- 
ment, and  all  your  faith,  joy,  and  peace  are  annihilated.  Much  the  same 
might  be  said  of  other  gospel  doctrines ;  instead  of  being  opposed  to  experi- 
mental religion,  they  are  essential  to  its  existence.  That  some  docirinal 
sermons  have  been  dry  and  uninteresting  is  granted ;  but  that  must  have 
been  the  fault  of  either  the  preacher  or  the  hearer.  If  Scripture  doctrines 
were  delivered  in  their  native  simplicity,  and  heard  with  a  heart  suitable  to 
their  importance,  they  could  not  be  dry;  they  must  be  like  the  doctrine  of 
Moses,  which  "  dropped  as  the  rain  upon  the  grass,  and  as  the  dew  upon  the 
tender  herb." 

There  is  another  prejudice  against  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  in  the  minds 
of  many  people.  They  imagine  them  to  be  unfriendly  to  practical  religion. 
That  practical  religion  may  be  neglected  through  an  excessive  attachment 
to  favourite  opinions  is  allowed;  but  if  we  imbibe  and  inculcate  the  truths 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  619 

of  the  gospel  according  to  the  lovely  proportion  in  which  they  stand  in  the 
Bible,  and  adhere  to  them,  not  because  we  have  once  imbibed  them,  but 
because  God  hath  revealed  them,  such  a  reception  of  the  truth  and  adherence 
to  it,  instead  of  enervating  practical  godliness,  will  be  found  to  be  the  life 
of  it.  Doctrinal,  experimental,  and  practical  religion  are  all  necessarily  con- 
nected together ;  they  can  have  no  existence  separate  from  each  other.  The 
influence  of  truth  upon  the  mind  is  the  source  of  all  our  spiritual  feelings, 
and  those  feelings  are  the  springs  of  every  good  word  and  action. 

The  above  are  some  of  the  different  ways  in  which  we  are  liable  to  be 
wanting  in  our  regard  to  the  word  of  God ;  and,  in  proportion  as  these  pre- 
vail, it  IS  natural  to  suppose  we  shall  be  wanting  in  spiritualili/  and  communion 
with  God:  instead  of  growing  in  grace,  we  shall  dwindle  like  the  unwatered 
plant  in  the  drought  of  summer.  This  may  be  expected  on  ttvo  accounts. 
First,  As  an  awful  chastisement  for  our  sin  in  such  disregard.  God's  word 
is  indited  by  his  Holy  Spirit;  a  want  of  proper  regard  to  that  word  must 
therefore  be  one  of  those  evil  things  by  which  the  Spirit  of  God  is  grieved; 
and  where  that  is  the  case,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  he  will  withdraw  his 
reviving,  fructifying  influences,  the  consequence  of  which  will  ever  be  a  dis- 
cernible want  of  spirituality.  I  call  this  an  awful  chastisement;  and  such  it 
is,  because  of  a  spiritual  kind.  As  the*Holy  Spirit  is  the  sum  of  spiritual 
good,  so  his  withdrawment  is  the  completion  of  every  spiritual  evil.  When 
David  was  threatened  with  the  loss  of  all  that  was  dear  to  him,  he  deprecated 
this  more  than  any  thing  beside :  "  Take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me !" 
"  Woe  unto  them,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  if  I  depart  from  them  !"  Secondly,  As 
a  natural  consequence  of  it.  God's  word  is  that  to  those  who  "  meditate  in 
it  by  day  and  by  night"  which  "  the  rivers  of  waters"  are  to  a  tree  planted 
by  t'heir  side.  It  is  that  by  means  of  which  they  "  bring  forth  fruit  in  their 
season."  From  the  want  of  a  spiritual  and  experimental  acquaintance  with 
God's  word  proceeds  a  ivant  of  religions  principle;  and  this  seems  to  be  the 
case  of  multitudes  of  professors  in  the  present  age.  From  want  of  religious 
principle  proceeds  a  more  than  ordinary  liability  to  ei'rors  in  judgment:  the 
house  that  was  empty,  though  swept  and  garnished,  was  ready  for  the  recep- 
tion of  unclean  spirits.  From  errors  in  judgment  proceed  errors  in  spirit  and 
conduct ;  if  once  the  truths  of  God  sink  into  disesteem,  his  precepts  in  the 
spirituality  of  them  will  not  continue  to  be  regarded.  Little  sins,  as  they 
are  accounted,  will  be  indulged,  and  the  most  difliicult  and  self-denying 
duties  neglected.  And  then,  if  things  come  to  this,  that  we  give  way  a  little, 
we  shall  soon  go  further ;  want  of  universal  obedience  will  soon  lead  to  a 
universal  want  of  obedience ;  and  thus,  if  infinite  mercy  prevent  not,  we  shall 
wax  worse  and  loorse.  This  is  no  other  than  the  nigh  road  to  apostacy, 
towards  which  it  is  to  be  feared  great  numbers  of  professors  are  verging,  and 
in  which  great  numbers  are  already  walking!  Happy  should  I  be  if  any  one 
by  these  hints  might  be  led  to  reflection,  and  recover  himself  out  of  the 
snare  of  the  devil,  by  whom  he  is  led  captive  at  his  will ! 

I  have  only  one  thought  more  to  add.  If  a  regard  to  the  word  of  God  is 
of  such  great  importance  to  Christians,  what  must  it  be  to  ministers!  A 
defection  in  a  private  character  nearly  terminates  in  himself;  but  a  defection 
in  a  minister  may  affect  many  thousands.  If  as  ministers  we  sink  into  a  dis- 
regard for  Divine  truth,  to  say  the  least,  we  shall  not  preach  it  with  that 
ardour  which  is  necessary,  if  at  all.  It  becomes  us  to  tremble,  and  to 
inquire  whether  the  defections  among  our  people  be  not  owing  in  part  to 
the  wholesome  truths  of  God  being  withheld  from  them,  or  delivered  in  a 
languid  and  careless  manner ;  and,  if  so,  it  behoves  us  further  to  consider 
how  we  shall  endure  that  cutting  rebuke,  "My  people  are  destroyed  for  lack 
of  knowledge;  because  thou  hast  rejected  knowledge,  I  will  also  reject  thee, 


620  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

that  thou  shah  be  no  priest  to  me ;  seeing  thou  hast  forgotten  the  law  of  thy 
God,  I  will  also  forget  thy  children !" 


In  the  last  paper  it  was  supposed  that  one  cause  to  which  declensions  in 
religion  might  be  imputed  was  a  disregard  to  the  word  of  God;  in  this  I 
shall  attempt  to  prove  that  another  cause  is  the  manner  in  which  we  attend 
to  the  duty  of  prayer.  Prayer  is  the  ascending  of  the  heart  to  God.  It  is 
one  of  the  ordinary  means  of  our  communion  with  God.  A  great  part  of 
the  religious  life  consists  in  the  exercise  of  it,  either  in  public  or  in  private, 
either  vocal  or  mental.  It  may  be  supposed  that  our  spiritual  prosperity  will 
bear  some  proportion  to  the  degree  of  fervour  and  constancy  with  which 
this  duty  is  attended  to.  All  our  spiritual  life  is  derived  from  Christ,  as 
that  of  the  branch  is  from  the  vine;  and  prayer  is  that  by  which  we  receive 
of  his  fulness  grace  for  grace.  If  this  duty  is  either  restrained  before  God, 
or  performed  in  a  careless,  carnal  manner,  our  souls  must  of  course  dwindle 
away  and  lose  their  fruitfulness. 

But  as  the  persons  to  whose  consideration  these  papers  are  humbly  recom- 
mended are  such  as  profess  godliness,  I  shall  take  it  for  granted  that  they 
make  a  point  of  prayer,  and  shall  say  nothing  of  its  being  omitted,  but  con- 
fine my  remarks  to  the  manner  in  which  it  is  performed. 

It  is  a  fact,  to  which  I  suppose  many  can  subscribe,  that  it  is  very  com- 
mon for  us  to  pray  to  the  Lord,  and  yet  for  our  prayers  to  remain  unan- 
swered. We  pray,  for  instance,  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  may  increase  in 
the  world,  and  yet  we  see  but  little  of  that  kind  taking  place:  that  our  sins 
may  be  forgiven,  and  yet  sin  remains  upon  our  consciences  from  time  to 
time;  and  we  lose  it,  not  so  much  by  its  being  blotted  out  by  God's  pardon- 
ing mercy,  as  worn  out  by  our  own  forgetfulness :  that  our  graces  may  be 
lively  and  active,  yet  we  remain  wretchedly  insensible  and  formal :  in  a 
word,  that  we  may  enjoy  communion  with  God,  and  conformity  to  him;  and 
yet  the  degree  that  we  possess  of  either  is  so  small  that  we  have  reason  to 
be  greatly  ashamed,  and  to  tremble  lest  it  should  be  said  of  us  at  last,  "  Cut 
it  down ;  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground  ?" 

But  how  is  it  that  our  prayers  should  be  thus  unanswered?  "  Is  the  Lord's 
arm  shortened,  that  it  cannot  save;  or  his  ear  heavy,  that  it  cannot  hear?" 
Or  is  he  slack  concerning  his  promise  of  hearing  and  answering  the  prayers 
of  his  people  ?  None  of  all  these ;  he  himself  hath  told  us  the  reason  :  "  Ye 
ask,  and  receive  not,  because  ye  ask  amiss."  "  If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my 
heart,"  said  the  psalrni^st,  "the  Lord  will  not  hear  me."  Let  the  following 
questions  be  seriously  considered. 

First,  When  wc  pray,  do  we  really  and  earnestly  desire  what  we  pray  for  1 
It  is  awful  to  think  of  approaching  the  Searcher  of  hearts  without  meaning 
as  we  speak ;  and  yet  it  is  to  be  feared  that  a  spice  of  this  so.'emn  mockery 
runs  through  many  of  our  petitions.  It  were  well  for  such  persons  as  always 
pray  in  a  set  form  of  words  to  examine  whether  they  mean  what  they  say. 
It  is  granted  that  a  person  may  as  really  pray  in  the  words  of  others,  pro- 
vided they  do  but  express  his  case,  as  in  his  own ;  but  cases  are  so  numer- 
ous in  different  persons,  and  so  various  in  the  same  person  at  different  times, 
that  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  any  set  of  words  of  human  composition 
should  fully  answer  the  end  proposed  by  it.  Nor  is  formality  in  prayer  con- 
fined to  those  who  use  a  form.  Persons  who  pray  extempore  may  fall  into 
a  habit  of  repeating  words  without  meaning,  or  words  which,  however  good 
and  proper  in  themselves,  are  not  the  expressions  of  the  heart.  Prayers 
offered  up  in  public  are  very  liable  to  this  abuse,  and  that  both  in  the  speaker 
and  hearer.     The  speaker  is  under  a  temptation  to  forget  the  God  he 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  621 

approaches,  and  to  consider  himself  barely  as  in  the  hearing  of  men,  and  so 
to  ask,  not  for  such  things  as  he  really  desires,  but  such  as  next  occur  to 
his  mind,  as  things,  if  I  may  so  speak,  that  will  do  to  be  prayed  for ;  and 
the  hearer  is  apt  to  consider  himself  as  not  immediately  concerned  in  the 
petitions  of  another,  and  so  to  indulge  his  mind  in  wandering  after  other 
things;  whereas,  by  joining  in  public  prayer,  we  solemnly  profess  to  unite 
with  it :  he  that  prays  is  to  be  considered  as  the  mouth  of  the  assembly  to 
God. 

There  is  one  considerable  evidence  that  we  do  not  mean  what  we  say  in 
many  of  our  approaches  to  God,  and  that  is  the  want  of  what  the  apostle 
calls  watching  unto  prayer.  If  a  poor  man  in  real  necessity  ask  relief  at  a 
rich  man's  door,  he  will  not  think  it  sufficient  to  repeat  over  a  few  words 
and  return  without  an  answer ;  no,  he  watches  and  looks  with  longing  expec- 
tation after  that  for  which  he  has  been  petitioning.  And  if  the  party  to 
whom  he  applies  should  have  previously  invited  him,  and  even  laid  his  com- 
mands upon  him  whenever  he  is  in  want  to  repair  to  him,  the  poor  man  in 
that  case  will  not  be  so  apt  to  consider  his  applications  so  much  in  the  light 
of  duties  as  privileges.  It  is  easy  to  apply  this  to  our  approaches  to  God. 
Are  we  of  such  a  spirit  in  those  approaches  as  to  reckon  them  a  privilege, 
or  do  we  satisfy  ourselves  with  having  gone  through  the  exercise,  and  per- 
formed, as  we  think,  our  duty,  without  waiting,  or  scarcely  thinking  of  our 
petitions  being  granted?  When  we  say  Amen,  so  be  it,  at  the  close  of  our 
prayers,  do  we  really  desire  that  so  it  should  be  ?  It  is  a  dangerous  state  of 
mind  to  be  praying  daily  for  keeping  and  quickening  grace,  and  yet  to  be 
easy  without  it ;  to  rest  contented  with  asking  communion  with  God,  instead 
of  enjoying  it.  The  least  that  can  be  supposed  in  such  cases  is  that  God 
will  punish  our  indifference,  not  to  say  our  hypocrisy,  by  withholding  the 
blessings  for  which  we  make  request. 

Secondly,  Are  wc  not  apt  to  be  less  earnest  in  matters  tvherein  we  should 
take  no  denial,  than  in  others  wherein  it  would  become  us  to  be  submissive  ? 
There  are  two  sorts  of  mercies  for  which  we  have  to  pray ;  mercies  which 
God  hath  not  bound  himself  to  bestow,  even  though  we  pray  for  them  in 
ever  such  a  right  spirit — and  mercies  which  he  hath.  Of  the  former  class 
are  all  our  earthly  comforts,  and  some  things  in  the  religious  life ;  of  the 
latter  are  all  those  spiritual  blessings  essential  to  salvation.  David  prayed 
for  the  life  of  his  child :  God  did  not  reprove  him  for  praying,  yet  neither 
did  he  grant  him  his  request.  David  desired  also  to  build  God  a  house ; 
God  took  it  well  that  it  was  in  his  heart,  yet  he  denied  him  the  thing  he 
desired.  In  neither  of  these  cases  had  God  promised  to  grant  the  desire  of 
his  servant,  and  he  saw  fit  to  counteract  it :  but,  in  respect  to  spiritual  and 
eternal  blessings,  God  has  bound  himself  to  grant  the  desire  of  the  righteous, 
and  to  perfect  that  which  concerns  his  praying  people.  Now,  if  things  are 
so,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  when  we  are  praying  for  the  one  sort  of  blessings  a 
peculiar  submission  to  the  will  of  God  becomes  us,  which  is  not  required 
in  the  other.  If  we  pray,  with  Jabez,  to  have  our  coast  enlarged  in  tem- 
poral things,  we  ought  to  feel  a  contented  mind,  and  submit  to  God,  though 
our  prayers  should  be  unanswered ;  but  if  we  are  praying  for  an  interest  in 
Christ  as  our  spiritual  and  everlasting  portion,  contentment  of  mind  is  not 
there  required.  God  does  not  require  us  to  be  willing  to  be  lost  for  ever: 
for  that  would  be  the  same  thing  as  to  be  willing  to  be  for  ever  employed  in 
cursing  and  blaspheming,  instead  of  blessing,  his  holy  name.  Again,  if  we 
adopt  the  latter  part  of  the  prayer  of  Jabez — "  Oh  that  thou  wouldest  keep 
me  from  evil,  that  it  may  not  grieve  me!" — if  by  evil  we  understand  the  evil 
of  affliction,  a  resignation  to  the  will  of  God  becomes  us;  but  if  by  evil  we 
understand  the  evil  of  sin,  resignation  would  then  become  criminal.     But 


622  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

if  we  inspect  the  generality  of  our  prayers,  I  am  afraid  there  is  more  resigna 
tion,  as  it  is  accounted,  in  respect  to  the  enjoyment  of  spiritual  blessings, 
where  it  is  not  required,  than  there  is  in  temporal  blessings,  where  it  is 
required.  In  those  things  wherein  we  should  take  no  denial,  we  are  too 
easy ;  but  in  those  wherein  resignation  would  become  us,  we  are  too  urgent. 
The  phrase,  "  If  it  be  thy  will,"  which  so  often  occurs  in  prayer,  is  perhaps 
more  frequently  applied  to  things  in  which  God  requires  us  to  be  all  impor- 
tunity than  to  things  wherein  such  language  would  be  suitable. 

Thirdly,  When  toe  pray  for  good  things,  is  it  always  to  a  good  end  ?  It 
is  possible  we  may  go  to  God,  and  really  desire  the  things  we  ask,  and  yet, 
not  desiring  them  to  a  good  end,  we  fail  of  obtaining  our  desires.  We  may 
pray  for  blessings  upon  our  worldly  engagements,  and  it  is  very  right  we 
should  do  so ;  but  such  prayer  may  be  merely  for  the  purposes  of  sensual 
gratification.  Thus  the  apostle  James  speaks:  "Ye  ask,  and  receive  not, 
because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may  consume  it  upon  your  lusts."  And  thus 
the  Lord  charged  Israel,  before  they  entered  into  the  Promised  Land,  say- 
ing, "  I  know  their  imagination  which  they  go  about,  even  now,  before  I 
have  brought  them  into  the  land  which  I  sware."  If  these  be  our  ends,  our 
prayers  can  be  no  other  than  abomination  in  the  sight  of  God.  We  may 
even  pray  for  the  success  of  the  gospel,  and  it  is  doubtless  right  that  we 
should  do  so;  but  it  is  possible  such  desires  may  be  uttered,  not  out  of 
regard  to  the  prosperity  of  Christ's  cause,  but  of  our  own ;  and,  if  so,  it  is  a 
low  and  carnal  end,  and  we  cannot  expect  that  God  should  hear  us. 

Fourthly,  ^VJien  we  confess  our  sins,  and  pray  to  be  restored,  do  loe  really 
lament  them,  and  mean  to  forsake  them  1  I  fear  too  many  of  our  petitions 
are  unanswered,  because  they  do  not  arise  from  godly  sorrow.  We  confess 
from  custom  or  conscience,  but  do  not  feel  our  hearts  go  out  against  the  sin, 
so  as  to  return  to  the  Lord  with  all  our  soul.  Confession  is  of  the  nature  of 
a  solemn  oath,  an  oath  of  abjuration ;  and  it  is  awful  to  think  that  we  should 
ever  use  it  without  a  desire  and  determination  to  forsake!  Where  this 
takes  place,  it  is  no  wonder  that  prayer  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  com- 
munion with  God  should  be  unanswered.  This  is  regarding  iniquity  in  our 
hearts ;  and  then  we  are  assured  the  Lord  will  not  hear  us. 

Fifthly,  When  ice  pray  for  Divine  direction  in  matters  of  faith  or  prac- 
tice, are  tee  sincerely  determined  to  folloiv  the  dictates  of  God's  word?  We 
may  pray  to  be  led  into  all  truth,  and  yet  feel  a  prejudice  in  favour  of  senti- 
ments already  imbibed,  and  against  others  which  may  be  proposed :  in  this 
case,  while  we  pray  and  search  the  Scriptures,  we  shall  feel  a  secret  wish  to 
have  them  speak  according  to  our  preconceived  ideas  of  things,  not  knowing 
how  to  endure  the  shame  of  having  been  mistaken.  Much  the  same  may  be 
said  of  things  which  relate  to  practice.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  to  go  to 
God  for  direction  in  doubtful  matters,  not  with  a  resolution  to  be  determined 
by  the  word  of  God,  but  with  a  hope  to  find  God's  word  in  favour  of  our  in- 
clinations. This  was  the  motive  of  Ahab  in  sending  for  Micaiah,  to  know 
whether  he  should  go  up  to  Ramoth-gilead  to  battle ;  and  of  the  Jews  left  in 
Judea,  to  know  whether  they  should  tarry  there,  or  go  down  to  Egypt.  In 
both  these  cases  they  had  determined  what  to  do;  their  asking  counsel  of  God, 
therefore,  was  mere  hypocrisy.  "  Son  of  man,"  said  the  Lord  to  Ezekiel, 
concerning  such  characters,  "  these  men  have  set  up  their  idols  in  their  heart, 
and  put  the  stumbling-block  of  their  iniquity  before  their  face:  should  I  be 
inquired  of  at  all  by  them?  Therefore  speak  unto  them,  and  say.  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  God,  Every  man — that  setteth  up  his  idols  in  his  heart,  and  putteth 
the  stumbling-block  of  his  iniquity  before  his  face,  and  cometh  to  the  pro- 
phet, I  the  Lord  will  answer  him  that  cometh  according  to  the  multitude  of 
his  idols." 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  623 

Sixthly,  Are  we  not  greatly  wanting  in  wliatmay  he  called  religious  public 
spirit  in  our  prayers?  It  is  a  fact  that  a  great  number  of  Christians  in  the 
present  day  are  perpetually  harassed  in  determining  the  reality  of  their  own 
Christianity  ;  they  are  all  their  lifetime  poring  upon  that  subject,  and  perhaps 
die  at  last  full  of  fear  and  anxiety.  The  primitive  Christians  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  so  much  troubled  with  these  thoughts  as  with  their  want  of  con- 
formity to  Christ.  Christ  taught  his  disciples  to  approach  daily  to  God  as 
their  Father ;  and,  by  the  accounts  we  have,  it  would  seem  they  generally 
did  so;  but  such  sweet  freedom  is  now  rarely  to  be  found,  even  among  the 
godly.  How  is  this  to  be  accounted  for  ?  There  is  no  doubt  that  such  dark- 
ness of  mind  is  in  a  degree  pitiable,  and  that  such  persons  require  to  be 
dealt  with  in  a  way  of  wisdom  and  tenderness.  It  is  a  thought,  however, 
that  deserves  consideration,  whether  one  great  cause  of  this  darkness  of  mind 
may  not  arise  from  an  excessive  attention  to  our  own  safety,  to  the  neglect  of 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  prosperity  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Christ  enjoins  us 
to  pray,  "  Hallowed  be  thy  name,  thy  kingdom,"  before  we  ask  for  the  for- 
giveness of  our  sins,  or  even  for  our  daily  bread.  A  person  that  is  employed 
in  scarcely  any  thing  else  but  recollecting  former  evidences,  for  the  purpose 
of  being  able  to  answer  the  question.  Am  I  a  Christian?  is  not  likely  to  gain 
his  object.  The  means  he  pursues  tend  to  defeat  their  own  end.  Self-exa- 
mination, however  necessary  in  a  degree,  yet  if  attended  to,  to  the  neglect  of 
other  things,  is  like  the  conduct  of  a  man  in  trade,  who  should  spend  three- 
fourths  of  his  time  in  casting  up  his  accounts  that  he  may  determine  whether 
he  has  gained  or  lost.  It  is  doubtless  very  desirable  to  enjoy  a  full  satisfac- 
tion respecting  our  interest  in  Christ,  and  such  a  satisfaction  is  to  be  enjoyed 
in  the  present  life ;  but  the  question  is.  What  are  the  means  by  which  it  is 
to  be  obtained?  Like  reputation,  and  some  other  things,  to  pursue  it  as  an  end 
is  the  way  to  lose  it.  If  we  care  so  little  about  God's  glory  as  to  pray  scarcely 
at  all  for  the  advancement  of  his  kingdom  in  the  world,  bat  are  continually 
taken  up  about  our  own  safety,  it  is  right  that  God  should  so  order  things  as 
that  we  should  be  disappointed.  If  we  wish  for  satisfaction  on  that  head,  it 
must  be  sought  only  as  a  secondary  object.  If  we  were  to  seek  Jirst  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  these  would  be  among  the  things 
that  would  be  added  unto  us.  "  Pray  for  the  peace  of  Jerusalem  :  they  shall 
prosper  that  love  thee." 

Lastly,  Do  loe  ask  blessings  v^holly  in  the  name  of  Christ  ?  I  do  not  mean 
to  ask  whether  we  conclude  our  prayers  in  so  many  ivords,  but  whether  we 
come  to  God  under  a  full  persuasion  of  our  utter  unworthiness,  knowing  and 
feeling  that  while  we  implore  the  best  of  blessings  we  deserve  the  heaviest 
of  curses;  and  desiring  all  to  be  given,  not  for  our  sakes,  but  wholly  for  the 
sake  of  Christ.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  if  our  prayers  were  more 
presented  in  the  name  of  Christ  they  would  be  more  successful,  seeing  that 
it  stands  on  sacred  record,  whatsoever  we  ask  in  his  name,  it  shall  be 
given  us. 


In  the  last  paper,  I  considered  the  manner  in  which  the  duty  of  prayer  is 
attended  to  as  one  considerable  reason  of  spiritual  declension;  in  this  I  shall 
propose  to  consideration  another  cause,  as  contributing  to  the  same  end  :  it 
is  that  of  sin  lying  on  the  conscience  unlamcnted.  When  the  aposde  Paul 
wrote  his  First  Epistle  to  the  church  at  Corinth,  they  were  sunk  into  a  most 
wretched  condition  indeed.  With  admirable  faithfulness,  wisdom,  patience, 
and  tenderness,  he  wrote  that  Epistle  with  a  view  to  reclaim  them.  Many 
of  them  were  reclaimed;  but  some,  it  seems,  continued  insensible,  which 
iiiduced  him,  when  he  wrote  his  Second  EpisUe  to  that  church,  to  express 


624  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

himself  thus :  "  I  fear  lest,  when  I  come  again,  my  God  will  humble  me 
among  you  ;  and  (hat  I  shall  bewail  many  who  have  sinned  already,  and  have 
not  repented  of  their  deeds. 

Sin,  if  not  habitually  lamented,  and  removed  by  repeated  applications  to 
the  cross  of  Christ,  is  like  poison  in  the  bones ;  it  rankles  within  us,  and  is 
destructive  of  our  soul's  prosperity.  So  long  as  sin  remains  unjaniented,  so 
long  we  have  an  habitual  liking  to  it ;  and  so  long,  to  say  the  least,  God  has 
a  controversy  with  us.  To  assist  any  one  who  wishes  to  make  strict  inquiry 
into  this  matter,  I  would  state  a  few  evidences  by  which  it  may  be  known 
whether  we  have  sinned  and  not  repented,  and  point  out  the  danger  of  such 
a  condition. 

If  there  is  any  particular  evil  to  which  we  have  been  especially  addicted, 
and  that  evil  is  still  persisted  in,  we  may  be  certain  that  we  have  not  lamented 
it  sufficiently,  or  to  any  good  purpose.  Saul  confessed  his  sin  unto  David ; 
but  his  persisting  in  it  but  too  plainly  proved  that  he  never  truly  repented  of 
it.  How  often  soever  we  may  have  confessed  our  sins  before  God,  if  these  con- 
fessions are  not  attended  with  a  forsaking  of  them,  we  are  none  the  nearer, 
but  perhaps  the  farther  off:  it  is  an  awful  state  of  mind  indeed  to  be  able  to 
persevere,  at  the  same  time,  in  sinful  indulgences  and  religious  exercises. 

Further,  though  we  should  refrain  from  the  evil  as  to  practical  compli- 
ance, yet  if  such  refraining  arises  from  mere  prudential  considerations,  we 
may  certainly  conclude  that  we  have  never  truly  repented  of  it.  If  the  bias 
of  the  heart  is  towards  an  evil,  and  we  are  withheld  merely,  or  principally, 
by  regard  to  our  reputation,  or  worldly  interest,  or  fear  of  hell,  and  not  by 
the  fear  and  love  of  God,  our  condition  is  very  dangerous.  If,  when  we  are 
plied  with  temptation,  the  arguments  we  use  to  repel  it  are  taken,  not  so 
much  from  its  evil  nature,  or  its  God-dishonouring  tendency,  as  from  the 
consequences  it  will  produce,  let  us  tremble :  surely  we  stand  upon  the  brink 
of  a  tremendous  precipice.  "That  man,"  says  Dr.  Owen,  "who  opposes 
nothing  to  the  seduction  of  evil  in  his  own  heart,  but  fear  of  shame  among 
men,  or  hell  from  God,  is  sufficiently  resolved  to  do  that  evil  if  there  vvere 
no  punishment  attending  it;  which,  what  it  differs  from  living  in  the  prac- 
tice of  sin,  I  know  not!" 

Again,  Suppose  we  have  been  guilty  of  no  one  particular  sin,  either  of 
commission  or  omission ;  yet  we  may  have  accumulated  a  load  of  guilt  by 
small  degrees.  This  is  the  more  likely  to  go  unlamented,  because,  being 
contracted  by  little  at  a  time,  it  has  obtained  a  place  in  the  heart  almost  un- 
noticed. But  as  little  and  repeated  colds,  when  they  settle  upon  the  consti- 
tution, will  in  the  end  bring  on  a  fit  of  sickness,  so  will  these  little  neglects 
and  indulgences  bring  on  a  sore  disorder  upon  our  souls.  There  is  not  a 
day  passes  but  we  are  contracting  fresh  guilt :  unless  therefore  we  maintain 
an  habitual  communion  with  Christ,  daily  bewailing  our  sins  at  the  foot  of 
his  cross,  we  may  certainly  conclude  that  we  have  sinned  and  not  repented. 

Further,  If  past  evils  are  remcmhcred  with  pleasure  and  approbation — if 
the  thoughts  and  imaginations  are  fed  by  dwelling  upon  them — or  if  we  can 
take  a  pleasure  in  speaking  of  our  former  sinful  exploits,  though  it  may  be 
at  the  same  time  we  would  be  thought  to  disapprove  of  them — these  are 
but  too  forcible  a  kind  of  evidence  that  we  have  not  yet  repented  of  our 
deeds.  To  say  the  least,  if  we  have  repented,  we  have  again  made  the  evils 
our  own,  by  a  recommission  of  them  in  the  mind ;  which  requires  renewed 
repentance  and  application  to  Christ,  as  otherwise  we  are  as  much  under  the 
guilt  of  them  as  ever.  True  repentance  is  attended  with  a  holy  shame,  a 
shame  that  will  teach  us  to  wish  our  evil  ways  annihilated,  and  tlie  very  name 
of  them  buried  in  oblivion.  There  are  some  sins  which  expose  us  to  shame 
among  men;  and  these  it  is  natural  for  us  to  wish  to  have  buried  in  forget- 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  625 

fulness,  whether  we  repent  of  them  or  not:  but  there  are  others,  very  offen- 
sive to  God,  which  yet  will  gain  the  applause  of  men;  and  here  it  is  the 
temptation  in  question  lies.  True  repentance  will  make  us  ashamed  to  repeat 
these,  as  well  as  others.  "  Thou  shall  remember,  and  be  confounded,  and 
never  open  thy  mouth  any  more,  because  of  thy  shame,  when  I  am  pacified 
toward  thee  for  all  that  thou  hast  done,  saith  the  Lord  God." 

In  fine,  If  we  have  not  with  holy  abhorrence  confessed  and  rejected  our 
sin,  we  have  not  yet  repented  of  it.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  conscience 
being  habitually  burdened  with  guilt,  and  the  spirit  depressed  with  long- 
continued  dejection,  and  yet  the  soul  not  be  brought  to  a  thorough  contri- 
tion. The  heart  seems  now  ready  to  dissolve,  but  yet  not  altogether  come 
to  a  point.  Such  a  state  of  mind  is  tenderly  described  by  David  in  the  32d 
and  3Sth  Psalms.  Both  these  Psalms  were  probably  written  after  his  repent- 
ance for  his  remarkable  fall;  and  in  them  he  describes,  not  only  the  break- 
ings forth  of  godly  sorrow,  but  the  previous  operations  of  his  mind  during 
the  time  of  his  lying  under  the  guilt  of  that  great  sin.  "When  I  kept 
silence,"  saith  he,  "  my  bones  waxed  old  through  my  roaring  all  the  day 
long.  For  day  and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy  upon  me ;  my  moisture  is 
turned  into  the  drought  of  summer!  Thine  arrows  stick  fast  in  me,  and  thy 
hand  presseth  me  sore." — "  My  wounds  stink  and  are  corrupt,  because  of  my 
foolishness."  Now  he  comes  to  the  crisis:  "I  am  ready  to  halt;  my  sorrow 
is  continually  before  me!  I  will  declare  my  iniquity,  I  will  be  sorry  for  my 
sin." 

The  state  of  mind  last  described  is  far  less  dangerous  than  any  of  the 
above,  because  it  promises  to  come  to  a  speedy  and  happy  issue;  but  yet 
things  are  never  safe  till  the  soul,  dissolved  in  grief,  lies  prostrate  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus.  We  have  reason  to  think  that  a  great  deal  of  remorse  of  con- 
science and  depression  of  mind  may  come  on  and  go  off  again;  and  there 
is  nothing  that  we  have  greater  reason  to  dread  than  a  being  so  given  up  of 
God  as  that  the  guilt  of  our  consciences  shall  icear  away  by  degrees,  instead 
of  being  washed  away  by  an  application  to  the  blood  of  Christ. 

A  few  additional  observations,  on  the  clanger  of  having  sinned  and  not 
repented,  shall  close  this  paper.  In  the  first  place,  it  iceakcns  and  enervates 
our  graces,  and  by  consequence  spoils  our  usefulness.  Godliness,  in  all  its 
lovely  forms,  is  a  tender  plant:  sin  indulged  in  the  soul,  like  weeds  in  the 
garden,  will  impoverish  it,  and  cause  the  tender  plant  to  dwindle  away. 
Righteousness  and  unrighteousness  cannot  flourish  together.  Experience 
but  too  plainly  proves  that  carnality  indulged  damps  the  flames  of  love,  kills 
holy  resolution,  joy  and  peace  fly  before  its  malignant  influence,  hope  sickens 
into  fear,  and  faith  loses  sight  of  invisible  realities.  When  this  is  the  case, 
of  what  use  are  we?  what  in  the  family?  what  in  the  church?  what  in  the 
world?  where  is  now  the  savour  with  which  our  spirit  and  conversation  should 
be  attended?  Alas,  we  are  but  too  much  like  salt  that  has  lost  its  savour,  fit 
for  neither  the  land  nor  the  dunghill ! 

Further,  It  cuts  off  all  communion  with  God.  The  joys  of  salvation  were 
withdrawn  from  David  when  he  withdrew  from  God.  It  is  well  if  prayer 
and  all  close  dealing  with  God  is  not  neglected;  or,  if  we  approach  to  God 
in  form,  still  while  iniquity  is  regarded  in  our  hearts  the  Lord  will  not  hear 
us.  We  may  go  morning  and  evening,  and  oftener ;  but  the  Lord  is  not 
there!  The  pleasures  of  religion  are  fled.  Our  soul  is  removed  far  off  from 
peace,  and  we  soon  shall  have  forgotten  spiritual  prosperity.  There  are  only 
two  states  of  mind  which  we  now  alternately  experience :  we  are  either  locked 
up  in  insensibility ,  or  pierced  with  self-rejlection. 

Again,  It  gives  Satan  a  great  advantage  over  us.  It  tempts  the  tempter 
to  apply  to  us  with  renewed   force.     While  sin  lies  unlamented  upon  the 

Vol.  Ill— 79  3  G 


626  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

conscience,  we  are  like  a  besieged  city,  enfeebled  by  famine,  sickly,  and 
without  a  heart  to  resist;  and  this  must  needs  invite  the  besieger  to  renew 
his  onsets.  It  is  by  resisting  the  devil  that  he  flies  from  us :  and  so,  vice 
versa,  by  dropping  resistance  he  is  encouraged  to  approach  towards  us.  This 
in  fact  is  the  case  with  us;  while  sin  remains  unlamented  there  are  generally 
more  temptations  ply  the  mind  than  at  other  times.  When  Samson  slept 
and  lost  his  strength,  the  Philistines  were  soon  upon  him.  And  now  put 
these  all  together :  our  strength  gone,  the  Holy  Spirit  departed,  and  tempta- 
tion coming  upon  us  with  redoubled  force:  alas!  where  are  we?  Well  did 
the  psalmist  exclaim,  "Blessed  is  he  whose  transgression  is  forgiven, — and 
in  whose  spirit  there  is  no  guile." 

Again,  Secret  sins  indulged  will,  in  all  probability,  soon  become  manifest 
and  open.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  be  able  for  a  long  continuance  to 
conceal  the  ruling  bias  of  the  heart.  It  will  come  out  in  some  way  or  other, 
and  it  is  fit  it  should.  A  wise  Providence  has  so  ordered  it  that  the  heart 
and  conduct  shall  not  be  at  perpetual  variance.  It  is  worthy  the  character 
of  a  holy  and  a  jealous  God  to  show  his  abhorrence  to  secret  sin,  by  suffer- 
ing the  party  to  be  rolled  in  the  dirt  of  public  reproach.  If  we  regard  not 
the  honour  of  God's  name,  can  we  wonder  if  he  regards  not  the  honour  of 
ours?  "  Him  that  honoureth  me  I  will  honour;  but  he  that  despiseth  me 
shall  be  lightly  esteemed." 

Once  more,  Does  it  not  hereby  become  a  matter  of  doubt  how  it  is  with 
us  as  to  our  state  before  God?  Though  no  true  Christian  v/ill  ever  sink  into 
total  apostacy,  yet  while  sin  is  unlamented  we  are  in  the  direct  road  to  it,  the 
same  road  that  those  have  trod  who  have  apostatized.  They  once  thought 
themselves  right  as  well  as  we,  and  began  to  sin  by  little  and  little:  yes, 
they  went  on,  and  presumed  it  may  be  that  they  should  be  some  time  or 
other  restored;  but,  instead  of  that,  have  gone  on  and  on,  till  death  has  cut 
them  off,  and  beyond  the  grave  they  have  found  their  dreadful  disappoint- 
ment. 

These  things  should  make  us  tremble,  and  consider  the  danger  of  trifling 
with  sin,  and  presuming  upon  being  reclaimed,  and  so  making  ourselves 
easy  in  impenitence.  If  we  go  on  in  sin,  have  we  not  reason  to  think  things 
were  never  right  with  us  from  the  first?  If  the  waters  are  naught,  does  it 
not  seem  to  indicate  that  the  spring  has  never  been  healed? 


Having,  in  the  three  foregoing  papers,  pointed  out  some  of  the  causes  of 
spiritual  declension,  I  come  now  to  inquire  into  the  means  of  revival.  But, 
before  any  thing  can  be  said  by  way  of  direction,  two  or  three  things  must 
be  premised. 

1.  That  in  the  use  of  all  means  we  consider  them  but  as  means,  place  no 
dependence  upon  them,  but  entirely  upon  the  Spirit  of  God  as  the  first  cause. 
We  can  of  our  own  accord  find  the  way  out  of  God's  path,  but  if  left  to  our- 
selves we  shall  never  find  our  way  in  again. 

2.  If  we  have  so  backslidden  from  the  Lord  as  to  live  in  the  indulgence 
of  any  known  sin,  whether  of  omission  or  commission,  that  we  immediately 
•put  away  these  idols,  and  that  without  reserve.  God  will  not  hear  us  while 
iniquity  is  regarded  in  our  hearts.  If  any  or  all  of  those  things  pointed  out 
in  the  foregoing  papers  as  causes  of  declension  are  so  indeed,  those  causes 
must  be  lamented  and  forsaken,  or  depend  upon  it  the  effects  will  not  be  re- 
moved. 

3.  In  whatever  mode  we  have  departed  from  God,  that  there  be  a  real 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  627 

desire  of  returning  to  him  again.  Without  this,  all  directions  will  be  in  vain, 
and  all  means  without  effect.  "  Ye  shall  seek  me,  and  find  me,  when  ye 
shall  search  for  me  with  all  your  heart."  It  may  be  we  are  accustomed  to 
live  without  close  communion  with  God,  and  are  almost  contented  with  such 
a  kind  of  life.  Perhaps  we  lay  our  accounts  with  going  through  life  with- 
out habitual  close  walking  with  God.  If  so,  I  only  say  this.  Let  us  not  at 
the  same  time  lay  our  accounts  with  dwelling  forever  with  him  at  last. 

But  if  the  above  three  things  may  be  supposed,  there  are  then  other 
Scriptural  directions  which  may  be  given.  That  which  I  shall  insist  upon 
in  this  paper  is  as  follows :  That  ice  closely  consider  the  evil  nature  of  that 
sin  which  is  committed  after  our  conversion  to  God. — As  our  first  return  to 
God  begins  with  conviction  of  sin,  so  must  every  other  return.  The  ordi- 
nary means  of  obtaining  conviction  of  sin,  together  with  a  mournful  sense 
of  if,  is  by  seriously  and  closely  reflecting  upon  its  evil  nature  and  aggra- 
vating circumstances.  "  I  thought  on  my  ways,  and  turned  my  feet  unto 
thy  testimonies." — "  Then  shall  ye  remember  your  own  evil  ways,  and  your 
doings  that  were  not  good,  and  shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight  for 
your  iniquities,  and  for  your  abominations." 

Perhaps  we  cannot  obtain  a  more  affecting  representation  of  the  evil  of 
our  backslidings  from  God  than  that  which  is  given  us  by  the  prophet  Jere- 
miah, in  his  address  to  Israel,  contained  in  the  second  chapter;  and  as  ad- 
vice from  such  a  quarter  comes  with  Divine  authority,  I  do  not  think  I  can 
do  better  than  to  refer  the  reader  to  Jer.  ii.  1-13,  on  which  I  shall  now 
make  a  few  remarks. 

From  diis  affecting  passage  we  may  observe  four  things  in  particular, 
which  are  represented  as  aggravating  those  sins  which  are  committed  after 
we  have  known  the  Lord ;  they  are  committed  in  violation  of  the  most 
solemn  vows,  without  any  the  least  provocation,  are  expressive  of  the  blackest 
ingratitude,  and  the  most  extreme  and  singular  folly. 

First,  They  are  committed  in  violation  of  all  those  solemn  voids  and  cove- 
nant engagements  which  we  made  and  into  which  we  entered  at  our  first 
conversion.  Not  only  was  there  a  covenant  between  the  Father  and  the 
Son  before  time,  but  as  well  there  is  a  covenant  between  Christ  and  his  peo- 
ple in  time. 

Conversion  is  a  marriage  wherein  (with  reverence  be  it  spoken)  Christ 
resigns  up  himself,  with  all  he  is  and  has,  to  us,  and  we  resign  ourselves, 
with  all  we  are  and  have,  to  him.  Such  a  union  is  here  alluded  to.  The 
love  we  bore  to  Christ  at  that  time  might  fitly  be  called  the  love  of  our  espou- 
sals. Was  there  not  a  time  when  we  scarcely  wished  for  any  other  pleasure 
than  what  was  to  be  enjoyed  in  communion  with  himself  and  his  saints — 
when  his  name  was  as  ointment  poured  forth — when  we  loved  the  very 
image  of  it?  And,  when  we  have  seen  those  who  we  thought  bore  most 
of  that  in  their  spirit  and  conduct,  has  it  not  been  as  though  we  had  seen 
an  angel  of  God?  Was  there  not  a  time  when  closet  exercises  were  reckoned 
our  highest  privileges — when  the  return  of  public  ordinances  was  waited  for 
with  eager  expectation — in  short,  when  we  took  Christ's  cause  for  our  cause, 
his  people  for  our  people,  his  will  for  our  law,  his  glory  for  our  end,  and 
himself  for  our  portion?  Now  these  were  times  from  whence  we  may  each 
say,  "  Thy  vows,  O  God,  are  upon  me!"  But  have  we  not  since  then 
strangely  forsaken  him?  How  is  this?  Did  we  love  him  too  well  then? 
Is  he  not  as  worthy  now  as  then?  If  a  prince  espouse  a  poor  miserable 
outcast,  and  give  himself  with  all  he  is  and  has  to  her,  and  only  require  her 
heart  in  return,  shall  she  refuse  him  that?  shall  she  be  the  first  that  shall  be 
dissatisfied?  must  she  go  after  other  lovers,  and  that  in  spite  of  all  her  solemn 
vows?     And  yet  may  each  backslider  say,  Thus  it  has  been  with  me!   "O 


628  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

my  soul,  thou  hast  said  unto  the  Lord,  Thou  art  mij  Lord ;"  thou  hast  taken 
him  for  thy  lawgiver  and  thy  portion  :  how  is  it  that  thou  shouldst  bow  down 
to  otlier  lords,  and  seek  satisfaction  in  that  which  is  not  God  ? 

Secondly,  Whatever  departures  from  God  have  taken  place,  they  have 
been  without  any  provocation  whatever,  on  his  part.  "  What  iniquity  have 
your  fathers  found  in  me,  that  they  are  gone  far  from  me?"  This  is  a  ques- 
tion that  ought  to  cut  us  to  the  very  soul,  and  open  every  spring  of  sensi- 
bility and  self-abhorrence!  While  we  were  in  open  rebellion  against  him, 
was  he  wanting  in  forbearance  7  When  he  saw  us  in  our  impoverished 
and  ruined  condition,  and  gave  his  own  Son  to  die  for  us,  did  he  act  an 
unfeeling  part  toward  us?  W^as  it  hard  on  our  side  that  Christ  should  be 
"  made  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  in  him?"  Since  we  have  been  engaged  in  his  service,  has  he 
been  a  hard  master  ?  Has  his  yoke  been  galling  to  us?  Did  he  ever  prove 
to  us  a  barren  wilderness,  or  a  land  of  drought?  Was  ever  the  path  of  obe- 
dience a  barren  path  ?  Is  it  better  with  us  now  than  formerly  ?  Has  he 
been  a  churlish  father  to  us?  Did  he  ever  refuse  us  free  access  to  him  in  a 
time  of  need  ?  When  we  have  asked  for  bread,  did  he  ever  give  us  a  stone? 
When  he  has  smitten  us,  was  it  not  always  with  a  mixture  of  mercy,  and 
all  to  do  us  good  in  the  latter  end?  Whenever  we  have  returned  to  him 
with  our  whole  heart,  has  he  not  been  always  ready  to  receive  us,  and  to 
bury  all  in  forgetful ness? — Methinks  I  hear  him  appeal  to  the  \ery  rocks 
and  mountains  (as  being  less  insensible  than  we)  for  the  equity  and  good- 
ness of  his  cause :  "  Hear,  O  ye  mountains,  the  Lord's  controversy,  and  ye 
strong  foundations  of  the  earth :  for  the  Lord  hath  a  controversy  with  his 
people,  and  he  will  plead  with  Israel :  O  my  people,  what  have  I  done  unto 
thee,  and  wherein,  have  I  wearied  thee?  testify  against  me!"  Alas,  what 
shall  we  say  unto  the  Lord?  what  shall  we  speak?  or  how  shall  we  clear 
ourselves?  "O  Lord,  righteousness  belongeth  unto  thee,  but  unto  us  be- 
longeth  confusion  of  face,  as  it  is  this  day  \" 

Thirdly,  Sins  after  conversion  are  attended  with  circumstances  of  pecu- 
liar and  horrible  ingratitude. — This  was  a  part  of  God's  charge  against 
Israel.  He  had  brought  them  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  had  led  them 
through  the  wilderness,  through  a  dangerous,  barren,  and  lonesome  wilder- 
ness; "  a  land  of  deserts  and  of  pits;  a  land  of  drought,  and  of  the  shadow 
of  death ;  a  land  where  no  man  passed  through,  and  where  no  man  dwelt." 
He  had  brought  them  also  into  a  plentiful  country ;  but  they  had  polluted 
it,  and  even  made  his  heritage  an  abomination.  It  is  true,  God  has  not 
done  the  self-same  things  for  us  as  he  did  for  them :  he  has  not  given  Egypt 
for  us,  nor  Ethiopia  for  our  ransom ;  but  he  has  given  what  is  of  infinitely 
greater  account — his  own  blood !  Neither  has  he  redeemed  us  from  Egyp- 
tian thraldom;  but  he  has  "delivered  us  from  the  power  of  darkness,  and 
translated  us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son."  We  never  were  supported 
by  miracle,  in  the  dangerous,  barren,  and  lonesome  deserts  of  Arabia;  but 
we  have  been  led  and  supplied  by  a  kind  hand,  both  in  a  way  of  providence 
and  grace,  through  a  wilderness  equally  lonesome  and  barren,  and  much 
more  dangerous.  We  never  were  possessed  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  that 
plentiful  country,  that  rest  for  the  weary  Israelites ;  but  we  were  born  in  a 
country  but  little  inferior  to  it,  even  as  to  the  enjoyments  of  this  life;  and 
the  rest  of  gospel  privileges  into  which  we  are  entered,  with  a  glorious  in- 
heritance into  which  we  hope  to  enter,  abundantly  transcend  every  thing  of 
that  sort,  and  lay  us  under  far  greater  obligations.  If  we  have  any  thing 
ingenuous  left  in  us,  surely  a  spirit  and  conduct  that  has  slighted  and  dis- 
honoured a  God  of  such  love  as  this,  must,  on  reflection,  deeply  wound  us. 

Fourthly,  Such  departures  from  God  are  expressive  of  the  most  extreme 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  629 

and  singular /oZ(y.  The  Lord  charged  Israel  with  folly;  and  such  it  doubt- 
less was.  We  should  think  so  of  any  people  who,  in  want  of  water,  should 
remove  their  tents  from  an  overflowing  fountain,  and  promise  themselves  a 
greater  fulness  by  settling  in  a  desert,  and  hewing  out  cisterns  which,  after 
all,  could  hold  no  water.  And  yet  this  is  no  more  than  we  have  done,  as 
well  as  Israel.  We  have  sought  happiness  in  the  creature,  to  the  neglect  of 
God ;  and  all  created  comforts,  when  possessed  in  that  way,  are  but  broken 
cisterns.  We  have  found  them  so:  let  us  be  ashamed  of  our  folly,  and  re- 
turn to  the  Fountain  of  living  waters. 

Departing  from  God,  and  indulging  ourselves  in  sinning  against  him,  is  a 
kind  of  exchange,  but  it  is  a  foolish  one ;  it  is  an  exchange  of  liberty  for 
drudgery  and  slavery,  of  peace  of  conscience  for  bitter  remorse,  of  joyfulness 
and  gladness  of  heart  for  sorrow  and  anguish,  and  of  abundance  of  all  things 
for  hunger,  thirst,  nakedness,  and  want  of  all  things.  It  is  a  being  weary 
of  the  government  of  the  Prince  of  peace,  whose  yoke  is  easy,  and  whose 
burden  is  light,  and  a  putting  our  necks  under  the  iron  yoke  of  a  tyrant, 
which  tends  to  our  destruction. 

Israel  was  not  only  charged  with  folly,  but  with  singular  folly.  "  Pass 
over  the  isles  of  Chittim,  saith  the  Lord,  and  see,  and  send  unto  Kedar,  and 
consider  diligently,  and  see  if  there  be  such  a  thing.  Hath  a  nation  changed 
their  gods,  which  are  yet  no  gods?  But  my  people  have  changed  their 
glory  for  that  which  doth  not  profit!"  There  are  some  foolish  people  in 
the  world  who  never  know  when  they  are  well,  but  will  always  be  changing 
and  exchanging,  though  they  always  continue  to  lose  by  it.  To  be  com- 
pared to  these  were  eilough  to  shame  us;  but  this  is  not  the  worst.  Not 
withstanding  the  fickleness  of  the  human  mind  in  lesser  matters,  they  seem 
in  general,  eacli  nation,  to  be  firm  to  their  gods,  even  though  they  were  no 
gods ;  so  firm,  I  suppose,  that  if  they  could  have  exchanged  wood  for  silver, 
or  stone  for  gold,  they  would  not  have  complied.  But  Israel,  the  only  people 
upon  the  earth  who  had  a  God  worth  cleaving  to,  Israel  must  be  the  only 
people  who  desire  to  change !  Well  may  it  be  added,  "  Be  astonished,  O 
ye  heavens,  at  this,  and  be  ye  horribly  afraid !"  Shall  the  people  of  the 
only  true  God,  and  only  they,  prove  untrue? 

But,  alas!  we  wonder  at  the  sottish  stupidity  of  Israel,  and  forget  that  in 
them  we  see  our  own  picture.  Extreme  and  singular  as  their  folly  might 
be,  in  their  idolatries,  it  was  not  more  so  than  is  ours,  when  we  feel  reluc- 
tant to  draw  near  to  God  in  close  communion,  and  fly  for  happiness  to  sen- 
sual and  carnal  gratification. 


As  one  great  cause  of  our  departures  from  God  has  been  supposed  to  be 
a  neglect  of  the  word  of  God,  it  will  ill  become  me,  in  writing  on  the  means 
of  returning  to  him,  to  forget  to  make  use  of  that  unerring  guide.  Hence 
it  is  that  1  have  endeavoured,  as  much  as  possible,  to  introduce  some  par- 
ticular part  or  parts  of  the  word  of  God,  as  the  ground  of  what  has  been 
advanced  on  every  subject. 

There  is  much  advice  given  in  Scripture  respecting  the  return  of  back- 
sliders, both  as  individuals,  and  as  collective  bodies.  But  that  which  I  shall 
here  notice  is  the  counsel  of  Christ  to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  who  had  fallen 
under  rebuke  for  havihg  left  their  first  love.  •'  Remember  from  whence  thou 
art  fallen,  and  repent;  and  do  the  first  works." 

The  first  thing  observable  in  this  piece  of  sacred  counsel  is,  that  we 
remember  from  ichence  we  are  fallen.  This  might  have  a  tendency  to  con- 
vince us  of  our  sad  defects,  if  it  were  to  compare  our  spirit  with  that  of  the 
primitive  Christians  and  consider  the  difference.     They  are  frequenUy  de- 

3g2 


630  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

scribed  as  "  little  children,"  denoting,  no  doubt,  their  littleness  in  their  own 
eyes,  their  love  one  to  another,  their  readiness  to  forgive  injuries,  their 
modesty,  and  above  all  their  godly  simplicity.  Like  litde  children,  they 
were  unacquainted  with  the  arts  of  dissimulation  and  intrigue.  "  Laying  aside 
all  malice,  and  guile,  and  hypocrisies,  and  envies,  and  evil  speakings,  as 
new-born  babes  they  desired  and  fed  upon  the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,  and 
grew  thereby."  Is  there  nothing  in  this  picture  of  a  primitive  Christian 
that  makes  us  blush?  Sure  I  am  it  ought,  whether  it  does  or  not.  In  them 
surely  we  must  see  and  "  remember  from  whence  we  are  fallen." 

Another  picture  of  primitive  Christianity  is  given  us  in  Acts  ii.  42,  "And 
they  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostles'  doctrine,  in  fellowship,  in  breaking 
of  bread,  and  in  prayers."  From  this  account  we  may  learn,  L  That  primi- 
tive Christians  looked  upon  soundness  in  the  faith  as  of  great  importance. 
They  were  strangers  to  that  spirit  of  indifference  to  truth  which  loves  to 
represent  its  doctrines  as  mere  matters  of  speculation,  and  insinuates  that 
"  it  matters  not  ivhat  a  man  believes,  if  his  practice  be  but  good."  They 
would  have  trembled  at  the  thought  of  deviating  from  that  gospel  which  had 
been  made  the  power  of  God  to  their  salvation.  2.  That  the  fellowship 
which  they  maintained  with  one  another  arose  out  of  a  union  of  sentiments 
in  apostolical  doctrines.  They  were  full  of  charity;  but  their  charity  was 
not  of  that  kind  which  led  them  to  have  fellowship  with  men  of  all  prin- 
ciples. They  loved  the  souls  of  men  too  well  to  deceive  them  by  coun- 
tenancing what  they  believed  to  be  pernicious  and  destructive  errors.  3. 
They  exercised  a  religious  regard  to  the  positive  institutions  of  Christ,  as 
well  as  to  the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  his  name.  They  not  only  listened 
to  his  instructions  as  their  Prophet,  and  relied  upon  his  atonement  as  their 
Priest,  but  cheerfully  complied  with  his  institutions  as  their  King.  4.  They 
were  men  that  dwelt  much  with  God  in  prayer.  Having  obtained  mercy 
themselves,  they  joined  in  supplicating  the  Divine  throne  for  the  salvation 
of  others.  Nor  did  they  confine  their  devotions  to  the  chuch,  but  carried 
them  into  their  families  and  their  closets.  Let  this  lovely  picture  of  primi- 
tive Christianity  be  closely  reviewed;  and  let  us,  by  this  means,  "remember 
from  whence  we  are  fallen,  and  repent." 

Further,  it  might  be  of  no  use  to  compare  our  spirit  and  conduct  with 
that  which  prevailed  at  the  Reformation.  It  may  be  difficult  to  ascertain 
with  precision  the  difference  between  that  age  and  the  present.  But  there 
are  two  things  which  I  think  may  be  pointed  out,  which  are  self-evident. 
1.  The  principles  they  imbibed  and  preached  were  very  different  from  what 
at  this  time  generally  prevail.  The  doctrines  which  the  generality  of  the 
Reformers  held  were  such  as  follow:  a  trinity  of  Persons  in  the  Godhead; 
the  Deity  and  atonement  of  Christ;  justification  by  faith ;  predestination; 
efficacious  grace;  the  certain  perseverance  of  the  saints,  &c.  These  doc- 
trines they  preached,  and  looked  upon  them  as  consistent  with  a  free  and 
unreserved  address  to  unconverted  sinners.  How  far  the  body  of  the 
reformed  churches  are  gone  off  from  them,  I  need  not  say.  It  is  true,  the 
Reformers  imbibing  these  or  any  other  sentiments  is  no  proof  of  their  being 
Divine ;  but  there  is  one  thing  that  deserves  notice,  viz.  their  moral  tendency. 
Have  the  reformed  churches,  in  proportion  as  they  have  forsaken  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Reformers,  forsaken  also  that  purity,  zeal,  and  ardour,  that 
uprightness  before  men,  and  close  walking  with  God,  for  which  they  were 
distinguished  ?  2.  Their  attachment  to  what  they  accounted  Divine  truth 
was  very  different  from  ours.  To  maintain  the  doctrines  and  ordinances  of 
Christ,  in  their  primitive  simplicity,  they  hazarded  the  loss  of  all  things;  and 
great  numbers  of  them  actually  resigned  their  lives  rather  than  give  them  up. 
It  was  to  enjoy  these  that  they  threw  off  the  yoke  of  popery,  and  claimed 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OF  REVIVAL.  631 

the  right  of  private  judgment.  We  also  claim  this  right,  and  so  far  we  do 
well ;  yea,  herein  we  exceed  them,  particularly  in  allowing  to  others  that 
right  which  we  claim  for  ourselves.  But  though  we  understand  religious 
liberty  better  than  they  did,  yet  it  is  too  evident  we  make  a  much  worse  use 
of  it.  Instead  of  using  it  as  a  means  for  obtaining  truth,  great  numbers 
among  us  rest  in  it  as  an  end.  Religious  liberty,  however  equitable  and 
valuable  it  Ik  in  itself,  is  certainly  of  no  further  use  to  us  than  as  it  is  applied 
to  the  discovery  of  truth,  and  the  practice  of  righteousness.  But  the  spirit 
of  the  present  age  is  to  boast  of  the  liberty  of  thinking  for  ourselves,  till  we 
lose  all  attachment  to  religious  principles,  except  an  overweening  one  towards 
our  own  conceits,  be  they  right  or  wrong ;  and  this  is  the  same  thing  as  to 
boast  of  a  means  till  we  have  lost  the  only  good  end  to  be  answered  by  it. 
The  temper  of  the  present  age,  so  far  as  I  have  had  opportunity  to  observe 
il,  is  loudly  to  cry  up  the  right  of  judging  for  themselves,  which  undoubtedly 
all  men  ought  to  have;  but  then  they  very  unjustly  infer  from  this  that  it 
matters  not  what  they  believe,  if  they  are  but  sincere  in  it;  that  is,  if  a  man's 
thoughts  are  but  his  own,  it  matters  not  whether  they  be  right  or  wrong! 
Another  false  inference  which  they  draw  is,  that  because  they  have  a  right 
to  think  for  themselves,  without  being  called  to  account  for  it  by  their  fellow 
creatures,  therefore  they  have  the  same  right  in  regard  to  the  Governor  of 
the  world.  The  indifference  of  truth  and  error  being  thus  admitted,  the 
mind  becomes  susceptible  of  any  thing  that  offers;  and  thus  the  great  truths 
of  revelation  are  slighted,  perhaps,  if  for  no  other  reason,  because  they  occu- 
pied a  place  in  the  creeds  of  their  forefathers.  A  comparison  of  times,  on 
these  subjects,  may  assist  us  in  remembering  from  ivhence  tve  are  fallen. 

Once  more,  It  would  be  profitable  to  recollect  the  best  parts  of  our  lives, 
and  compare  them  with  what  we  now  are.  Think,  backsliding  Christian, 
what  an  effect  those  sacred  truths  have  had  upon  your  heart,  which  since,  it 
may  be,  you  have  held  with  a  loose  hand,  and  have  been  almost  inclined  to 
abandon:  think  what  delight  you  have  taken  in  those  ways  which  you  have 
since  neglected ;  what  abhorrence  you  have  felt  against  those  sins  in  which 
you  have  since  thought  there  was  no  great  harm,  and  so  have  yielded  to 
them :  how  you  have  been  grieved  when  you  have  seen  other  Christians  de- 
generate into  carnality,  sloth,  pride,  or  worldly-mindedness :  think — ah! 
where  shall  I  stop  ?  Do  not  forget  to  ask  your  soul  at  the  close  of  every 
thought,  Is  it  better  with  me  now  than  then  1  We  are  not  only  counselled 
to  "  remember  from  whence  we  are  fallen,"  but  also  called  on  to  "  repent." 

Repentance  is  a  godly  sorrow  for  sin  ;  and  if  ever  there  be  any  true  revival 
of  religion,  it  must  originate  in  this.  When  Judah  returned  to  the  Lord, 
after  their  captivity,  it  was  with  bitter  weeping:  "Going  and  weeping,  they 
sought  the  Lord  their  God."  There  can  be  no  well-grounded  peace  or  joy 
restored  to  our  mind  while  the  idols  of  our  hearts  remain  unlamented.  God 
insists  upon  these  being  given  up;  and  that,  not  in  a  way  of  secret  reluc- 
tance, but  with  holy  abhorrence.  Nor  are  we  called  upon  to  lament  merely 
on  account  of  positive  acts  of  sin,  but  even  for  our  sins  of  omission — because 
we  have  "  forsaken  our  first  love." 

Some  professing  Christians  seem  to  have  no  notion  of  any  obligation  that 
they  are  under  to  love  Christ  and  Divine  things.  It  is  the  work  of  God,  say 
they,  to  affect  our  hearts,  and  enable  us  to  love  Christ;  we  cannot  command 
the  influence  of  the  Spirit,  nor  keep  our  own  souls  alive.  This  is  very  true, 
but  not  in  the  sense  in  which  they  plead  it.  The  hearts  of  men,  even  of  the 
best  of  men,  are  so  very  bad  that  unless  a  kind  of  perpetual  miracle  be 
wrought  in  them  their  love  will  be  sure  to  expire.  To  preserve  alive  a  spark 
in  the  midst  of  an  ocean  would  not  be  so  great  a  wonder  as  preserving  the 
love  of  Christ  in  our  hearts.     But  if  nothing  be  obligatory  on  us  but  what 


633  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

we  can  do  of  ourselves,  or,  in  other  words,  what  we,  in  this  our  corrupted 
state,  can  find  in  our  oicn  hearts  to  do,  it  must  follow  that  we  are  not  obliged 
to  do  any  good  thing  whatever;  for  "without  Christ  we  can  do  nothing;" 
and  so  it  must  follow  that  we  have  no  cause  for  self-reflection  for  the  con- 
trary, but  have  a  good  right  to  make  ourselves  easy,  and  to  be  contented 
with  that  degree  of  love  and  holiness  which  we  have,  seeing  it  is  such  a 
measure  as  God  pleases  to  bestow  upon  us.  But,  in  this  case,  there  could 
be  no  propriety  in  the  church  at  Ephesus  being  rebuked  for  having  left  their 
first  love,  or  called  upon  to  repent  for  it.  Repentance,  if  genuine,  will  lead 
us  to  the  other  part  of  Christ's  advice  ;  namely,  "  Do  the  first  works."  The 
first  works  are  the  works  of  the  best  ages  of  the  church,  and  the  best  times 
in  our  life.  If  there  be  any  considerable  revival  in  the  church,  or  in  the 
souls  of  individuals,  it  will  be  when  the  diligence,  disinterestedness,  tender- 
ness of  conscience,  generosity,  and  faithfulness  of  those  times  are  imitated. 


In  the  last  paper  I  attempted  to  point  out  some  of  the  means  of  returning 
to  God,  founded  on  the  advice  given  to  the  church  at  Ephesus;  in  this  I 
shall  make  a  few  observations  upon  the  address  to  the  church  at  Laodicea ; 
whose  character,  I  am  afraid,  bears  but  too  near  a  resemblance  to  that  of  the 
present  age.  The  address  of  Christ  to  that  lukewarm  and  self-sufficient 
people  is  as  follows :  "  Thou  sayest,  I  am  rich  and  increased  in  goods,  and 
have  need  of  nothing;  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched,  and  misera- 
ble, and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked.  I  counsel  thee  to  buy  of  me  gold  tried 
in  the  fire,  that  thou  mayest  be  rich ;  and  white  raiment,  that  thou  mayest 
be  clothed,  and  that  the  shame  of  thy  nakedness  do  not  appear:  and  anoint 
thine  eyes  with  eye-salve,  that  thou  mayest  see.  As  many  as  I  love,  I  rebuke 
and  chasten :  be  zealous  therefore,  and  repent." 

Laodicea  seems  to  have  been  a  place  of  trade.  Trade  usually  produces 
riches;  and  riches,  pride,  indifference  in  divine  things,  and  spiritual  wretch- 
edness. There  were  three  things  of  which  these  people  had  very  wrong 
notions;  namely,  riches,  heaidy,  and  discernment.  They  thought  an  increase 
of  goods  made  them  rich;  that  the  splendid  figure  which  on  that  account 
they  cut  among  the  churches  made  them  beautiful;  and  that  their  philosophi- 
cal knowledge,  it  is  probable,  made  them  wise.  But  they  had  been  for  each 
of  these  commodities,  if  I  may  so  speak,  to  a  wrong  market:  namely,  to  the 
world.  If  they  would  possess  either,  they  are  told  to  deal  with  Christ  for  it. 
The  counsel  of  Christ  is  as  if  he  had  said.  Trade  with  me.  Part  with  all 
your  own  frippery  for  spiritual  things,  and  learn  to  derive  these  from  me. 
They  are  articles  with  which  none  else  can  supply  you.  Count  my  grace 
your  riches,  and  part  with  your  dross  for  it;  my  righteousness  your  oi-na- 
ment,  and  part  with  your  own  for  it;  and  my  word  and  Spirit  that  which  is 
able  to  make  you  wise  unto  salvation,  and  come  to  me  as  fools  in  your  own 
eyes. 

Britain,  like  Laodicea,  is  a  place  of  trade;  trade  has  produced  riches;  and 
riches,  pride,  indifference,  and  spiritual  wretchedness.  If  there  is  any  people 
therefore  in  the  world  to  whom  the  counsel  to  Laodicea  is  applicable,  rather 
than  to  others,  it  seems  to  be  the  churches  of  Britain.  What  is  addressed 
to  them,  therefore,  I  shall  understand  as  if  it  were  immediately  addressed 
to  us. 

The  principal  thing  contained  in  this  counsel  is  that  we  deal  with 
Christ  ;  and  this  is  the  subject  with  which  I  shall  close  this  paper.  As 
Christ  is  the  only  way  to  which  we  are  to  point  lost  sinners  to  repair  for  sal- 
vation, so  he  is  the  only  way  in  which  we  can  make  any  progress  in  real 
religion.     "As  ye  have  received  Christ  Jesus,"  says  the  apostle,  "so  walk, 


SPIRITUAL  DECLENSION  AND  MEANS  OP  REVIVAL.  633 

ye  in  him."  Neither  is  there  any  other  way  of  returning  to  God,  when  we 
have  backslidden  from  him.  To  return  home  to  God  is  to  return  to  a  close 
walk  with  him,  to  a  serving  him  "  acceptably,  and  with  godly  fear;"  and,  to 
this  end,  we  must  "  have  grace;"  but  there  is  no  way  of  obtaining  grace  but 
by  dealing  with  Christ.  "It  hath  pleased  the  Father  that  in  him  should  all 
fulness  dwell ;"  and  it  is  "  out  of  his  fulness  that  we  all  must  receive,  and 
grace  for  grace." 

Christ  is  a  believer's  life;  the  bread  of  life,  the  water  of  life,  the  tree  of 
life,  the  vine  that  communicates  life  to  the  branches.  Each  of  these  meta- 
phors implies  that  we  cannot  live  at  all  spiritually  without  union  to  him;  so 
neither  can  we  be  lively  and  fruitful,  without  close  comnumion  with  him. 
If  we  be  strengthened  "  with  might  in  the  inner  man,"  it  must  be  by  Christ's 
"  dwelling  in  our  hearts  by  faith,"  or,  in  other  words,  by  his  having  place  in 
our  thoughts,  desires,  and  best  affections. 

Those  three  things  concerning  which  the  church  at  Laodicea  was  coun- 
selled— namely,  spiritual  riches,  spiritual  beauty,  and  spiritual  discernment, 
can  neither  of  them  be  obtained  but  by  dealing  with  Christ.  It  is  not  enough 
for  us  to  be  once  interested  in  pardoning  and  justifying  grace;  if  we  would 
be  rich  in  the  sight  of  God,  we  must  be  dealing  with  Christ  as  guilty,  self- 
condemned  sinners  for  forgiveness  and  acceptance.  It  is  not  enough  that 
we  reckon  upon  going  to  heaven  when  we  die;  our  conversation  must  be 
there  even  now ;  there  must  be  a  correspondence  kept  up  between  Christ 
and  our  souls,  or  we  shall  be  poor  and  miserable  indeed !  Nor  is  it  enough 
that  we  confess  our  sanctification,  or  spiritual  beauty,  io  come  from  him; 
there  must  be  a  daily  dealing  with  Christ  for  the  mortification  of  sin,  and  for 
the  increase  of  grace  and  peace.  Our  garments  are  not  to  be  "  made  white," 
or  beautiful,  but  by  being  "  washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb."  There  are 
very  few,  if  any,  of  us  who  are  sufficiently  sensible  of  our  entire  dependence 
upon  Christ  for  sanctification.  But  whatever  methods  we  may  take  to  pro- 
mote it  short  of  dealing  with  him,  they  will  not  do.  We  may  become  beau- 
tiful in  our  own  eyes,  like  Laodicea ;  but  shall  be  miserable  and  naked  in 
the  sight  of  God. 

What  is  the  reason  of  the  multitude  of  contradictory  sentiments  at  this 
day,  even  upon  the  great  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  which  are  written  in  the 
Scriptures  so  plain  that  "  he  that  runs  may  read"  them?  Is  it  not  for  want 
of  dealing  with  Christ  for  wisdom?  We  may  think,  and  reason,  and  dispute 
all  our  lifetime ;  but  unless  we  become  foe's  in  our  own  eyes,  and  rely  upon 
the  toord  and  Spirit  of  God  for  instruction,  we  shall  be  wretchedly  blind  to 
the  real  glory  of  the  gospel.  Spiritual  things  must  be  "  spiritually  discerned." 
Without  this  eye-salve,  whatever  be  our  conceit  of  ourselves,  we  shall  not  be 
wise.  It  is  by  an  unction  from  the  Holy  One  that  we  know  all  things,  and 
without  that  unction  we  "know  nothing  as  we  ought  to  know  it."  We  are 
not  to  abandon  either  thinking,  reasoning,  or  on  all  occasions  even  disputing; 
but  to  take  heed  that  they  be  so  exercised  as  not  to  interrupt,  but  promote, 
our  correspondence  with  Christ. 

There  are  certain  sentiments  and  feelings  which  are  necessary  and  en- 
couraging in  our  returning  to  God ;  such  as  a  deep  sense  of  the  evil  nature 
of  sin,  godly  sorrow  for  it,  and  a  hope  of  forgiveness  on  our  return ;  each  of 
which  is  produced  and  promoted  by  a  dealing  with  Christ. 

Where  can  we  learn  the  evil  of  sin  so  as  it  is  to  be  seen  in  the  death  of 
Christ  ?  True,  it  is  to  be  seen  in  the  glass  of  tlie  law,  and  in  the  moral 
character  of  God :  but  it  never  was  seen,  nor  can  be  seen,  in  so  odious  a 
light  as  that  in  which  it  appears  on  Calvary.  And  here  indeed  it  is  that  we 
not  only  see  the  evil  of  sin,  but  view  the  law  and  moral  character  of  God  in 
all  their  glory.  What  an  idea  must  it  afford  us  of  God's  displeasure  against 
.    Vol.  111.— 80. 


634  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSATS,  ETC. 

sin  to  see  him  pouring  out  his  wrath  upon  his  dear  and  only  begotten  Son, 
exposing  liim  whom  he  loved  more  than  all  the  creation  together  to  igno- 
miny and  death,  rather  than  suffer  it  to  go  unpunished !  Christian,  the  more 
thou  art  acquainted  with  Christ,  the  more  bitter,  unnatural,  disingenuous,  and 
shameful  will  thy  sin  appear  to  thee. 

What  will  open  the  springs  of  godly  sorrow  for  sin  like  an  intimate  and 
close  dealing  with  Christ?  If  any  thing  will  dissolve  the  hardness  of  our 
hearts,  it  is  the  consideration  of  his  dying  love.  If  we  are  brought  to  "  mourn 
as  one  that  mourneth  for  an  only  son,  and  to  be  in  bitterness  as  one  that  is 
in  bitterness  for  his  first-born,"  it  is  "  looking  upon  him  whom  we  have 
pierced:"  Come,  backsliding  Christian,  come  but  to  the  Saviour's  feet,  and 
thou  shalt  soon  be  able  to  wash  them  with  thy  tears. 

Finally,  What  can  afford  us  any  hope  and  encouragement  to  return  to  God, 
but  the  name  of  Christ?  It  is  in  him  alone  that  we  can  obtain  forgiveness. 
He  is  the  Advocate  with  the  Father,  to  whom  they  that  have  sinned  are 
encouraged  to  look  for  relief  It  was  his  blood  in  which  David  prayed  to 
be  waslied  from  his  uncleanness  and  blood-guiltiness.  Under  all  our  guilt, 
darkness,  and  confusion  let  us  not  despair.  We  have  an  "  Intercessor  for 
transgressors  before  the  throne;  a  faithful  and  merciful  High  Priest,  who 
was  tempted  in  all  points  like  unto  us,  yet  without  sin ;  and  in  that  he  him- 
self has  suffered,  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succour  them  that  are  tempted." 
Let  us  consider  how  he  interceded  for  those  that  were  "  in  the  world."  "  I 
am  no  more  in  the  world,  but  these  are  in  the  world :  holy  Father,  keep 
them  !"  Think  of  the  Lord's  having  "  laid  upon  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all ;" 
even  of  such  as  "  like  sheep  have  gone  astray,  and  turned  every  one  to  his 
own  way" — of  his  being  "  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  them  that  come 
unto  God  by  him,"  seeing  he  "  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us." 
Think  how  he  expostulates  with  us,  invites  us  to  return  in  the  most  melting 
language,  and  stands  with  open  arms  to  receive  us :  "  Oh  that  there  were 
such  a  heart  in  them !  that  they  would  love  me  and  fear  me,  and  keep  all 
my  commandments  always ! — Oh  that  my  people  had  hearkened  to  my  voice ! 
then  had  their  peace  been  as  a  river,  and  their  righteousness  as  the  waves 
of  the  sea! — Set  thee  up  way-marks,  make  thee  high  heaps;  set  thine  heart 
toward  the  highway,  even  the  way  that  thou  wentest. — Return,  O  thou  back- 
sliding children,  for  I  am  married  unto  you,  saith  the  Lord. — Take  with  you 
words,  and  turn  to  the  Lord ;  say  unto  him.  Take  away  all  iniquity,  and 
receive  us  graciously  :  so  will  we  render  the  calves  of  our  lips;  for  in  thee 
the  fatherless  findeth  mercy. — I  will  heal  your  backslidings;  I  will  love  you 
freely.  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto  Israel ;  and  he  shall  grow  as  the  lily,  and 
cast  forth  his  roots  as  Lebanon. — Ephraim  shall  say.  What  have  I  to  do  any 
more  with  idols? — I  am  like  a  green  fir  tree:  from  me  is  thy  fruit  found." 

If  this,  or  any  of  the  foregoing  papers,  should  be  the  means  of  reclaiming 
any  from  the  error  of  their  ways,  either  mental  or  practical — if  they  should 
tend  to  excite  either  myself  or  others  to  a  closer  walk  with  God,  I  shall 
enjoy  the  satisfaction  of  not  having  written  in  vain. 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  635 


THE  BACKSLIDER: 

OR    AN    INQUIRY    INTO  THE    NATURE,  SYMPTOMS,  AND    EFFECTS    OF   RELIGIOUS 
DECLENSION,  WITH  THE  MEANS  OF  RECOVERY.* 

"  I  went  by  the  field  of  the  slothful,  and  by  the  vineyard  of  the  man  void  of  understand- 
intj;  and  lo !  it  was  all  grown  over  with  thorns;  nettles  had  covered  the  face  thereof,  and 
the  stone  wall  thereof  was  broken  down.  Then  I  saw,  and  considered  it  well :  I  looked 
upon  it,  and  received  instruction." — Solomon. 

Whether  the  present  age  be  worse  than  others  which  have  preceded  it, 
I  shall  not  determine;  but  this  is  manifest,  that  it  abounds  not  only  in 
infidelity  and  profligacy,  but  with  great  numbers  of  loose  characters  among 
professing  Christians.  It  is  true,  there  are  some  eminently  zealous  and 
spiritual,  perhaps  as  much  so  as  at  almost  any  former  period :  the  disin- 
terested concern  which  has  appeared  for  the  diffusion  of  evangelical  religion 
is  doubtless  a  hopeful  feature  of  our  times;  yet  it  is  no  less  evident  that 
others  are  in  a  sad  degree  conformed  to  this  world,  instead  of  being  trans- 
formed by  the  renewing  of  their  minds.  Even  of  those  who  retain  a  decency 
of  character,  many  are  sunk  into  a  Laodicean  lukewarmness.  Professors 
are  continually  falling  away  from  Christ:  either  totally,  so  as  to  walk  no 
more  with  him  ;  or  partially,  so  as  greatly  to  dishonour  his  name.  Alas,  how 
many  characters  of  this  description  are  to  be  found  in  our  congregations t 
If  we  only  review  the  progress  of  things  for  twenty  or  thirty  years  past,  we 
shall  perceive  many  who  once  bid  fair  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  now  fallen 
a  prey  to  the  temptations  of  the  world.  Like  the  blossoms  in  the  spring, 
they  for  a  time  excited  our  hopes ;  but  a  blight  has  succeeded :  the  blossom 
"has  gone  up  as  the  dust,"  and  the  "root"  in  many  cases  appears  to  be 
"  rottenness." 

It  is  one  important  branch  of  the  work  of  a  faithful  pastor  to  strengthen 
the  diseased,  to  heal  the  sick,  to  bind  up  the  broken,  to  bring  again  that 
which  is  driven  away,  and  to  seek  that  which  is  lost,  Ezek.  xxxiv.  4.  If 
these  pages  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  but  a  few  of  the  above  description, 
and  contribute  in  any  degree  to  their  recovery  from  the  snare  of  the  devil, 
the  writer  will  be  amply  rewarded.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  recover  any  sinner 
from  the  error  of  his  way;  but  much  more  those  of  whom  we  once  thought 
favourably.  The  place  which  they  formerly  occupied  in  our  esteem,  our 
hopes,  and  our  social  exercises,  now  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  chasm,  which 
can  be  filled  up  only  by  the  return  of  the  party.  If  a  child  depart  from  his 
father's  house,  and  plunge  into  profligacy  and  ruin,  the  father  may  have 
other  children,  and  may  love  them ;  but  none  of  them  can  heal  his  wound, 
nor  can  any  thing  satisfy  him,  but  the  return  of  "  him  that  was  lost." 

In  pursuit  of  this  desirable  object,  I  shall  describe  the  nature  and  different 
species  of  backsliding  from  God — notice  the  symptoms  of  it — trace  its  inju- 
rious and  dangerous  effects —  and  point  out  the  means  of  recovery. 

ON  THE  GENERAL  NATURE  AND  DIFFERENT  SPECIES  OF  BACKSLIDING. 

All  backsliding  from  God  originates  in  a  departure  of  heart  from  him : 
herein  consists  the  essence  and  the  evil  of  it.     "  Thine  own  wickedness 

*  This  treatise  was  occasioned  by  the  writer's  observing  several  persons,  of  whom  he 
had  formerly  entertained  a  favourable  opinion,  and  with  whom  he  had  walked  in  Christian 
fellowship,  having  fallen,  either  from  the  doctrine  or  practice  of  pure  religion.  A  view  of 
their  unhappy  condition  made  a  deep  impression  upon  his  mind.  If  he  has  been  enabled 
to  describe  the  case  of  a  backslider  to  any  good  purpose,  it  has  been  chiefly  owing  to  thia 
circumstance.  He  hopes  that,  though  it  was  written  with  a  special  eye  to  a  few,  it  may 
yet  be  useful  to  many. 


636  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

shall  correct  thee,  and  thy  backslidings  shall  reprove  thee:  Know,  therefore, 
and  see,  that  it  is  an  evil  thing  and  bitter,  that  ihoti  hast  forsaken  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  that  my  fear  is  not  in  thee,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  But  the 
degrees  of  this  sin,  and  the  modes  in  which  it  operates,  are  various. 

The  backsliding  of  some  is  total.  After  having  made  a  profession  of  the 
true  religion,  they  apostatize  from  it.  I  am  aware  it  is  common  to  consider 
a  backslider  as  being  a  good  man,  though  in  a  bad  state  of  mind;  but  the 
Scriptures  do  not  confine  the  term  to  this  application.  Those  who  are  ad- 
dressed in  the  passage  just  quoted  had  not  the  fear  of  God  in  them,  which 
can  never  be  said  of  a  good  man.  Backsliding,  it  is  true,  always  supposes  a 
profession  of  the  true  religion;  but  it  does  not  necessarily  suppose  tlie  exist- 
ence of  the  thing  professed.  There  is  a  "perpetual  backsliding,"  and  a 
"drawing  back  unto  perdition,"  Jer.  viii.  5;  Heb.  x.  39.  Such  characters 
were  Saul,  and  Ahithophel,  and  Judas.  Many  persons  have  in  a  great  degree 
declined  the  practice  of  religion  who  yet  comfort  themselves  with  an  idea 
that  they  shall  be  brought  to  repentance  before  they  die;  but  this  is  presump- 
tuously tempting  God.  Whosoever  plunges  into  this  gulf,  or  continues  easy 
in  it,  under  an  idea  of  being  recovered  by  repentance,  may  find  himself  mis- 
taken. Both  Peter  and  Judas  went  in;  but  only  one  of  them  came  out! 
There  is  reason  to  fear  that  thousands  of  professors  are  now  lifting  up  their 
eyes  in  torment,  who  in  this  world  reckoned  themselves  good  men,  who  con- 
sidered their  sins  as  pardonable  errors,  and  laid  their  accounts  with  being 
brought  to  repentance;  but,  ere  they  were  aware,  the  Bridegroom  came,  and 
they  were  not  ready  to  meet  him  ! 

The  nature  and  deadly  tendency  of  sin  is  the  same  in  itself,  whether  in  a 
wicked  or  in  a  righteous  man;  there  is  an  important  difference,  however, 
between  the  backsliding  of  the  one  and  that  of  the  other.  That  of  the  hypo- 
crite arises  from  his  "  having  no  root  in  himself;"  therefore  it  is  that  in  the 
time  of  temptation  he  falleth  away:  but  that  of  the  sincere  Christian  respects 
the  culture  of  the  branch,  and  is  owing  to  unwatchfulness,  or  remissness  in 
duty.  The  former,  in  turning  back,  returns  to  a  course  which  his  heart 
always  preferred;  the  latter,  though  in  what  he  does  he  is  not  absolutely 
involuntary,  for  then  it  were  innocent;  yet  it  is  not  with  a  full  or  perfect 
consent  of  his  will.  He  does  not  sin  wilfulli/;  that  which  he  does  he  allows 
not;  it  is  against  the  habitual  disposition  of  his  soul;  he  is  not  himself,  as 
we  should  say,  while  so  acting.*  Finally,  The  one,  were  it  not  for  the  re- 
morse of  conscience  which  may  continue  to  haunt  him  and  disturb  his  peace, 
would  be  in  his  element  m  having  made  a  full  riddance  of  religion  ;  but  this 
is  not  the  case  with  the  other.  A  life  of  deviation  and  distance  from  God 
is  not  his  element,  nor  can  he  enjoy  himself  in  it.  This  difference  is  re- 
markably exemplified  in  the  cases  of  Saul  and  David.  The  religion  of  the 
former  never  appears  to  have  fitted  him;  he  was  continually  acting  awk- 
wardly with  It,  and  presently  threw  it  aside.  If,  in  addition  to  this,  he  could 
have  forgotten  it,  and  lived  without  being  terrified  by  the  apprehension  of 
consequences,  he  would  doubtless  have  been  much  the  happier  for  having 
cast  it  off.  But  when  the  latter  had  sinned,  he  was  not  like  the  raven  which 
went  forth  of  the  ark,  and  came  no  more;  but  like  the  dove  which  could  find 
no  rest  for  the  sole  of  her  foot  till  she  returned.  The  thirty-second  and 
thirty-eighth  Psalms  express  the  wretchedness  of  his  mind  till  he  confessed 
his  sin  and  obtained  mercy. 

*  It  is  usual  to  denominate  a  character  by  his  habitual  or  ruling  disposition,  and  not  by 
occasional  deviations  from  it.  Thus  when  we  hear  of  him  who  was  famed  for  meekness 
speaking  unadvisedly  with  his  lips,  we  say.  This  was  not  Moses  :  or  of  him  who  was  distin. 
guished  by  his  courageous  avowal  of  his  Lord  denying  with  oaths  that  he  knew  him,  we  say. 
This  was  not  Peter.  Both  these  great  characters,  in  these  instances,  acted  beside  themselves. 
Jt  was  not  they,  as  it  were,  but  sin  that  dwelt  in  them.     See  Heb.  x.  26  ;  Rom.  vii.  15-25. 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  637 

But  whatever  diflerence  there  be  between  a  partial  and  a  total  departure 
from  God,  it  will  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  the  party  himself,  at  the 
time,  to  perceive  it.  So  long  as  any  rnan  continues  in  a  backsliding  state, 
the  reality  of  his  religion  must  remain  uncertain.  He  may  not  be  without 
hope,  nor  ought  he  to  be  without  fear.  The  Scriptures  know  nothing  of  that 
kind  of  contidence  which  renders  men  easy  in  their  sins.  Paul  stood  in 
doubt  of  the  Galatians,  and  they  ought  to  have  stood  in  doubt  of  themselves. 
The  species  of  backsliding  are  various;  some  respect  doctrine,  others  prac- 
tice; but  all  are  the  operations  of  a  heart  departing  from  the  living  God.  i 

In  some,  a  backsliding  spirit  first  appears  by  a  relinquishment  of  evangeli- 
cal doctrine.  Where  truth  is  treated  merely  as  a  matter  of  speculation,  or 
as  an  opinion  of  no  great  moment,  it  is  not  held  fast ;  and  where  this  is  the 
case,  it  is  easily  surrendered.  If  a  plausible  book  in  favour  of  deism,  or 
any  of  those  vain  systems  which  nearly  approach  it,  fall  in  their  way,  they 
are  ready  to  yield ;  and  by  reading  the  performance  a  second  time,  or  con- 
versing with  a  person  who  favours  it,  they  make  shipwreck  of  their  faith, 
and  are  driven  on  the  rocks  of  infidelity.  Such  was  the  process  in  the  days 
of  the  aposdes;  those  who  "  received  not  the  love  of  the  truth"  were  given 
up  to  "  believe  a  lie,"  2  Thess.  ii.  10,  II. 

If  these  departures  from  evangelical  principles  were  closely  examined,  it 
would  be  found  that  they  were  preceded  by  a  neglect  of  private  prayer, 
watchfulness,  self-diffidence,  and  walking  humbly  with  God;  and  every  one 
may  perceive  that  they  are  followed  with  similar  effects.  It  has  been  ac- 
knowledged, by  some  who  have  embraced  the  Socinian  system,  that  since 
they  entertained  those  views  they  had  lost  even  the  gift  of  prayer.  Per- 
haps they  might  draw  up  and  read  an  address  to  the  Deity ;  but  they  could 
not  pray.  Where  the  principles  of  the  gospel  are  abandoned,  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  and  of  all  close  walking  with  God,  will  go  with  it.  The  confession  of 
Peter  that  Jesus  "was  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,"  is  thought  to  be  that 
which  our  Lord  denominates  the  rock  on  which  he  would  build  his  church. 
We  are  sure  that  the  belief  of  this  article  of  faith  was  required  as  a  kind 
of  test  of  Christianity;  and  who  can  look  into  the  Christian  world  with 
attention,  and  not  perceive  that  it  still  continues  a  sort  of  key-stone  to  the 
building?  If  this  give  way,  the  fabric  falls.  Backslidings  of  this  nature 
are  infinitely  dangerous.  He  that  declines  in  holy  practice  has  to  labour 
against  ihe  remonstrances  of  conscience;  but  he  that  brings  himself  to  think 
lightly  of  sin  and  meanly  of  the  Saviour  (which  is  what  every  false  system 
of  religion  teaches)  has  gone  far  towards  silencing  the  accusations  of  this 
unpleasant  monitor.  He  is  upon  good  terms  with  himself  The  disorder 
of  his  soul  is  deep;  but  it  is  of  a  flattering  nature.  The  declension  of  serious 
religion  in  him  is  no  less  apparent  to  others  than  that  of  the  constitution 
by  a  consuming  hectic;  yet,  as  is  common  in  such  cases,  the  party  himself 
thinks  he  shall  do  well.  In  short,  "the  light  which  is  in  him  is  darkness;" 
and  this  is  the  greatest  of  all  darkness! 

In  others,  a  departure  of  heart  from  God  is  followed  by  falling  into  some 
gross  immorality. — There  are  instances  in  which  a  sudden  misconduct  of 
this  sort  has  been  overruled  for  the  awakening  of  the  mind  from  its  stupor, 
and  divesting  it  of  its  self-confidence.  It  was  manifestly  thus  with  the  apostle 
Peter.  The  stumbling  of  such  persons  is  not  that  they  should  fall;  but 
rather  that  they  should  stand  with  greater  care  and  firmness.  But  the  greatest 
danger  arises  from  those  cases  where  some  lust  of  the  flesh  has  gradually 
obtamed  an  ascendency  over  the  heart ;  so  that  when  the  subject  of  it  falls,  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world,  it  is  only  appearing  to  be  what  he  has  long  been  in  secret; 
and  the  first  wrong  step  that  he  makes,  instead  of  alarming  him,  and  occa- 
sioning his  going  aside  to  weep  bitterly,  is  only  the  prelude  to  a  succession 

3H 


638 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


of  Others.  This  is  not  the  fall  of  one  who  is  "overtaken  in  a  fault;"  but 
of  one  who  is  entangled  in  the  net  of  his  own  corruptions.  One  sin  prepares 
the  way  for  another.  Like  the  insect  infolded  in  the  spider's  web,  he  loses 
all  power  of  resistance,  and  falls  a  prey  to  the  destroyer.  Some  have  fallen 
sacrifices  to  intemperance,  not  by  being  overtaken  in  a  single  act  of  intoxi- 
cation, but  by  contracting  a  habit  of  hard  drinking.  First  it  was  indulged 
in  private,  perhaps  under  some  outward  trouble,  instead  of  carrying  it  to  a 
throne  of  grace.  In  a  little  time  its  demands  increased.  At  length  it  could 
no  longer  be  kept  a  secret;  reason  was  enslaved  to  sense,  and  the  Christian 
professor  sunk  below  the  man!  Others  have  indulged  in  impurity.  Intima- 
cies which  may  have  arisen  from  nothing  worse  than  a  few  improper  famili- 
arities— yea,  which  in  some  instances  have  originated  in  religion  itself,  have 
been  known,  through  the  corrupt  propensities  of  the  human  heart,  which 
turns  every  thing  it  touches  into  poison,  to  produce  the  most  fatal  effects. 
Passions  of  this  sort  once  kindled  will  soon  possess  all  the  soul.  They 
leave  no  room  for  any  thing  that  should  resist  them;  not  only  consuming 
every  spiritual  desire  and  holy  thought,  but  banishing  from  the  mind  even 
the  sober  dictates  of  reason,  reducing  the  most  exalted  characters  to  the  rank 
of  fools  in  Israel.  Near  these  rocks  are  seen  many  a  floating  wreck ;  and 
among  these  quicksands  numbers  who  once  bade  fair  for  the  haven  of  ever- 
lasting life. 

Another  way  in  which  a  departure  from  God  very  often  operates  is  by  the 
love  of  the  world. — It  is  not  uncommon  for  persons  who  once  appeared  to 
be  zealous,  affectionate,  and  devoted  to  God,  when  they  come  to  be  settled 
in  life,  and  to  enter  into  its  necessary  avocations,  to  lose  all  heart  for  reli- 
gion, and  take  no  delight  in  any  thing  but  saving  money.  This,  it  is  true, 
is  not  generally  considered  by  the  world  as  disreputable;  on  the  contrary, 
provided  we  be  fair  in  our  dealings,  it  is  reckoned  a  mark  of  wisdom. 
"  Men  will  praise  thee  when  thou  doest  well  to  thyself"  Such  a  one,  say 
they,  is  a  discreet  man,  and  one  that  knows  how  to  secure  the  main  chance. 
Yet  die  Scriptures  are  very  decisive  against  such  characters.  This  is  the 
sin  which  they  denominate  "  the  lust  of  the  eye."  The  cares,  and  riches, 
and  pleasures  of  this  life,  are  described  as  choking  the  word,  and  rendering 
it  unfruitful.  It  is  worthy  of  special  notice,  that  when  our  Lord  had  warned 
his  followers  "  to  take  heed  and  beware  of  covetousness,"  the  example  which 
he  gives  of  this  sin  is  not  of  one  that  was  a  plunderer  of  other  men's  pro- 
perty, an  unfair  dealer,  or  an  oppressor  of  the  poor;  but  of  a  "  certain  rich 
man  whose  ground  brought  forth  plentifully;"  and  whose  only  object  ap- 
peared to  be,  first,  to  acquire  a  handsome  fortune,  and  then  to  retire  from 
business  and  live  at  his  ease.  This  also  appears  to  be  the  character  which 
is  blessed  by  wicked  men,  but  abhorred  of  God,  Psal.  x.  3.  A  man  who 
deals  unfairly  with  men  gains  not  their  blessing,  but  their  curse.  Men  in 
general  regard  only  themselves ;  so  long,  therefore,  as  any  person  deals  justly 
with  them,  they  care  not  what  his  conduct  is  towards  God.  But  it  is  affect- 
ing to  think  that  the  very  character  which  they  bless  and  envy,  God  abhors. 
The  decision  of  Heaven  is  nothing  less  than  this,  "If  any  man  love  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  So  far  is  the  love  of  this 
world  from  being  the  less  dangerous  on  account  of  its  falling  so  little  under 
human  censure,  that  it  is  the  more  so.  If  we  be  guilty  of  any  thing  which 
exposes  us  to  the  reproach  of  mankind,  such  reproach  may  assist  the  re- 
monstrances of  conscience,  and  of  God,  in  carrying  conviction  to  our  bosoms ; 
but  of  that  for  which  the  world  acquits  us  we  shall  be  exceedingly  disposed 
to  acquit  ourselves. 

It  has  long  appeared  to  me  that  this  species  of  covetousness  will,  in  all 
probability,  prove  the  eternal  overthrow  of  more  characters  among  profess 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  639 

ing  people  than  almost  any  other  sin;  and  this  because  it  is  almost  the  only 
sin  which  may  be  indulged,  and  a  profession  of  religion  at  the  same  time 
supported.  If  a  man  be  a  drunkard,  a  fornicator,  an  adulterer,  or  a  liar — if 
he  rob  his  neighbour,  oppress  the  poor,  or  deal  unjustly — he  must  give  up 
his  pretensions  to  religion;  or,  if  not,  his  religious  connexions,  if  they  are 
worthy  of  being  so  denominated,  will  give  him  up :  but  he  may  "  love  the 
world,  and  the  things  of  the  world,"  and  at  the  same  time  retain  his  charac- 
ter. If  the  depravity  of  the  human  heart  be  not  subdued  by  the  grace  of 
God,  it  will  operate.  If  a  dam  be  placed  across  some  of  its  ordinary  chan- 
nels, it  will  flow  with  greater  depth  and  rapidity  in  those  which  remain.  It 
is  thus,  perhaps,  that  avarice  is  most  prevalent  in  old  age,  when  the  power  of 
pursuing  other  vices  has  in  a  great  measure  subsided.  And  thus  it  is  with 
religious  professors  whose  hearts  are  not  right  with  God.  They  cannot 
figure  away  with  the  profane,  nor  indulge  in  gross  immoralities;  but  they 
can  love  the  world  supremely,  to  the  neglect  of  God,  and  be  scarcely  amena- 
ble to  human  judgment. 

And  whatever  may  prove  the  overthrow  of  a  mere  professor  may  be  a 
temptation  to  a  good  man,  and  greatly  injure  his  soul.  Of  this  the  case  of 
Lot,  when  he  parted  with  Abraham,  furnishes  an  affecting  example.  When 
a  situation  was  put  to  his  choice,  "  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  beheld  all  the 
plain  of  Jordan,  that  it  was  well  watered  every  where;"  and  he  took  up  his 
residence  in  Sodom.  He  had  better  have  dwelt  in  a  wilderness  than  among 
that  debauched  people;  but  he  consulted  worldly  advantages,  and  the  spi- 
ritual well-being  of  his  family  was  overlooked.  And  what  was  the  conse- 
quence? It  is  true,  he  was  a  righteous  man,  and  his  righteous  soul  was 
grieved  with  the  filthy  conversation  of  the  wicked  from  day  to  day :  but  he 
could  have  very  little  influence  over  them ;  while  they,  on  the  contrary, 
found  means  of  communicating  their  odious  vices  to  his  family.  Some  of 
his  daughters  appear  to  have  been  married  while  in  Sodom ;  and  when  the 
city  was  to  be  destroyed,  neither  they  nor  their  husbands  could  be  persuaded 
to  make  their  escape,  and  so  probably  perished  in  the  overthrow.  The  heart 
of  his  wife  was  so  attached,  it  seems,  to  what  she  had  left  behind,  that  she 
must  needs  look  back;  for  which  she  was  rendered  a  monument  of  Divine 
displeasure.  And  as  to  his  two  single  daughters,  though  they  escaped  with 
him  to  the  mountain,  yet  they  had  learnt  so  much  of  the  ways  of  Sodom  as 
to  cover  his  old  age  with  infamy.  This,  together  with  the  loss  of  all  his 
substance,  was  the  fruit  of  the  "  well-watered  plain,"  which  he  had  fixed  his 
eyes  upon,  to  the  neglect  of  his  spiritual  interest.  Yet  how  frequently  is 
the  same  part  acted  over  again!  In  the  choice  of  settlements  for  ourselves, 
or  our  children,  how  common  is  it  to  overlook  the  immorality  of  the  place, 
the  irreligiousness  of  the  connexions,  or  the  want  of  a  gospel  ministry ;  and 
to  direct  our  inquiries  only  to  temporal  advantages!  From  the  same  prin- 
ciple also,  many  have  dealt  largely  in  speculation,  and  plunged  into  engage- 
ments far  beyond  their  circumstances.  The  hope  of  making  a  fortune,  as 
it  is  termed,  by  some  lucky  hit,  draws  them  into  measures  which  ruin,  not 
only  themselves,  but  many  who  confide  in  them.  That  mere  worldly  men 
should  act  in  this  manner  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise;  but  that  men  profess- 
ing to  fear  God  should  imitate  them  .  .  .  .  "  this  is  a  lamentation,  and  shall 
be  for  a  lamentation." 

Further,  Many  have  fallen  sacrifices  not  only  to  the  love  of  the  world,  but 
to  a  conformitij  to  it. — These  are  not  the  same  thing,  though  frequently 
found  in  the  same  person.  The  object  of  the  one  is  principally  the  acqui- 
sition of  wealth ;  the  other  respects  the  manner  of  spending  it.  That  is 
often  penurious;  this  wishes  to  cut  a  figure,  and  appear  like  people  of 
fashion.     The  former  is  "  the  lust  of  the  eye;"  the  latter  is  "  the  pride  of 


640  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

life."  We  need  not  affect  singularity  in  things  indifferent ;  but  to  engage 
in  the  chase  of  fashionable  appearance  is  not  only  an  indication  of  a  vain 
and  little  mind,  but  is  certainly  inconsistent  with  pressing  towards  the  mark 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  desire  of 
making  an  appearance  has  ruined  many  people  in  their  circumstances,  more 
in  their  characters,  and  most  of  all  in  their  souls.  We  may  flatter  ourselves 
that  we  can  pursue  these  things, and  be  religious  at  the  same  time;  but  it  is 
a  mistake.  The  vanity  of  mind  which  they  cherish  eats  up  every  thing  of 
a  humble,  serious,  and  holy  nature;  rendering  us  an  easy  prey  to  tempta- 
tion, when  solicited  to  do  as  others  do  in  an  evil  thing.  A  Christian's 
rule  is  the  revealed  will  of  God ;  and,  where  the  customs  of  the  world  run 
counter  to  this,  it  is  his  business  to  withstand  them,  even  though  in  so  doing 
he  may  have  to  withstand  a  multitude,  yea,  and  a  multitude  of  people  of 
fashion :  but  if  we  feel  ambitious  of  their  applause,  we  shall  not  be  able  to 
endure  the  scorn  which  a  singularity  of  conduct  will  draw  upon  us.  Thus 
we  shall  be  carried  down  the  stream  by  the  course  of  this  world ;  and  shall 
either  fall  into  the  gulf  of  perdition,  or,  if  any  good  thing  should  be  found 
in  us  towards  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  it  will  be  almost  indiscernible  and 
useless.  In  short,  such  characters  are  certainly  in  a  backsliding  state, 
whether  they  be  ever  recovered  from  it  or  not.  The  case  of  the  Laodiceans 
seems  to  approach  the  nearest  to  theirs  of  any  thing  which  in  Scripture 
occurs  to  me.  They  were  "neither  cold  nor  hot;"  neither  the  decided 
friends  of  Christ,  nor  his  avowed  enemies :  they  could  not  relinquish  the 
world  in  f;ivour  of  religion,  yet  neither  could  they  let  religion  alone.  They 
were  vainly  puffed  up  with  a  notion  of  their  wealth,  their  wisdom,  and  their 
finery ;  saying,  "lam  rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing :" 
but,  in  the  account  of  the  faithful  and  true  witness,  they  were  "poor,  and 
wretched,  and  miserable,  and  blind,  and  naked."  Such  a  decision  ought  to 
make  us  tremble  at  the  thought  of  aspiring  to  imitate  people  of  fashion. 

Finally,  There  is  another  species  of  departure  from  God  which  it  becomes 
me  to  notice,  as  many  in  the  present  age  have  fallen  sacrifices  to  it.  This 
is,  taking  an  eager  and  deep  interest  in  political  dispiitcs. — The  state  of 
things  in  the  world  has  of  late  been  such  as  to  attract  the  attention,  and  em- 
ploy the  conversation,  of  all  classes  of  people.  As  success  has  attended  each 
of  the  contending  parties,  the  minds  of  men,  according  to  their  views  and 
attachments,  have  been  affected ;  some  with  fear  and  dismay,  lest  their  party 
interests  should  be  ruined;  others,  with  the  most  sanguine  hopes,  as  if  the 
world  were  shortly  to  be  emancipated,  war  abolished,  and  all  degrees  of  men 
rendered  happy.  This  is  one  of  those  strong  winds  of  temptation  that  occa- 
sionally arise  in  the  troubled  ocean  of  this  world,  against  which  those  who 
are  bound  to  a  better  had  need  to  be  on  their  guard.  The  flattering  objects 
held  out  by  revolutions  were  so  congenial  with  the  wishes  of  humanity,  and 
their  pretences  to  disinterested  philanthropy  so  fair,  that  many  religious 
people,  for  a  time,  forgot  their  own  principles.  While  gazing  on  the  splen- 
did spectacle,  it  did  not  occur  to  them  that  the  wicked,  whatever  name  they 
assumed,  ivould  do  wickedly.  By  observing  the  progress  of  things,  however, 
they  have  been  convinced  that  all  hopes  of  the  state  of  mankind  being  essen- 
tially meliorated  by  any  means  short  of  the  prevalence  of  the  gospel  are 
visionary,  and  have  accordingly  turned  their  attention  to  better  things.  But 
some  have  gone  greater  lengths.  Their  whole  heart  has  been  engaged  in 
this  pursuit.  It  has  been  their  meat  and  their  drink  :  and,  this  being  the 
case,  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  have  become  indifferent  to  religion ;  for 
these  things  cannot  consist  with  each  other.  It  is  not  only  contrary  to  the 
whole  tenor  of  the  New  Testament,  but  tends  in  its  own  nature  to  eat  up 
true  religion.     If  any  worldly  matter,  however  lawful  in  itself,  engage  our 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  641 

attention,  inordinately,  it  becomes  a  snare;  and  more  so  in  matters  that  do 
not  come  within  the  line  of  our  immediate  duty.  But  if,  in  attending  to  it, 
we  are  obliged  to  neglect  what  manifestly  is  our  duty,  and  to  overleap  the 
boundaries  of  God's  holy  word,  let  us  look  to  it :  beyond  those  boundaries  is 
a  pit,  in  which  there  is  reason  to  fear  great  numbers  have  been  lost.  There 
were  many,  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  who  "  despised  government," 
were  "  not  afraid  to  speak  evil  of  dignities:"  but  were  they  good  men?  Far 
from  it.  They  were  professors  of  Christianity,  however;  for  they  are  said  to 
have  "  escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  through  the  knowledge  of  Christ;" 
yea,  and  what  is  more,  they  had  attained  the  character  of  Christian  teachers. 
But  of  what  description  ?  "  False  teachers,  who  privily  brought  in  damnable 
heresies,  denying  the  Lord  who  bought  them,  bringing  upon  themselves 
swift  destruction" — whose  wni/s,  though  followed  by  many,  were  pernicious, 
occasioning  "  the  way  of  truth  to  be  evil  spoken  of"  To  copy  the  examples 
of  such  men  is  no  light  matter. 

When  a  man's  thoughts  and  affections  are  filled  with  such  things  as  these, 
the  Scriptures  become  a  kind  o^  dead  letter,  vi\\\\Q  the  speeches  and  writings 
of  politicians  are  the  lii'ely  oracles:  spiritual  conversation  is  unheard,  or,  if 
introduced  by  others,  considered  as  a  flat  and  uninteresting  topic;  and  leisure 
hours,  whether  sitting  in  the  house  or  walking  by  the  way,  instead  of  being 
employed  in  talking  and  meditating  on  Divine  subjects,  are  engrossed  by 
things  which  do  not  profit.  Such  are  the  rocks  among  which  many  have 
made  shipwreck  of  faith  and  a  good  conscience. 

Whatever  may  be  the  duty  of  a  nation  in  extraordinary  cases,  there  is 
scarcely  any  thing  in  all  the  New  Testament  inculcated  with  more  solemnity 
than  that  individuals,  and  especially  Christians,  should  be  obedient,  peace- 
able, and  loyal  subjects;  nor  is  there  any  sin  much  more  awfully  censured 
than  the  contrary  conduct.  It  requires  not  only  that  we  keep  within  the 
compass  of  the  laws,  (which  is  easily  done  by  men  of  the  most  unprincipled 
minds,)  but  that  we  honour  and  intercede  loith  God  for  those  who  administer 
them.  These  duties  were  pressed  particularly  upon  the  Romans,  who,  by 
their  situation,  were  more  exposed  than  others  to  the  temptation  of  joining 
in  factions  and  conspiracies,  which  were  almost  continually  at  work  in  that 
tumultuous  city. 

Nor  does  the  danger  belong  exclusively  to  one  side.  We  may  sin  by  an 
adherence  to  the  measures  of  a  government,  as  well  as  by  an  opposition  to 
them.  If  we  enlist  under  the  banners  of  the  party  in  power,  considered  as  a 
parti/,  we  shall  be  disposed  to  vindicate  or  palliate  all  their  proceedings, 
which  may  be  very  inconsistent  with  Christianity.  Paul,  though  he  enjoined 
obedience  to  the  existing  government,  yet  was  never  an  advocate  for  Roman 
ambition ;  and,  when  addressing  himself  to  a  governor,  did  not  fail  to 
"  reason  on  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to  come."  It  is  our 
duty,  no  doubt,  to  consider  that  many  things  which  seem  evil  to  us  might 
appear  otherwise,  if  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  were  known ;  and 
therefore  to  forbear  passing  hasty  censures :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we 
ought  to  beware  of  applauding  every  thing  that  is  done,  lest,  if  it  be  evil,  we 
be  partakers  of  other  men's  sins,  and  contribute  to  their  being  repeated. 

While  some,  burning  with  revolutionary  zeal,  have  imagined  they  could 
discover  all  the  wonderful  events  of  the  present  day  in  Scripture  prophecy, 
and  have  been  nearly  blinded  to  the  criminality  of  the  principal  agents; 
others,  by  a  contrary  prejudice,  have  disregarded  the  works  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  operations  of  his  hand.  Whatever  maybe  said  of  means  and  instruments, 
we  must  be  strangely  insensible  not  to  see  the  hand  of  God  in  the  late  over- 
turnings  among  the  papal  powers;  and  if  we  be  induced  by  political  attach- 
ment, instead  of  joining  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  in  a  song  of  praise,  to 

Vol.  III.— 81  3  h  3 


C42  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

unite  with  the  merchants  of  the  earth  in  their  lamentations,  are  we  not 
carnal?  There  is  no  need  of  vindicating  orpa'liating  the  measures  of  men, 
whicli  may  be  wicked  in  the  extreme;  but  neither  ought  we  to  overlook  the 
hand  of  God. 

The  great  point  with  Christians  should  be,  an  attachment  to  government 
as  government,  irrespective  of  the  party  which  administers  it;  for  this  is 
right,  and  would  tend  more  than  any  thing  to  promote  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  We  are  not  called  to  yield  up  our  consciences  in  religious  matters, 
nor  to  approve  of  what  is  wrong  in  those  which  are  civil ;  but  we  are  not  at 
liberty  to  deal  in  acrimony  or  evil  speaking.  The  good  which  results  to 
society  from  the  very  worst  government  upon  earth  is  great  when  compared 
with  the  evils  of  anarchy.  On  this  principle  it  is  probable  the  apostle 
enjoined  obedience  to  the  pot/jers  that  tvere,  even  during  the  reign  of  Nero. 
Christians  are  soldiers  under  the  King  of  kings ;  their  object  should  be  to 
conquer  all  ranks  and  degrees  of  men  to  the  obedience  of  faith.  But,  to  do 
this,  it  is  necessary  that  they  avoid  all  those  embranglements  and  disputes 
which  retard  their  main  design.  If  a  wise  man  wishes  to  gain  over  a  nation 
to  any  great  and  worthy  object,  he  does  not  enter  into  their  little  differences, 
nor  embroil  himself  in  their  party  contentions;  but,  bearing  good-will  to  all, 
seeks  the  general  good:  by  these  means  he  is  respected  by  all,  and  all  are 
ready  to  hear  what  he  has  to  offer.  Such  should  be  the  wisdom  of  Chris- 
tians. There  is  enmity  enough  for  us  to  encounter  without  unnecessarily 
adding  to  it. 

If  a  Christian  be  under  the  necessity  of  siding  with  a  party,  undoubtedly 
he  ought  to  act  in  favour  of  that  which  appears  to  him  the  best;  but  even  in 
this  case  it  is  not  becoming  him  to  enter  with  eagerness  into  their  disputes. 
Let  worldly  men,  who  thirst  after  preferment,  busy  themselves  in  a  con- 
tested election — (they  have  their  reward) — but  let  Christians,  if  called  to 
appear,  discharge  their  duty,  and  retire  from  the  tumultuous  scene. 

By  entering  deeply  into  the  parti/  contentions  of  the  nation,  religious 
people  will  be  charged,  on  both  sides  in  their  turn,  with  disloyalty ;  and,  it 
may  be,  not  always  without  a  cause.  Fifty  years  ago  that  party  was  out  of 
power  which  at  present  is  in  power.  At  that  time  the  charge  of  disloyalty 
was  directed  against  them ;  and  they  were  then  denominated  patriots.  It  is 
possible  that  many  who  now  seem  to  abhor  a  spirit  of  disaffection  towards 
administrative  government,  would  be  themselves  not  the  best  affected  were 
the  other  side  to  recover  its  authority.  But  if  we  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the 
gospel,  though  we  may  have  our  preferences  of  men  and  measures,  we  shall 
bear  good-will  to  all;  and,  whoever  be  at  the  head  of  affairs,  shall  reverence 
"  the  powers  that  be."  Whatever  be  our  private  opinion  of //te  men,  we  shall 
respect  and  honour  the  rulers.  That  loyalty  which  operates  only  with  the 
prevalence  of  a  party,  whichever  it  be,  is  at  a  great  remove  from  the  loyalty 
of  the  Scriptures. 

By  standing  aloof  from  all  parties  as  such,  and  approving  themselves  the 
friends  of  government  and  good  order,  by  whomsoever  administered.  Chris- 
tians would  acquire  a  dignity  of  character  worthy  of  their  profession,  would 
be  respected  by  all,  and  possess  greater  opportunities  of  doing  good;  while, 
by  a  contrary  conduct,  they  render  one  part  of  the  community  their  enemies, 
and  the  other,  I  fear,  derive  but  little  spiritual  advantage  from  being  their 
friends. 

SYMPTOMS    OF    A    BACKSLIDING    SPIRIT. 

It  was  reckoned  a  matter  of  consequence  in  cases  of  leprosy,  real  or  sup- 
posed, that  the  true  state  of  the  party  should  be  examined,  and  judgment 
given  accordingly ;  and  by  how  much  a  moral  disease  is  more  odious,  con- 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  643 

tagious,  and  dangerous,  than  one  that  is  natural,  by  so  much  is  it  more 
necessary  to  form  a  true  judgment  concerning  it.  Every  spot  was  not  a 
leprosy;  and  every  sinful  imperfection  in  a  Christian  professor  does  not 
denominate  liim  a  backslider.  Paul  had  to  lament  the  body  of  death;  he 
had  not  attained,  nor  was  he  already  perfect;  yet  he  pressed  fonrard;  and 
while  this  was  the  case  he  could  not  be  said  to  draw  back.  On  the  other 
hand,  every  departure  from  God  must  not  be  reckoned  a  mere  imperfection 
which  is  common  to  good  men.  We  are  extremely  apt,  in  certain  cases,  to 
flatter  ourselves  that  our  spots  are  only  the  spots  of  God's  children,  or  such 
as  the  best  of  men  are  subject  to,  and  therefore  to  conclude  that  there  is 
nothing  very  dangerous  about  them.  We  do  not  pretend  to  deny  that  we 
have  our  faults ;  but  are  ready  to  ask,  "  What  have  we  done  so  much  against 
thee?"  This  self-justifying  spirit,  however,  so  far  from  indicating  any  thing 
favourable,  is  a  strong  mark  of  the  contrary.  It  is  said  of  Ephraim,  "  He  is 
a  merchant,  the  balances  of  deceit  are  in  his  hand :  he  loveth  to  oppress. 
And  Ephraim  said.  Yet  I  am  become  rich :  I  have  found  mq  out  substance : 
in  all  my  labours  they  shall  find  none  iniquity  in  me  that  were  sin."  A 
more  finished  picture  of  a  modern  oppressor  could  not  be  drawn.  He  studies 
to  keep  within  the  limits  of  the  law,  and  defies  any  man  to  impeach  his 
character:  he  has  imperfections,  but  they  are  only  such  as  are  common  to 
good  men;  there  is  nothing  criminal  to  be  found  in  him:  yet  he  is  carrying 
on  at  the  time  a  system  of  iniquity. 

The  apostle  Paul  speaks  of  a  certain  state  of  mind  which  he  feared  he 
should  find  in  the  Corinthians;  that  of  their  "having  sinned,  and  not  re- 
pented of  their  deeds."  This  it  is  which  denominates  a  man  a  backslider; 
and  which,  so  long  as  it  continues,  deprives  him  of  any  scriptural  foundation 
for  concluding  himself  interested  in  forgiving  mercy. — What  are  the  parti- 
cular symptoms  of  this  state  of  mind  is  the  object  of  our  present  inquiry. 

If  our  departing  from  the  Lord  have  issued  in  some  outward  misconduct, 
there  is  no  need  of  inquiring  into  the  proofs  of  it,  as  the  thing  speaks  for 
itself;  but  if  its  operations  have  been  at  present  only  internal,  the  inquiry 
may  be  highly  necessary,  that  we  may  become  acquainted  with  our  condition, 
and  that  the  disease  may  be  healed  ere  it  finishes  its  operations.  Further, 
though  it  may  be  out  of  all  doubt  that  we  have  sinned,  yet  it  may  be  a  matter 
of  uncertainty  whether  or  not  we  have  repented ;  if  we  imagine  we  have 
when  we  have  not,  the  consequence  may  be  of  the  most  serious  nature.  Let 
the  following  observations,  then,  be  attended  to. 

First,  If  religious  duties  are  attended  to  rather  from  custom  or  conscience 
than  from  love,  we  must  either  never  have  known  what  true  religion  is,  or, 
in  a  great  degree,  have  lost  the  spirit  of  it. — It  is  possible  that  we  may  have 
been  guilty  of  no  particular  outward  evil,  so  as  to  have  fallen  under  the  cen- 
sure of  the  world,  or  of  even  our  nearest  connexions,  and  yet  have  so  far  lost 
the  spirit  of  religion  as  to  be  really  in  a  backsliding  state.  The  exercises 
of  prayer,  reading  the  Scriptures,  hearing  the  word,  and  giving  something  to 
the  poor,  may  be  kept  up  in  form,  and  yet  be  litde,  if  any  thing,  more  than 
a  form.  The  church  of  Ephesus  was  not  accused  of  any  particular  outward 
misconduct;  but  they  had  "left  their  first  love."  Where  this  is  the  case, 
however,  much  will  be  neglected,  especially  of  those  parts  of  duty  which  fall 
not  under  the  eye  of  creatures.  It  is  supposed  of  the  church  just  referred  to 
that  they  had  relaxed,  if  not  in  the  actual  performance,  yet  in  the  manner  of 
performing  their  religious  exercises;  therefore  they  are  exhorted  to  "repent, 
and  to  do  their  first  works."  A  departure  from  our  first  love  is  commonly 
the  first  step  of  a  backsliding  course.  Perhaps,  if  the  truth  were  known, 
there  are  few  open  falls  but  what  are  preceded  by  a  secret  departure  of  heart 
from  the  living  God. 


644  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Secondly,  If  we  have  fallen  into  any  particular  sin,  which  exposes  us  to 
the  censures  of  our  friends,  and  instead  of  confessing  it  with  sorrow  are  em- 
ployed in  defending  or  palliating  it,  it  is  a  certain  proof  that  we  are  at  present 
under  the  power  of  it. — There  are  some  sins  that  cannot  be  defended ;  bat 
there  are  others  which  will  admit  of  much  being  said  on  their  behalf;  and  it 
is  admirable  with  what  ingenuity  men  will  go  about  to  find  excuses  where 
self  is  concerned.  People  that  you  would  hardly  think  possessed  of  common 
sense,  will,  in  this  case,  be  singularly  quicksighted,  discerning  every  circum- 
stance that  may  make  in  their  favour,  or  serve  to  extenuate  their  fault.  The 
cunning  of  the  old  serpent,  which  appeared  in  the  excuses  of  our  first  parents, 
seems  here  to  supply  the  place  of  wisdom.  This  self-justifying  spirit  is  a 
very  dangerous  symptom :  while  it  continues  there  is  no  hope  of  a  good 
issue.  We  read  of  the  deceiffulness  of  sin;  and  truly  it  is  with  great  pro- 
priety that  deceit  is  ascribed  to  it.  Perhaps  there  are  few  persons  who  are 
employed  in  justifying  their  failings,  but  who  are  first  imposed  upon,  or 
brought  to  thuik,  somehow,  that  they  are,  if  not  quite  justifiable,  yet  very 
excusable.  Sin,  when  we  have  committed  it,  loses  its  sinfulness,  and  appears 
a  very  different  thing  to  what  it  did  in  others.  David's  indignation  could 
rise  against  the  man  that  had  taken  an  ewe-lamb,  while  to  his  own  conduct, 
which  was  much  more  criminal,  he  was  blinded !  When  any  sin  is  com- 
mitted by  us,  it  is  common  for  it  to  assume  another  name;  and  by  means  of 
this  we  become  easily  reconciled  to  it,  and  are  ready  to  enter  on  a  vindica- 
tion of  it.  Covetousness  will  admit  of  a  defence  under  the  names  of  pru- 
dence, industry,  or  frugality;  conformity  to  the  world  may  be  pleaded  for  as 
an  exercise  of  sociability  and  good  breeding;  unchristian  resentment,  as 
necessary  self-defence;  foolish  levity,  as  innocent  mirth;  malignant  conten- 
tions, as  zeal  for  the  truth ;  and  indifference  to  the  truth,  as  candour  or 
liberality  of  sentiment. 

Thirdly,  Though  ice  do  not  defend  or  palliate  our  sin  in  words,  yet,  if  we 
continue  in  the  practice  of  it,  we  may  be  certain  we  have  not  repented. — All 
true  repentance  is  followed  by  a  forsaking  of  the  evil,  and  where  this  effect  is 
not  produced,  there  can  be  no  scriptural  ground  to  hope  for  forgiveness. 
There  are  sins,  as  before  observed,  which  will  admit  of  no  defence.  If  a 
person  be  convicted  of  them,  he  can  do  no  other  than  own  himself  in  the 
wrong,  or  at  least  be  silent;  yet  he  may  feel  no  sorrow  on  their  account,  nor 
scarcely  any  intention  to  forsake  them.  When  Samuel  reproved  Saul  for 
his  rebellion  against  the  commandment  of  the  Lord,  assuring  him  that  God 
had  rejected  hhn  from  being  king,  and  had  given  the  kingdom  to  a  neigh- 
bour of  his  that  was  better  than  he,  he  was  confounded,  and  compelled  to 
say,  "I  have  sinned;"  yet  the  only  concern  he  discovered  was  on  account 
of  having  lost  his  honour;  and  as  soon  as  he  suspected  who  was  his  rival,  he 
sought  to  slay  him.  Even  Solomon  discovered  a  very  similar  disposition. 
Instead  of  lamenting  and  forsaking  the  sin  for  which  he  had  been  reproved, 
as  soon  as  he  knew  that  Jeroboam  had  been  anointed  by  the  prophet  Ahijah, 
he  "  sought  to  kill  him."  A  sullen  silence  under  reproof,  and  a  perseverance 
in  the  evil,  are  certain  signs  of  a  hard  and  impenitent  heart. 

Fourthly,  Though  we  should  refrain  from  the  practice  of  the  evil,  yet  if 
it  he  only  a  temporary  effect  of  conviction,  there  is  no  true  repentance. — 
It  is  very  common  for  persons,  when  they  first  fall  into  any  gross  sin,  to  feel 
ashamed  and  alarmed,  to  wish  they  had  not  acted  as  they  have,  and  to  resolve 
that  they  will  do  so  no  more;  and  diis,  though  the  love  of  the  evil  be  the 
same,  and  on  the  first  temptation  that  returns  it  is  committed  again,  is  never- 
theless frequently  mistaken  for  repentance.  When  Saul's  life  was  spared  by 
David,  and  his  groundless  malice  against  him  detected,  his  heart  seemed  to 
relent :  he  felt  ashamed,  owned  his  sin,  lifted  up  his  voice  and  wept,  and 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  645 

promised  to  do  so  no  more ;  but  this  was  not  repentance.  David  appears  to 
have  suspected  it  at  the  time;  for  he  would  not  trust  himself  in  his  hands; 
but  gat  him  up  into  the  hold  :  and  the  event  justified  his  conduct.  The  first 
opportunity  that  offered,  Saul  returned  to  the  folly  that  he  had  condemned. 
— A  temporary  abstinence  from  evil  may  also  be  produced  by  some  alarming 
providence.  When  judgments  overtake  us,  and  conscience  tells  us  that  it  is 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  stretched  out  against  us  for  our  sin,  the  mind  is  appal- 
led with  fear,  and  so  ceases  to  be  in  a  state  to  pursue  its  favourite  devices. 
But  if,  as  soon  as  the  pressing  hand  of  Providence  is  removed,  the  heart 
returns,  like  a  spring,  to  its  former  position,  there  is  no  reason  to  consider 
its  temporary  depression  as  containing  any  true  repentance. 

Dr.  Owen  has  expressed  these  sentiments  with  that  unction  of  spirit,  and 
deep  insight  into  the  human  heart,  which  is  peculiar  to  himself: — 

"  There  are  two  occasions,''  says  he,  "  wherein  men  who  are  contending 
with  any  sin  may  seem  to  themselves  to  have  mortified  it. — First,  When  it 
hath  had  some  sad  eruption  to  the  disturbance  of  their  peace,  terror  of  their 
consciences,  dread  of  scandal,  and  evident  provocation  of  God.  This  awakens 
and  stirs  up  all  that  is  in  the  man,  and  amazes  him,  fills  him  with  abhorrency 
of  sin,  and  himself  for  it ;  sends  him  to  God,  makes  him  cry  out  as  for  life,  to 
abhor  his  lust  as  hell,  and  to  set  himself  against  it.  The  whole  man,  spiritual 
and  natural,  being  now  awakened,  sin  shrinks  in  its  head,  appears  not,  but 
lies  as  dead  before  him.  As  when  one  that  hath  drawn  nigh  to  an  army  in 
the  night,  and  hath  killed  a  principal  person,  instantly  the  guards  awake, 
men  are  roused  up,  and  strict  inquiry  is  made  after  the  enemy ;  who,  in  the 
mean  time,  until  the  noise  and  tumult  be  over,  hides  himself,  or  lies  like 
one  that  is  dead,  yet  with  firm  resolution  to  do  the  like  mischief  again  upon 
the  like  opportunity. — Secondly,  In  a  time  of  some  judgment,  calamity,  or 
pressing  affliction.  The  heart  is  then  taken  up  with  thoughts  and  contri- 
vances of  flying  from  the  present  troubles,  fears,  and  dangers.  This,  as  a 
convinced  person  concludes,  is  to  be  done  only  by  reliiuiuishment  of  sin, 
which  gains  peace  with  God.  It  is  the  anger  of  God  in  every  affliction  that 
galls  a  convinced  person.  To  be  quit  of  this,  men  resolve  at  such  times 
against  their  sins.  Sin  shall  never  more  have  any  place  in  them ;  they  will 
never  again  give  up  themselves  to  the  service  of  it.  Accordingly  sin  is  quiet, 
stirs  not,  seems  to  be  mortified ;  not  indeed  that  it  has  received  any  one 
wound,  but  merely  because  the  soul  hath  possessed  its  faculties  whereby  it 
should  exert  itself,  with  thoughts  inconsistent  with  the  motions  thereof; 
which  when  th-ey  are  laid  aside,  sin  returns  again  to  its  former  life  and  vigour. 
Of  this  we  have  a  full  instance  in  Psal.  Ixxviii.  32-38,  '  For  all  this  they 
sinned  still,  and  believed  not  for  his  wondrous  works.  Therefore  their  days 
did  he  consume  in  vanity,  and  their  years  in  trouble.  When  he  slew  them, 
then  they  sought  him  :  and  they  returned  and  inquired  early  after  God.  And 
they  remembered  that  God  was  their  Rock,  and  the  most  high  God  their 
Redeemer.  Nevertheless  they  did  flatter  him  with  their  mouth,  and  they 
lied  unto  him  with  their  tongues.  For  their  heart  was  not  right  with  him, 
neither  were  they  steadfist  in  his  covenant.'  I  no  way  doubt  but  that  when 
they  sought  and  returned,  and  inquired  earnestly  after  God,  they  did  it  with 
full  purpose  of  heart,  as  to  the  relinquishment  of  their  sins.  This  is  expressed 
in  the  word  returned.  To  turn,  or  return,  unto  the  Lord  is  by  a  relinquish- 
ment of  sin.  And  this  they  did  early,  with  earnestness  and  diligence;  but 
yet  their  sin  was  unmortified  for  all  this  (ver.  3G,  37) :  and  this  is  the  state 
of  many  humiliations  in  the  days  of  affliction,  and  a  great  deceit  in  the  hearts 
of  believers  themselves  lies  oftentimes  herein."* 

*  On  the  Mortification  of  Sin  in  Believers.    Chap.  V. 


646  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

When  a  professor  of  religion  has  fallen  into  some  odious  vice,  and  wishes 
to  shelter  himself  from  the  censures  of  his  connexions,  you  will  often  hear  him 
allege,  "  I  have  repented;"  whereas  it  amounts  to  little  more  than  the  shame 
and  alarm  above  described,  as  his  after-conduct  very  frequently  proves. 
Indeed  it  is  not  of  the  nature  of  true  repentance  to  talk  of  having  repented, 
and  especially  for  the  purpose  of  evading  a  faithful  censure. 

Fifthly,  2  hough  we  should  refrain  from  the  open  practice  of  the  sin,  and 
that  for  a  continuance,  yet  if  it  be  merely  from  prudential  or  selfish  consi- 
derations, we  may  be  certain  that  we  have  not  yet  repented  it. — Though  we 
had  no  religion,  and  pretended  to  none,  we  might  find  various  inducements 
to  refrain  from  gross  immoralities.  They  affect  our  interest,  our  health,  and 
our  reputation.  It  is  on  such  principles  that  mere  worldly  men  will  guard 
against  them ;  and,  if  we  act  from  the  same  motives,  wherein  are  we  better 
than  they  1  Or  if  the  dread  of  future  punishment  may  be  supposed  to  have 
some  influence  upon  us,  this  is  a  very  different  thing  from  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  which  is  to  hate  evil.  And  where  the  motives  for  abstaining  from  any 
evil  are  merely  prudential  or  selfish,  we  shall  abstain  from  very  little  more 
than  that  which  falls  under  the  eye  of  creatures.  Our  watchfulness  will 
respect  little,  if  any  thing,  more  than  outward  actions.  The  daily  care  of 
our  lives  will  be,  not  how  we  shall  please  God,  but  how  we  shall  conceal  the 
prevailing  dispositions  of  our  hearts  from  those  about  us — a  task  this  as 
difficult  as  it  is  mean  ;  for  whatever  occupies  our  thoughts  and  affections  will 
on  various  occasions,  notwithstanding  our  utmost  care,  escape  us.  Looks, 
gestures,  manner  of  speaking  and  acting,  as  well  as  words  and  deeds  them- 
selves, betray  what  is  predominant  within.  Hence  it  is  that  we  generally 
deceive  ourselves  in  these  matters.  We  often  fancy  our  character  to  be 
unknown  when  it  is  well  known ;  and  if  it  were  otherwise,  all  is  naked  and 
open  to  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do.  Of  this  we  may  be 
certain,  that  while  our  chief  concern  is  to  hide  our  sins  from  those  about  us, 
should  we  be  summoned  to  give  an  account  of  our  stewardship,  it  will  appear 
that  we  have  sinned,  and  not  repented  of  our  deeds  ;  and  wherein  this  differs 
from  going  down  to  the  grave  with  our  guilt  upon  our  heads  it  is  difficult  to 

say- 
Sixthly,  If  we  take  pleasure  in  talking  of  the  evil,  or  in  dwelling  upon  it 
in  our  thoughts,  it  is  a  certain  sign  of  the  same  thing.  True  repentance 
works  in  a  way  of  silent  shame  and  self-abasement:  "That  thou  mayest 
remember  and  be  confounded,  and  never  open  thy  mouth  any  more,  because 
of  thy  shame,  when  I  am  pacified  towards  thee  for  all  that  thou  hast  done, 
saith  the  Lord  God."  When  men  can  talk  and  even  write  of  their  former 
wicked  courses  with  lightness,  it  is  a  certain  proof  that,  whatever  repentance 
they  have  had,  they  do  not  at  present  repent  of  it;  and  though  nothing  be 
said  or  written,  yet  if  such  things  occupy  our  thoughts,  imaginations,  and 
affections,  it  is  much  the  same.  A  mind  full  of  this  must  needs  be  lacking 
of  those  spiritual  exercises  which  render  us  that  we  shall  neither  be  barren 
nor  unfruitful  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ;  and 
those  that  are  such  are  fitly  enough  described  as  having  "  forgotten  that  they 
were  purged  from  their  old  sins."  If  old  sins  are  thought  of  with  new 
delight,  they  are  reacted  and  persisted  in;  and  where  this  continues  to  be 
the  case,  the  guilt  of  them  must  remain  upon  us,  and  may  be  found  upon 
our  heads  when  we  go  down  to  the  grave. 

Lastly,  If  we  trifle  with  temptation,  or  be  not  afraid  of  putting  ourselves 
in  the  ivay  of  it,  or  even  of  being  led  into  it,  we  may  be  certain  that  at  present 
we  have  not  repented  of  our  sin. — It  is  a  saying  almost  grown  into  a  proverb, 
He  that  is  not  afraid  of  temptation  is  not  afraid  of  sin ;  and  he  that  is  not 
afraid  of  sin  must  needs  be  in  danger  of  being  destroyed  by  it.     If,  after 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  f)47 

having  been  lepeatedly  drawn  into  sin  by  associating  in  certain  companies, 
or  certain  pursuits,  we  can,  nevertheless,  run  into  them  again  without  fear, 
we  cannot  possibly  have  repented  of  our  deeds.  Nay  more,  though  we  should 
fear  to  plunge  ourselves  into  temptation,  yet  if,  when  Providence  brings  us 
into  such  situations  and  companies,  our  hearts  secretly  rejoice  in  it,  this  is 
no  less  an  evidence  of  our  impenitent  state  than  the  other.  True  repentance 
will  not  only  teach  us  to  shun  the  way  of  evil,  but  to  be  averse  to  every 
avenue  that  leads  to  it.  If,  therefore,  we  either  run  into  temptation,  or  are 
glad  when  we  are  led  into  it,  we  are,  beyond  all  doubt,  under  the  power  of  it. 

INJURIOUS  AND  DANGEROUS  EFFECTS  OF  SIN  LYING  UPON  THE  CONSCIENCE 

UNLAMENTED. 

It  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  fall  into  sin,  whether  secretly  or  openly ;  and 
the  effects  of  it,  sooner  or  later,  will  certainly  be  felt;  but  to  continue  in  it 
is  much  more  so.  A  very  heavy  threatening  is  denounced  against  God's 
open  enemies  for  pcrsiiting  in  sin :  "  God  shall  wound  the  head  of  his  ene- 
mies, and  the  hairy  scalp  of  such  a  one  as  goetli  on  still  in  his  trespasses." 
But  the  same  thing,  in  persons  who  have  known  the  way  of  righteousness, 
must  be  abundantly  more  offensive.  "  He  that  chastiseth  the  heathen,  shall 
not  he  correct?"  There  is  a  remedy  at  hand  of  God's  providing;  a  "  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins  ;"  and  it  is  declared,  "  If  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advo- 
cate with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous."  But  if,  instead  of 
confessing  our  sins  on  the  head  of  this  propitiation,  and  imploring  mercy  in 
his  name,  we  sink  into  hardness  of  heart,  neglect  prayer,  shun  the  company 
of  the  faithful,  and  efface  the  remembrance  of  one  sin  only  by  the  commis- 
sion of  another,  what  have  we  to  expect? 

I  am  aware  that  it  is  one  of  the  devices  of  Satan,  after  having  drawn  a 
soul  from  God,  and  entangled  him  in  the  net  of  his  own  corruptions,  to  per- 
suade him  that  the  prayer  of  faith,  in  his  circumstances,  would  be  presumption, 
and  that  it  is  much  more  modest  and  becoming  for  him  to  stand  aloof  both  from 
God  and  his  people.  And  if  by  faith  were  meant  what  some  would  seem  to 
understand  by  it,  a  working  up  ourselves  into  a  persuasion  that,  owing  to 
the  immutability  of  God,  all  is  safe  and  right,  whatever  be  our  spirit  or  con- 
duct, it  would  be  presumptuous  enough ;  but  genuine  faith  in  Christ  is  never 
out  of  season.  The  greater  our  sin  has  been,  the  greater  reason  there  is  for 
us  to  confess  it  upon  the  head  of  the  gospel  sacrifice,  and  to  plead  for  mercy 
in  his  name.  We  may  not  be  able  to  go  as  Christians,  but  this  affords  no 
reason  why  we  should  not  go  as  sinners. 

The  injury  and  danger  of  such  a  state  of  mind  will  appear  from  a  con- 
sideration of  the  effects  which  it  produces,  and  must  continue  to  produce,  if 
not  healed  by  a  return  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ. 

First,  It  will  necessarily  deprive  us  of  all  true  enjoyment  in  religion,  and, 
by  consequence,  of  all  that  preservation  to  the  heart  and  mind  which  such  en- 
joyment affords. — The  principal  sources  of  enjoyment,  to  a  Christian  that 
walketh  spiritually,  are  communion  with  God  and  his  people :  but,  to  him 
that  is  out  of  the  way,  these  streams  are  dried  up;  or,  which  is  the  same 
thing  in  effect  to  him,  they  are  so  impeded  as  not  to  reach  him.  Guilt, 
shame,  darkness,  and  defilement  have  taken  possession  of  the  soul ;  love  is 
quenched,  hope  clouded,  joy  fled,  prayer  restrained,  and  every  other  grace 
enervated.  It  becomes  the  holiness  of  God  to  frown  upon  us  in  such  a 
state  of  mind,  by  withholding  the  light  of  his  countenance:  and,  if  it  were 
otherwise,  we  have  no  manner  of  desire  after  it.  Such  was  the  state  of 
David  after  he  had  sinned  and  before  he  had  repented :  the  joys  of  God's 
salvation  were  far  from  him.     The  thirty-second  and  thirty-eighth  Psalms 


648  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

appear  to  have  been  written,  as  has  already  been  observed,  after  his  recovery; 
but  he  there  describes  what  was  the  state  of  his  mind  previously  to  it.  There 
is  much  meaning  in  what  he  sets  out  with  in  the  former  of  these  Psalms; 
"  Blessed  is  he  whose  transgression  is  forgiven,  and  whose  sin  is  covered. 
Blessed  is  the  man  unto  whom  the  Lord  imputeth  not  iniquity,  and  in  whose 
spirit  there  is  no  guile !"  He  knew  the  contrary  of  this  by  bitter  experience. 
Guilt  and  defilement  had  eaten  up  all  his  enjoyment,  "When  I  kept 
silence,"  saith  he,  "  my  bones  waxed  old,  through  my  roaring  all  the  day 
long ;  for  day  and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy  upon  me :  my  moisture  is  turned 
into  the  drought  of  summer."  It  does  not  appear  that  he  fully  desisted  from 
prayer;  but  there  was  none  of  that  freedom  in  it  which  he  was  wont  to  enjoy. 
It  was  ruari)ig  rather  than  praying;  and  God  is  represented  as  disregarding 
it.  In  the  thirty-eighth  Psalm  he  speaks  of  the  rebukes  of  God's  wrath,  and 
the  chastening  of  his  hot  displeasure  ;  of  his  arrows  sticking  fast  in  hitn,  and 
his  hand  pressing  him  sore;  of  there  being  7io  soundness  in  hisjiesh,  because 
of  his  anger;  nor  rest  in  his  bones,  because  of  his  sin.  There  is  one  expres- 
sion exceedingly  appropriate  :  "  My  wounds  stink  and  are  corrupt,  because 
of  my  foolishness."  A  wound  may  be  dangerous  at  the  time  of  its  being 
received  ;  but  much  more  so  if  it  be  neglected  till  the  humours  of  the  body 
are  drawn  towards  it.  In  this  case  it  is  hard  to  be  healed ;  and  the  patient 
has  not  only  to  reflect  on  his  heedlessness  in  first  exposing  himself  to  danger, 
but  on  his  foolishness  in  so  long  neglecting  the  prescribed  remedy.  Such 
was  the  state  of  his  mind,  till,  as  he  informs  us,  he  "  acknowledged  his  trans- 
gressions," and  was  "  sorry  lor  his  sin." 

And  as  there  can  be  no  communion  with  God,  so  neither  can  there  be 
any  with  his  people.  If  our  sin  be  known,  it  must  naturally  occasion  a  re- 
servedness,  if  not  an  exclusion  from  their  society.  Or,  if  it  be  unknown,  we 
shall  be  equally  unable  to  enjoy  communion  with  them.  Guilt  in  our  con- 
sciences will  beget  shame,  and  incline  us  rather  to  stand  aloof  than  to  come 
near  them ;  or,  if  we  go  into  their  company,  it  will  prove  a  bar  to  freedom. 
There  is  something  at  first  sight  rather  singular  in  the  language  of  the  apos- 
tle John;  but  upon  closer  inspection  it  will  be  found  to  be  perfectly  just: 
"  If  we  walk  in  the  light  as  he  is  in  the  light,  we  have  fellowship  one  with 
another." 

But  if  we  are  deprived  of  fellowship  with  God  and  his  people,  from  what 
can  we  derive  consolation?  If  we  have  only  had  a  name  to  live,  and  been 
dead,  the  joy  arising  from  vain  hope  may  possibly  be  supplied  by  carnal  plea- 
sures. We  may  drown  reflection  by  busying  ourselves  in  worldly  pursuits, 
mingling  with  worldly  company,  and,  in  short,  returning  "  like  the  dog  to 
his  vomit,  and  the  sow  that  was  washed  to  her  wallowing  in  the  mire;"  but 
if  we  have  any  true  religion  in  us,  we  cannot  do  this;  and  then  what  is  there 
under  the  sun  that  can  yield  us  relief? 

Nor  shall  we  be  deprived  merely  of  the  enjoyments  of  religion,  but  of  all 
thai  preservation  to  the  soul  which  they  affurd.  The  peace  of  God  is  repre- 
sented as  that  which  keeps,  or  fortifies,  our  hearts  and  minds.  Without  this, 
tfie  heart  will  be  in  perpetual  danger  of  being  seduced  by  the  wiles,  or  sunk 
by  the  pressures  of  tliis  world ;  and  the  7nind  of  being  drawn  aside  from  the 
simplicity  of  the  gospel. 

Secondly,  It  ivill  render  us  useless  in  our  generatioji. — The  great  end  of 
existence  with  a  good  man  is  to  live  to  him  who  died  for  us,  and  rose  again. 
If  God  bless  us,  it  is  that,  like  Abraham,  we  may  be  blessings  to  others. 
Christians  are  said  to  be  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  the  light  of  the  world;  but 
while  we  are  in  the  state  above  described,  we  are  as  "  salt  that  has  lost  its 
savour,"  which  is  "  good  for  nothing;"  or  as  a  light  that  is  hid  under  a  vessel. 
Of  what  use,  with  respect  to  religion,  are  we  in  our  families,  while  this  is 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  649 

the  case?  Neither  servants  nor  children  can  think  well  of  religion,  from 
any  thing  they  see  in  us;  and  when  we  go  into  the  world,  and  mingle  among 
mankind  in  our  dealings,  in  whose  conscience  does  our  conversation  or 
behaviour  plant  conviction?  Where  is  the  man  who,  on  leaving  our  com- 
pany, has  been  compelled  by  it  to  acknowledge  the  reality  of  religion  ?  Or, 
if  we  occupy  a  station  in  the  church  of  God,  (and  this  character  may  belong 
to  a  minister  no  less  than  to  another  man,)  we  shall  do  little  or  no  good  in 
it;  but  be  as  "vessels  in  which  the  Lord  taketh  no  pleasure."  Tiiere  is  a 
threatening  directed  against  vain  pastors  which  ought  to  make  a  minister 
tremble.  "  Woe  to  the  idol  shepherd,  that  leaveth  the  flock!  The  sword 
shall  be  upon  his  arm,  and  upon  his  right  eye:  his  arm  shall  be  clean  dried 
up,  and  his  right  eye  shall  be  utterly  darkened."  Perhaps  one  of  the  greatest 
temptations  to  backsliding  in  ministers  may  lie  in  this  way:  being  selected 
from  their  brethren,  and  chosen  to  the  office  of  public  instructors,  they  are 
in  danger  of  indulging  in  self-valuation.  A  man  may  labour  night  and  day 
in  his  study,  and  all  to  get  accomplished  that  he  may  shine  before  the  people. 
Where  this  is  the  case,  the  preacher  is  his  own  idol,  and  it  may  be  that  of 
the  people.  He  feels  also  little  or  no  regard  to  the  charge  which  he  has 
undertaken,  but  is  ready  to  desert  it  whenever  a  difficulty  arises,  or  any  oppor- 
tunity offers  of  improving  his  circumstances.  The  consequence  is,  the  sword 
of  the  Lord  is  upon  his  arm — he  does  no  manner  of  execution  in  his  work  ; 
and  upon  his  right  eye — whatever  proficiency  he  may  make  in  science,  or 
polite  accomplishments,  he  has  but  little  if  any  spiritual  understanding  in 
the  things  of  God.  This  character  may  respect  ungodly  preachers,  such  to 
whom  the  Jewish  nation  were  given  up  for  their  rejection  of  Christ;  but 
there  is  no  sin  committed  by  the  most  ungodly  man  of  which  the  most  godly 
is  not  in  danger. 

Thirdly,  We  shall  not  only  be  useless,  but  injurious  to  the  cause  of 
CJirist. — Indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  stand  neuter  in  this  cause.  If  we  do 
no  good,  we  shall  do  harm  ;  not  only  as  cumberers  of  the  ground,  occupying 
that  place  in  society  which  might  be  better  filled  by  others,  but  as  giving  a 
false  representation  of  religion,  and  diffusing  a  savour  of  death  among  man- 
kind. If  our  domestics  infer  nothing  fivourable  to  religion  from  our  con- 
duct in  the  family,  they  will  infer  something  unfavourable;  and  if  there  be 
but  little  good  to  be  seen  in  our  example,  it  is  well  if  there  be  not  much 
evil ;  and  this  will  surely  be  imitated.  Who  can  calculate  what  influence 
the  treachery,  unchastity,  and  murder,  committed  by  David,  had  upon  his 
family?  We  know  that  each  was  acted  over  again  by  Amnon  and  Absalom. 
And  thus  many  a  parent  has  seen  his  own  sins  repeated  in  his  posterity ; 
and  perhaps,  if  he  had  lived  longer,  might  have  seen  them  multiplied  still 
more,  to  his  shame  and  confusion. 

The  servants  of  God  are  called  to  bear  testimony  for  him :  "  Ye  are  ray 
witnesses,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  This  is  done  not  merely  by  words,  but 
by  deeds.  There  is  a  way  of  bearing  witness  to  the  reality  and  importance 
of  religion,  by  a  zealous  perseverance  in  it;  to  its  dignity,  by  our  firmness; 
to  its  happy  influence,  by  contentedness  and  cheerfulness;  and  to  its  purity, 
by  being  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation :  and  this  is  a  kind  of  testi- 
mony which  is  more  regarded  than  any  other.  Men  in  common  form  their 
opinion  of  religion  more  by  what  they  see  in  the  professors  of  it  than  by  the 
profession  itself.  Hence  it  was  that  David  by  his  deed  is  said  to  have  given 
"  great  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  the  Lord  to  blaspheme."  They  were 
not  contented  with  reproaching  him,  but  must  speak  against  God  and  reli- 
gion on  his  account.  In  this  view  he  considered  his  sin  when  he  was 
brought  to  repentance  for  it.  "  Against  thee,  thee  only  have  I  sinned,  and 
done  this  evil  in  thy  sight." — "Do  good  in  thy  good  pleasure  unto  Zion: 

Vol.  III.— 82  3  1 


650  MISCELLANEOUS   TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

build  thou  the  walls  of  Jerusalem."  If  his  sin  had  not  greatly  dishonoured 
God's  name,  and,  as  it  were,  broken  down  the  walls  of  Zion,  such  language 
would  not  have  appeared  among  his  lamentations.  Things  operate  much 
the  same  to  this  day.  Whatever  evil  is  done  by  a  professor,  it  is  ascribed  to 
his  religion.  In  this  view  we  may  justly  consider  our  unchristian  conduct 
as  bearing  false  witness  of  God ;  for  it  is  giving  false  representations  of  his 
gospel  and  government  to  the  world.  A  grasping,  selfish  spirit  is  saying  to 
those  around  us,  that,  after  all  which  we  have  professed  of  living  by  taitli  in 
a  portion  beyond  death,  the  present  world  is  the  best,  and  therefore  we  are 
for  making  sure  of  that,  and  running  all  hazards  as  to  the  other.  la  like 
manner,  a  cruel  and  revengeful  disposition  towards  those  who  have  offended 
us  is  saying  that  Christianity,  after  all  its  professions  of  meekness  and  for- 
giveness of  injuries,  renders  its  adherents  no  better  than  others.  And  when 
a  Christian  professor  is  detected  of  having  privately  indulged  in  the  lusts  of 
the  flesh,  the  conclusion  that  is  drawn  from  it  is,  that  there  is  nothing  in  reli- 
gion but  outside  appearance,  and  that  in  secret  religious  people  are  the  same 
as  others.  It  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  such  conduct  operates  to  the 
hardening  of  men  in  sin,  to  the  quenching  of  their  convictions,  to  the 
weakening  the  hands  of  God's  servants,  and  to  the  stumbling  of  persons 
who  are  inquiring  the  way  to  Zion. 

These  things,  if  we  be  mere  professors,  may  have  but  little  eifect  upon 
us.  We  may  not  care  for  God's  being  dishonoured,  provided  we  do  but  get 
pardoned  at  last:  but  if  there  be  any  true  religion  about  us,  it  will  be  other- 
wise. An  ingenuous  mind  will  feel  more  for  the  dishonour  which  he  has 
done  to  Christ,  and  injury  to  his  fellow  creatures,  than  for  the  reproach 
which  he  has  brought  upon  himself 

Fourthly,  IVe  arc  in  the  utmost  danger  of  falling  into  future  temptations, 
and  so  of  sinking  deeper,  and  falling  farther  from  God. — So  long  as  sin 
remains  upon  the  conscience  unlamented,  it  is  like  poison  in  the  constitu- 
tion ;  it  will  be  certain  to  operate,  and  that  in  a  way  that  shall  go  on  more 
and  more  to  kill  all  holy  resolution,  to  harden  the  heart,  and  to  defile  the 
imaginations  and  desires.  "  Whoredom,  and  wine,  and  new  wine,  take 
away  the  heart."  It  was  from  sad  experience  of  the  defiling  nature  of  past 
sin  that  David,  when  he  came  to  himself,  prayed,  "  Create  in  me  a  c/ta/t 
heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me." 

A  mind  thus  enfeebled,  stupified,  and  defiled,  must  needs  be  in  a  very 
unfit  condition  to  resist  new  temptations.  The  inhabitants  of  a  besieged 
city,  who  are  weakened  by  famine  and  disease,  and  discouraged  by  a  num- 
ber of  disaffected  persons  within  their  walls,  have  no  heart  to  resist,  but 
stand  ready  to  listen  to  the  first  proposals  of  the  besiegers. 

And  in  proportion  as  we  are  disabled  for  resistance,  it  may  be  expected 
that  the  tempter  will  renew  his  attempts  upon  us.  If  Satan  has  any  influ- 
ence upon  the  human  mind,  it  may  be  supposed  that  he  acts  with  design, 
and  knows  how  to  avail  himself  of  the  most  favourable  seasons  to  effect  his 
purpose.  And  this  we  find  to  be  true  by  experience.  In  proportion  as  we 
have  yielded  to  temptation,  it  will  rise  in  its  demands;  solicitations,  greater 
in  number  and  in  force,  will  ply  our  minds.  As  a  resistance  of  the  devil 
will  be  followed  by  \\\?,  fleeing  from  us,  so,  on  the  contrary,  a  non-resistance 
of  him  will  be  followed  by  renewed  and  stronger  attempts  upon  us.  One 
sin  makes  way  for  another,  and  renders  us  less  able  to  resist,  or  to  return  to 
God  by  repentance.  When  once  the  thief  has  gained  admission  into  our 
habitation,  he  will  bid  us  defiance.  "  Innumerable  evils  will  compass  us 
about,  and  our  iniquities  take  hold  upon  us,  so  that  we  shall  not  be  able  to 
look  up:  they  will  be  more  than  the  hairs  of  our  heads:  therefore  our  hearts 
will  fail  us."     Samson  first  yielded  to  his  sensual  desires ;  after  this,  to  the 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  651 

entreaties  of  his  Delilah;  who,  in  proportion  as  she  saw  him  pliant  to  her 
wishes,  increased  in  her  assiduousness,  till  at  length  he  lost  his  hair,  his 
liberty,  his  eyes,  and  his  life. 

If  we  be  mere  professors,  these  considerations  may  affect  us  but  little; 
we  shall  continue  the  willing  slaves  of  our  own  corruptions,  hoping  it  may 
be,  nevertheless,  that  we  shall  sometime  be  brought  back  again,  till,  at  some 
unexpected  hour,  we  are  taken  out  of  the  world.  But  if  there  be  any  good 
thing  in  us  toward  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  this  part  of  the  subject  must 
alarm  us :  for,  of  all  the  methods  which  God  takes  to  punish  sin,  there  is 
none  more  awful  and  more  dreaded  by  a  good  man  than  that  of  being  given 
up  to  sin. 

Fifdily,  So  long  as  sin  remains  upon  the  conscience  unlamcnted,  we  are  in 
danger  of  eternal  damnation. — It  may  be  thought  by  some  that  such  lan- 
guage is  inconsistent  with  the  final  perseverance  of  believers;  but  it  is  mani- 
fest that  our  Lord  did  not  so  teach  the  doctrine  of  perseverance  as  to  render 
cautions  of  this  nature  unnecessary.  He  did  not  scruple  to  declare,  even 
to  his  own  disciples,  that  whosoever  should  say  to  his  brother.  Thou  fool, 
should  be  in  danger  of  hell-fire — that  if  tliey  forgave  not  men  their  tres- 
passes, neither  would  God  forgive  theirs — and  if  a  right  hand,  or  a  right  eye, 
caused  them  to  offend,  it  must  be  cut  off,  or  plucked  out,  and  that  lest  the 
whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell. 

The  object  at  which  sin  aims,  whether  in  believers  or  unbelievers,  is 
death,  eternal  death;  and  to  this  it  has  a  natural  and  direct  tendency.  The 
apostle  James,  in  a  very  affecting  manner,  describes  its  process.  "  Let  no 
man  say,  when  he  is  tempted,  I  am  tempted  of  God ;  for  God  cannot  be 
tempted  of  evil,  neither  tempteth  he  any  man :  but  every  man  is  tempted 
when  he  is  drawn  away  of  his  own  lust  and  enticed.  Then  when  lust  hath 
conceived,  it  bringeth  forth  sin,  and  sin,  when  it  is  finished,  bringeth  forth 
death."  If  it  does  not  in  all  cases  come  to  this  issue,  it  is  not  because  of 
its  being  different  as  to  its  nature  or  tendency  in  some  persons  to  what  it  is 
in  others,  but  because  a  timely  stop  is  put  to  its  operations.  Only  let  it  go 
on  without  repentance  till  it  has  Jinished  its  work,  and  eternal  death  will  be 
the  issue. 

Whatever  we  are,  so  long  as  sin  lies  unlamented  upon  the  conscience,  we 
have  no  scriptural  foundation  to  conclude  that  we  are  Christians.  No  real 
Christian,  it  is  true,  will  prove  an  apostate;  yet  while  we  are  under  the  influ- 
ence of  sin,  we  are  moving  in  the  direction  which  leads  to  apostacy.  If  we 
are  contented  with  a  relapsed  state  of  mind,  what  ground  can  we  have  to 
conclude  that  it  is  not  our  element,  or  that  we  have  ever  been  the  subjects 
of  true  religion?  If  the  waters  continue  to  be  naught,  it  is  a  sign  that  the 
spring  has  not  been  healed.  There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  Judas  himself 
laid  his  accounts  witli  such  an  issue  of  his  treachery  as  actually  came  to  pass. 
During  the  ministry  of  our  Lord,  while  he  kept  the  bag,  and  sometimes  made 
free  with  its  contents,  it  is  probable  he  nevertheless  reckoned  himself  a  good 
man.  He  saw  many  failings  in  his  fellow  disciples,  and  in  all'other  good 
men;  and  he  might  think  this  to  be  his.  When  he  had  covenanted  with  the 
chief  priests,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  expected  his  Master  would  be  even- 
tually taken  and  crucified.  When  they  were  about  to  lay  hands  on  him,  he 
had  often  passed  through  the  midst  of  them,  and  gone  his  way;  and  he  might 
suppose  that  it  would  be  so  again.  "When  therefore  he  saw  that  he  was 
condemned,"  he  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  terrible  amazement,  and  in  the 
issue  "went  and  hanged  himself"  Such  was  the  process  of  an  apostate, 
and  such  his  end.  Surely  it  behoves  us  to  take  heed  how  we  trifle  with  those 
things,  the  end  of  which  is  death ! 


653'  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS    ETC. 


MEANS   OP   RECOVERY. 

Were  it  not  for  the  hope  of  being  instrumental  in  saving  some  from  the 
error  of  their  way,  and  of  inducing  others  to  a  greater  degree  of  watchful- 
ness, I  should  not  have  written  the  preceding  pages.  It  can  afford  no  satis- 
faction to  expose  the  evil  conduct  of  a  fellow  sinner,  or  to  trace  its  dangerous 
effects,  unless  it  be  with  a  view  to  his  salvation  or  preservation. 

It  is  natural  for  those  who  have  fallen  into  sin,  unless  they  be  given  up  to 
a  rejection  of  all  religion,  to  wish,  on  some  considerations,  to  be  restored, 
A  backsliding  state  is  far  from  being  agreeable.  Hence  it  is  that  many  have 
prematurely  grasped  at  the  promise  of  forgiveness,  and  said  to  their  souls, 
"  Peace,  peace,  when  there  was  no  peace."  It  is  desirable  that  we  be  reco- 
vered from  our  backslidings;  but  it  is  not  desirable  that  we  should  think  our- 
selves recovered  when  we  are  not  so. 

As  there  are  many  ways  by  which  a  convinced  sinner  seeks  peace  to  his 
soul,  without  being  able  to  find  it,  so  it  is  with  a  backslider.  Self-righteous 
attempts  to  mortify  sin,  and  gain  peace  with  God,  are  not  confined  to  the  first 
period  of  religious  concern.  Having,  through  the  power  of  alarm,  desisted 
from  the  open  practice  of  sin,  many  have  laboured  to  derive  comfort  from 
this  consideration,  without  confessing  their  sin  on  die  head,  as  it  were,  of  the 
gospel  sacrifice.  Their  sins  may  be  said  rather  to  have  been  ?vorn  away  from 
their  remembrance,  by  length  of  time,  than  wasJud  away  by  the  blood  of  the 
cross.  But  this  is  not  recovery:  the  hurt,  if  healed,  is  healed  slightly;  and 
may  be  expected  to  break  out  again.  The  same  way  in  which,  if  we  be  true 
Christians,  we  first  found  rest  to  our  souls,  must  be  pursued  in  order  to 
recover  it;  namely,  "repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  toward  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  This  is  the  way  to  which  the  Scriptures  uniformly  direct  us. 
"My  little  children,  these  things  I  write  unto  you,  that  ye  sin  not.  And 
if  any  man  sin,  we  have  an  Advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the 
righteous." — "  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness."  This  was  the  way  in 
which  David  was  recovered.  He  confessed  his  sin  with  deep  contrition, 
pleading  to  be  purged  "with  hyssop  that  he  might  be  clean,  and  washed  that 
he  might  be  whiter  than  snow."  By  this  language  he  could  not  mean  that 
his  sin  should  be  purged  away  by  any  thing  pertaining  to  the  ceremonial  law, 
for  that  law  made  no  provision  for  the  pardon  of  his  crimes:  he  must,  there- 
fore, intend  that  which  the  sprinkling  of  the  unclean  with  a  bunch  of  hyssop, 
dipped  in  the  water  of  purification,  was  designed  to  prefigure;  which,  as  we 
are  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  was  the  purging  of  the  conscience,  by  the 
sprinklmg  of  the  blood  of  Jesus. 

This  is  the  only  way  in  which  it  is  possible  to  find  rest  to  our  souls.  As 
"there  is  no  other  name  given  under  heaven,  or  among  men,  by  which  we 
can  be  saved,"  so  neither  is  there  any  other  by  which  we  can  be  restored. 
Whatever  be  the  nature  of  our  backsliding  from  God,  this  must  be  the 
remedy.  If  it  be  a  relinquishment  of  evangelical  principles,  we  must  return 
to  the  way,  even  the  highway  whither  we  went.  Paul  "travailed  in  birth" 
for  the  recovery  of  the  Galatians;  and  in  what  did  he  expect  it  to  consist? 
In  "Christ  being  formed  in  them."  He  also  strove  to  bring  back  the  He- 
brews; and  all  his  labours  were  directed  to  the  same  point.  His  Epistle  to 
them  is  full  of  Christ,  and  of  warnings  and  cautions  against  neglecting  and 
rejecting  him.  If  any  man  had  been  perplexed  concerning  the  Deity  or 
atonement  of  Christ,  let  him  humbly  and  carefully  read  that  EpisUe;  and, 
if  his  heart  be  right  with  God,  it  will  do  him  good.  If  our  departure  from 
God  have  issued  in  some  gross  immorality,  or  in  the  love  of  the  world,  or  in 
conformity  to  it,  the  remedy  must  be  the  same.     It  is  by  this  medium,  if  at 


THE  BACKSLIDER.  653 

all,  that  the  world  will  be  crucified  unto  us,  and  we  unto  the  world.  If  we 
have  no  heart  to  repent,  and  to  return  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ,  we  are  yet  in 
our  sins,  and  may  expect  to  reap  the  fruits  of  them.  The  Scriptures  give 
no  counsel  to  any  thing  short  of  this.  They  are  not  wanting,  however,  in 
directions  that  may  lead  to  it,  and  considerations  that  may  Induce  it.  What 
these  are,  I  shall  now  proceed  to  inquire. 

In  general  I  may  observe.  The  Scriptures  assure  us  of  the  exceeding  great 
and  tender  mercy  of  God,  and  of  his  willingness  to  forgive  all  those  ivho 
return  to  him  in  the  name  of  his  Son. — It  is  necessary  that  we  be  well  per- 
suaded of  this  truth,  lest,  instead  of  applying  as  supplicants,  we  sink  into 
despair.  If  an  awakened  sinner,  under  his  first  religious  concern,  be  in 
danger  of  this  species  of  despondency,  a  backslider  is  still  more  so.  His 
transgressions  are  much  more  heinous  in  their  circumstances  than  those  of 
the  otlier,  having  been  committed  under  greater  light,  and  against  greater 
goodness;  and  when  to  this  is  added  the  treatment  which  his  conduct  must 
necessarily  draw  upon  him  from  his  religious  connexions,  he  may  be  tempted 
to  relinquish  all  hopes  of  recovery,  and  to  consider  himself  as  an  outcast  of 
both  God  and  man.  Unhappy  man!  thy  breach  may  be  great  like  the  sea, 
and  the  language  of  an  awakened  conscience  may  suggest,  "Who  can  heal 
me?"  Yet  do  not  despair.  "  Hear  what  God  the  Lord  will  speak. — He 
will  speak  peace  unto  his  people,  and  to  his  saints;  but  let  them  not  turn 
again  to  folly."  Hear  what  he  speaks  to  the  backsliding  Israelites,  reduced 
by  their  sins  to  the  most  deplorable  state  of  guilt  and  wretchedness.  "  The 
Lord  shall  scatter  you  among  the  nations,  and  ye  shall  be  left  few  in  number 
among  the  heathen,  whither  the  Lord  shall  lead  you.  And  there  ye  shall 
serve  gods,  the  work  of  men's  hands;  but  li  from  thence  thou  shalt  seek  the 
Lord  thy  God,  thou  shalt  find  him,  if  thou  seek  him  with  all  thy  heart  and 
with  all  thy  soul:  when  thou  art  in  tribulation,  and  all  these  things  are  come 
upon  thee,  if  thou  turn  to  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  shalt  be  obedient  unto  his 
voice,  (for  the  Lord  thy  God  is  a  merciful  God,)  he  will  not  forsake  thee, 
nor  forget  the  covenant  of  thy  fathers,  which  he  sware  unto  them."  The 
pardoning  mercy  of  God  towards  those  who  return  to  him  by  Jesus  Christ, 
is  not  limited  by  such  measures  as  are  framed  by  creatures  in  their  treatment 
of  one  another,  or  by  such  expectations  as,  on  this  account,  they  are  apt  to 
form.  There  are  circumstances  which  may  render  it  almost  impossible  for 
forgiveness  to  be  exercised  amongst  men;  and  therefore  men  are  ready  to 
think  it  must  be  so  with  respect  to  God.  But  "with  the  Lord  there  is  mercy, 
and  with  him  there  is  plenteous  redemption."  He  will  not  only  pardon,  but 
pardon  abnndantli/ ;  "  for  his  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts,  nor  his  ways  our 
ways.  For  as  the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  his  ways  higher 
than  our  ways,  and  his  thoughts  than  our  thoughts. — The  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin.  If  we  confess  our  sins,  he  is 
faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteous- 
ness." The  threatenings  against  the  unpardonable  sin  itself  do  not  atfect  the 
truth  of  these  merciful  declarations;  for  that  sin  is  all  along  described  as 
excluding  repentance  as  well  as  forgiveness,  Heb.  vi.  G.  The  party  is  sup- 
posed to  be  given  up  to  hardness  of  heart.  If,  therefore,  we  confess  our  sin 
with  contrition,  we  may  be  certain  it  is  not  unpardonable,  and  that  we  shall 
obtain  mercy  through  the  blood  of  the  cross. 

But  the  great  question  is,  Ho^v  shall  loe  repent  of  our  sins,  and  return  to 
God  bi/  Jesus  Christ? — Undoubtedly  it  is  much  easier  to  get  out  of  the  way 
than  to  get  in  again  ;  to  lose  the  peace  of  our  minds  than  to  recover  it.  Sin 
is  of  a  hardening  nature ;  and  the  further  we  have  proceeded  in  it,  the  more 
inextricable  are  its  chains.  But  however  this  be,  we  either  do  desire  to 
return,  or  we  do  not.     If  not,  it  will  be  in  vain  to  address  any  directions  to 

3i2 


C54  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

US.  It  is  right,  indeed,  for  the  servants  of  Christ  to  point  them  out,  whether 
we  will  hear  or  whether  we  will  forbear,  and  there  leave  them ;  but  as  to 
any  hope  of  our  recovery,  while  such  is  the  state  of  our  minds,  there  can  be 
none.  If  we  can  think  of  our  sin  without  grief,  and  of  the  cross  of  Christ 
without  any  meltings  of  spirit,  there  is  great  reason  to  fear  that  our  "  hearts 
are  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God,"  but  that  we  are  yet  in  the  "gall  of  bitter- 
ness, and  the  bonds  of  iniquity."  If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  do  desire  to 
return;  if,  like  Israel  in  the  days  of  Samuel,  we  "  lament  after  the  Lord,"  we 
shall  readily  hearken  to  every  direction  given  us  in  his  word. 

If  my  reader,  supposing  him  to  have  backslidden  from  God,  be  in  such  a 
state- of  mind,  it  is  with  a  mixture  of  hope  and  tenderness  that  I  attempt  to 
point  out  to  him  the  means  of  recovery.  Or,  should  it  even  be  otherwise,  I 
will,  nevertheless,  endeavour  to  show  him  the  good  and  the  right  way,  that 
at  least  I  may  deliver  my  own  soul. 

First,  Embrace  every  possibh  season  of  retirement  for  reading  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  especially  those  parts  which  are  suited  to  thy  case ;  and  accompany 
it  icith  prayer. — God's  word  hid  in  the  heart  is  not  only  a  preservative 
against  sin,  but  a  restorative  from  it.  It  both  wounds  and  heals:  if  it  rebukes, 
it  is  with  the  faithfulness  of  a  friend;  or  if  it  consoles,  its  consolations  carry 
in  them  an  implication  which,  if  properly  understood,  will  melt  us  into 
repentance. 

Read  especially  those  parts  of  Scripture  which  are  addressed  to  persons  in 
your  situation,  as  the  second  chapter  of  Jeremiah;  or  which  express  the  de- 
sires of  a  returning  sinner,  as  the  twenty-fifth,  thirty-second,  thirty-eighth, 
fifty-first,  and  hundred-and-thirtieth  Psalms.  You  may  not  be  able  to  adopt 
all  this  language  as  your  own  ;  but  it  may  be  useful  nevertheless.  To  read 
the  genuine  expressions  of  a  contrite  heart  may  produce  at  least  a  conviction 
of  the  disparity  between  the  frame  of  mind  possessed  by  the  writer  and  your- 
self; and  such  a  conviction  may  be  accompanied  with  a  sensation  of  shame 
and  grief. 

It  is  also  of  importance  that  you  read  the  Scriptures  by  yourself  To  read 
a  portion  of  them  in  your  families  is  right,  and  ought  not  to  be  neglected; 
but  there  is  a  wide  difference,  as  to  personal  advantage,  between  this  and 
reading  them  alone.  Your  mind  may  then  be  more  at  liberty  for  reflection; 
you  can  read  and  pause,  and  think,  and  apply  the  subject  to  your  case. 

It  is  of  still  greater  importance  to  iinite  prayer  toith  it.  Reading  the  word 
of  God  and  prayer  are  duties  which  mutually  assist  each  other:  the  one  fur- 
nishes us  with  confessions,  pleas,  and  arguments ;  while  the  other  promotes 
solemnity  and  spirituality  of  mind,  which  goes  further  towards  understanding 
the  Scriptures  than  a  library  of  expositions. 

It  was  in  one  of  these  seasons  of  retirement  that  David  put  up  this  petition. 
"I  have  gone  astray  like  a  lost  sheep:  seek  thy  servant,  for  I  do  not  forget 
thy  commandments."  He  seems  to  have  had  in  his  thoughts  the  condition 
of  a  poor,  wandering  sheep,  that  had  left  the  flock,  and  the  rich  pastures 
whither  it  was  wont  to  be  led ;  ranging  rather  like  a  native  of  the  woods, 
than  one  which  had  been  used  to  be  led,  and  fed,  and  protected  by  an 
owner.  Bewildered  by  its  own  wanderings,  entangled  in  the  thorns  and 
briers  of  the  wilderness,  and  exposed  to  beasts  of  prey,  it  feels  its  forlorn 
condition,  and  bleats  after  the  shepherd  of  the  flock !  Is  there  nothing  in 
this  that  may  suit  thy  case?  Yes,  thou  art  the  man!  Thou  hast  gone  astray 
like  a  lost  sheep,  got  entangled  in  thine  own  corruptions,  and  knowest  not 
how  to  find  the  way  back  ;  yet  it  may  be  thou  hast  not  forgotten  his  command* 
mcnts,  nor  utterly  lost  the  savour  of  those  happy  days  when  walking  in  them. 
Let  thy  prayer  then  be  directed,  like  that  of  the  psalmist,  to  the  good  Shep- 
herd of  the  sheep,  "  Seek  thy  servant!" 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  655 

Prayer  is  a  kind  of  religious  exercise  which  is  necessary  to  accompany  all 
others.  "  In  every  thing  by  prayer  and  supplication,  with  thanksgiving,  let 
your  requests  be  made  known  unto  God."  Solemn  approaches  to  God  are 
adapted  to  impress  the  mind  with  a  sense  of  sin,  and  to  inspire  us  with  self- 
abhorrence  on  account  of  it.  It  was  by  a  view  of  the  holiness  of  God  that 
Isaiah  felt  himself  to  be  "a  man  of  unclean  lips;"  and  by  conversing  with 
him  that  Job  was  brought  to  "abhor  himself,  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 
The.very  exercise  of  prayer  carries  in  it  an  implication  that  our  help  must 
come  from  above;  a  truth  which,  in  all  cases,  it  is  highly  necessary  for  us  to 
know,  and  with  which,  in  this  case  especially,  we  cannot  be  too  deeply  im- 
pressed. We  easily  get  out  of  the  way;  but  if  ever  we  return  to  it,  it  must  be 
by  His  influence  who  "restoreth  our  souls,  and  leadeth  us  in  the  paths  of 
righteousness,  for  his  name's  sake." 

To  tell  a  person  who  is  out  of  the  way  that  he  has  no  help  in  himself,  and 
that  if  ever  he  get  in  again  it  must  be  by  the  restoring  grace  of  God,  may 
seem,  to  some  people,  paradoxical  and  disheartening;  but  it  is  a  truth,  and 
a  truth  which,  if  properly  understood  and  felt,  would  go  further  towards  our 
recovery  than  we  at  first  may  apprehend.  Paul  found  that  "  when  he  was 
'weak  then  he  was  strong;"  and  many  others  have  found  the  same.  The 
more  we  are  emptied  of  self-sufficiency,  the  more  sensibly  shall  we  feel  our 
dependence,  and  the  more  importunately  implore  that  the  Lord  would  save 
us  as  it  were  from  ourselves,  and  restore  us  "for  his  name's  sake." 

This  was  the  way  in  which  we  at  first  found  rest  for  our  souls,  and  this 
must  be  the  way  in  which  we  recover  it.  An  awakened  sinner  frequently 
labours  hard  after  peace,  without  being  able  to  obtain  it.  Wherefore  I  Be- 
cause he  seeks  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  the  works  of  the  law,  stum- 
bling at  that  stumbling-stone.  In  all  his  labours  there  is  a  large  portion  of 
self-righteous  hope,  or  an  idea  that  God  will  pity  him  on  account  of  his 
painful  endeavours  to  please  him.  But  this  is  like  bad  flesh  in  a  w'ound, 
which  must  be  eaten  out  before  it  can  be  healed.  If  ever  he  obtain  peace, 
it  must  be  by  utterly  despairing  of  all  help  from  himself,  and  falling,  as  a 
sinner  entirely  lost,  into  the  arms  of  sovereign  mercy.  This  is  walking  "  in 
the  good  old  way,"  which  brings  rest  to  the  soul;  and  the  same  sense  of  our 
insufficiency  which  is  necessary  to  find  rest  in  the  first  instance  is  equally 
necessary  to  find  it  in  all  that  follow. 

We  may  pray  from  year  to  year,  and  all  without  effect.  It  is  only  "the 
prayer  of  faith"  that  succeeds;  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  which  is, 
under  a  sense  of  there  being  no  help  in  us,  to  lay  hold  of  the  mercy  and 
faithfulness  of  God,  as  revealed  in  the  gospel.  David  for  a  time  "groaned," 
and  even  "  roared,  by  reason  of  the  disquietness  of  his  heart:"  but  he  obtained 
no  relief  from  this.  On  the  contrary,  he  sunk  deeper  and  deeper  into  de- 
spondency. At  length,  he  betook  him  to  another  manner  of  praying.  "  Out 
of  the  depths  cried  I  unto  thee  ....  and  thou  heardest  my  voice  !"  We  find 
him  here  pleading  the  exceeding  greatness  of  God's  mera/,  and  \\\e  plenteous- 
ness  of  his  redemption.  Here  he  found  rest  for  his  soul ! — Jonah  also,  for  a 
time,  was  in  much  the  same  state.  With  a  conscience  so  far  awakened  as 
to  deprive  him  of  all  enjoyment,  he  retired  to  the  bottom  of  the  ship;  and, 
wearied  with  the  load  of  his  guilt,  slept  away  his  time.  Even  the  horror  of 
a  tempest  did  not  awaken  him.  At  length,  being  roused  and  reproved  by 
heathens,  and  marked  out  by  lot  as  the  guilty  person,  he  confesses  who  he 
is,  and  what  he  had  done,  and  advises  them  to  cast  him  into  the  sea. 
Humanity,  for  a  time,  struggles  with  the  elements,  but  in  vain — he  must  be 
cast  away.  Think  what  a  state  of  mind  he  must  at  this  time  have  possessed! 
He  is  thrown  into  the  deep,  is  swallowed  by  a  fish,  and  retains  his  reason 
even  in  that  situation ;  but  no  light  shines  upon  his  soul.     Conceiving  him- 


656  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

self  to  be  on  the  point  of  expiring,  his  heart  sighed  within  him,  "I  am  cast 
out  of  tiiy  sight!"  But  ere  the  thought  had  well  passed  his  mind,  another 
struck  him  ....  "Yet  will  I  look  again  towards  thy  holy  temple!"  He 
looked,  and  was  lightened :  "Out  of  the  belly  of  hell  cried  I  unto  thee,  and 
thou  heardest  my  voice  !" 

Secondly,  Refect  on  the  aggravating  circumstances  of  thine  offences,  or 
on  those  things  lohich  render  it  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  to  have  departed 
from  the  living  God,  and  to  have  sinned  against  him  in  the  manner  thou 
hast  done. — Every  return  to  God  begins  with  reflection.  "  I  thought  on  my 
ways,  and  turned  my  feet  unto  thy  testimonies." — "Commune  with  thine 
own  heart  upon  thy  bed,  and  be  still."  If  the  God  against  whom  I  have 
sinned  had  been  like  the  idols  of  this  world,  I  might  have  been  justified  in 
departing  from  him  ;  but  I  have  acted  the  part  of  the  backsliding  Israelites, 
who  were  the  only  people  who  had  a  God  worth  cleaving  to,  and  yet  were 
the  only  people  distinguished  by  their  fickleness.  The  world  cleave  close 
enough  to  their  gods,  which  yet  are  no  gods ;  but  I  have  committed  these 
two  evils,  at  which  the  heavens  are  astonished,  I  have  forsaken  the  fountain 
of  living  waters,  and  hewed  to  myself  cisterns,  broken  cisterns,  that  can  hold 
no  water !  If  the  service  of  the  Lord  had  been  a  heavy  yoke,  and  if  the 
way  of  his  commandments  had  been  an  unfruitful  and  miserable  path,  I 
might  have  some  plea  for  deserting  it ;  but  what  have  I  gained,  except  guilt, 
and  shame,  and  wretchedness,  by  leaving  him?  Was  he  a  barren  wilderness 
to  me,  or  a  land  of  darkness?  How  can  I  answer  his  tender,  yet  cutting 
expostulations — "O  my  people,  what  have  I  done  unto  thee?  wherein  have 
I  wearied  thee  ?  testify  against  me !" 

If- 1  had  been  born  and  educated  a  benighted  pagan,  a  deluded  Mahonie- 
dan,  or  a  superstitious  papist — if  the  oracles  of  God  had  been  withheld  from 
me — or  if  1  had  lived  all  my  days  in  a  state  of  ignorance  and  insensibility, 
like  multitudes  in  my  native  country — the  sins  that  I  have  committed  had 
been  litde  in  comparison  of  what  they  now  are.  I  have  verged  near  to  the 
unpardonable  sin.  It  is  against  light  and  love  that  I  have  offended.  He  has 
been  as  a  husband  unto  me ;  but  I  have  forsaken  him,  and  have  gone  after 
other  lovers.  Yet  he  still  invites  me  to  return  ....  And  what  hindereth  ? 
I  am  not  straitened  in  him,  but  in  my  own  bowels.  Lord,  save  me  from 
myself!  Surely  "I  will  return  to  my  first  husband,  for  then  was  it  better 
with  me  than  now." 

Thirdly,  Refect  on  the  goodness  of  God  in  having  hitherto  borne  ivith  thee, 
and  prevented  thy  sins  from  fully  operating  according  to  their  native  ten- 
dency.— It  is  a  common  observation,  that  one  sin  leads  on  to  another.  Of 
this,  history  and  experience  furnish  many  tragical  examples.  The  saunter- 
ing indolence  of  David  occasioned  his  adultery.  Adultery,  when  committed, 
must  be  concealed,  and  this  leads  to  treachery  and  intrigue.  When  these 
fail,  recourse  is  had  to  murder.  And  when  the  murder  is  effected,  to  carry 
on  the  concealment,  the  event  must  be  attributed  to  Providence — "The 
sword  devoureth  one  as  well  as  another !"  The  connexion  between  un- 
cleanness  and  blood  is  strongly  marked  in  the  history  of  human  crimes.  A 
large  proportion  of  those  who  have  been  publicly  executed  for  the  one  were 
induced  to  perpetrate  the  horrid  deed  as  a  covert  to  the  other.  And  hast 
thou  been  tampering  with  these  vices;  playing  at  the  hole  of  the  cockatrice 
den?  How  is  it  that  death  and  hell  have  not  ere  now  swallowed  thee  up? 
Behold  that  wretch  who  went  but  yesterday  to  suffer  the  just  vengeance  of 
his  country,  for  having  murdered  the  object  whom  he  had  first  seduced; 
and  see  what  thou  mightest  have  been?  Is  it  not  owing  to  singular  mercy 
that  thy  sins  have  been  restrained  from  their  wonted  and  deadly  issues? 

It  may  be,  some  who  have  been  companions,  or  at  least  contemporaries. 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  657 

with  thee  in  the  first  stages  of  sin,  have  meanwhile  been  suffered  to  make 
more  rapid  progress.  Their  follies  have  ended  in  infamy,  while  thine  have 
been  restrained,  and  comparatively  hid.  And  it  is  possible,  while  the  public 
voice  has  been  raised  against  them,  thou  hast  joined  it.  "And  thinkest  thou 
this,  O  man,  that  judgest  them  which  do  such  things,  and  doest  the  same, 
that  thou  shah  escape  the  judgment  of  God?  Or  despisest  thou  the  riches 
of  his  goodness,  and  forbearance,  and  long-suffering,  not  knowing  that  the 
goodness  of  God  leadeth  thee  to  repentance?"  If  the  recollection  of  such 
things  leadeth  thee  not  to  repentance,  it  is  a  dark  sign  of  «  hard  and  impeni- 
tent heart,  "  treasuring  up  to  itself  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath,  and  reve- 
lation of  the  righteous  judgment  of  God." 

Fourthly,  Rejiect  on  the  state  and  exercises  of  thij  mind  in  former  times. — 
This  was  the  counsel  of  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews,  who,  disheartened  by 
persecution,  were  half  inclined  to  go  back  again  to  Judaism  :  "  Call  to 
remembrance  the  former  days,  in  which,  after  that  ye  were  illuminated,  ye 
endured  a  great  fight  of  aflhctions."  This  was  the  counsel  of  our  Lord  him- 
self to  the  churches  of  Ephesus  and  Sardis  :  "  Remember  from  whence  thou 
art  fallen,  and  repent." — "  Remember  how  thou  hast  received  and  heard,  and 
hold  fast,  and  repent."  Ask  thine  own  soul,  Are  there  no  seasons  of  tender- 
ness in  my  life  which  it  would  be  for  my  profit  to  recall  to  mind?  I  have 
professed  repentance  toward  God,  and  fiiith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ; 
and  was  it  only  a  profession?  Was  there  not  a  time  when  my  sins  were 
more  bitter  to  me  than  death,  and  more  dreaded  than  hell?  Hovv  is  it  that 
I  have  turned  again  to  folly?  Has  sin  changed  its  nature,  or  become  less 
odious?  Rather  is  not  the  change  in  me?  Was  there  not  a  time  when  the 
word  of  the  Lord  was  precious  to  my  soul — when  my  sabbaths  were  my 
happiest  days,  and  godly  people  my  chosen  companions?  Whence  this 
lamentable  change?  Is  Christ  or  the  gospel  less  precious  than  heretofore?  I 
once  thought,  that  if  I  might  but  be  found  in  him,  and  live  for  ever  with  him, 
and  those  that  love  him,  I  should  not  care  what  I  lost  or  suffered  in  the  pre- 
sent world.  And  was  I  all  this  time  deceiving  myself?  Were  my  repentance, 
and  faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  and  joy,  all  counterfeit  ?  I  endured  reproaches 
and  losses,  as  I  supposed,  for  his  name  sake;  and  is  it  all  in  vain?  Must  I 
at  last  be  separated  for  ever  from  him,  and  have  my  portion  with  unbelievers? 
"  O  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me,  a  most  wretched  caitiff,  and  miserable  sinner! 
I  have  offended  both  against  heaven  and  earth,  more  than  my  tongue  can 
express !  Whither  then  may  I  go,  or  whither  shall  I  flee?  To  heaven  I  may 
be  ashamed  to  lift  up  mine  eyes,  and  on  earth  I  find  no  place  of  refuge  or 
succour.  To  thee,  therefore,  O  Lord,  do  I  run;  to  thee  do  I  humble 
myself  O  Lord,  my  God,  my  sins  are  great;  but  yet  have  mercy  upon  me, 
for  thy  great  mercy.  The  great  mystery,  that  God  became  man,  was  not 
wrought  for  small  or  few  offences.  Thou  didst  not  give  thy  Son  unto  death 
for  little  sins  only;  but  for  all  the  greatest  sins  of  the  world ;  so  that  the 
sinner  returns  to  thee  with  his  whole  heart,  as  I  do  here  at  this  present. 
Wherefore  have  mercy  on  me,  O  God,  whose  property  is  alv.'ays  to  have 
mercy.  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  Lord,  for  thy  great  mercy.  O  Lord,  I 
crave  nothing  for  my  own  merits,  but  for  thy  name  sake,  that  it  might  be 
hallowed  thereby,  and  for  thy  dear  Son  Jesus  Christ's  sake."* 

This  part  of  our  Lord's  counsel  would  apply  not  only  to  those  who  have 
fallen  into  gross  immoralities,  but  to  such  as  have  deserted  the  principles  of 

*  That  which  is  included  in  reversed  commas  is  a  part  of  the  prayer  of  Archbishop  Cran- 
mer;  who,  through  fear  of  man,  had  denied  his  faith,  but  was,  notwithstanding,  burned  to 
death.  When  brought  to  execution,  (whicli  was  at  Oxford,  on  March  21,  1556,)  he  uitered 
the  above  prayer  ;  and,  on  the  flames  approacliing  him.  first  thrust  into  the  fire  the  hand 
with  which  he  had  signed  his  recantation. 

Vol.  III.— 83 


658  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

the  gospel.  It  was  asked  the  Galatians  through  what  medium  it  was  that 
they  first  "received  the  Spirit;  by  the  works  of  the  law,  or  by  tlie  hearing 
of  faitli."  This  question  proceeds  upon  tlie  principle  of  that  being  the  true 
doctrine  which  is  productive  of  the  best  effects ;  and  by  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  introduced,  "  This  onli/  would  I  learn  of  you,"  it  is  intimated  that  the 
solution  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  determine  what  the  true  doctrine  is.  And 
what  are  the  effects  produced  by  a  relinquishment  of  the  doctrines  usually 
denominated  evangelical  ?  nay,  I  might  say,  by  only  a  hesitation  concerjiing 
them  ?  I  appeal  to  those  who  have  made  the  trial.  Have  you  the  same  joy 
and  peace  in  believing  your  present  principles  as  you  had  in  your  former 
ones?  Can  you,  or  do  you,  go  to  a  throne  of  grace  with  the  same  holy 
freedom  as  heretofore?  Do  you  feel  an  equal  concern  for  the  salvation  of 
your  poor  ungodly  neighbours?  Rather  is  not  the  far  greater  part  of  your 
zeal  consumed  in  labouring  to  make  proselytes  of  serious  Christians  to  your 
new  way  of  thinking?  Does  the  society  of  those  who  are  like-minded  with 
yourself  afford  that  inward  satisfaction  which  you  once  enjoyed  in  the  fel- 
lowship of  those  whom  you  are  now  taught  to  pity  as  enthusiasts?  If,  while 
professing  these  things,  you  were  strangers  to  them,  you  may  answer  these 
questions  in  the  affirmative;  but  if  otherwise,  you  will  not.  "Remember 
from  whence  you  are  fallen,  and  repent !"  "  Remem.ber  how  you  have 
received  and  heard,  and  hold  fast,  and  repent." 

Fifthly,  Set  apart  special  times  to  luanble  yourself  before  God  by  fasting 
and  prayer. — Extraordinary  cases  require  the  use  of  extraordinary  means. 
When  a  great  army  was  coming  against  Jehoshaphat,  it  is  said,  "  he  feared, 
and  set  himself  to  seek  the  Lord,  and  proclaimed  a  fast  throughout  all 
Judah."  But  the  loss  of  the  soul  is  of  more  account  to  you  than  the  tem- 
poral overthrow  of  a  country  was  to  him.  When  Judah,  for  its  backslidings, 
was  under  the  frowns  of  God  in  Babylon,  and  had  been  so  for  about  seventy 
years,  Daniel  says,  "  I  set  my  face  unto  the  Lord  God,  to  seek  by  prayer  and 
supplication,  with  fasting  and  sackcloth  and  ashes."  The  apostle  Paul  plainly 
intimates  that  there  are  times  wherein  we  are  required  to  "  give  ourselves  to 
fasting  and  prayer."  And  surely  there  can  be  no  times  in  which  these  means 
are  more  necessary  than  when  we  have  got  out  of  the  way,  and  desire  to  re- 
cover it.  There  is  much  meaning  in  the  words,  "  He  set  himself  to  seek  the 
Lord;"  and,  "I  set  my  face  unto  the  Lord  God."  They  denote  something 
more  than  the  ordinary  exercises  of  prayer;  even  a  special  fixedness  of  the 
thoughts,  purposes,  and  desires  to  a  particular  object :  and  God  has  usually 
honoured  those  extraordinary  approaches  to  him,  when  influenced  by  a  pure 
motive,  with  success.  It  is  true,  we  may  attend  to  duty  in  a  superstitious  or 
self-righteous  spirit ;  resting  in  it  as  an  end,  instead  of  using  it  as  a  means ; 
but  this  is  not  setting  our  face  unto  the  Lord  God,  or  seeking  hifn.  A  day 
devoted  to  God  in  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer,  occasionally  occupied 
with  reading  suitable  parts  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  may,  by  the  blessing  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  contribute  more  to  the  subduing  of  sin,  and  the  recovery  of 
a  right  mind,  than  years  spent  in  a  sort  of  half-hearted  exercises. 

Sixthly,  To  prayer  it  is  necessary  to  add  watchfidness. — Our  Lord  unites 
these  together  as  an  antidote  against  temptation.  It  has  sometimes  been  one 
of  the  devices  of  Satan,  after  a  backslider  has  been  drawing  near  to  God,  and 
strongly  soliciting  for  mercy,  yea,  after  a  time  has  been  set  apart  for  this  par- 
ticular purpose,  to  ply  him  afresh  with  some  powerful  temptation  ;  and  while 
his  mind  has  been  unsuspicious,  and,  it  may  be,  thinking  itself  to  be  some- 
what secure,  on  account  of  having  so  lately  been  engaged  in  earnest  devo- 
tion, he  has  been  surprised  and  overcome!  The  consequence,  as  might  bo 
expected,  has  been  a  future  neglect  of  prayer,  under  the  idea  that  it  must 
have  been  mere  hypocrisy  before,  and  would  now  be  adding  sin  to  sin.  Instead 


THE    BACKSLIDER.  659 

of  depending  upon  spiritual  frames  for  preservation,  and  especially  when  they 
are  over,  perhaps  we  ought  to  expect  that  our  comforts  should  be  succeeded 
by  conflicts.  We  know  it  was  so  in  several  cases  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. Immediately  after  drinking  at  the  smitten  rock  at  Rephidim,  Israel 
was  called  to  fight  with  Amalek.  Paul's  thorn  in  the  flesh  succeeded  to  ex- 
traordinary revelations.  Our  Lord  himself  went  up  from  Jordan  into  the 
wilderness,  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil. 

Seventhly,  In  your  approaches  to  the  Saviour,  let  it  be  under  the  character 
in  whichynujirst  applied  to  him  for  mercy,  that  of  a  sinner. — If  you  attempt 
to  approach  the  throne  of  grace  as  a  good  man  who  has  backslidden  from 
God,  you  may  find  it  impossible  to  support  that  character.  The  reality  of 
your  conversion  may  be  doubtful,  not  only  in  your  apprehension,  but  in 
itself  Your  approach,  therefore,  must  not  be  as  one  that  "  is  washed,  and 
needeth  not  save  to  wash  his  feet;"  but  as  one  who  is  defiled  throughout, 
whose  hands  and  head,  and  every  part,  need  to  be  cleansed.  Do  not  employ 
yourself  in  raking  over  the  rubbish  of  your  past  life  in  search  of  evidence 
that  you  are  a  Christian.  You  will  not  be  able,  in  your  present  state  of 
mind,  to  decide  that  question;  nor  would  it  be  of  any  service  to  you  if  you 
could  decide  it.  One  thing  is  certain,  you  are  a  sinner,  a  poor,  miserable, 
and  perishing  sinner:  the  door  of  mercy  is  open;  and  you  are  welcome  to 
enter  in.  Let  your  past  character  then  have  been  what  it  may,  and  let  your 
conversion  be  ever  so  doubtful,  if  you  can  from  this  time  relinquish  all  for 
Christ,  eternal  life  is  before  you. 

The  Laodiceans,  who,  though  composing  a  Christian  church,  were 
doubtful  characters,  are  counselled  to  deal  with  Christ  in  the  same  manner 
as  sinners  deal  with  him,  for  riches,  for  righteousness,  and  for  heavenly 
wisdom. 

Lastly,  In  all  your  supplications,  be  contented  with  nothing  short  of  a  com- 
plete recovery.  It  is  possible  you  may  attain  so  much  ascendency  over  your 
evil  propensities  that  they  may  seem  to  be  slain  before  you;  or,  at  least,  that 
you  are  in  no  particular  danger  of  yielding  to  them  any  more ;  and  yet  you 
may  not  have  recovered  that  holy  rest  in  God,  that  sweet  peace  which  arises 
from  confessing  our  sins  upon  the  head  of  the  gospel  sacrifice.  But  while 
this  is  die  case,  there  is  no  security  against  dieir  revival.  The  first  tempta- 
tion by  which  you  are  assaulted  may  afford  lamentable  proof  that  they  are 
yet  alive.  Nothing  will  serve  as  a  preservative  against  the  risings  of  evil  pro- 
pensities, short  oi  icalMng  tvith  God.  There  is  much  important  truth  in  that 
declaration  of  the  apostle,  "  This  I  say,  then,  walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall 
not  fulfil  the  lust  of  the  flesh."  Sin  is  not  to  be  opposed  so  much  directly 
as  indirectly;  not  by  mere  resistance,  but  by  opposing  other  principles  to  it, 
which  shall  overcome  it.  It  is  not  by  contending  with  the  fire,  especially 
with  combustible  meterials  about  us,  that  we  shall  be  able  to  quench  it ;  but 
by  dealing  plentifully  with  the  opposite  element.  The  pleasures  of  sense 
will  jiot  be  effectually  subdued  by  foregoing  all  enjoyment ;  but  by  imbibing 
other  pleasures,  the  relish  of  which  shall  deaden  the  heart  to  what  is  oppo- 
site. It  was  thus  that  the  apostle  became  "  dead  to  the  world  by  the  cross 
of  Christ."  Do  not,  therefore,  reckon  thyself  restored  till  thou  hast  recovered 
communion  with  God.  David,  though  the  subject  of  deep  contrition,  yet 
was  not  contented  without  gaining  this  important  point.  Till  then  the 
poison  would  still,  at  times,  be  rankling  in  his  imagination.  Hence  arose 
the  following  petitions:  "Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God,  and  renew  a 
right  spirit  within  me.  Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence;  and  take  not 
thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me.  Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation ;  and 
uphold  me  with  thy  free  Spirit."  Make  these  petitions  thy  own;  and  if  God 
grant  the  thing  that  thine  heart  desireth,  go  and  sin  no  more,  lest  a  worse 
thing  come  upon  thee  1 


660  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

PROGRESSIVENESS  OF  SIN  AND  OF  HOLINESS. 

[To  the  Editor  of  the  Biblical  Magazine.] 
THE    PROGRESS    OF    SIN. 

When  our  Saviour  spoke  of  his  making  men  free,  the  Jews  were  offended. 
It  hurt  tlieir  pride  to  be  represented  as  slaves ;  yet  slaves  they  were — and 
such  is  every  sinner,  however  insensible  of  it,  till  Christ  has  made  him  free. 
And  the  longer  he  continues  in  this  state,  the  more  he  is  entangled,  and  the 
less  capable  he  becomes  of  making  his  escape.  Sin  is  a  master  that  will  not 
suffer  its  slaves  to  rest,  but  is  always  hurrying  them  on  from  one  thing  to 
another,  till,  having  finished  its  operations,  it  bringeth  forth  death.  The  way 
of  sin  is  a  way  in  which  there  is  no  standing  still — a  kind  of  down-hill  road, 
in  which  every  step  gives  an  accelerated  force,  till  you  reach  the  bottom. 
Such  is  the  import  of  those  emphatic  words  of  the  apostle,  "  Ye  were  ser- 
vants to  iniquity,  unto  iniquity." 

To  be  a  servant  to  iniquity  is  descriptive  of  the  state  of  every  unconverted 
sinner.  All  may  not  be  subject  to  the  same  kind  of  evils:  one  may  be  en- 
slaved to  drunkenness,  another  to  uncleanness,  another  to  covetousness,  an- 
other to  fashion,  and  another  to  self-righteous  pride;  but  these  are  only  dif- 
fereat  forms  of  government,  suited  to  different  tempers  and  constitutions  : 
all  are  servants  to  iniquity ;  and  all  who  continue  such  are  impelled  in  a 
manner  to  go  on  in  their  work,  "servants  to  iniquity,  unto  iniquity."  The 
proofs  of  this  tendency  to  progression  will  appear  in  the  following  remarks. 

First,  He  that  yields  himself  a  servant  to  sin,  in  any  one  of  its  forms,  ad- 
mits a  principle  which  opens  the  door  to  sin  in  every  other  form.  This  prin- 
ciple is,  that  the  authority  of  God  is  not  to  be  regarded  when  it  stands  in 
the  way  of  our  inclinations ;  if  you  admit  of  this  principle,  there  is  nothing 
to  hinder  you  from  going  into  any  evil  which  your  soul  lusteth  after.  You 
may  not,  indeed,  commit  every  bad  practice ;  but  while  such  is  the  state  of 
your  mind,  it  is  not  the  fear  of  God,  but  a  regard  to  man,  or  a  concern  for 
your  own  interest,  safety,  or  reputation,  that  restrains  you.  If  you  indulge 
in  theft,  for  instance,  you  would,  with  the  same  unconcern,  commit  adultery, 
robbery,  or  murder,  provided  you  were  tempted  to  such  things,  and  could 
commit  them  with  the  hope  of  escaping  punishment.  It  is  thus  that  he  who 
transgresses  the  law  in  one  point  is  guilty  of  all :  for  He  that  forbids  one  sin 
forbids  all ;  and  a  deliberate  offence  against  Him  in  one  particular  is  as  really 
a  rejection  of  his  authority  as  in  many. 

Moreover,  if  the  mind  be  unrestrained  by  the  fear  of  God,  a  regard  to 
man  will  have  but  a  feeble  hold  of  it.  Sin,  in  various  shapes,  will  be  fre- 
quently indulged,  and,  being  so  indulged,  it  will  soon  break  out  into  open 
vices;  for  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  a  man,  with  all  his  contrivances,  long  to 
conceal  the  ruling  dispositions  of  his  soul.  When  king  Saul  had  once  dis- 
regarded the  Divine  authority  in  his  treatment  of  the  Amalekites,  there  were 
no  bounds  to  the  evil  workings  of  his  mind :  full  of  jealousy,  envy,  and 
malignity,  he  murders  a  whole  city  of  innocent  men,  repairs  to  a  witch  for 
counsel,  and  at  last  puts  an  end  to  his  miserable  life. 

Secondly,  Every  sin  we  commit  goes  to  destroy  the  principle  of  resistance, 
and  it  produces  a  kind  of  desperate  carelessness.  Purity  of  mind,  like 
cleanliness  of  apparel,  is  accompanied  with  a  desire  of  avoiding  every  thing 
that  might  defile;  and  even  where  this  has  no  place,  conscience,  aided  by 
education  and  example,  is  a  great  preservative  against  immoral  and  destruc- 
tive courses;  but  if  we  once  plunge  into  the  vices  of  the  world,  emulation  is 


PROGRESSIVENESS  OF  SIN  AND  OF  HOLINESS.  661 

extinguished.   The  child  that  is  accustomed  to  rags  and  filth  loses  all  shame, 
and  feels  no  ambition  to  appear  neat  and  decent. 

The  first  time  a  person  yields  to  a  particular  temptation  it  is  not  without 
some  struggles  of  conscience;  and  when  it  is  past,  his  soul  is  usually  smitten 
with  remorse;  and,  it  may  be,  he  thinks  he  shall  never  do  the  like  again: 
but  temptation  returning,  and  the  motive  to  resist  being  weakened,  he  be- 
comes an  easy  prey  to  the  tempter.  And  now  the  clamours  of  conscience 
subside,  his  heart  grows  hard,  and  his  mind  desperate.  "There' is  no  hope," 
saith  he,  "I  have  loved  strangers,  and  after  them  I  will  go."  Under  the  first 
workings  of  temptation  he  set  bounds  to  himself;  "Hitherto,"  said  he,  "I 
will  go,  and  no  further:"  but  now  all  such  promises  are  of  no  account.  The 
insect  entangled  in  the  spider's  web  can  do  nothing;  every  effort  it  makes, 
only  winds  another  thread  round  its  wings;  and,  after  a  few  ineffectual  strug- 
gles, it  fills  a  prey  to  the  destroyer. 

Thirdly,  Every  sin  we  commit  not  only  goes  to  destroy  the  principle  of 
resistance,  but  produces  an  inordinate  desire  after  the  repetition  of  it ;  and 
thus,  like  half  an  army  going  over  to  the  enemy,  operates  both  ways  against 
us,  weakening  our  scruples,  and  strengthening  our  propensities. — This  is 
manifestly  the  effect  in  such  sins  as  drunkenness,  gaming,  and  fornication. 
It  is  one  of  the  deceits  of  sin  to  promise  that,  if  we  will  but  grant  its  wishes 
in  this  or  that  particular,  it  will  ask  no  more,  or  to  persuade  its  deluded 
votaries  that  indulgence  will  assuage  the  torrent  of  desire;  but  though  this 
may  be  the  case  for  a  short  time,  sin  will  return  with  redoubled  violence.  It 
rises  in  its  demands,  from  every  concession  you  make  to  it.  He  that  has 
entered  the  paths  of  the  destroyer  can  tell,  from  experience,  that  it  is  a  thou- 
sand times  more  difficult  to  recede  than  to  refrain  from  engaging.  The 
thirst  of  the  leech  at  the  vein,  and  of  the  drunkard  at  his  bottle,  are  but  faint 
emblems  of  the  burnings  of  desire  in  the  mind  in  these  stages  of  depravity. 

Fourthly,  If  we  yield  to  one  sin,  we  shall  find  ourselves  under  a  kind  of 
necessity  of  going  into  other  sins,  in  order  to  hide  or  excuse  it. — This  is  a 
truth  so  evident  that  it  needs  only  to  be  stated  in  order  to  be  admitted.  Exam- 
ples abound,  both  in  Scripture  and  common  life.  When  sin  is  committed, 
the  first  thing  that  suggests  itself  to  the  sinner  is,  if  possible,  to  conceal  it; 
or,  if  that  cannot  be,  to  excuse  it.  Adam  first  strove  to  hide  himself  in  the 
trees  of  the  garden,  and  when  this  refuge  failed  him,  it  was  the  woman,  and 
the  woman  that  God  gave  to  he  with  him  too,  who  tempted  him  to  do  as  he 
did.  Nearly  the  same  course  was  pursued  by  David.  Having  outraged 
decorum,  he  first  betakes  himself  to  intrigue,  in  hope  to  cover  his  crime; 
and  when  this  failed  him,  he  has  recourse  to  murder;  and,  this  being  accom- 
plished, the  horrible  event  is,  with  an  air  of  affected  resignation,  ascribed  to 
Providence:  "The  sword  devoureth  one  as  well  as  another!"  Nor  is  this 
the  only  instance  wherein  that  which  has  begun  in  a  wanton  look  has  ended 
in  blood.  What  numbers  of  innocent  babes  are  murdered,  and  one  or  both 
of  their  unhappy  parents  executed,  for  that  which  is  resorted  to  merely  as  a 
cover  for  illicit  practices! 

Fifthly,  Every  act  of  sin  tends  to  form  a  sinful  habit;  or,  if  already  formed, 
to  strengthen  it. — Single  acts  of  sin  are  as  drops  of  water,  which  possess 
but  little  force;  but  when  they  become  a  habit,  they  are  a  mighty  stream 
which  bears  down  all  before  it.  The  drunkard  had  no  natural  thirst  for 
strong  liquors.  Some  worldly  trouble,  or  the  love  of  loose  company,  first 
brought  him  to  make  free  with  them ;  but  having  once  contracted  the  habit, 
though  he  knows  he  is  every  day  wasting  his  substance,  shortening  his  life, 
and  ruining  his  soul,  yet  he  cannot  desist.  Even  under  the  power  of  stupe- 
faction, he  calls  for  more  drink:  his  very  dreams  betray  his  lusts.  "They 
have  smitten  me,"  says  he,  "  and  I  was  not  sick ;  they  have  beaten  me,  and 

3K 


662  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

I  felt  it  not:  when  shall  I  awake?  I  will  seek  it  yet  again." — The  gamester, 
at  the  first,  thought  but  little  of  doing  what  he  now  does.  He  fell  in  com- 
pany, it  may  be,  with  a  card-party,  or  had  heard  of  a  lucky  adventure  in  the 
lottery,  or  known  a  person  who  had  made  his  fortune  by  a  successful  specu- 
lation in  the  stocks.  So  he  resolves  to  try  a  little  of  it  himself  He  suc- 
ceeds. He  tries  again;  ventures  deeper  and  deeper,  with  various  success. 
His  circumstances  become  embarrassed ;  yet,  having  begun,  he  must  go  on. 
One  more  great  adventure  is  to  recover  all,  and  free  him  from  his  diinculties. 
He  loses;  his  family  is  ruined;  his  creditors  are  wronged;  and  himself,  it  is 
not  impossible,  driven  to  the  use  of  such  means  of  support  as  shall  bring  him 
to  an  untimely  end! — The  debauchee  was  once,  it  may  be,  a  sober  man.  His 
illicit  connexions  might  originate  in  what  were  thought  at  the  time  very 
iunocent  familiarities.  But  having  once  invaded  the  laws  of  chastity,  he  sets 
no  bounds  to  his  desires.  "His  eyes  are  full  of  adultery,  and  he  cannot 
cease  from  sin." 

Sixthly,  When  the  sinner  becomes  thus  besotted  in  the  ways  of  sin,  there 
are  commonly  a  number  of  circumstances  and  considerations,  besides  his 
own  attachment  to  it,  which  entangle  his  soul,  and,  if  infinite  mercy  interpose 
not,  prevent  his  escape.  He  has  formed  connexions  among  men  like  him- 
self   His  interest  "will  suffer His  companions  will  reproach 

him The  world  will  laugh  at  him.    Many  in  such  circumstances  have 

been  the  subjects  of  strong  convictions,  have  shed  many  tears,  and  professed 
great  desire  to  return  from  their  evil  course;  yet  when  it  has  come  to  the 
tost,  they  could  not  recede :  having  begun  and  gone  on  so  far,  they  cannot 
relinquish  it  now,  whatever  be  the  consequence. 

Reader,  is  this,  or  something  like  it,  your  case?  Permit  a  well-wisher  to 
your  soul  to  be  free  with  you.  Be  assured  you  must  return  or  perish  for 
ever,  and  that  in  a  little  time.  Infidels  may  tell  you  there  is  no  danger;  but 
when  they  come  to  die  they  have  commonly  discovered  that  they  did  not 
believe  their  own  words  or  writings.  "Verily  there  is  a  God  that  judgeth  ia 
the  earth ;"  and  before  Him  you  must  shortly  give  an  account.  Will  you 
plunge  yourself  into  the  pit  from  whence  there  is  no  redemption?  That 
tremendous  punishment  is  represented  as  not  prepared  originally  for  you, 
but  for  the  devil  and  his  angels.  If  you  go  thither,  you  in  a  manner  take 
the  kingdom  of  darkness  by  force. 

Let  me  add.  It  is  not  enough  for  you  to  return,  unless  in  so  doing  you 
return  to  God. — "  Ye  have  returned,  but  not  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord."  If 
I  felt  only  for  your  credit  and  comfort  in  this  world,  I  might  have  contented 
myself  with  warning  you  to  break  off  your  outward  vices,  and  cautioning 
you  against  the  inlets  of  future  evils.  Animals,  though  void  of  reason,  yet, 
through  mere  instinct,  fly  from  present  danger.  "  In  vain  is  the  net  spread 
in  the  sight  of  any  bird."  The  fishes  of  the  sea  avoid  the  whirlpool.  And 
shall  man  go  with  his  eyes  open  into  the  net?  Will  he  sail  unconcerned 
into  the  vortex  of  destruction?  But  it  is  not  from  present  danger  only,  or 
chiefly,  that  I  would  warn  you  to  flee.  My  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God 
for  you  is,  that  you  may  be  saved  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Know,  then, 
though  you  should  escape  the  grosser  immoralities  of  the  world,  yet  you 
may  be  still  in  your  sins,  and  exposed  to  eternal  ruin.  Your  danger  does 
not  lie  merely  nor  mainly  in  open  vices.  Satan  may  be  cast  out  with  re- 
spect to  these,  and  yet  retire  into  the  strong  holds  of  proud  self-satisfaction. 
It  is  not  the  outward  spot  that  will  kill  you,  but  the  inward  disease  whence 
it  proceeds.  "  From  within,  even  from  the  heart,  proceed  evil  thoughts, 
murders,  adulteries,  fornications,  thefts,  filse  witness,  blasphemies."  Every 
outbreaking  of  sin  in  your  life  is  a  proof  of  the  inward  corruption  of  your 
nature.     If  this  fountain  be  not  healed,  in  vain  will  you  go  about  to  purify 


PROGRESSIVENESS  OF  SIN  AND  OF  HOLINESS.  663 

the  streams.  I  mean  not  to  dissuade  you  from  breaking  off  your  sins ;  but 
to  persuade  you  to  break  them  off  "  by  righteousness."  But  the  only  way 
in  which  this  is   to  be  done   is  that  to  which  our  Saviour  directed  in  his 

preaching "Repent,  and  believe  the  gospel."     All  reformation  short 

of  this  is  only  an  exchange  of  vices.  But  if  you  can,  guilty  and  unworthy 
as  you  are,  renouncing  all  other  hopes  and  dependencies,  believe  in  Christ, 
you  shall  be, saved.  His  blood  was  shed  for  sinners,  even  the  chief  of  sin- 
ners. His  obedience  unto  death  was  so  well-pleasing  to  God,  that  any  sin- 
ner, whatever  has  been  his  conduct  or  character,  that  comes  to  him  in  his 
name,  pleading  his  righteousness  and  his  only,  will  be  accepted  for  his  sake. 
He  has  not  only  obeyed  and  died  for  such  as  you,  but  is  now  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  carrying  into  effect  the  great  ends  of  his  incarnation,  life,  and 
death.  "Wherefore  he  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  them  that  come 
unto  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them." 

If,  reader,  thou  canst  embrace  this  doctrine,  it  will  heal  thy  malady.  If 
from  thine  heart  thou  canst  receive  salvation  as  of  mere  grace,  through  the 
redemption  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  thine  own.  If  thou  canst  confess  thy  sins 
upon  the  head  of  this  sacrifice,  "  God  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  thy  sins, 
and  to  cleanse  thee  from  all  unrighteousness."  God  makes  nothing  of  thy 
reformations,  prayers,  or  tears,  as  a  reason  why  he  should  accept  and  save 
thee ;  but  every  thing  of  what  his  Son  has  done  and  suffered.  If  thou 
canst  be  of  his  mind,  making  nothing  of  them  in  thy  pleas  and  hopes  for 
mercy,  but  every  thing  of  Him  in  whom  he  is  well-pleased,  eternal  life  is 
before  thee.  And  at  what  time  this  doctrine  shall  give  peace  to  thy  troubled 
soul,  it  shall  purify  thy  heart  in  such  a  manner  that  all  thy  former  ways  shall 
become  hateful  unto  thee,  and  sobriety,  righteousness,  and  godliness  shall 
be  thy  delight. 

But  if  thy  heart  be  still  hardened  in  sin ;  if  Jesus,  and  salvation  by  grace 
through  his  name,  contain   nothing  attractive,  but  rather  offensive  to  thy 

mind know  this,  "  There  is  no   other  name   given    under  heaven, 

among  men,  by  which  thou  canst  be  saved ;"  and  the  remembrance  of  thy 
having  once  in  thy  life  at  least  been  told  the  truth  may  not  a  little  imbitter 
thy  dying  moments. 

Happy  are  all  they  who  returning,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  his 
Father  and  their  Father,  his  God  and  their  God,  are  made  free  from  sin,  and 
have  their  fruit  unto  holiness!  They  too  are  progressive,  but  it  is  in  a 
course  the  opposite  of  that  which  has  been  set  before  the  reader.  "  The 
righteous  shall  hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that  hath  clean  hands  shall  wax 
stronger  and  stronger."  The  service  of  God  shall  become  more  easy  to 
him;  truth  shall  appear  more  evident;  the  marks  of  his  conversion  shall 
multiply;  his  character  shall  strike  its  roots  deeper;  the  hope  of  his  perse- 
verance shall  continually  renew  its  strength ;  and  sorrow  and  joy,  retire- 
ment and  society,  the  dispensations  of  Providence  and  the  ordinances  of 
grace,  shall  all  contribute  to  make  him  more  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light. 

THE   PROGRESS    OF    RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

Having  offered  a  few  thoughts  on  the  progress  of  sin,  in  your  last  num- 
ber, the  following  may  be  considered  as  a  counterpart.  Righteousness  is 
no  less  progressive  than  unrighteousness.  As,  in  the  one  case,  sinners  are 
"  servants  to  iniquity  unto  iniquity ;"  so,  in  the  other,  believers  are  "  servants 
to  righteousness  tmto  holincsi<." 

Some,  I  am  aware,  have  denied  that  sanctification  is  progressive ;  but 
this,  if  they  understand  what  they  say,  is  only  a  proof,  I  fear,  that  they  are 


664  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Strangers  to  it.  The  following  remarks  may  serve  to  show  the  tendency  of 
true  holiness  to  aspire  after  perfection,  however  far  we  may  be  from  attaining 
to  it. 

First,  The  right  discharge  of  any  one  duty  supposes  a  principle  which 
will  lead  us  to  be  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation. — Strictly  speaking, 
there  is  no  duty  performed,  nor  any  thing  done  by  a  sinner,  that  is  well- 
pleasing  to  God,  till,  repenting  of  sin,  he  believes  in  Jesus  for  salvation. 
This  is  the  turning  point  which  gives  a  new  direction  to  his  future  course ; 
all  before  it  is  worse  than  nothing.  When,  therefore,  the  Jews  inquired  of 
Christ,  "What  shall  we  do  to  work  the  works  of  God?"  the  answer  was, 
"This  is  the  work  of  God,  that  ye  believe  in  him  whom  he  hath  sent."  It 
is  on  this  principle  that  the  apostle  declares  of  him  that  "  doeth  righteous- 
ness" that  he  "is  righteous."  A  single  act  of  righteousness  proves  that  the 
subject  of  it  is  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works.  But  where 
this  is  the  case,  there  is  that  in  the  mind  which  tends  to  universal  holiness. 
A  few  insulated  services  may  satisfy  a  formalist;  but  he  that  believeth  in 
Jesus  has  his  heart  enlarged,  and  runs  with  delight  in  the  way  of  his  com- 
mandments. It  is  not  the  inquiry  of  such  a  person  how  low  a  degree  of 
spirituality  will  consist  with  true  religion,  but  how  high  a  degree  of  it  is 
attainable  in  this  state  of  imperfection.  The  religion  of  a  mere  professor 
resembles  the  legs  of  the  lame,  which  are  not  equal.  In  the  house  of  God 
he  weeps  and  seems  to  be  all  devotion ;  but  if  a  poor  man,  or  even  a 
poor  Christian,  call  at  his  door,  his  heart  is  shut  against  him.  Or, 
it  may  be,  he  prides  himself  in  his  generosity;  but  then  he  is  dead  to 
every  thing  spiritual  and  heavenly-minded.  Not  so  the  true  Christian ;  his 
religion  is  uniform.  In  him,  the  fear  of  God  produces  good-will  to  men ; 
and  his  charity  to  men  operates  in  harmony  with  zeal  for  truth,  for  righteous- 
ness, and  for  God.  When  a  mere  professor  has  once  established  his  reli- 
gious character,  he  will  commonly  sit  down  to  rest,  and  leave  the  young 
people  to  be  zealous  in  their  turn,  as  he  thinks  he  has  been  sufficiendy  in 
his;  but  love  will  go  on  to  "bring  forth  fruit  in  old  age."  When  the  Lord 
had  given  David  rest  round  about  from  all  his  enemies,  he  is  said  to  have 
"  sat  in  his  house;"  not,  however,  in  a  state  of  indolence,  as  though  he  had 
done  enough,  but  meditating  what  more  he  could  do  for  God,  now  that  new 
opportunities  were  afforded  him.  "  See  now,"  said  he  to  Nathan,  "  I  dwell 
in  a  house  of  cedar;  but  the  ark  of  God  dwelleth  within  curtains."  And 
more  than  twenty  years  afterwards,  when  he  was  old  and  grey-headed,  and 
nature  worn  out  with  troubles  in  his  family  and  his  kingdom,  he  still  resolves 
to  "  go  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God,  and  to  praise  him  more  and  more." 

Secondly,  Every  duty  rightly  performed  prepares  the  heart  for  the  dis- 
charge of  other  duties. — It  was  a  remark  of  the  great  and  good  Mr.  White- 
field,  and  there  is  no  man's  lips  whom  it  would  have  better  fitted,  "  that 
the  more  a  man  does  for  God  the  more  he  may."  Gracious  dispositions 
strengthen  and  increase  by  exercise.  The  chariot  in  full  motion  surmounts 
hills  of  difficulty  with  much  less  effort  than  at  its  first  outset.  The  truth  of 
these  remarks  is  most  sensibly  felt  in  exercises  of  self-denial,  and  in  the 
influence  of  private  on  public  duties.  Every  act  of  self-denial  for  Christ's 
sake  is  a  victory  over  temptation,  and  every  such  victory  doubles  our  strength 
for  a  future  onset.  Thus,  also,  the  spiritual  and  retired  exercises  of  the 
closet  prepare  the  mind  for  those  of  the  family,  and  both  have  a  tendency 
to  fit  us  for  those  of  the  house  of  God.  A  little  religion,  it  has  been  said, 
and  with  much  propriety,  will  make  a  man  miserable;  but  much  will  make 
him  happy.  It  is  by  following  the  Lord  fully,  like  Caleb  and  Joshua,  that 
we  enter  into  the  gospel  rest. 

Thirdly,  Every  degree  of  holiness  tends  to  an  increase  of  spiritual  know- 


PROGRESSIVENESS  OF  SIN  AND  OF  HOLINESS.  665 

ledge,  which  in  return  produces  more  holiness. — It  has  been  a  question  much 
disputed,  whether  holiness  leads  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  or  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth  to  holiness;  but  both  are  true:  "He  that  doeth  God's  will 
shall  know  of  his  doctrine;"  and,  "  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  we  are  changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory — by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord."  The  influence  of  each  upon  the  other  is  as  that  of 
capital  and  interest  in  trade.  Capital  is  a  stimulus  to  interest,  and  interest 
increases  capital.  The  influence  which  humility  has,  for  instance,  upon  a 
discovery  of  the  mind  of  God  in  his  word,  and  upon  the  increase  of  true 
religion  m  the  soul,  is  beyond  ail  calculation.  God  will  "  guide  the  meek  in 
judgment;  the  meek  will  he  teach  his  way."  He  giveth  "  more  grace"  to 
the  humble. 

Fourthly,  Holy  acts  tend  to  form  and  strengthen  holy  habits,  which  con- 
stitute the  highest  degree  of  holiness. — Li  one  sense  every  person  who  is  the 
subject  of  true  religion  possesses  a  holy  habit:  religion  with  him  is  not 
occasional,  but  an  habitual  pursuit.  But  the  term  is  more  properlj  applied 
to  those  fixed  dispositions  of  the  soul  which  are  the  effect  of  repeated  exer- 
cises. God  has  so  formed  the  mind,  that  a  number  of  acts  of  the  same  kind, 
whether  good  or  evil,  shall  give  a  tone  or  direction  to  it:  by  this  righteous- 
ness is  encouraged  and  sin  is  punished.  Every  exercise  of  repentance  goes 
to  form  an  habitual  tenderness  of  conscience,  and  abhorrency  of  that  which 
is  evil ;  and  every  exercise  of  faith  tends  to  a  life  of  faith  on  Him  who  loved 
us,  and  gave  himself  for  us.  The  more  we  read  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the 
more  we  shall  imbibe  their  spirit,  and  be  formed  by  them  as  by  a  model.  It 
is  thus  that  the  word  of  Christ  dwells  richly  in  us  in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual 
understanding.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  general  strain  of  apostolic 
exhortation  is  directed  to  habitual  leWg'ion.  "  Simplicity  in  giving,  diligence 
in  ruling,  cheerfulness  in  showing  mercy,  love  without  dissimulation,  abhor- 
rence of  evil,  cleaving  to  that  which  is  good,  being  kindly  affectioned  one  to 
another,  with  brotherly  love,  in  honour  preferring  one  another;  not  slothful 
in  business,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord;  rejoicing  in  hope,  patient  in 
tribulation,  continuing  instant  in  prayer;  distributing  to  the  necessity  of  the 
saints,  given  to  hospitality;"  are  all  expressive,  not  of  one  or  two  particular 
acts,  but  of  a  life  of  devotedness  to  God,  and  kindness  to  men.  And  what- 
ever acts  the  apostles  exhorted  to,  they  were  considered  only  as  so  many 
steps  in  a  race,  each  of  which  contributed  to  its  success,  or  to  the  winning 
of  the  prize. 

Fifthly,  Holy  habits  are  friendly  to  a  life  of  communion  with  God,  by 
which  the  soul  becomes  more  and  more  meetened  for  the  inheritance  of  the 
saints  in  light. — "  He  that  keepeth  his  commandments  dwelleth  in  God,  and 
God  in  him."  The  ecstasies  of  some,  whose  walk  is  manifestly  carnal, 
worldly,  fleshly,  and  even  devilish,  arise  from  a  fire  of  their  own  kindling. 
But  he  whose  consolations  are  accompanied  with  a  close  walk  with  God, 
and  render  him  more  and  more  watchful,  diligent,  and  circumspect,  he  it  is 
that  walks  in  the  light  of  God's  countenance.  The  enjoyment  he  finds  in 
the  commandments  of  God  enlarges  his  heart ;  and,  his  heart  being  enlarged, 
he  runs  with  greater  pleasure  in  the  way  of  his  commandments. 

From  the  whole  we  see,  I.  The  vast  importance  of  a  right  hcginning  in 
religion.  If  we  be  wrong  in  the  outset,  the  further  we  go  the  further  we 
are  off;  but,  entering  in  at  the  door  of  the  sheepfold,  we  shall  go  in  and 
out,  and  find  pasture.  The  reason  why  so  many  are  not  progressive  in 
religion  is  the  want  of  this.  Having  no  connexion  with  Christ,  they  bring 
forth  no  fruit,  and,  as  dead  branches,  are  taken  away :  having  no  oil  in  their 
vessels,  the  lamp  soon  expires.  2.  The  importance  of  every  act  of  holi- 
ness, or  duty  performed  with  an  eye  to  the  glory  of  God. — It  tells,  as  I  may 

Vol.  hi.— 84  3  k  3 


666  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

say,  in  the  divine  life.  It  tends  to  accumulate  a  store  of  heavenly  wealth, 
and  to  meeten  us  for  employments  and  enjoyments  in  another  and  better 
world. 


A  FEW  PERSUASIVES  TO  "A  GENERAL  UNION  IN  PRAYER" 
FOR  THE  REVIVAL  OF  RELIGION.* 

[Addressed  to  all  who  love  and  long  for  the  coming  of  Christ's  blessed  kingdom,  and  whose 
hearts  may  be  inclined  to  unite  in  seeking  its  welfare.] 

Christian  Brethren! 

The  business  for  the  promotion  of  which  these  few  hints  are  with  all  due 
respect  recommended  to  your  candid  attention  is  such  that  we  are  persuaded 
you  will  cheerfully  unite  in  it.  Indeed  it  would  be  unfriendly  in  us  to  sus- 
pect your  readiness  to  so  good  a  work.  Nevertheless,  considering  the  back- 
wardness and  inattention  common  to  us  all  in  this  world,  you  will  not  think 
it  superfluous  in  this  case  to  urge  a  few  motives,  for  the  purpose  of  stimu- 
lating us  to  wrestle  hard  with  God.  We  wish  you  then,  and  ourselves  with 
you,  seriously  to  attend  to  the  following  considerations : — 

1.  Consider  Christ's  readiness  to  hear  and  ansioer  prayer,  especially  on 
these  subjects.  We  are  greatly  mistaken  if  we  imagine  our  Lord  Jesus  takes 
no  pleasure  in  his  own  work,  but  is  loth  to  prosper  it,  and  only  is  persuaded 
by  us,  or  does  it  to  oblige  us.  He  takes  infinitely  more  pleasure  in  it  than 
we  do;  and  when  he  does  it  in  answer  to  our  prayers,  it  is  that  we  may  be 
encouraged,  and  that  his  favours  may  be  thankfully  received.  Christ  takes 
care  to  let  us  know  how  ready  he  is  to  hear  prayer,  especially  in  behalf  of 
his  own  cause,  in  that  he  directs  us  to  pray  for  these  blessings;  yea,  he  even 
commands  us  to  pray  for  the  coming  of  his  kingdom  before  we  ask  for  our 
daily  bread;  and  to  "seek  first  the  kivgdom  of  God,  and  his  righteous- 
ness," promising  that  "  all  other  things  shall  be  added  unto  us,"  Matt. 
vi.  33. 

Indeed  it  may  well  be  supposed  that  Christ's  heart  is  in  this  work ;  for  he 
laid  down  his  life  as  a  ground  whereon  to  rear  the  structure.  The  founda- 
tion of  this  glorious  kingdom  was  laid  in  blood, — not,  like  too  many  earthly 
kingdoms,  in  the  blood  of  the  conquered,  but  in  that  of  the  conqueror. 
Yes,  he  died  that  he  might  live  and  see  a  numerous  seed  of  converts;  and 
might  prolong  his  days,  or  lengthen  out  his  holy  and  happy  kingdom.  When 
he  ascended  into  heaven,  and  took  the  government  of  all  worlds  into  his 
hands,  it  was  with  a  view  to  the  carrying  on  of  this  blessed  cause.  He  be- 
came Head  over  all  things,  but  it  was  to  the  church,  that  he  might  cause 
every  thing  to  subserve  her  welfare. 

And  now  having  thus  died  to  lay  the  foundation  of  his  kingdom,  and  thus 
long  presided  over  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  to  ripen  things  for  it,  it 
would  be  very  strange  indeed  if  he  were  indifferent  about  it!  So  far  from 
that,  nothing  seems  to  lie  so  near  his  heart.  He  is  pleased  to  look  upon  the 
conversion  of  sinners  as  reward  enough  for  all  his  sorrows — as  sufficient  to 
make  him  forget  all  his  trials!  As  a  woman,  as  soon  as  she  is  delivered 
from  travail,  remembers  no  more  the  anguish  for  joy  that  a  man-child  is  born 
into  the  world,  so  it  is  said,  "  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and 
shall  be  satisfied !"     Yes,  Christians,  so  far  is  he  from  being  reluctant  to 

*  This  was  the  author's  first  publication.     See  the  Memoir,  Vol.  I. — B. 


PERSUASIVES  TO  UNION  IN  PRATER.  667 

grant  us  these  requests,  that  he  is  pleased  in  these  matters  not  only  to  com- 
mand us  to  ask,  but  to  represent  himself  as  waiting  to  be  gracious;  yea,  as 
being  at  our  command,  as  ready  to  bestow  these  mercies  whenever  we  shall 
earnestly  pray  for  them.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel, 
Ask  me  of  things  to  come  concerning  my  sons,  and  concerning  the  work  of 
my  hands  command  ye  me!"  See  how  intent  he  is  upon  what  concerns  his 
sons,  and  the  work  of  his  hands.     O  let  us  not  be  backward  on  our  part. 

2.  Consider  lohat  the  Lord  has  done  in  times  past,  and  that  in  answer  to 
prayer.  When  Israel,  who  was  God's  church  at  that  time,  was  in  Egypt, 
and  things  looked  very  dark  indeed,  tiiey  cried,  and  the  Lord  heard  their 
cry,  and  came  down  to  deliver  them.  Their  deliverance  was  the  extending 
of  Christ's  kingdom;  and  God  overthrew  Pharaoh  and  his  host  for  setting 
themselves  against  it.  The  church  in  after-ages,  when  in  her  low  estate  at  Baby- 
lon, is  represented  as  making  use  of  this  as  a  plea  with  God.  Thus  they  cry  to 
him,  "Awake,  awake,  put  on  strength,  O  arm  of  the  Lord;  awake  as  in  the 
ancient  days,  in  the  generations  of  old.  Art  thou  not  it  that  hath  cut  llahab, 
and  wounded  the  dragon?  Art  thou  not  it  which  hath  dried  the  sea,  the 
waters  of  the  great  deep:  that  hath  made  the  depth  of  the  sea  a  way  for  the 
ransomed  to  pass  over ?"  And  was  their  prayer  answered?  Yes;  the  Lord 
presently  replied,  "I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  that  divided  the  sea,  whose  waves 
roared;  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name!" — Yea,  as  a  kind  of  echo  to  their 
request,  "Awake,  awake,  stand  up,  O  Jerusalem,  which  hast  drunk  at  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  the  cup  of  his  fury. — Thus  saith  thy  Lord  Jehovah,  and 
thy  God  that  pleadeth  the  cause  of  his  people.  Behold,  I  have  taken  out  of 
thy  hand  the  cup  of  trembling,  the  'dregs  of  the  cup  of  my  fury ;  thou  shall 
no  more  drink  it  again." — See  Isa.  li.  \),  17,  22. 

While  Judah  groaned  beneath  Babel's  yoke,  Daniel  set  his  fice  three 
times  a  day  towards  Jerusalem;  at  length  his  prayers  and  supplications  are 
heard,  and  an  angel  is  sent  to  comfort  him,  yea,  and  to  inform  him  that  at 
the  beginning  of  his  supplications  the  commandment  in  favour  of  Judah 
came  forth.  And  now  God's  conduct  towards  Pharaoh  and  all  his  host  shall 
be  acted  over  again  towards  Belshazzar  and  his.  Yes,  he  not  only  gave 
Egypt  and  Ethiopia,  but  Babylon  for  their  ransom. 

The  church  of  God  was  reduced  exceedingly  low  just  before  the  coming 
of  Christ,  but  what  was  the  conduct  of  those  tew  that  were  on  God's  side? 
Some  of  them  are  distinguished  by  the  character  of  those  who  "  looked 
for  redetnption  in  Jerusalem,"  and  others  are  said  to  have  "continued  in 
prayer  night  and  day."  At  length,  through  the  tender  mercy  of  God, 
their  prayers  were  answered,  and  "  the  day-spring  from  on  high  visited 
them  1" 

Just  before  that  great  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the 
church  was  in  a  low  and  disconsolate  condition,  having  lost  Christ's  personal 
presence;  however,  they  united  with  one  accord  in  ardent  prayer,  in  an  upper 
room,  to  the  number  of  about  a  hundred  and  twenty.  Presently  their  light 
broke  forth  as  the  morning — a  litde  one  becomes  a  thousand,  and  a  small 
one  a  strong  nation.  Thousands  are  converted  by  a  single  sermon,  and 
Satan  falls  before  the  gospel  of  Christ  like  lightning  from  heaven. — May 
we  not  make  the  same  use  of  these  glorious  works  of  God,  with  some  others 
in  that  day,  as  Judah  did  in  Babylon  of  what  God  had  done  for  them  in 
Egypt? — O  let  us  pray  to  the  Lord  Jesus  that  the  work  may  be  carried  on ; 
that  antichrist  may  be  consumed  with  the  Spirit  of  his  mouth,  and  destroyed 
by  the  brightness  of  his  coming;  that  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  may  be- 
coine  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  his  Christ,  and  that  he  may  reign  for 
ever  and  ever. 

3.  Let  the  present  religious  state  of  the  world  be  considered  to  this  end. 


668  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Christianity  has  not  yet  made  its  way,  even  in  name,  over  one-fifth  part  of 
the  world.  Out  of  about  one  thousand  millions,  wlio  are  supposed  to  inhabit 
our  globe,  not  above  one  hundred  and  seventy  millions  profess  the  Christian 
name:  all  the  rest  are  heathens,  Jews,  or  Mahomedans;  and,  of  those  who 
do  profess  it,  the  far  greater  part  are  either  of  the  apostate  Church  of  Rome, 
or  of  the  Greek  Church,  which  is  nearly  as  corrupt.  Add  to  this,  what  great 
numbers  of  real  heathens  abound  in  Christian  lands,  and  unbelievers  even 
in  the  congregations  of  the  faithful.  Surely  it  is  high  time  for  us  to  awake 
out  of  sleep,  and  to  send  our  united  cries  to  heaven  in  behalf  of  our  fellow^ 
creatures ! 

4.  Consider  what  God  has  promised  to  do  for  Ms  church  in  times  to  come. 
For  an  absolute  impossibility  we  can  have  no  hope,  and  for  what  God  hath 
declared  shall  never  come  to  pass  we  can  have  no  warrant  to  pray;  but  when 
we  pray  for  the  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom,  our  object  is  clogged  with  nei- 
ther of  these  difficulties.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  accompanied  with  the 
strongest  assurances  of  success.  Let  us  not  imagine  that  God  has  yet  done 
all  he  intends  to  do  for  his  church ;  or  that  Christ  has  yet  seen  of  the  travail 
of  his  soul  so  as  to  be  satisfied.  Besides  the  various  promises  referred  to  in 
the  foregoing  pages,  the  first  setting  up  of  Christ's  kingdom  is  compared  to 
a  little  stone,  cut  out  of  a  mountain  without  hands,  but  which  should  in  time 
break  in  pieces  all  the  rest,  and  become  "a  great  mountain,  and  fill  the 
whole  earth,"  Dan.  ii.  35.  The  King  himself  compared  this  his  blessed 
kingdom  in  its  infancy  to  a  "  grain  of  mustard  seed,"  the  least  of  all  seeds, 
but  when  grown,  the  "greatest  of  all  herbs;"  implying,  no  doubt,  that  his 
kingdom  in  its  beginning  was  apparently  the  most  weak  and  despicable  of 
any  kingdom  ;  but  before  it  should  be  finished  it  should  be  the  greatest,  most 
glorious,  and  extensive,  of  all  the  kingdoms  that  were  ever  set  up — greater 
than  that  of  Alexander  himself,  and  more  durable  than  that  of  Rome,  Matt, 
xiii.  31-33.  In  the  same  place,  he  compares  it  to  a  little  leaven  which  a 
woman  put  into  three  measures  of  meal  till  the  whole  was  leavened.  Glo- 
rious thought!  Christ  has  been  leavening  the  world  for  many  hundred  years, 
by  the  preaching  of  the  gospel;  and  yet,  awful  to  think,  what  a  great  part  of 
it  continues  unleavened  to  this  day !  But,  O  blessed  be  God,  it  shall  not  be 
given  up  till  the  whole  is  leavened!  Forlorn  as  the  state  of  the  heathen  world 
is,  our  Lord  Jesus  has  asked  them  for  his  inheritance,  and  he  will  have  them, 
even  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession,  Psal.  ii.  8.  O 
blessed  period !  When  Jew  and  Gentile,  the  fair  European  and  the  sun- 
burnt African,  with  men  of  every  other  description,  shall  all  unite  to  serve 
the  Lord. 

Must  it  not  be  very  reviving  to  see  those  branches  that  have  been  so  long 
broken  oflfthe  olive  tree,  because  of  unbelief,  grafted  in  again? — to  see  them 
return,  and,  with  the  bitter  tears  of  reflection,  "seek  the  Lord  their  GoA, and 
David  their  King,  and  fear  the  Lord  and  his  goodness  in  the  latter  days?" 
Hos.  iii.  5.  Yes,  verily,  the  receiving  of  them  back  again  shall  be  to  the 
Gentiles  like  "  life  from  the  dead!"  Rom.  xi.  15.  Then  shall  they  be  restored 
to  their  own  land,  and  no  more  be  exposed  to  the  hostile  attacks  of  quarrel- 
some neighbours  as  heretofore,  but  "  Israel  shall  be  with  Egypt  and  with 
Assyria  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  land  ;  whom  Jehovah  of  hosts  shall 
bless,  saying.  Blessed  be  Egypt  my  people,  and  Assyria  the  work  of  my 
hands,  and  Israel  mine  inheritance,"  Isa.  xix.  23,  25.  Then  those  glorious 
things  spoken  of  the  city  of  God,  in  the  eighty-seventh  Psalm,  shall  be  ac- 
complished.— We  shall  see  "  Rahab  and  Babylon,  Philistia  and  Tyre,  with 
Ethiopia,"  given  to  the  church.  "  Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands  to 
God,"  Psal.  Ixviii.  31.  Oh  what  encouragement  is  here  to  pray  !  How  long 
these  things  will  be  we  know  not;  but  this  we  know,  we  are  nearer  by  above 


PERSUASIVES  TO  UNION  IN  PRAYER.  669 

two  thousand  four  hundred  years  than  the  church  was  in  Isaiah's  time,  and 
even  then  they  that  made  mention  of  Jehovah  were  charged,  saying,  "  Keep 
not  silence,  and  give  him  no  rest,  till  he  make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the 
earth,"  Isa.  Ixii.  6,  7.  Let  us  never  forget  that  Jehovah  connects  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  own  promises  with  the  fervent  supplications  of  his  people.  "  I 
will  yet  for  this  be  inquired  of  by  the  house  of  Israel,  to  do  it  for  them," 
Ezek.  xxxvi.  37. 

5.  If  we  have  any  regard  to  the  xceJfare  of  our  countrymen,  cotinexions, 
and  friends,  let  that  stimulate  us  in  this  work.  Let  us  remember  we  have 
not  only  heathens,  and  Jews,  and  others  abroad,  to  pray  for ;  but  few  of  us 
are  wholly  unconnected  with  heathen  neighbours,  heathen  relations,  or  stub- 
born and  unbelieving  children.  Let  these  be  borne  in  the  arms  of  prayer 
before  the  Lord.  Though  they  can  claim  no  pity  from  God,  yet  they  have 
a  right  to  ours,  because  we  were  in  the  same  condition.  Let  our  pity  then 
be  extended  to  those  who  have  none  for  themselves,  and  our  prayers  ascend 
for  such  who  as  yet  call  not  upon  God's  name.  Though  there  be  no  reason 
why  God  should  save  our  children,  relations,  or  friends,  before  others,  yet 
there  is  a  reason  why  we  should  seek  their  salvation  before  others,  because 
they  are  particularly  put  under  our  care,  or  stand  in  connexion  with  us. 

To  neglect  to  carry  our  children  to  Christ  for  a  blessing  from  want  of  love, 
if  such  a  thing  could  be  in  a  good  man,  would  be  more  cruel  than  the  ostrich 
in  the  wilderness !  So  were  it  possible  for  a  Christian  to  be  amongst  wicked 
neighbours  and  wicked  relations,  and,  seeing  he  is  safe  himself,  care  nothing 
about  them,  surely  he  must  be  beside  himself!  How  unlike  would  this  be 
to  the  spirit  of  his  Lord  and  Saviour — he  wept  over  those  who  wept  not  for 
themselves!  O  Christians,  for  your  country's  sake,  your  neighbours'  sake, 
your  friends'  sake,  yea,  your  enemies'  sake,  as  well  as  for  ihe  honour  of 
Christ,  seek  the  welfare  of  Zion,  and  pray  for  the  extending  of  his  kingdom 
in  the  world ! 

6.  Consider  that  what  is  requested  is  so  very  small.  The  Lord  does  not 
ask  us  in  this  case  for  our  silver  or  our  gold,  which,  if  he  did,  it  were  but  a 
trifle  to  give. — He  does  not  require  us  to  sacrifice  our  lives,  families,  or 
friends,  in  support  of  his  cause,  which,  if  he  did,  it  is  no  more  than  multi- 
tudes of  the  best  men  that  ever  the  world  saw  have  complied  with ; — but  he 
only  says,  "  Give  me  thine  heart !"  Seek  the  prosperity  of  His  interest  who 
died  for  yours — of  that  interest  with  which  your  own  is  so  inseparably  united 
— yea,  of  that  interest  which  is  your  own ;  for  Christ  and  you  have  no  sepa- 
rate interests. 

As  to  the  times  for  public  prayer,  nothing  can  be  less  burdensome  than 
once  in  a  month — but  what  did  I  say,  burdensome? — God  forbid  that  any 
employment  of  this  sort  should  ever  prove  a  burden !  It  is  hoped  it  will  be 
attended  to  as  a  privilege  rather  than  merely  as  a  duty.  It  is  hoped  that 
Christians  will  feel  a  pleasure,  and  find  a  benefit,  in  these  meetings,  that  will 
induce  them  of  their  own  accord  to  meet  together  more  frequently  than  this 
proposes,  either  on  Lord's-day  mornings,  or  on  any  convenient  opportunities, 
for  the  same  most  desirable  purposes. 

7.  And  lastly,  It  will  not  be  in  vain,  whatever  he  the  immediate  and  appa- 
rent  issue  of  it.  Could  we  but  heartily  unite  and  make  an  earnest  effort, 
there  is  great  reason  to  hope  great  good  might  follow.  Whenever  those 
glorious  outpourings  of  God's  Spirit  shall  come,  all  over  the  world,  no  doubt 
it  will  be  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  his  people. — But  suppose  we  should 
never  live  to  see  those  days,  still  our  labour  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 
God  would  be  glorified;  and  is  this  of  no  moment?  It  would  convey  this 
piece  of  intelligence  to  the  world,  that  God  has  yet  some  hearty  friends  in  it, 
who  will  continue  to  pray  to  him  in  the  darkest  times. — But  this  is  not  all: 


670  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

our  petitions  may  prove  like  seed  in  the  earth,  that  shall  not  perish,  though 
it  may  not  spring  up  in  our  days.  Thus  the  "  prophets  laboured,  and  the 
apostles  entered  into  their  labours"  (John  iv.  38);  and  what  if  we  should  be 
the  sowers,  and  our  posterity  the  reapers,  shall  we  grudge  at  this?  As  great 
an  honour  at  the  last  day,  perhaps,  may  attend  Isaiah,  who  hardly  knew  who 
had  believed  his  report,  as  Peter,  by  whose  sermon  thousands  were  converted 
in  an  hour. — But  neither  is  this  all. — There  are  different  degrees  of  pros- 
perity bestowed  upon  different  parts  of  Zion,  and  these  favours  are  often 
granted  to  those  particular  communities  where  most  ardent  prayer,  love,  and 
holiness  prevail. — Add  to  all  this,  the  prosperity  of  our  souls,  as  Christians, 
is  generally  connected  with  an  earnest  pursuit  of  God's  glory  and  Christ's 
kingdom.  Consolation,  like  reputation,  will  not  do  to  be  sought  directly 
and  for  its  own  sake.  In  that  case  it  will  flee  from  us.  But  let  us  seek  first 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  will  be  added 
to  us.  One  great  reason  perhaps  of  so  many  Christians  going  so  destitute 
of  Divine  comfort,  is  because  they  care  about  scarcely  any  thing  else;  God 
therefore  justly  withholds  it  from  them.  If  they  were  more  to  seek  his  glory 
and  the  extending  of  his  kingdom  in  the  world,  they  would  find  consolation 
come  of  its  own  accord.  He  that  cannot  lie,  speaking  of  his  church,  hath 
said,  "They  shall  prosper  that  love  her." 


THOUGHTS  ON  CIVIL  POLITY. 

ATTACHMENT  TO  GOVERNMENT. 

[Written  in  March,  1808.] 

The  question  proposed  for  discussion  is, —  Whether  the  obedience  to  civil 
government  required  in  the  Scriptures  includes  attachment. 

It  certainly  does  not  include  attachment  to  any  thing  but  what  is  declared 
to  be  "  an  ordinance  of  God ;"  nor  to  any  person  or  persons,  but  as  officers 
executing  that  ordinance.  It  does  not  necessarily  include  an  attachment  to 
the  constitution  of  a  country,  which,  when  compared  with  others,  may  be 
very  oppressive  and  unjust;  nor  to  particular  measures,  which  may  be  equally 
so.  But  even  in  such  cases  there  is  an  "honour"  due  to  government,  which 
in  its  worst  forms  is  preferable  to  anarchy;  and  which,  notwithstanding  the 
most  unjust  procedures,  is  still  in  itself  the  ordinance  of  God.  It  is  thus  in 
parental  authority.  The  duty  of  a  child  to  obey  a  parent  who  may  be  harsh 
and  unkind  is  not  obliterated  ;  nor  is  it  enough  for  him  to  yield  the  obedience 
of  fear,  out  of  regard  to  his  own  interest.  He  ought  to  do  it  from  a  con- 
scientious regard  to  the  will  of  God,  who  has  made  him  his  parent.  A  violent 
father  once  fell  foul  upon  his  son,  a  young  man  about  twenty  years  of  age. 
The  son  made  no  other  resistance  than  to  ward  off  the  blows,  and  said,  "  I 
could  do  what  I  please  with  you;  but  you  are  my  father!"  Such  is  the 
spirit  which  ought  to  be  cherished  towards  the  worst  civil  government.  The 
young  man  not  only  conformed  to  those  orders  which  his  father  might  give 
him,  but  felt  an  attachment  to  him  as  a  father;  and  was  not  to  be  driven 
from  his  duty  because  the  other  had  forgotten  his. 

All  this  proceeds  upon  the  supposition  of  our  living  under  the  worst  of 
governments,  which  is  so  far  from  being  the  truth  that  almost  any  one  would 
think  it  the  best  in  Europe,  if  not  in  the  world.  A  large  proportion  of  those 
who  have  left  their  country,  under  a  contrary  impression,  have  seen  cause  to 
repent  of  their  fully  and  ingratitude.     The  civil  liberty  contained  in  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  CIVIL  POLITY.  C71 

British  government  is  the  very  cause  of  its  being  worse  thought  of  and  spoken 
against,  by  one  part  of  its  subjects,  than  that  of  any  other  country.  Were 
one  of  these  in  France,  and  even  a  member  of  the  legislature,  he  must  not 
open  his  mouth  in  the  manner  he  does  in  England.  It  is  a  part  of  our  civil 
constitution  to  admit  of  free  debate;  and  an  opposition  to  the  administration 
of  the  day,  though  generally  conducted  on  mere  party  principles,  is  con- 
sidered upon  the  whole  as  a  salutary  check  on  men  in  power.  It  is  a  mode 
of  balancinfT  evils,  by  suffering  one  set  of  them  to  weigh  against  another. 
Hence  it  is  that  a  Tory  administration  in  England,  being  watched  by  Whigs, 
would  not  be  materially  unfriendly  to  liberty;  and  Whigs,  if  not  watched  by 
Tories,  would  soon  become  as  bad  as  the  other.  But  while  these  parties 
are  invariably  assailing  their  rivals,  in  hope  of  supplanting  them,  it  is  not  for 
the  wise  and  the  good  to  enlist  themselves  under  their  respective  standards, 
or  to  believe  half  what  they  say.  If,  within  my  remembrance,  only  a  tenth 
part  of  what  has  been  foretold  by  the  opposition  interest  had  been  true,  we 
should  ere  now  have  ceased  to  be  a  nation. 

Oh  but,  says  one,  we  are  going  fast  to  ruin!  Provisions  rise,  farms  let  for 
double  and  treble  what  they  did,  and  taxes  are  enormous.  And  what  does 
the  rise  of  provisions  and  of  land  prove,  except  that  the  country  is  full  of 
money?  All  buying  and  selling  is  only  an  exchange  of  commodities:  and 
according  to  the  quantity  and  demand  for  any  article  such  is  the  price.  To 
say  that  provisions  are  dear  is  only  saying  that  money  is  cheap.  Oh,  but  it 
is  not  money,  it  is  paper.  So  long  however  as  the  nation  is  solvent,  and  can 
pay  its  debts,  paper  is  the  same  as  money.  With  respect  to  the  amount  of 
taxes,  it  is  not  of  much  account  so  long  as  we  have  the  means  of  paying 
them.  A  London  tradesman  might  say,  My  rent  and  taxes  are  so  high  in 
the  city,  I'll  go  and  take  a  farm  or  a  house  in  the  woodlands!  Such  in 
effect  has  been  the  reasoning  of  some  of  our  emigrants.  Yet,  it  may  be 
asked,  do  we  not  live  better,  wear  better  clothes,  and  occupy  more  comfort- 
able dwellings  than  our  forefathers  did?  and  whether,  where  ope  fortune  was 
gained  a  century  ago,  there  be  not  six  or  seven  now?  These  things  may 
seem  nothing  to  those  who  are  complainers  by  profession;  for  if  God  should 
have  determined  for  our  ingratitude  and  other  sins  to  bring  us  under  a 
foreign  yoke,  as  he  has  brought  the  continent  of  Europe,  we  shall  then 
know  our  present  advantages  by  the  loss  of  them. 

To  form  our  opinion  of  the  measures  of  government,  by  daily  reading  one 
class  of  the  opposition  papers,  is  much  the  same  as  judging  of  them  from  the 
philippics  of  the  French  Moniteur;  or  making  up  an  opinion  of  the  mission 
to  the  East,  by  purchasing  and  reading  all  the  pieces  of  Major  Scott  War- 
ing !  If  we  choose  to  be  deceived,  deceived  we  shall  be  and  ought  to  be. 
If  I  am  attached  to  government  as  government,  irrespective  of  the  men  who 
administer  it,  I  shall  be  willing  to  find  their  measures  right,  and  unwilling 
to  find  them  otherwise,  unless  compelled  so  to  think  by  evidence.  I  shall 
never  take  pleasure  in  traducing  it,  nor  in  hearing  it  traduced.  If  in  any 
case  I  think  it  in  the  wrong,  I  shall  speak  of  it,  if  at  all,  with  regret.  But 
if  I  choose  to  enlist  under  the  banners  of  a  systematic  opposition,  and  to  learn 
all  that  occurs  from  their  report,  I  shall  presently  enter  into  their  prejudices, 
and  become  their  dupe.  They  are  fighting  for  a  substance  indeed,  but  I  for 
a  phantom.  So  when  these  patriots  get  into  power,  I  wonder  and  admire, 
and  am  then  attached  to  government,  not  because  the  New  Testament 
enjoins  it,  but  because  my  fivourites  bear  rule ;  and  thus,  both  when  they 
are  out  of  office  and  when  they  are  in,  I  am  out  of  the  way  of  Christian 
obedience. 

How  can  I  be  said  to  honour  magistrates,  while  I  view  all  their  actions 
through  the  representations  of  men  whose  interest  it  is  to  supplant  them; 


672  MISCELLANEOUS   TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

discrediting  every  thing  good,  and  believing  every  thing  evil  1  "  Buonaparte," 
said  one  of  the  opposition  prints,  "  is  conciliating  people  of  all  religions ;  but 
our  government  is  going  to  convert  the  Hindoos  to  Christianity !"  Is  not 
such  a  suggestion  sufficient  to  show  what  these  men  are?  It  is  well  enough 
known  that  our  government  are  not  going  to  convert  the  Hindoos,  and  that 
if  they  let  those  men  alone  who  would  endeavour  to  convert  them,  it  is  all 
that  can  be  said  or  hoped  of  them.  How  utterly  unprincipled  and  base 
therefore  must  such  a  writer  be!  Yet  from  these  men  some  people  form 
their  ideas  of  the  government  that  protects  them.  If  I  must  judge  of  public 
measures,  let  me  judge  righteously,  and  not  by  appearance,  or  from  personal 
regards,  John  vii.  24. 

Government  may  have  done  wrong  in  pursuing  certain  measures,  but  it  is 
not  from  their  being  accused  of  it  by  interested  men  that  we  ought  to  believe 
it.  Those  who  are  now  in  power  were  lately  in  opposition,  and  then  they 
were  patriots,  and  every  thing  was  going  to  ruin.  There  never  was  a  period 
in  British  history  when,  in  the  opinion  of  what  is  called  the  opposition,  let 
that  opposition  be  on  which  side  it  might,  the  nation  was  not  going  to  ruin  ; 
and  when  its  humble  adherents  did  not  think  so.  The  New  Testament  tells 
us,  "they  are  God's  ministers,  attending  continually  upon  this  very  thing." 
Now  a  small  acquaintance  with  things  will  enable  us  to  perceive  that  they 
who  attend  continually  to  one  thing  may  in  a  hundred  instances  have  reasons 
for  their  conduct  of  which  those  who  only  attend  to  it  as  an  occasional 
amusement  are  very  incompetent  to  judge.  Let  a  disaffected  member  of  a 
Christian  church  judge  of  the  measures  of  its  officers,  and  he  will  find  them 
all  wrong.  Should  he  also  be  desirous  of  gaining  an  ascendency,  and  can 
persuade  a  few  others  to  judge  of  tliose  measures  through  the  medium  of  his 
representations,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  what  sort  of  treatment  the  pastor  and 
his  colleagues  would  be  likely  to  receive  at  their  hands.  The  minister 
might  feel  indignant,  and  say  to  his  friends,  This  man  wants  to  be  in  power, 
and  the  rest  are  his  dupes.  We  attend  continually  upon  this  very  thing,  and 
do  to  the  best  of  our  ability.  But  these  men  neither  know  our  reasons,  nor 
wish  to  know  them ;  but,  having  set  us  down  as  bad,  conclude  that  nothing 
we  do  can  be  right. 

What  is  that  "  honour"  and  "obedience"  due  to  government,  and  that 
prayer  to  God  "  for  all  who  are  in  authority,"  which  the  Scriptures  enjoin, 
(Rom.  xiii.  1-7;  1  Tim.  ii.  1,2;  Tit.  iii.  1 ;  1  Pet.  ii.  13-17,)  but  an  attach- 
ment to  them  as  magistrates,  irrespective  of  their  party?  We  cannot  pray 
for  them  as  we  ought,  unless  we  feel  a  sincere  attachment.  There  needs 
not  a  greater  proof  of  this  than  the  base  perversions  of  God's  word  which 
have  been  made  on  this  subject  by  some  disaffected  men.  I  pray  for  kings 
and  rulers  as  men,  says  one,  the  same  as  I  pray  for  other  men.  Yes,  but 
•  you  are  required  to  pray  for  them  as  men  in  authority.  Well,  says  another, 
t  can  pray  that  God  would  restrain  their  iniquity,  and  prevent  their  doing 
mischief,  that  good  people  may  lead  quiet  and  peaceable  lives,  in  all  god- 
liness and  honesty.  Would  you  then  presume  thus  to  pervert  the  oracles  of 
God?  Can  you  say  that  the  exhortation  in  1  Tim.  ii.  2,  proceeds  on  the 
supposition  that  civil  governors  are  the  parties  which  you  are  to  pray  God 
to  restrain?  Does  it  not  rather  suppose,  what  is  manifestly  true,  that  the 
great  body  of  wicked  men  around  you  would  persecute  and  destroy  you  as 
Christians,  were  they  not  prevented  by  the  civil  power?  The  exhortation  is 
to  intercede  fur  kings,  and  for  all  that  are  in  authority;  but  this  would  be 
interceding  against  them. 

Without  attachment  there  is  no  such  thing  as  obedience,  whether  to  parents, 
husbands,  masters,  ministers,  magistrates,  or  to  God.  A  disaffected  person 
may  abstain  from  conspiracies  and  seditious  conversation  from  mere  pru- 


THOUGHTS  ON  CIVIL  POLITY.  673 

dential  motives ;  but  in  all  this  there  is  not  a  grain  of  honour  or  obedience. 
He  who  thinks  otherwise,  and  imagines  that  an  outward  compliance  with 
the  laws  is  all  that  ought  to  be  required  of  him,  only  proves  himself  to  be 
given  up  in  a  great  degree  to  a  mind  void  of  judgment.  Let  such  a  one  ask 
himself  as  a  father,  a  husband,  a  master,  or  a  minister,  whether  a  mere  out- 
ward compliance  with  his  directions  would  satisfy  him.  By  the  same  means 
he  may  find  an  answer  to  all  his  other  objections.  What!  says  an  undutiful 
child,  you  think,  I  suppose,  every  thing  is  right  that  my  father  does. —  No, 
you  reply,  your  father  is  a  man  like  other  men,  and  has  his  faults ;  but  it  is 
not  for  you  to  expose  them.  He  is  your  father,  and  you  are  commanded  of 
God  to  honour  and  obey  him  in  all  his  lawful  commands. — What!  and  am 
I  bound  to  esteem  him,  and  to  feel  attached  to  him,  when  he  has  all  along 
been  my  enemy,  doing  every  thing  for  my  hurt?  The  answer  is,  such  a 
supposition  is  as  unnatural  as  it  is  undutiful.  Have  you  not  contracted 
this  prejudice  by  associating  with  persons  who  have  an  end  to  answer  by 
supplanting  him  in  your  esteem  ? — For  me  to  esteem  or  be  attached  to  him 
would  be  the  same  thing  as  to  be  attached  to  what  is  wrong. — Surely  this 
objection  can  arise  from  nothing  but  perverseness.  You  know  there  is  no 
necessity  for  this,  and  no  one  wishes  it.  You  seem  to  forget  that  he  is  your 
father,  and  to  think  of  him  only  as  a  bad  man ;  but  these  thoughts  arise 
from  your  listening  to  evil  counsel,  intended  for  sinister  ends  to  lower  him 
in  your  estimation. — Well,  I  cannot  help  it. — Such  also  might  be  the  answer 
of  the  worst  of  beings. 

A  disaffected  heart  will  lead  men  to  talk  of  Providence,  so  far  as  it  favours 
their  wishes,  but  renders  them  blind  to  it  in  every  other  view :  some  have 
pleaded  that  Providence  has  favoured  the  arms  of  France,  and  they  have 
subdued  their  enemies  before  them ;  it  is  folly,  therefore,  to  resist  them. 
But  if  it  be  true  that  Providence  has  favoured  the  military  power  of  France, 
it  is  no  less  true  that  the  naval  power  of  England  has  been  equally  favoured 
and  destined  of  Providence  to  check  the  inordinate  ambition  of  our  rival  and 
our  enemy;  and,  but  for  this,  liberty  would  find  no  asylum  upon  earth.  Yet, 
were  I  a  subject  of  the  French  government,  I  should  think  it  ray  duty,  while 
I  experienced  its  protection,  to  cherish  a  sincere  attachment,  and  to  pray  for 
its  prosperity  in  all  its  lawful  undertakings,  whatever  I  might  think  of  the 
private  character  of  those  by  whom  the  government  is  administered.  I  should 
think  it  wrong  to  magnify  the  faults  of  such  a  government,  even  though  I 
could  do  it  with  safety  to  myself,  or  to  read  only  those  accounts  of  it  which 
came  from  a  quarter  where  a  systematic  opposition  was  carrying  on  against 
it.  How  much  more  then  ought  I  to  be  attached  to  a  legitimate  government, 
under  whose  protection  the  church  of  God,  for  more  than  a  century,  has 
had  an  opportunity  to  live  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life,  in  all  godliness  and 
honesty  ! 

Surely  you  cannot  account  for  my  imbibing  these  sentiments,  but  by  sup- 
posing that  I  have  learned  them  from  the  Scriptures.  You  know  me  too 
well  to  impute  to  me  a  spirit  that  would  cringe  to  any  man.  You  know 
also  that  I  have  no  temporal  interest  to  serve,  and  no  prejudices  to  gratify. 
If  I  have  any  political  predilections,  they  are  on  the  side  of  Whiggism.  It 
is  true,  I  have  lately  perceived  some  infidels  amongst  them,  giving  in  to  a 
persecuting  spirit  against  evangelical  religion,  and  have  denounced  them  in 
my  Letter  to  the  Chairman  of  the  East  India  Company.  And  I  should  not 
be  surprised  to  find  the  greater  part  of  them  holding  these  principles  when 
it  comes  to  the  trial;  but  if  it  be  so,  it  would  be  a  mortification  to  me  as 
belonging  to  the  Whig  interest.  On  this  account,  as  well  as  others,  I  have 
said  nothmg  against  them  as  a  political  party,  but  have  contented  myself 
with  attacking  the  principle. 

Vol.  III.— 85  3  L 


674  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

It  is  a  fact,  of  which  few  will  doubt,  that  great  numbers  are  attached  to 
government  because  they  are  hired,  both  in  church  and  state.  It  is  no  less 
a  fact  tliat  great  numbers  are  disaffected  because  they  are  not  hired.  I  ac- 
cuse neither  the  one  nor  the  other  by  the  lump;  but  who  can  doubt  that  the 
cause  of  disaffection  in  thousands  is  that  they  are  not  treated  in  all  respects 
as  their  fellow  subjects;  and  that,  in  the  present  reign  especially,  the  politi- 
cal party  which  has  been  used  to  favour  Dissenters  and  the  cause  of  reli- 
gious liberty  has  been  kept  out  of  power?  this  party  has  ever  maintained  a 
war,  as  all  parties  do,  against  their  opponents.  They  have  their  newspapers, 
by  which  they  give  their  own  representations  of  every  thing  done  by  the 
other.  They  are  not  scrupulous  to  state  things  as  they  are,  but  as  they  appear 
to  their  own  prejudiced  and  violent  minds.  If  any  person  forms  his  ideas 
according  to  these  statements,  he  will  soon  become  an  inconsiderate  partisan, 
laying  aside  not  only  the  Christian,  but  the  man  of  sober  sense,  who  views 
both  these  parties  as  aiming  to  supplant  the  other;  and  therefore,  though  he 
may  hear  what  both  advance,  and  may  think  it  necessary  on  the  whole  that 
the  one  should  watch  the  other,  yet,  in  forming  his  own  judgment  of  men 
and  things,  will  take  neither  of  them  for  his  guide. 

REFLECTIONS    ON    THE    EPISTLE    OF    JUDE. 
[Extract  of  a  letter  written  during  the  alarm  of  an  invasion  in  1803.] 

I  HAVE  been  much  struck  of  late  in  reading  the  Epistle  of  Jude;  and 
I  think  I  see  there  the  very  character  of  some  of  our  modern  democrats. 

I.  They  were  wicked  men;  yet  they  crept  in  unawares  amongst  religious 
people,  ver.  4.  2.  They  were  apostates  from  the  truth,  after  the  example  of 
the  devil  himself,  ver.  5,  6.  3.  They  were  lascivious  characters,  given  over 
to  fornication  and  all  uncleanness,  ver.  7.  4.  They  were  despisers  and  de- 
preciators  of  civil  government,  using  language  concerning  their  superiors 
which  an  angel  dare  not  use  of  Satan  himself,  ver.  8, 9.  5.  Their  real  object, 
whatever  were  their  pretences,  was  the  hope  of  plunder  and  of  power,  ver. 

II.  6.  The  admission  which  some  Christians  gave  them  into  their  churches 
was  to  their  reproach,  ver.  12.  7.  They  are  characters  whose  society  we 
should  avoid  as  we  tender  our  own  salvation ;  for  the  course  which  they 
steer  leads  to  perdition,  ver.  12,  13. 

[A  correspondent  having  intimated  that  as  the  descriptions  referred  to  apostates  from  the 
truth,  and  the  cases  of  Cain,  Balaam,  and  Korah,  were  cited  by  the  apostle  as  a  warning 
to  his  contemporaries,  the  allusion  could  not  be  to  political,  but  religious  disobedience,  Mr. 
Fuller  replied  as  follows.] 

It  is  certainly  true  that  "the  error  of  Balaam,"  Jude  11,  was  not  jacobin' 
ism,  and  that  the  sin  of  Cain  and  of  Korah  was  not  committed  against  civil 
government.  But  on  a  reperusal  of  the  Epistles  of  Peter  and  Jude,  it  does 
not  appear  to  me  that  civil  government  can  justly  be  excluded  from  the 
things  against  which  these  men  set  themselves.  There  is  nothing  surprising 
that  they  should  despise  and  set  themselves  against  all  that  which  set  itself 
against  their  lusts,  which  every  species  of  legitimate  authority  did,  whether 
civil  or  ecclesiastical.  It  is  thus  interpreted  by  all  the  expositors  and  lexi- 
cons to  which  I  have  access.  They  admit  indeed  that  the  passage  referred 
to  in  1  Pet.  ii.  10  proves  a  part  of  their  opposition  and  contempt  to  have 
been  directed  against  Christ,  and  the  authorities  in  his  church  :  but  consider 
other  parts  of  it  as  directed  against  civil  government.  The  term  rendered 
"  government  or  dominion,"  in  2  Pet.  ii.  10,  and  Jude  8,  is  never  applied,  I 
believe,  to  ecclesiastical  authority,  but  either  to  that  which  subsists  among 
the  different  orders  of  angels,  or  to  civil  government  amongst  men,  Eph.  i.  21; 
Col.  i.  16 


THOUGHTS    ON    CIVIL    POLITY.  675 

Christ,  it  is  true,  exercises  all  authority  and  dominion ;  but  the  dignities 
which  they  blasphemed  do  not  seem  to  relate  to  his  spiritual  authority. 
Moreover,  the  argument  used  by  the  apostle  Jude  in  ver.  9  seems  to  imply 
that  the  authority,  or  dominion,  against  which  these  men  set  themselves,  had 
in  it  a  mixture  of  evil,  which  afforded  them  a  handle  for  running  it  down. 
Jude's  answer  is.  Be  it  so,  that  it  has  a  great  many  evils  attending  it,  as  ad- 
ministered by  wicked  men ;  yet  an  archangel,  when  speaking  to  the  worst 
of  beings,  did  not  dare  to  use  such  language  as  theirs.  The  answer  sup- 
poses that  to  exist  which  did  not  exist  in  Christ's  spiritual  government,  nor 
yet  in  the  ecclesiastical  government  of  the  church  at  that  time;  but  which 
might  well  be  supposed  to  exist  in  the  imperial  government  of  Rome,  under 
which  the  early  Christians  suffered  so  much  persecution. 

INFLUENCE    OF    THE    CONDUCT    OF  RELIGIOUS    PEOPLE    ON  THE  WELL-BEING  OF 

A   COUNTRY. 

The  21st  of  September,  1803,  was  fixed  upon,  by  several  dissenting 
ministers  in  London,  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  on  account  of  the  state 
of  the  nation ;  and  they  expressed  a  wish  that  their  brethren  in  the  country 
would  unite  with  them.  Being  at  one  of  those  meetings  in  the  country,  I 
was  forcibly  struck  with  an  idea  suggested  in  a  passage  of  Scripture  which 
was  read  on  that  occasion.  It  was  Isa.  v.  5,  "  And  now,  go  to :  I  will  tell 
you  what  I  will  do  to  my  vineyard.  I  will  take  away  the  hedge  thereof,  and 
it  shall  be  eaten  up;  and  break  down  the  wall  thereof,  and  it  shall  be  trod- 
den down." 

I  had  often  heard  it  observed,  from  the  intercession  of  Abraham  in  behalf 
of  Sodom,  and  other  scriptures,  that  God  might  spare  a  country  for  the  sake 
of  the  righteous  few ;  but  never  recollect  hearing  it  noticed  before  that  the 
sins  of  professing  Christians  might  also  be  the  principal  cause  of  a  nation's 
overthrow.  Certainly  the  church  is  here  represented  as  God's  vine,  the  grand 
object  of  his  care.  He  fences  it  by  his  providence,  cultivates  it  by  the 
means  of  his  grace,  and  looks  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes,  or  fruit  to 
his  glory.  But  if  instead  of  this  it  bring  forth  wild  grapes,  what  induce- 
ment can  he  have  to  continue  the  fence? 

I  am  more  afraid,  said  the  minister  on  the  above  occasion,  on  account  of 
the  sins  of  my  country,  than  from  the  threatenings  of  the  enemy ;  and  I  am 
much  more  afraid  for  the  sins  of  professing  Christians  in  my  country  than  I 
am  for  those  who  are  openly  profane.  It  is  true  they  are  wicked,  and  will 
not  go  unpunished;  but  God  does  not  look  to  them  for  fruit  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  he  does  to  us.  If  the  hedge  be  taken  away,  and  the  wild  boar  of  the 
wood  suffered  to  enter  in  and  destroy,  I  fear  it  will  be  principally,  though 
not  wholly,  on  our  account.  Our  ingratitude,  lukewarmness,  worldly-mind- 
edness,  animosities,  divisions,  scandals,  and  other  evils,  may  be  more  offen- 
sive to  God  than  all  the  wickedness  of  the  land  besides. 

If  these  remarks  be  just,  what  a  weight  lies  upon  the  religious  part  of  a 
nation;  who  either  prove,  like  Paul,  the  salvation  of  them  that  sail  with 
them ;  or,  like  Jonah,  the  principal  cause  of  the  storm  I 

POLITICAL   SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

I  HAVE  been  much  edified  by  some  things  which  appeared  in  print,  re- 
specting the  present  state  of  our  country,  especially  by  those  which  have 
been  directed  against  what  may  with  propriety  be  called  political  self-right- 
eousness. I  am  persuaded  this  is  a  sin  which  cleaves  closer  to  men,  and 
even  religious  men,  at  the  present  time,  than  most  of  us  are  aware  of;  and 


676  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

that  we  are  more  in  danger  from  it  than  from  almost  all  our  national  sins 
put  together. 

I  have  heard  it  said  in  conversation,  when  the  sins  of  the  nation  have  been 
mentioned  as  a  ground  of  fear,  True;  but  we  are  not  so  bad  as  our  enemies. 
Mr,  Robert  Hall,  in  his  fast  sermon  lately  published,*  has  shown,  with  great 
force  of  evidence,  the  folly  of  this  way  of  speaking.  "  The  thing  itself," 
considering  our  religious  advantages,  he  observes,  "is  very  doubtful,  and,  if 
it  were  otherwise,  it  has  been  common  with  the  great  Disposer  of  events  to 
punish  a  nation  that  has  had  a  portion  of  true  religion  in  it  by  one  that  has 
been  utterly  irreligious,  though  afterwards  he  has  poured  out  his  wrath  upon 
the  latter." 

I  have  heard  it  still  more  frequently  said,  "The  Lord  has  many  praying 
people  in  this  country;  surely  therefore  he  will  not  deliver  us  up."  A  pray- 
ing people  may  indeed  avert  the  Divine  judgments;  but  if  we  trust  to  the 
efficacy  of  our  prayers,  we  shall  be  more  likely  to  bring  them  upon  us.  This 
notion  has  been  well  combated  by  another  correspondent;  and  my  soul' 
unites  with  his  in  trembling  for  the  consequences  of  our  religious  self-com- 
placency. Alas,  our  navy  and  our  army,  it  is  to  be  feared,  will  too  generally 
trust  in  themselves ;  but  let  not  them  that  fear  God  do  so  too.  Our  brethren 
in  distant  countries  may  hope  the  best  of  us;  the  good  minister  at  Berlin 
may  be  allowed  to  mention  "  the  numbers  whose  prayers  continually  rise  to 
God  in  this  country ;"  but  we  must  not  depend  upon  them  ourselves,  for  this 
will  render  them  of  none  effect. 

There  is  a  passage  in  that  admirable  book,  the  "  Holy  War,"  which  I 
could  scarcely  ever  read  without  tears.  When  Mansoul,  in  the  day  of  her 
distress,  had  drawn  up  a  petition  to  Emmanuel,  a  question  arose,  by  whom 
it  should  be  sent.  "  Now,"  says  the  writer,  "there  was  an  old  man  in  the 
town,  and  his  name  was  Mr.  Good-deed,  a  man  that  bore  only  the  name,  but 
had  nothing  of  the  nature  of  the  thing.  Now  some  were  for  sending  him; 
but  the  recorder.  Conscience,  was  by  no  means  for  that ;  for,  said  he,  we  now 
stand  in  need  of,  and  are  pleading  for  mercy ;  wherefore,  to  send  our  peti- 
tion by  a  man  of  his  name,  will  seem  to  cross  the  petition  itself  Should 
we  make  Mr.  Good-deed  our  messenger,  when  our  petition  cries  for  mercy? 
Besides,  quoth  the  old  gentleman,  should  the  prince  now,  as  he  receives  the 
petition,  ask  him  and  say.  What  is  thy  name?  and  nobody  knows  but  he  will, 
and  he  should  say.  Old  Good-deed,  what  think  you  that  Emmanuel  should 
say  but  this :  Aye,  is  old  Good-deed  yet  alive  in  Mansoul  ?  Then  let  old 
Good-deed  save  you  from  your  distresses. — And  if  he  says  so,  I  am  sure  we 
are  lost;  nor  can  a  thousand  old  Good-deeds  save  Mansoul." 

We  subscribe  to  all  this  in  matters  which  respect  our  eternal  salvation,  but 
it  is  no  less  applicable  to  things  of  time.  Instead  of  religious  people  flatter- 
ing themselves  with  the  idea  of  being  the  bulwark  of  their  country,  it  be- 
comes them  to  take  heed  lest  they  prove  the  contrary.  Though  the  reli- 
gious people  in  a  nation  may,  by  their  interest  with  Heaven,  be  its  greatest 
blessings;  yet  there  are  cases  in  which  they  may  prove  the  reverse.  To  Paul 
was  given,  not  only  his  own  life,  but  the  lives  of  all  them  that  sailed  with 
him:  but  Jonah  had  well  nigh  been  the  destruction  of  those  that  sailed  with 
him.  God  does  not  look  for  those  things,  as  I  may  say,  from  the  ignorant 
and  ungodly,  as  he  does  from  them  that  know  him.  It  is  their  province  to 
stand  between  God  and  their  country ;  but  if  they  be  loose,  light-minded, 
vain,  or  worldly,  what  is  to  be  expected  ?  We  may  declaim  against  the 
wickedness  of  the  slave  trade,  and  many  other  things ;  but  are  there  not  with 
us,  sins  against  the  Lord  our  God  1 

*  "  Seatiments  proper  to  the  present  Crisis."    Oct.  19tb,  1803. 


PROPER  AND  IMPROPER  USE  OF  TERMS.  677 

Thus  spake  the  Lord  by  his  prophet:  "The  people  of  the  land  have  used 
oppression,  and  exercised  robbery,  and  have  vexed  the  poor  and  needy ;  yea, 
they  have  oppressed  the  stranger  wrongfully.  And  I  sought  for  a  man 
among  them  that  should  make  up  the  hedge,  and  stand  in  the  gap  before 
me  for  the  land,  that  I  should  not  destroy  it ;  but  I  found  none.  Therefore 
have  I  poured  out  mine  indignation  upon  them  :  I  have  consumed  them  with 
the  fire  of  my  wrath,"  Ezek.  xxii.  29-31. 

God's  ancient  people  were  compared  to  a  vine,  and  their  country  to  a 
vineyard :  this  vine  was  cultivated  with  great  care  and  expense,  and  a  hedge 
of  defence  was  set  about  it.  But  when  he  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth 
grapes,  it  brought  forth  wild  grapes.  What  was  the  consequence?  "Go  to, 
saith  the  Lord,  I  will  tell  you  what  I  will  do  to  my  vineyard.  I  will  take 
away  the  hedge  thereof,  and  it  shall  be  eaten  up:  and  I  will  break  down  the 
wall  thereof,  and  it  shall  be  trodden  down,"  Isa.  v.  5.  If  God's  vine  bear 
no  fruit,  the  wall  that  protects  it  may  be  expected  to  be  broken  down  on 
its  account;  and  thus  our  unfruitfulness  may  not  only  dishonour  God,  and 
injure  ourselves,  but  render  us  a  curse  to  our  country. 

I  write  not  thus  to  promote  dismay.  I  have  never  for  a  moment  been  the 
subject  of  such  a  feeling,  but  to  cut  up,  as  far  as  may  be,  self-righteous  hope, 
and  to  excite  that  humble  and  holy  trembling  which  becomes  sinful  crea- 
tures, whether  in  respect  to  this  world,  or  that  which  is  to  come. 


THE  PROPER  AND  IMPROPER  USE  OF  TERMS. 

NoTwiTHSTAxVDiNG  the  number  of  words  found  in  every  language,  they 
are  far  from  being  equal  to  the  number  of  ideas  in  the  human  mind.  Hence 
it  is  that  one  and  the  same  term  has  a  variety  of  meanings;  hence  also  arises 
the  distinction  between  the  proper  and  improper,  the  literal  and  figurative, 
use  of  terms.  The  word  ^^J^,  ahib,  the  first  in  the  Hebrew  lexicon,  signi- 
fies, (I.)  verdure,  or  greenness.  Job  viii.  12:  (2.)  an  ear  of  corn  on  its  first 
appearance,  being  then  of  a  green  colour.  Lev.  ii.  14:  (3.)  a  month  in  the 
Jewish  year,  falling  some  where  about  March  or  April,  when  corn  in  that 
country  had  begun  to  ear. 

Here  we  see  the  progress  of  language,  and  the  causes  of  different  ideas 
being  affixed  to  the  same  term.  When  a  name  is  wanted  to  express  an  idea, 
men  do  not  think  of  making  a  new  one;  but  call  it  by  something  already 
known,  to  which  it  bears  a  resemblance ;  and  as  this  resemblance  is  fre- 
quently confined  to  one  leading  property,  and  sometimes  to  one  that  is  not 
so,  it  hence  comes  to  pass  that  the  more  objects  a  term  is  applied  to,  the 
further  it  commonly  advances  from  the  original  idea.  In  mentioning  the 
month  Abib,  for  example,  a  Jew  would  think  nothing  of  greenness  or  ver- 
dure, which  is  its  true  and  primary  meaning,  but  merely  of  the  time  of  his 
forefithers  coming  out  of  Egypt,  and  of  the  institution  of  the  passover.  Yet, 
in  arguments  from  the  meaning  of  Scripture  terms,  it  becomes  us  to  ascer- 
tain the  true,  primitive,  or  proper  sense,  and  to  measure  all  secondary  and 
figurative  applications  by  it  as  a  standard.  It  appears  to  me  that  many  im- 
portant errors  have  been  introduced  and  defended  for  want  of  attending  to 
this  rule,  which  is  dictated  by  common  sense.  Instead  of  defining  a  term 
according  to  its  proper  and  primary  meaning,  and  resting  nothing  upon  its 
secondary  or  figurative  applications,  any  further  than  they  accord  with  it,  the 
reverse  has  been  the  practice.  The  proper  meaning  has  been  made  to  give 
way  to  the  figurative,  rather  than  the  figurative  to  the  proper. 

3l2 


678  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


EXAMPLES. 


1.  The  Universalist,  finding  the  terms  used  to  express  the  duration  of 
future  punishment  frequently  applied  to  things  which  have  an  end,  endeavours 
from  thence  to  set  aside  the  evidence  of  its  eternity.  That  is,  he  grounds 
his  argument  on  the  secondary  and  figurative  application  of  terms,  to  the 
setting  aside  of  that  which  is  primary  or  proper.  Thus  aiiov,  though  its 
proper  meaning  is  alwai/s  being,  is  made  to  mean  no  more  thnn  age  or  ages; 
and  ttiwwoj,  though  it  literally  signifies  everlasting  or  endless,  yet  is  said  to 
mean  no  more  than  age-lasting.  Thus,  instead  of  measuring  the  secondary 
sense  of  words  by  the  primary,  the  primary  is  measured  and  excluded  by  tlie 
secondary,  which  goes  to  exclude  all  just  reasoning  and  to  introduce  ever- 
lasting wrangling.  It  were  just  as  reasonable  to  contend  that  the  English 
word  "  turnpike"  signifies  a  road  made  by  act  of  parliament,  though  it  is  so 
called  merely  in  a  way  of  contraction,  and  because  such  roads  have  toll- 
gates,  and  such  gates  a  turnpike  for  the  accommodation  of  foot  passengers. 

2.  The  adversaries  of  the  doctrine  of  atonement  have  taken  the  same 
method.  "  By  a  sacrifice"  says  Dr.  Taylor,  "  is  meant  a  symbolical  address 
to  God,  intended  to  express  before  him  the  devout  affections,  by  significant 
emblematical  actions;  and  consequently,  whatever  is  expressive  of  a  pious 
and  virtuous  disposition  may  rightly  be  included  in  the  idea  of  a  sacrifice: 
as  prayers,  thanksgivings,  expenses,  labours,  &c.''  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
the  primary  notion  of  a  sacrifice  is  here  explained  away,  or  lost  in  the 
crowd  of  secondary  meanings;  by  which  any  thing  maybe  proved  or  dis- 
proved, as  the  writer  pleases. 

3.  Let  it  be  dispassionately  and  impartially  considered  whether  the  prin- 
cipal objections  brought  against  the  ordinance  of  baptism  being  administered 
exclusively  by  immersion  do  not  originate  in  the  same  cause.  The  word 
|3artT't^w,  it  is  said,  will  not  always  agree  with  the  idea  of  immersion.  It  is 
applied  to  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  some  other  things  wherein 
immersion  is  inadmissible.  Be  it  so ;  still  it  amounts  to  no  more  than  this, 
That  the  term  ^o.nti^i^,  like  almost  every  other  terra,  has  its  secondary  and 
figurative  sense.  Its  proper  and  primary  meaning  is  allowed,  by  the  most 
learned  Paedobaptists  in  all  ages,  to  be  that  which  the  Antipaidobaptists  con- 
tend for;  and  this  is  the  only  meaning  which  ought  to  be  called  in  to  settle 
the  dispute.  By  the  contrary  method,  it  were  easy  to  prove  that  the  English 
word  immersion  does  not  mean  dipping  or  plunging;  for  if  a  person  be  very 
wet  by  rain,  it  is  common  to  say  he  is  immersed,  merely  because  he  is  as 
wet  as  if  he  had  been  immersed. 

To  generalize  the  meaning  of  a  term,  in  order  to  include  its  secondary 
or  figurative  senses,  is  the  way  to  lose  its  true  and  proper  sense ;  and,  if 
applied  universally,  might  go  to  undermine  all  the  great  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  rule  of  fair  and  just  reasoning,  with  respect  to  the  use  of  terms,  as  I 
have  always  understood  it,  is.  That  every  word  be  taken  in  its  literal  and 
primary  sense,  unless  there  be  any  thing  in  the  connexion  which  requires  it  to 
be  taken  othericise.  Now  apply  this  rule  to  the  foregoing  examples,  and  the 
result  will  be  this — 

The  Universalist  must  either  deny  that  the  proper  or  primary  meaning  of 
aiwi*  and  aiwuoj  is  always  being  and  eternal;  or  else  prove  that,  when  these 
terms  are  applied  to  the  duration  of  future  punishment,  there  is  something  in 
the  subject  which  requires  them  to  be  taken,  not  in  a  proper,  but  improper 
sense. 

The  adversaries  of  the  atonement  also  must  either  set  aside  the  proof  that 
the  proper  and  primary  notion  of  a  sacrifice  includes  in  it  the  idea  of  erpio' 


PROPER  AND  IMPROPER  USE  OF  TERMS.  679 

tion,  or  show  cause  why  this  meaning  should  not  attach  to  it  when  applied 
to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ. 

Thus  also  those  who  object  to  immersion,  as  being  the  only  proper  mode 
of  baptism,  should  either  disprove  what  has  been  acknowledged  by  more 
than  eighty  of  their  most  learned  writers,*  that  the  native  and  proper  signi- 
fication of  the  word  is  to  dip  or  plunge;  or  show  cause  why  it  should  not 
be  taken  in  this  sense  when  applied  to  the  ordinance  in  question. 

[The  insertion  of  the  foregoing  piece  in  the  Theological  and  Biblical  Magazine  called 
forth  the  animadversions  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Greatheed.  The  remaining  parts  consist  of 
replies  to  his  objections.] 

The  animadversions  of  your  correspondent  require  a  reply,  not  so  much 
on  account  of  what  relates  to  baptism  as  to  the  general  principle  which  he 
attempts  to  overturn.  Mr.  Greatheed  will  give  me  credit  that  I  had  no  unkind 
design  against  my  Psedobaptist  brethren ;  but  he  must  excuse  me  in  saying, 
if  pajdobaptism  will  keep  bad  company,  it  must  take  the  consequences. 

By  "  measuring  the  secondary  and  figurative  application  of  a  term  by  that 
which  is  proper  or  primary,"  I  did  not  mean  to  suggest  that  the  primary 
sense  is  to  be  invariably  retained ;  but  merely  that  it  ought  to  be  so,  unless 
tha-e  be  any  thing  in  the  connexion  which  requires  the  contrary.  The  primary, 
literal,  or  proper  sense  of  a  word  is  its  true  sense,  and  the  standard  of  all 
others  which  it  may  bear  by  way  of  figure  or  allusion.  My  mind  is  suffi- 
ciently expressed  by  Dr.  Williams.  "  The  improper  or  figurative  use  of 
terms,"  says  he,  "  does  not  alter  the  literal  sense  :  otherwise  the  very  founda- 
tion of  figures  and  allusions  would  be  destroyed."  The  rule  also  which  I 
have  laid  down  is  the  same  as  his:  "  It  is  not  fair  nor  agreeable  to  the  just 
rules  of  criticism,"  he  says,  "  to  interpret  the  words  of  an  author  allusively, 
improperly,  and  metaphorically,  except  when  plain  necessity  urges."f 

I  do  not  deny  that  the  figurative  sense  of  a  term  may,  in  many  cases,  be 
equal,  and  even  of  superior  importance,  to  the  literal  one.  If,  for  instance, 
we  were  to  understand  the  first  promise,  "  he  shall  b-ruise  thy  head,"  of  a 
descendant  of  Eve  occasionally  killing  a  serpent,  the  meaning  would  be 
puerile,  in  comparison  of  what  it  is  generally,  and  no  doubt  justly,  applied 
to.  But  here  the  connexion  requires  a  departure  from  the  literal  meaning. 
Let  the  same  be  proved  of  any  other  term,  and  I  acquiesce. 

Your  correspondent  does  not  wish  to  set  aside  the  primary  meaning  of  a 
term,  in  favour  of  one  that  is  figurative,  "when  it  can  be  clearly  ascertamed;" 
but  in  various  cases  he  thinks  it  is  "  very  difficult  to  decide,  of  two  senses, 
which  is  its  primary  and  which  its  figurative  meaning."  I  suppose  he  intends 
to  say  that  words  in  a  long  course  of  time  change  their  meaning;  and  that 
the  original  sense,  or  that  which  was  attached  to  a  term  in  the  earliest  usage, 
may  be  lost.  There  may,  for  aught  I  know,  be  some  truth  in  this  remark ; 
but  it  does  not  appear  to  me  to  atlect  the  argument.  Allowing  it  to  be  so, 
and  that  what  was  at  first  only  an  allusive  or  figurative  sense  may  have  be- 
come the  earliest  sense  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  yet  as  all  words  are 
mere  arbitrary  signs  of  ideas,  that  which  is  the  secondary  sense  of  a  term 
might  have  been  its  primary  sense,  provided  it  had  been  so  applied;  and  if 
the  primary  sense  be  lost,  the  secondary  of  course  may  become  primary.  In 
other  words,  it  may  become  by  general  consent  the  obvious  sense  of  the 
term,  there  being  no  anterior  idea  excited  in  the  mind  when  it  is  expressed. 
If  then  we  can  ascertain  what  was  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  word  at  the 
time  lohen  the  author  wrote,  we  thereby  ascertain,  to  every  purpose  of  just 
reasoning,  what  is  its  primary  or  proper  meaning,  and  ought  to  abide  by  it 

*  See  "  BootlVs  Pcedobaptism  Examined,'''  vol.  i.  ch.  2. 
t  '^  Antipadobaptism  Examined,''^  vol.  ii.  p.  1-16. 


080  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

unless  the  connexion  requires  a  different  one.  If  this  cannot  be  ascertained, 
there  is  no  certain  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  word,  any  more  than 
from  "selah"  in  the  Psalms,  and  we  ought  to  rest  no  argument  upon  it. 

With  respect  to  the  notion  of  the  Universalists,  which  is  chiefly  founded 
upon  the  supposed  ambiguity  of  the  terms  aitou  and  atuvtoj,  your  correspondent 
half  concedes  to  them  that  these  terms  might  originally  express  only  a  lim- 
ited duration.  He  cannot  decide,  as  it  would  seem,  whether  they  were 
"primarily  used  of  visible  or  invisible  objects."  At  least,  he  does  not  choose 
to  rest  his  opposition  to  that  system  upon  such  a  ground.  Yet  every  lexi- 
cographer that  I  have  seen  makes  no  scruple  of  asserting  that  the  proper 
meaning  of  aitoi'  is  always  being,  or  eternity;  and  of  atcjiotj,  everlasting,  or 
endless.  It  is  an  opinion,  I  am  aware,  which  has  been  advanced  by  great 
authorities,  that  terms  which  now  signify  spiritual  and  invisible  objects  were 
originally  applied  to  those  which  are  sensible  and  visible.  But  however  true 
this  may  be  in  many  cases,  it  will  not  hold  good  in  all. 

Mr.  Locke,  in  what  he  says  on  this  subject,*  argues  as  if  he  thought  lan- 
guage to  have  been  a  human  invention,  and  that  men  learned  it  by  slow 
degrees;  whereas  it  was  manifestly  concreated  with  man  from  the  begin- 
ning. We  might  as  well  argue  from  the  gradual  progress  of  strength  and 
knowledge  in  an  infant  that  Adam  must  have  been  created  a  child,  and  have 
grown  in  wisdom  and  stature  as  we  do,  as  that  all  the  names  by  which  he 
expressed  spiritual  and  invisible  objects  were  first  applied  to  those  which  are 
sensible  and  visible.  On.  this  principle  we  must  either  suppose  him  to  have 
had  no  ideas  of  his  Creator,  of  his  own  immortality,  or  of  endless  life;  or, 
if  he  had,  that  he  had  no  terms  by  which  to  express  them.  But  neither  of 
these  suppositions  will  consist  with  the  important  station  which  he  occupied, 
or  the  account  which  is  given  of  his  communion  with  Jehovah  Elohim.  To 
what  visible  or  sensible  object,  I  ask,  could  the  names  of  the  everlasting 
God  be  applied,  before  they  were  applied  to  him? 

Mr.  Greatheed  thinks  the  meaning  of  a  word  "  may  be  made  perfectly 
clear  and  certain  by  the  connexion  in  which  it  stands.  For  example :  when 
the  word  everlasting  is  applied  to  God,  it  always  signifies  without  end;  when 
applied  to  a  hill,  it  can  only  mean  of  long  duration."  To  the  same  purpose 
says  the  Universalist,  "Where  a  word  is  used  in  relation  to  different  things, 
the  subject  itself  must  determine  the  meaning  of  the  word."  Whether  the 
absurdity  of  this  position  has  not  been  proved  beyond  all  reasonable  contra- 
diction in  my  sixth  letter  to  Mr.  Vidler,  and  in  the  seventh  and  eleventh 
letters  of  Mr.  Jerram's  Review,t  the  reader  of  those  pamphlets  will  easily 
determine. 

If  atwj/  and  atcovioj,  with  their  corresponding  words  in  Hebrew,  be  allowed 
to  have  been  originally  applied  to  limited  duration,  and  this  to  be  their  proper 
meaning,  I  acknowledge  myself  unable  to  ^xo\e,from  the  use  of  these  terms, 
the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  or  of  eternal  happiness,  or  even  of  the 
eternal  existence  of  God.  I  might  conclude,  indeed,  with  Mr.  Greatheed, 
that  everlasting,  as  applied  to  God,  plainly  signifies  loithoid  end.  This,  how- 
ever, would  not  be  proving  the  eternity  of  God  from  the  word  everlasting 
being  applied  to  him  ;  but  merely  that  everlasting  in  this  case  means  endless 
because  of  its  being  applied  to  God,  whom  we  'know,  from  other  sources  of 
evidence,  to  be  eternal.  Thus  the  terms  by  which  endless  duration  is  com- 
monly expressed  in  the  Scriptures  are  reduced  to  silence,  proving  nothing 
but  what  can  be  proved  by  the  subject  without  them. 

Your  correspondent  thinks  that  "  when  the  term  everlasting  is  applied  both 
to  the  states  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  after  the  day  of  judgment, 

♦  Essay  on  Understanding,  book  iii.  chap.  i.  t  Letters  to  a  Universalist. 


PROPER  AND  IMPROPER  USE  OF  TERMS.  681 

nothing  but  the  most  inveterate  prejudice  can  interpret  it  in  different  senses." 
Allowing  this  to  be  a  solid  argument,  it  only  proves  that  the  doctrine  may 
be  defended  from  other  sources  of  evidence  as  well  as  from  the  proper  mean- 
ing of  the  terra;  but  it  is  giving  up  the  argument  from  that  source.  It  is 
allowing  that  the  term  everlasting  stands  for  nothing,  unless  you  can  prove 
from  the  connexion  that  it  must  mean  endless;  whereas,  by  the  other  mode 
of  reasoning,  the  word  itself,  wherever  it  occurs,  establishes  the  doctrine, 
unless  thf.ii  can  prove  from  the  connexion  that  the  proper  sense  is  inadmis- 
sible. But  further,  the  above  is  only  argumcntum  ad  homincm,  which  is 
adapted  to  silence  an  opposer  rather  than  convince  him.  I  do  not  say  it  is 
unfair  reasoning  with  persons  who  hold  the  eternity  of  future  rewards;  but 
Universalists,  rather  than  admit  of  eternal  punishment,  will  call  this  in  ques- 
tion. This  is  actually  done  by  Mr.  Vidler;*  and  if  we  concede  with  your 
correspondent  that  the  word  aicono,  itself  proves  nothing,  I  acUnowledge  that 
I  do  not  perceive  how  the  doctiine  of  endless  punishment,  or  of  endless 
rewards,  is  to  be  maintained  from  Matt.  xxv.  46.  We  must,  as  fir  as  I  see, 
relinquish  that  important  post,  and  fly  to  some  other  source  of  evidence.  We 
may  assert  that  "  the  term  being  applied  to  the  states  of  the  righteous  and 
the  wicked  after  the  day  of  judgment  requires  it  to  be  taken  in  the  sense 
of  endless;  but  we  should  be  told  this  is  begging  the  question;  the  very 
point  at  issue  being  whether  every  thing  that  takes  place  after  the  day  of 
judgment  be  endless. 

Respecting  baptism,  your  correspondent  "  willingly  admits  that  I  might 
introduce  that  topic  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  appeared  to  me  an  apt 
illustration  of  the  rule  I  was  endeavouring  to  establish  for  the  interpretation 
of  Scripture,  and  hopes  that  I  shall  as  readily  give  him  credit  for  a  proper 
motive  in  entering  a  protest  against  such  an  application  of  my  principle." 
As  to  motives,  I  had  no  other  than  a  desire  to  ascertain  what  is  truth ;  and  I 
give  him  credit  that  such  is  his.  But  why  must  not  the  principle  in  ques- 
tion be  applied  to  paedobaptism  as  well  as  other  things?  He  does  not  mean 
to  suggest,  I  presume,  that  this  subject  is  exempted  from  examination  by  the 
courtesy  of  the  country.  If  the  principle  be  false,  or  misapplied,  I  hope  we 
shall  be  able  to  discover  the  fallacy,  or  wherein  the  misapplication  consists. 

Mr.  Greatheed  calls  in  question  two  things:  (1.)  Whether  the  word 
|3artTi^uj  primarily  signifies  to  immerse.  (2.)  If  it  do,  whether  this  be  the 
only  meaning  that  ought  to  be  called  in  to  settle  the  dispute.  With  respect 
to  the  former,  my  assertion  may,  as  he  observes,  be  "  too  comprehensive  to 
be  supported  by  due  evidence  in  your  publication."  I  was  aware  of  this  at 
the  time,  and  therefore  referred  to  Mr.  Booth's  "  Pcedobaptism  Examined," 
vol.  i.  chap.  2,  where  no  fewer  than  eighty-two  of  the  most  learned  Paido- 
baptists  acknowledge  the  native,  primary,  or  proper  meaning  of  the  word  to 
be  IMMERSION.  Your  correspondent,  in  answer,  refers  to  Dr.  Williams's 
Anti-piedobaptism  Examined;"  and  I  in  reply  may  refer  to  Mr.  Booth's 
"  Defence."  The  reader  who  wishes  to  examine  this  subject  to  the  bottom 
will  find,  I  presume,  in  these  three  performances  all  that  is  necessary  for  the 
purpose. 

Your  correspondent  asks,  in  the  second  place,  "  if  the  primary  meaning 
of  the  word  jjartrt^co  were  to  immerse,  yet  why  should  that  be  the  only  mean- 
ing called  in  to  settle  the  dispute."  I  answer — (1.)  Because,  as  Dr.  Wil- 
liams says,  "  It  is  not  fair,  nor  agreeable  to  the  just  rules  of  criticism,  to 
interpret  the  words  of  an  author  allusively,  improperly,  and  metaphorically, 
except  ichen  plain  necessity  urges."  Let  it  but  be  proved  that  plain  necessity 
urges  the  proper  meaning  of  /Sarttt^to,  when  applied  to  the  ordinance  of 

*  Letters  to  Mr.  Fuller ^  p.  95. 

Vol.  III.— 86 


682  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

baptism,  to  be  given  up  in  favour  of  one  that  is  improper,  and  T  consent  to 
call  it  in.  (2.)  Because,  as  Mr.  Greatheed  himself  allows,  "the  primitive 
sense  of  a  term,  ^chcn  it  can  clearly  he  ascertained,  ought  not  to  be  accom- 
modated to  any  of  its  figurative  applications ;"  and  that  it  can  easily  be  ascer- 
tained in  this  case  is  granted  in  the  supposition.  All  secondary  and  figura- 
tive meanings,  therefore,  by  his  own  concession,  ought  to  be  excJuded  in  the 
settling  of  this  controversy. 

But  your  correspondent  supposes  that  though  the  word  i3artrtC"  should  be 
allowed  primarily  to  mean  immersion,  yet  a  secondary  or  improper  sense  of 
the  term  might  be  that  on  which  the  primitive  Christians  acted.  "  Where- 
fore is  it  impossible,  he  asks,  that  the  first  Christians  should  have  used  the 
term  with  as  little  idea  of  immersion,  even  had  that  been  its  primary  sense, 
as  the  Jews  had  of  greenness,  when  they  spoke  of  the  month  Abib?" — No- 
thing that  I  have  advanced  supposes  this  to  be  "  impossible."  But  it  lies 
upon  my  friendly  opponent  to  prove  that  it  must  have  been  so;  otherwise, 
according  to  Dr.  Williams's  and  his  own  acknowledgment,  it  is  "  unfair,  and 
contrary  to  the  just  rules  of  criticism,"  to  suppose  this  to  have  been  the  case. 
I  can  prove  that  when  the  term  ahib  is  applied  to  a  month  it  must  needs  bt 
taken  in  a  Jigiirative  sense,  as  it  would  involve  an  absurdity  to  translate  it 
as  in  Job  viii.  12,  by  the  abstract  term  greenness.  Let  him  prove  the  same 
necessity  for  affixing  a  figurative  meaning  to  jSartrtfco,  and  his  point  is  gained. 

Mr.  Greatheed  goes  further:  he  affirms  that  "  when  the  the  term  fSartttfw 
is  specifically  used  for  the  initiatory  ordinance  of  the  gospel  dispensation  its 
application  must  be  admitted  to  be  figurative."  Indeed!  But  wherefore? 
If  instead  of  this  assertion,  which  appears  to  me  to  be  utterly  unfounded,  he 
had  given  evidence  of  it,  it  had  been  to  purpose.  Let  him  but  prove  that 
the  word,  when  applied  to  baptism,  requires  to  be  understood  in  a  secondary 
or  improper  sense,  or  that  to  understand  it  properly  would  involve  an  absur- 
dity; and,  I  say  again,  his  point  is  gained.  If  he  succeed  in  proving  this, 
however,  he  will  disprove  what  he  says  he  has  "long  since  been  led  to  appre- 
hend— that  its  primary  meaning  is  not  immersion."  I  suppose  he  means 
ablution;  for  if  the  primary  meaning  of  Parti'i^io  be  ablution,  and  baptism 
were  originally  administered  by  immersion,  the  term,  with  respect  to  that 
ordinance,  must  have  been  applied  in  its  literal,  and  not  in  a  figurative  sense. 


Your  correspondent  intimates  that  some  things  in  my  last  tended  to 
"  provoke  asperity."  Nothing  was  further  from  my  design  ;  but  if,  by  what 
I  considered  a  stroke  or  two  of  pleasantry,  I  have  excited  any  such  feelings, 
I  sincerely  beg  his  pardon,  and  will  endeavour  to  avoid  every  thing  of  the 
kind  in  future.  It  never  was  my  intention  to  rank  Paedobaptists  with  Uni- 
versalists  or  Socinians,  in  the  manner  which  his  note  represents;  but  merely 
to  point  out  their  agreement  in  one  principle  of  reasoning ;  and  I  should 
think,  notwithstanding  his  assertion,  he  would  be  sorry  to  be  put  to  the 
proof  of  it. 

With  respect  to  the  principle  of  interpretation,  he  thinks,  "  nothing  more 
is  necessary  than  to  bring  into  one  point  of  vieiv  the  variations  in  my  manner 
of  stating  it."  By  this  it  would  seem  that  I  have  shifted  my  ground,  and  in 
effect  conceded  the  matter  in  dispute.  At  first,  my  statement  was  thus  ex- 
pressed :  "  In  arguments  from  the  meaning  of  Scripture  terms,  it  becomes  of 
importance  to  ascertain  the  true,  primitive,  or  proper  sense,  and  to  measure 
all  secondary  and  figurarive  applications  by  it  as  a  standard."  Afterwards, 
it  seems,  I  modified  this  principle,  requiring  only  that  every  word  be  "  taken 
in  its  literal,  primary,  or  proper  sense,  unless  there  be  any  thing  in  the  con- 
nexion or  in  the  subject  which  requires  it  to  be  taken  otherwise,"     And 


PROPER  AND  IMPROPER  USE  OF  TERMS.  683 

lastly,  I  ain  contented  with  saying,  "  If  we  can  ascertain  what  was  the  obvi- 
ous meaning  of  the  word  at  the  time  ivlicn  the  author  wrote,  we  thereby  ascer- 
tain, to  every  purpose  of  just  reasoning,  what  is  its  primary  or  proper  meaning." 
Whether  any  "change  has  occurred  in  my  judgment  on  this  subject,  or 
whether  we  have  only  misunderstood  each  other,"  he  does  not  determine; 
but  seems  to  think  that,  as  to  the  general  principle,  we  are  now  nearly  agreed. 

In  answer,  I  must  say,  there  is  no  alteration  in  my  judgment:  the  whole, 
therefore,  must  be  attributed  to  misunderstanding.  With  respect  to  \hejirst 
statement,  it  never  entered  my  mind  that  all  words  are  to  be  understood 
literally,  or  properly;  but  merely  that  the  literal  is  the  standard  sense,  or  that 
all  allusive  meanings  are  to  be  measured  by  that  to  which  they  allude.  But 
the  answers  of  Mr.  Greatheed  proceed  upon  the  supposition  that  I  was  plead- 
ing for  the  primitive  sense  of  the  term  "being  invariably  adhered  to."  It  is 
only  on  this  supposition  that  what  was  afterwards  said  could  be  considered 
as  "a  modification  of  my  principle."  The  truth  is,  I  held  no  principle  that 
required  modifying.  I  never  for  a  moment  thought  of  maintaining  any  other 
idea  than  that  every  word  should  be  taken  in  its  literal,  primary,  or  proper 
sense,  unless  there  be  any  thing  in  the  subject  that  requires  it  to  be  taken 
otherwise.  In  proof  of  this,  I  could  refer  to  two  pamphlets,  of  which  you 
know  that  I  approve;  and  in  which  this  subject  is  more  fully  handled  than 
can  be  expected  in  these  papers.* 

With  respect  to  my  last  "  variation,"  as  it  is  called,  it  was  merely  in  answer 
to  an  exception  tvhich  he  had  made  to  a  general  ride,  owing  to  the  difficulty 
in  many  cases  of  ascertaining  which  is  the  primitive  and  which  the  figurative 
sense  of  a  word.  To  this  1  answered,  that  where  the  primitive  sense  of  a 
word  was  lost,  or  became  uncertain,  it  was  sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  of 
just  reasoning  to  consider  the  obvious  idea  conveyed  by  it  at  the  time  when 
the  author  wrote  as  its  primary  meaning.  But  this  can  have  nothing  to  do 
with  words  whose  primitive  meaning  is  not  lost,  and  therefore  nothing  to  do 
with  the  present  dispute.  The  amount  of  all  that  I  have  stated  is  this: — the 
primary,  literal,  or  proper  meaning  of  words  is  their  standard  meaning,  and 
that  which  always  ought  to  be  adhered  to,  unless  there  be  any  thing  in  the 
connexion  which  requires  a  departure  from  it;  and  should  a  case  occur  in 
which  it  cannot  be  clearly  decided  what  was  its  primitive  meaning,  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  ascertain  what  was  its  obvious  meaning  at  the  time  when  the  author 
wrote.t — In  all  this  I  can  perceive  no  "variation"  of  judgment. 

To  allow  of  an  expedient,  in  a  particular  case,  is  very  different  from  adopt- 
ing it  as  a  general  rule,  where  that  case  does  not  exist.  I  have  contended, 
and  do  still  contend,  that  the  primitive  meaning  of  the  terms  atwwos  and 
jSartrt^w  is  not  lost;  that  it  can  be  "clearly  ascertained;"  and,  consequently, 
that  a  recourse  to  the  sense  in  which  they  are  used  in  the  New  Testament, 
in  order  to  determine  it,  is  unnecessary,  and  contrary  to  fair  reasoning.  I 
have  no  doubt  of  what  would  be  the  issue  of  an  impartial  inquiry,  even  upon 
that  ground;  but  there  is  no  justice  in  setting  the  meaning  of  a  word  afloat, 
when  the  ordinary  methods  of  decision  in  all  cases  have  fixed  it. 

Surely  my  respected  opponent  will  not  deny  that  the  proper  meaning  of 
aicov  is  "clearly  ascertained"  to  be  always  being,  and  that  of  aicortoj  to  be 
everlasting.  Is  it  not  to  be  lamented,  then,  that  he  should  undermine  the 
argument  against  the  Universalists  from  this  ground,  and  endeavour  to  rest 

•  Letters  to  Mr.  Vidler,  Letter  vi.     Scrutator^s  Review,  Letters  vii.  xi. 

t  Chambers,  in  his  Cyclopedia,  says,  under  tlie  word  proper,  "  In  respect  of  words  it  de. 
notes  their  immediate  and  peculiar  signification,  or  that  which  is  directly  or  peculiarly 
attached  to  them  ;  in  which  sense  the  word  stands  opposed  to  figurative  and  metaphorical." 
And  Barclay,  under  the  word  figure,  says,  "  In  rhetoric,  any  mode  of  speaking  by  which 
words  are  used  in  a  sense  ditFerent  from  their  primary  and  literal  meaning."  MS.  Note  by 
Mr.  Fuller. 


684  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

the  doctrine  of  endless  punishment  on  the  term  aicorto?  being  so  "obviously 
used  in  the  New  Testament  to  denote  what  is  strictly  everlasting,  that  he  is 
not  aware  of  any  instance  in  which  the  connexion  requires  a  different  sense 
to  be  admitted."  Were  I  a  Universalist,  I  would  not  wish  for  a  fuller  con- 
cession by  which  to  overturn  his  principle.  To  give  it  up,  as  he  does  in 
effect,  the  original  use  of  the  term  antecedently  to  its  being  adopted  by  the 
apostles,  and  to  rest  his  faith  upon  its  being  always  applied  by  them  to  un- 
limited duration,  is  in  my  opinion,  whatever  be  his  design,  to  betray  the  truth. 
A  Universalist  might  reply  as  follows — You  are  mistaken,  sir.  It  is  obvious 
that  aitoi^,  though  sometimes  used  in  the  endless  sense,  which  we  never  deny, 
yet  in  other  places  is  applied  to  the  temporary  existence  of  the  present  world, 
and  to  the  ages  and  times  of  limited  duration,  Matt.  xiii.  39;  xxviii.  20;  John 
ix.  33;  Acts  iii.  21;  I  Cor.  ii.  7;  Eph.  iii.  9;  Col.  i.  26;  Heb.  i.  2.  It  is 
also  obvious  that  aiwnoj,  though  it  sometimes  means  eternal,  yet  in  other 
places  is  applied,  like  o.lwv,  to  limited  duration  ;  namely,  to  the  ages,  or  times, 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  Rom.  xvi.  25;  2  Tim.  i.  9;  Tit.  i.  2,  com- 
pared with  Eph.  i.  4;  1  Pet.  i.  20.  See  Parkhurst.  What  proof  therefore 
is  there  of  the  endless  duration  of  future  punishment  from  the  use  of  these 
terms,  which  are  generic,  including  all  degrees  of  duration,  unlimited  and 
limited? 

To  this  reasoning  /  should  reply  by  granting  that  the  obvious  design  of 
these  terms,  in  certain  connexions,  is  to  express  the  idea  of  an  age  or  ages; 
but  that  it  is  not  their  primary,  literal,  or  proper  meaning,  and  therefore 
ought  not  to  be  applied  to  the  duration  of  future  punishment,  unless  there 
were  something  in  that  subject,  as  there  is  in  the  others,  which  rendered  the 
literal  meaning  inadmissible.  But  how  my  opponent  could  answer  the  objec- 
tion, upon  his  principles,  it  remains  for  him  to  show.  To  me  it  appears 
that  by  his  method  of  reasoning,  we  should  always  be  at  sea,  and  without  a 
compass ;  able  to  prove  scarcely  any  Divine  truth  from  the  words  by  which 
it  is  expressed,  inasmuch  as  almost  all  words  are  used  in  more  senses  than 
one.  I  wish  he  would  'carefully  and  candidly  read  "Scrutator's"  seventh 
and  eleventh  Letters  on  this  subject.* 

Mr.  Greatheed,  as  if  to  depreciate  the  primary  sense  of  the  term  oicowoj, 
speaks  of  its  being  "  invented  by  the  heathens,"  and  that  I  cannot  believe  it 
to  have  been  "  created  or  revealed."  I  question  whether  any  language,  dead 
or  living,  can  be  proved  to  have  had  its  origin  in  human  invention.  The 
account  of  the  origin  of  all  languages  appears  to  be  given  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  Genesis;  and  all  that  men  have  done  seems  to  have  been  to 
modify,  compound,  and  change  them  into  different  forms.  But  whatever 
was  the  origin  of  this  and  other  terms,  they  were  adopted  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
as  the  medium  of  conveying  Divine  truth;  and  if  the  sacred  writers  meant 
to  be  understood,  they  must,  one  would  think,  have  used  them  in  the  ordi- 
nary acceptation  in  which  they  were  used  by  those  who  spoke  and  wrote  in 
the  Greek  language.  That  they  applied  them  to  new  objects  is  true ;  but  it 
does  not  follow  that  they  changed  their  meaning.  In  the  writings  of  Aristotle, 
aiwj'  properly  means  always  being,  no  less  than  in  the  Epistles  of  Paul.t 

"tfpon  the  same  ground,"  says  Mr.  Greatheed,  "1  have  formed  my  judg- 
ment of  tlie  terms  j3artrtfco  and  .(3artT'tff,uoj.  In  whatever  sense  the  heathens, 
who  invented  these  terms,  may  have  used  them,  it  appears  to  me  that  the 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  apply  them  so  constantly  to  the  signification 
of  a  sacred  cleansing,  that  I  am  not  aware  of  an  instance  in  which  the  con- 
nexion requires  a  different  sense  to  be  admitted.  I  therefore  consider  this 
the  obvious  meaning  of  those  words  at  the  time,  and  in  the  circumstances  in 

*  Letters  to  a  Universalist,  by  Rev,  Charles  Jerram. 
t  Fuller's  Letters  to  Vidler. 


PROPER  AND  IMPROPER  USE  OP  TERMS.  685 

which  the  authors  wrote."     On  this  passage  I  would  offer  the  following 
remarks : — 

1.  My  worthy  opponent  is  sufficiently  aware  that  i3art-ri^io  was  used  origi- 
nally by  the  Greek  writers  to  express  immersion.  But  they  were  "hea- 
thens!"* And  will  he  affirm  that  the  word  was  so  applied  by  heathens  only? 
Did  not  the  Septuagint  translators  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  Josephus,  so 
apply  it?     If  proofs  of  this  be  called  for,  they  will  be  produced. 

2.  The  word  /Sartrco,  from  whence  /'artti^w  js  derived,  it  will  not  be  denied, 
is  used  in  the  New  Testament  for  immersion.  Thus  in  John  xiii.  26,  "  He 
it  is  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop  when  I  have  dipped  it."  Luke  xvi.  24, 
"  Send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in  water."  Rev.  six. 
13,  "  He  was  clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood."  In  these  sentences 
there  is  no  idea  of  "cleansing"  of  any  kind;  and,  in  the  last,  the  reverse 
of  it. 

3.  Dr.  Williams,  to  whose  work  Mr.  Greatheed  refers  us,  allows,  and  says, 
"It  is  univcrsal'i/  agreed  among  the  learned  that  both  Bartru  and  |3arfTt^co  ety- 
mologically,  and  according  to  their  radical,  primary,  and  proper  meaning, 
are  justly  rendered  by  the  words  tingo  and  mergo,  to  tinge  or  plunge. "t  But 
every  one  knows  that  to  tinge  is  the  opposite  of  to  cleanse.  One  would 
think  that  this  acknowledgment  were  sufficient  to  settle  the  meaning  of  the 
word.  And,  as  Dr.  Williams  elsewhere  says,  it  is  "  neither  fair,  nor  agreea- 
ble to  the  just  rules  of  criticism,  to  interpret  the  words  of  an  author  allu- 
sively, improperly,  or  metaphorically,  except  when  plain  necessity  urges,"  it 
must  lie  on  him  and  his  brethren,  before  they  plead  for  any  thing  short  of 
immersion  being  Christian  baptism,  to  prove  that  the  primitive  sense  of  the 
term  in  this  instance  involves  an  absurdity,  and  therefore  that  a  secondary  one 
requires  to  be  admitted. 

4.  The  term  baptism,  as  applied  to  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  conveys  a  full 
idea  of  immersion,  but  none  of  "cleansing." 

5.  That  water  baptism,  which  is  the  Christian  ordinance,  generally  includes 
the  idea  of  "  cleansing,"  may  be  allowed ;  but  it  is  only  in  a  secondary  or 
consequential  sense,  as  he  that  is  immersed  in  water  is  thereby  cleansed. 
Cleansing,  in  water  baptism,  is  that  which  its  opposite,  staining,  is  in  a  vesture 
being  dipped  in  blood;  it  is  not  the  thing  itself,  but  its  necessary  effect. 
Such  is  the  idea  conveyed  in  Acts  xxii.  16,  "  Be  baptized,  and  icash  away 
thy  sins."  To  render  the  first  of  these  terms  cleansed,  would  make  the  sacred 
writer  utter  a  mere  tautology. 

"  If  the  apostles  used  the  term  fSartrt^fioj  merely  for  immersion,  then,  it  is 
said,  every  person  who  has  been  immersed,  whether  for  health,  diversion,  or 
punishment,  is  a  baptized  person."  True,  he  is  so,  though  not  with  Chris- 
tian  baptism. 

"  But  if  something  more  than  simple  immersion  is  meant,  when  the  apos- 
tles speak  of  the  baptism  of  their  converts,  and  yet  the  primary  and  proper 
meaning  is  nothing  but  immersion,  then  the  apostles  used  that  term  in  a 
secondary  or  figurative  sense  when  they  applied  it  to  the  initiatory  ordinance 
of  the  Christian  dispensation."  If  there  be  "no  flaw"  in  this  argument, 
Mr.  Greatheed  thinks  his  point  is  gained.  I  think  there  is  a  flaw  in  it,  and 
that  it  lies  in  confounding  the  act  with  the  end  or  the  design  to  be  answered 
by  it.  An  act,  say  that  of  eating,  may  be  one  and  the  same,  ivhatever  be 
the  end  of  it ;  whether  refreshment,  or  the  showing  forth  of  the  Lord's  death. 

*  Mr.  G.,  in  alleging  "  that  according  to  my  statement  the  Scriptures  are  not  sufficient  to 
determine  the  meaning  of  words,  without  going  among  the  heathen,"  might  as  well  have 
said.  That  the  grace  of  God  is  sufficient  to  make  a  Christian,  without  being  indebted  to 
nature  in  first  making  him  a  man. 

t  AntiptBdobaptism Examined,  vol.  ii.  p.  30. 

3M 


686  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Nor  is  the  term  designed  to  express  any  thing  more  than  the  act:  the  design 
is  to  be  learned  from  other  terms  connected  with  it,  and  not  from  that.  To 
represent  different  ends  as  giving  a  secondary  or  figurative  meanino-  to  the 
term  which  expresses  the  action,  is  what  I  apprehend  no  writer  ever  thought 
of  on  any  other  subject.  At  this  rate,  if  I  be  said  to  icialk,  simply,  or  with- 
out an  end,  the  term  is  literal ;  if  for  health,  or  to  see  a  friend,  it  becomes 
figurative:  and  if  to  meditate  and  pray,  like  Isaac,  it  becomes  still  more 
figurative !  The  truth  is,  if  I  be  not  greatly  mistaken,  to  baptize,  to  eat,  or 
to  walk,  is  each  expressive  of  ihe  action,  lohatcvcr  he  the  end;  and  the  term 
is  no  less  literally  used  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other. 

The  last  argument  of  Mr.  Greatheed's  proceeds  upon  a  principle  which 
should  not  have  been  taken  for  granted ;  namely,  that  ftaTiticfxoi  signifies  any 
sacred  cleansing.  The  divers  baptisms  among  the  Jews  (to  which  the  word 
/3artr«5^o$,  by  the  way,  is  applied,  rather  than  to  the  Christian  ordinance)  may 
relate  not  to  divers  modes  of  baptizing,  but  to  the  divers  cases  in  which  per- 
sons and  things  were  required  to  be  immersed  in  water,  and  which  cases 
were  numerous  and  diverse.  Thus,  or  to  this  effect,  it  is  expressed  by  Gro- 
tius.  Were  I  to  speak  o{  divers  journeys,  which  my  worthy  friend  has  under- 
taken, to  promote  the  interest  of  evangelical  religion,  it  would  indeed  imply 
some  kind  of  difference  between  them ;  but  it  were  putting  an  unnatural 
force  upon  the  words  to  understand  them  as  intimating  that  in  every  journey 
he  adopted  a  different  mode  of  travelling. 


THE  IMMACULATE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 

The  character  and  work  of  Christ  form  a  very  considerable  part  of  the 
gospel  embassy.  The  attention  of  Christians  in  all  ages  has  been  deservedly 
drawn  towards  this  important  subject.  His  Godhead,  his  manhood,  his  mira- 
culous conception,  his  life,  death,  resurrection,  ascension,  and  intercession 
at  the  right  hand  of  God,  are  topics  each  of  them  full  of  the  richest  conso- 
lation to  believers.  There  is  nothing  pertaining  to  Christ  which  is  uninter- 
esting. It  has  lately  struck  my  mind  that  the  immaculate  life  of  Christ  is  a 
subject  that  has  not  been  insisted  on,  in  our  sermons  and  bodies  of  divinity, 
in  proportion  to  its  importance  in  the  evangelical  scheme.  The  thoughts 
which  1  have  to  offer  upon  this  subject  will  be  contained  in  two  parts.  In 
the  first,  I  shall  take  a  view  of  the  evidences  with  which  it  is  supported  ;  and, 
in  the  second,  consider  its  connexion  with  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  some 
of  its  leading  principles. 

The  EVIDENCES  by  which  the  immaculate  life  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
is  supported  are  as  follows : — 

First,  His  friends,  leho  knew  the  most  of  him,  and  who  wrote  his  life, 
describe  him  as  without  fatdf.  The  characters  of  men  are  often  best  es- 
teemed by  those  who  know  the  least  of  them.  Like  works  of  art,  they  will 
not  bear  a  close  inspection  ;  but  those  who  were  most  conversant  with  Jesus 
beheld  his  glory,  and  loved  him  best.  Peter  tells  us,  "  He  did  no  sin,  neither 
was  guile  found  in  his  mouth."  He  describes  him  as  "  a  lamb  without  spot." 
Paul  speaks  of  him  as  being  "  made  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin."  John 
teaches  that  "  he  was  manifested  to  take  away  our  sins ;  and  in  him  was  no 
sin  :"  and  the  whole  company  of  the  disciples,  in  their  address  to  God,  speak 
of  him  as  his  "  holy  child  Jesus,"  Acts  iv.  27.  It  is  true,  some  of  the  evan- 
gelists do  not  make  express  mention  of  his  perfect  innocence ;  but  they  all 
write  his  life  as  faultless.  There  is  not  a  shade  of  imperfection  that  attaches 


THE  IMMACULATE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  087 

to  his  character,  from  tlie  beginning  to  the  end  of  their  accounts  of  him. 
This  evidence  derives  peculiar  weiglit  from  the  evident  impartiality  of  those 
writers  in  other  cases ;  they  do  not  hide  each  other's  faults,  nor  even  their 
own.  The  imperfections  of  the  apostles,  during  Christ's  life  upon  earth, 
were  numerous,  and,  in  some  cases,  affecting;  yet  they  narrate  them  with 
the  greatest  sincerity.  Even  those  faults  which  are  most  degrading  to  dig- 
nity of  character,  and  the  most  mortifying  to  reflect  upon,  they  never  affect 
to  conceal.  They  tell  of  their  little  foolish  contests  for  superiority,  of  thei;- 
carnality  in  desiring  an  earthly  kingdom,  and  of  their  cowardice  in  forsaking 
their  Lord  and  Master  in  the  hour  of  extremity;  but  never  do  they  suggest 
any  thing  to  his  disadvantage. 

Secondly,  His  worst  enemies  have  never  been  able  to  si/bstajitiafe  a  single 
charge  against  him.  Though  our  friends  have  the  greatest  advantages  of 
knowing  us,  yet  it  may  be  alleged  that  they  are  partial,  and  that  the  scrutiny 
of  an  adversary  is  most  likely  to  discover  our  imperfections.  Be  it  so;  it  is 
to  the  glory  of  Christ's  character  that  it  will  bear  the  test  of  both.  A  public 
challenge  was  given  to  the  Jews,  his  most  inveterate  enemies,  to  accuse  him 
of  sin  (John  viii.  46) ;  and  not  one  of  them  dared  to  accept  it.  That  which 
adds  peculiar  weight  to  this  evidence  is  the  circumstance  that  Christ  had  just 
before  inveighed  against  them  with  the  keenest  severity  :  "  Ye  are  of  your 
father  the  devil,"  said  he,  "  and  the  lusts  of  your  father  ye  will  do.  He  was 
a  liar  from  the  beginning ;"  and,  "  because  I  tell  you  the  truth,  ye  believe  me 
not."  Under  such  charges  from  him,  if  there  had  been  any  shadow  of  a 
ground  for  accusation,  they  would  most  certainly  have  seized  it.  The  apos- 
tles gave  nearly  a  similar  challenge  on  behalf  of  their  Lord,  as  he  had  given 
for  himself  They  taxed  their  countrymen  with  having  "  denied  the  Holy 
One  and  the  Just,  and  preferred  a  murderer  before  him."  How  are  we  to 
account  for  the  silence  of  these  adversaries?  It  was  not  for  want  of  will ; 
it  must,  therefore,  be  for  want  of  power. 

But  there  were  some  who,  in  the  lifetime  of  Jesus,  did  accuse  him.  They 
said,  "He  is  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners."  They  in- 
sinuated that  he  was  ambitious.  Jesus  having  declared,  saying,  "I  am  the 
light  of  the  world,"  they  answered,  "  Thou  bearest  record  of  thyself,  thy 
record  is  not  true ;"  and  the  same  objection  is  repeated  by  a  modern  Jewish 
writer.*  They  also  charged  him  with  blasphemy,  in  that  he,  being  a  man, 
made  himself  God ;  and  for  this  supposed  blasphemy  they  put  him  to  death. 
To  the  former  part  of  these  charges  it  may  be  answered,  that  they  who  pre- 
ferred them  do  not  appear  to  have  believed  them ;  if  they  had,  they  would 
have  made  use  of  them,  especially  when  challenged  to  accuse  our  Lord  of 
sin.  As  to  the  latter  part  of  them,  I  acknowledge,  were  I  to  embrace  any 
system  of  Christianity  which  leaves  out  the  proper  Deity  of  Christ,  I  should 
be  unable  to  vindicate  him.  Either  his  words  did  mean  what  the  Jews  un- 
derstood him  to  mean,  or  they  did  not.  If  they  did,  upon  every  hypothesis 
which  excludes  his  proper  Deity,  he  was  a  blasphemer;  if  they  did  not,  he 
ought  explicitly,  and  with  abhorrence,  to  have  rejected  the  idea  of  making 
himself  God; — but  if  I  admit  that  he  really  was  God  manifest  in  the  fiesh, 
all  these  objections  fall  to  the  ground. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  modern  unbelievers  are  not  very  eager  to  attack 
the  moral  character  of  Christ.  Through  all  their  wrhings,  full  of  railing 
accusations  on  every  other  subject,  one  cannot  but  remark  a  cautious  reserve 
upon  this.  Mr.  Paine,  who  in  a  talent  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
cause  of  infidelity — I  mean  impudence — has  had  but  few  equals,  even  Mr. 
Paine  declines  this  part  of  the  business.     Amidst  all  his  rancour  against 

*  Mr.  Levi. 


688  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

revelation,  he  seems  disposed  to  follow  the  advice  of  Pilate's  wife,  to  "have 
nothing  to  do  with  that  just  man."  "  Nothing,"  he  observes  in  his  *  Age  of 
Reason,'  "  which  is  here  said,  can  apply  even  with  the  most  distant  disre- 
spect to  the  real  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  was  a  virtuous  and  an 
amiable  man.  The  morality  that  he  preached  and  practised  was  of  the  most 
benevolent  kind."  Whether  Mr.  Paine  can  consistently  with  these  conces- 
sions, reject  the  evangelical  history,  we  shall  by  and  by  inquire;  suffice  it  at 
present  to  observe,  that  though  he  disowns  Jesus  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  yet 
he  ranks  among  the  witnesses  in  favour  of  his  moral  character.  But  can  it 
be  true,  we  may  be  tempted  to  ask,  that  Mr.  Paine,  that  determined  adver- 
sary to  Christianity,  should  have  made  such  a  concession  in  favour  of  Christ? 
"/s  Saul  also  among  the  prophets?^'  It  is  even  so;  nor  let  it  appear  a  mat- 
ter of  surprise;  the  father  of  lies  himself  was  constrained  to  unite  in  this 
truth  :  "  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the  Holy  One  of  God." 

Thirdly,  Christ  himself,  who  best  knew  his  own  heart,  and  ivho  7cas  never 
Tcnown  to  boast,  bore  witness  of  himself  that  he  was  free  frotn  sin.  Not  only  did 
he  challenge  his  most  inveterate  enemies,  saying,  "  Which  of  you  accuseth 
me  of  sin?"  but  declared,  what  no  other  man  did  or  could,  that  he  always 
did  those  things  which  pleased  God,  that  there  was  "no  unrighteousness  in 
him ;"  that  when  the  prince  of  this  world  should  come  he  should  "  find 
nothing  in  him  ;"  and  tliat  he  was  "  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,"  a  perfect 
model  for  his  followers  to  imitate,  and  into  whose  image  they  were  predesti- 
nated to  be  conformed.  If  it  be  objected,  in  the  words  of  the  ancient  Jews, 
"  He  beareth  record  of  himself,  his  record  is  not  true,"  it  might  be  answered 
in  the  words  of  Jesus,  "Though  he  bare  record  of  himself,  yet  his  record 
is  true;  for  he  knew  whence  and  what  he  was;"  and  as  he  was  never 
known  to  deal  in  empty  boasting,  his  testimony  has  great  weight. 

Fourthly,  The  temptations  that  our  Lord  underwent,  instead  of  drawing 
Mm  aside,  displayed  his  character  to  greater  advantage.  Seasons  of  temp- 
tation in  the  lives  of  men,  even  of  good  men,  are  commonly  dark  seasons, 
and  leave  behind  them  sad  evidences  of  their  imperfection.  It  was  not 
without  reason  that  our  Lord  cautioned  us  to  pray,  saying,  "Lead  us  not 
into  temptation."  There  are  but  few,  if  any  instances,  in  which  we  enter 
the  field  of  contest  and  come  off  without  a  wound ;  but,  to  our  Redeemer, 
temptation  was  the  pathway  to  glory.  There  was  nothing  in  him  on  which 
it  could  fasten ;  its  arrows,  therefore,  rebounded  upon  the  head  of  the 
tempter.  "In  all  points  he  was  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin." 
He  underwent  the  trials  of  poverty  and  want.  He  was  often  hungry  and 
thirsty,  and  "  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head;"  yet  he  bore  it  without  repin- 
ing; he  wrought  miracles  to  satisfy  the  wants  and  alleviate  the  miseries  of 
others;  but  for  himself,  strictly  speaking,  he  wrought  no  miracle.  It  was 
upon  this  ground  that  Satan  first  accosted  him :  "  If  thou  be  the  Son  of 
God,  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread :"  q.  d. — Would  I,  having 
all  creation  at  command,  know  the  want  of  a  piece  of  bread? — But  this 
temptation  was  repelled  in  a  manner  that  discovered  his  heart  to  be  wholly 
devoted  to  the  will  of  God.  Our  Lord  had  also  temptations  of  another 
kind ;  he  had  worldly  honours  offered  him.  Not  only  did  Satan  present  to 
him  "  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,"  but  the  Jewish  populace  would  have 
made  him  a  king,  even  by  force,  if  he  had  not  withdrawn  himself  If  Jesus 
had  possessed  the  least  degree  of  worldly  ambition,  there  were  arguments 
enough  to  have  induced  him  to  comply  with  the  popular  desire.  They  had 
no  king  but  Caesar,  and  he  was  a  tyrannic  invader,  who  had  just  as  much 
right  in  Judea  as  the  empress  of  Russia  and  the  king  of  Prussia  in  Poland. 
If  the  virtue  of  Jesus  had  resembled  that  of  the  great  sages  of  Grecian  and 
Roman  antiquity,  he  would  have  embraced  this  opportunity,  and  his  name 


THE  IMMACULATE  LIFE  OP  CHRIST.  089 

might  have  been  enrolled  in  the  annals  of  fame.  Their  pride  was  to  be 
patriots  ;  but  that  which  they  called  patriotism  was  abhorrent  to  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  lie  possessed  too  much  philanthropy  to  enter  into  national  preju- 
dices and  antipathies:  though  the  deliverance  of  his  country  from  the  Ro- 
man yoke  might  have  been  doing  a  great  national  justice,  and,  in  this  view, 
very  lawful  for  some  persons  to  have  undertaken,  yet  he  declined  it;  for  it 
made  no  part  of  that  all-important  design  for  which  he  came  into  the  world. 
He  was  doing  a  great  work,  and  therefore  coidd  not  come  down. 

As  his  last  sufferings  drew  on,  his  devotedness  to  God,  and  his  disin- 
terested love  to  men,  appeared  more  and  more  conspicuous.  He  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  Samaritans  by  steadfa&thj  setting  his  face  to  go  up  to 
Jerusalem,  even  though  he  knew  what  would  follow  upon  it.  Under  the  pros- 
pect of  his  sufferings  he  prayed,  saying,  "  Now  is  my  soul  troubled,  and  what 
shall  I  say?  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour;  but  for  this  cause  came  I  to 
this  hour.  Father,  glorify  thy  name."  Never,  surely,  was  such  a  flood  of 
tenderness  poured  forth  as  that  which  follows  in  his  last  discourse  to  his 
disciples,  and  in  his  concluding  prayer  for  them.  Follow  him  to  the  Jewish 
and  Roman  tribunals,  and  witness  his  meekness  and  patience.  "  When  he 
was  reviled,  he  reviled  not  again;  when  he  suffered  he  threatened  not;  but 
committed  himself  to  Him  that  judgeth  righteously. — He  was  brought  as  a 
lamb  to  the  slaughter;  and  as  a  sheep  before  her  shearers  is  dumb,  so  he 
opened  not  his  mouth."  There  are  two  kinds  of  characters  which  are  com- 
mon among  men, — oppressive  tyrants,  and  cringing  sycophants.  The  first 
are  lords,  the  last  are  slaves ;  but  the  character  given  of  Christ  shows  that 
he  was  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  "  He  did  no  violence,  neither  was 
any  deceit  in  his  mouth."  Though  the  Lord  and  Master  of  his  disciples, 
he  was  among  them  as  their  servant;  and  when  brought  before  Herod  and 
Pilate,  he  betrayed  no  signs  of  fear;  but  amidst  their  blustering,  imperious, 
and  scornful  treatment,  maintained  a  dignified  silence. 

"  Surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows."  Throughout 
his  sufferings  he  manifested  the  tenderest  concern  for  sinners,  and  even  for 
his  murderers.  "The  same  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed"  he  was  era- 
ployed  in  providing  for  us,  by  instituting  the  sacred  supper;  and  as  he  huno- 
upon  the  cross,  and  beheld  his  enemies,  he  prayed,  "  Father,  forgive  them ; 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do !" 

Let  not  fastidious  infidelity  object  to  his  want  oi  fortitude  in  the  garden; 
or  rather,  let  it  object,  and  make  the  most  it  can  of  the  objection.  It  is  true 
"  his  soul  was  troubled ;"  it  is  true  he  prayed,  saying,  "  Father,  if  it  be  pos- 
sible, let  this  cup  pass  from  me!"  That  is,  he  discovered  what,  among  men 
of  the  most  refined  sense,  are  always  accounted  "  the  amiable  weaknesses  of 
human  nature."  Is  it  an  honour  under  affliction  to  carry  it  off,  or  affect  to 
carry  it  off,  with  a  high  hand?  Rather,  is  it  not  an  honour  to  feel  the  hand 
of  God  in  it,  and  to  acknowledge  that  we  feel  it?  And  if,  amidst  these  feel- 
ings, we  be  in  "  subjection  to  the  Father  of  spirits" — if,  while  we  mourn,  we 
do  not  murmur — this  is  the  highest  degree  of  perfection  of  which  human 
nature  is  capable.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  our  Redeemer,  and  such  the  con- 
clusion of  his  prayer  in  the  garden :  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done." 

That  our  blessed  Lord  was  not  deficient  in  real  fortitude  is  manifest  from 
his  conduct  during  his  trial  and  crucifixion.  He  feared  God,  and  put  up 
strong  cries,  and  was  heard  in  that  he  feared  ;  but  he  feared  not  men.  There 
his  spirit  shrunk  under  the  weight ;  but  here  he  is  firm  as  a  rock.  The  prin- 
cipal engines  with  which  he  was  attacked  from  men  were  j>«zm  and  disgrace. 
By  the  former  they  deprived  him  of  life,  and  by  the  latter  they  hoped  to 
wound  his  reputation,  and  cover  his  name  with  eternal  infamy;  but  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other  could  divert  him  from  his  course :  "  He  endured  the 

Vol.  III.— €7  3  m  2 


690  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne 
of  God." 

By  the  misgivings  of  Christ's  human  nature  in  the  garden,  together  with 
his  firmness  before  men,  we  are  furnished  with  very  important  instructions. 
From  thence  we  learn  that  the  most  dreadful  parts  of  his  sufferings  were 
not  those  which  proceeded  from  men,  but  those  which  came  immediately 
from  the  hand  of  God.  This  agrees  with  what  is  implied  in  that  pathetic 
exclamation,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?"  He  could 
have  borne  the  rest,  but  this  was  worse  than  death !  How  can  this  agree 
with  any  other  idea  of  the  death  of  Christ  than  that  of  his  being  a  sub- 
stitute for  sinners?  Upon  no  other  principle  can  his  agony  in  the  garden, 
or  his  exclamation  upon  the  cross,  be  fairly  accounted  for.  From  hence  also 
we  learn  the  absolute  necessity  of  Christ's  death  for  our  salvation.  If  it  had 
been  possible  for  the  great  designs  of  mercy  to  have  been  accomplished 
without  his  being  made  a  propitiation  for  our  sins,  there  is  every  reason  to 
suppose  that  his  request  for  an  exemption  would  have  been  granted. 


In  a  former  paper  I  considered  the  evidences  of  the  immaculate  life  of 
Christ;  in  this  I  shall  inquire  into  its  importance,  ?iS  it  stands  connected 
with  the  truth  of  Christianity  itself,  and  of  some  of  its  most  interesting 
branches. 

First,  If  the  life  of  oiw  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  immaculate,  it  imist  go  a 
great  way  toumrds  proving  the  truth  of  the  gospel  which  he  taught,  and  of 
that  religion  which  he  inculcated.  If  Jesus  Christ  was  "  a  virtuous  and  an 
amiable  man,"  as  Mr.  Paine  himself  acknowledges,  he  must  have  been  what 
he  professed  to  be — the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  To 
allege,  as  this  writer  does,  that  "  Christ  wrote  no  account  of  himself — that 
the  history  of  him  is  altogether  the  work  of  other  people,"  is  mere  trifling. 
If  the  history  that  is  written  of  him  is  undeserving  of  credit,  how  came  Mr. 
Paine  to  know  any  thing  about  either  the  amiableness  of  his  character,  or 
the  excellence  of  that  morality  which  he  preached  and  practised?  He  knows 
nothing  of  either  the  one  or  the  other  but  through  the  medium  of  the  evan- 
gelical history ;  and  if  he  admit  this  history  in  one  case,  with  what  consist- 
ency can  he  reject  it  in  another? 

Mr.  Paine  affects  to  rank  Christianity  with  other  religions — with  heathen- 
ism and  Mahomedism,  calling  the  New  Testament  writers  "  The  Christian 
mythologists ;"  but  what  founder  or  teacher  of  any  religion  will  he  resort  to 
whose  character  will  bear  any  comparison  with  that  of  Christ  ?  Among  the 
sages  of  antiquity,  or  the  teachers  of  what  is  called  the  religion  of  nature, 
there  is  not  one  to  be  found  whose  life  will  bear  a  thorough  scrutiny.  Natu- 
ral religion  itself  must  be  ashamed  of  its  advocates ;  and  as  to  Mahomet, 
there  is  scarcely  any  thing  in  his  character  but  a  combination  of  ambition, 
brutality,  and  lust,  at  the  sight  of  which  nature  itself  revolts.  "Go,"  says  an 
eloquent  writer,  "  to  your  natural  religion;  lay  before  her  Mahomet  and  his 
disciples,  arrayed  in  armour  of  blood,  riding  in  triumph  over  the  spoils  of 
thousands  and  ten  thousands,  who  fell  by  his  victorious  sword.  Show  her 
the  cities  w'hich  he  set  in  flames,  the  countries  which  he  ravished  and  de- 
stroyed, and  the  miserable  distress  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  When 
she  has  viewed  him  in  this  scene,  carry  her  into  his  retirements.  Show  her 
the  prophet's  chambers,  his  concubines,  and  his  wives,  let  her  see  his  adul- 
tery, and  hear  him  allege  revelation  and  his  Divine  commission  to  justify  his 
jUst  and  his  oppression.  When  she  is  tired  of  this  prospect,  then  show  her 
the  blessed  Jesus,  humble  and  meek,  doing  good  to  all  the  sons  of  men,  pa- 
tiently instructing  both  the  ignorant  and  the  perverse.     Let  her  see  him  in 


THE  IMMACULATE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  691 

his  most  retired  privacies.  Let  her  follow  him  to  the  mount,  and  hear  his 
devotions  and  supplications  to  God.  Carry  her  to  his  table,  to  view  his  poor 
fare,  and  hear  his  heavenly  discourse.  Let  her  see  him  injured,  not  provoked. 
Let  her  attend  him  to  the  tribunal,  and  consider  the  patience  with  which  he 
endured  the  scoff  and  the  reproach  of  his  enemies.  Lead  her  to  the  cross, 
and  let  her  view  him  in  the  agonies  of  death,  and  hear  his  last  prayer  for  his 
persecutors,  '  Father,  forgive  them;  for  they  know  not  what  they  do!' 

"  When  natural  religion  has  viewed  both,  ask  which  is  the  prophet  of 
God  ?  But  her  answer  we  have  already  had,  when  she  saw  part  of  this  scene 
throuo-h  the  eyes  of  the  centurion  who  attended  at  his  cross;  by  him  she 
spoke,  and  said,  '  Truly  this  man  was  the  Son  of  God.'  "* 

To  admit  tlie  amiableness  of  Christ's  moral  character,  and  yet  reject  the 
evangelical  history  of  him,  is  choosing  a  very  untenable  ground.  The  his- 
tory which  the  evangelists  have  given  of  Christ  evinces  its  own  authenticity. 
A  character  so  drawn  is  a  proof  of  its  having  really  existed,  and  of  those  who 
drew  it  possessing  a  mind  congenial  with  it.  If  Christ  had  not  been  that 
immaculate  character  which  they  represent,  they  could  not  have  so  described 
him.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  man  to  invent  any  thing  like  it;  the  imagina- 
tion of  impostors,  especially,  would  have  been  utterly  unequal  to  the  task; 
such  a  picture  could  not  have  been  drawn  without  an  original  corresponding 
with  it.  Writers  of  fiction  have  often  produced  wonderful  characters;  they 
have  emblazoned  their  heroes  with  extraordinary  charms,  but  they  are  charms 
of  a  different  kind  from  what  Jesus  possessed.  The  beauties  of  holiness  are 
not  to  be  collected,  in  the  manner  in  which  the  sacred  writers  have  collected 
them,  by  the  power  of  imagination ;  and  as  the  existence  of  the  picture  im- 
plies the  reality  of  the  original,  so  also  it  proves  the  congeniality  of  mind 
possessed  by  those  who  drew  it.  Let  the  moral  character  of  Christ  have 
been  ever  so  fair,  a  set  of  impostors  could  not  possibly  have  drawn  it  in  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  drawn ;  for  this,  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  be  not 
only  observed,  but  felt,  and  loved,  and  imitated.  If  Judas  had  written  a  his- 
tory of  Christ,  it  would  have  been  a  very  different  one  from  those  which  are 
transmitted  to  us,  even  though  it  had  been  of  a  piece  with  his  confession, 
"  I  have  betrayed  innocent  blood." 

I  am  not  inclined  to  call  Mr.  Paine,  what  he  calls  the  sacred  writers, 
either  fool  or  liar ;  but  methinks  it  were  no  great  labour  to  prove  him  to  be 
both.  It  certainly  was  no  mark  oi  wisdom  in  him  to  acknowledge  Christ  to 
be  "  an  amiable  character,  and  that  he  taught  and  practised  morality  of  the 
most  benevolent  kind,"  in  an  attempt  to  overturn  Christianity;  and  the 
flagrant  manner  in  which  he  has  hclied  the  sacred  writers  must  be  manifest 
to  every  one  that  is  in  the  least  acquainted  with  them,  and  will  take  the 
trouble  to  compare  them  with  what  he  has  asserted  concerning  them. 

Secondly,  From  the  purity  of  Christ's  character  arises  an  important  part 
of  his  fitness  for  his  undertaking ;  without  this  he  could  not  have  been  a 
Priest,  a  sacrifice,  or  a  Mediator.  It  was  necessary  that  the  priests  of  Aaron's 
order  should  be  "  without  blemish,''  and  their  sacrifices  "  without  spot," 
Lev.  xxi.  21 ;  Numb,  xxvii.  3,  9,  11.  This  purity,  it  is  true,  was  of  a  cere- 
monial kind,  but  it  was  typical  of  that  which  was  moral ;  for  in  reference  to 
ihis  it  is  said  of  Christ,  that  "  such  an  High  Priest  became  us,  who  is  holy, 
harmless  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners. — We  are  redeemed,  not  with 
silver  and  gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  Lamb  without 
blemish  and  without  spot. — He  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew 
no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him."  The 
priests  under  the  law  were  but  ceremonially  clean ;  they  needed  •'  daily  to 

•  Bishop  Sherlock's  Sermons,  vol.  I.  pp.  270,  271. 


()93  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

offer  up  sacrifices,  first  for  their  own  sins,  and  then  for  the  people's :"  but 
Christ  "  ofiered  himself  once  without  spot  to  God,"  and  thereby  "  perfected 
for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified."  A  polluted  being  might  endure  the  de- 
merit of  sin,  as  the  ungodly  actually  will ;  but  he  cannot  make  atonement 
for  it,  so  as  to  "  make  an  end"  of  it.  The  world  might  have  borne  its  own 
iniquity,  but  it  is  the  "Lamb  of  God"  only  that  can  "  bear  it  away."  And 
as  it  was  an  important  part  of  the  priestly  office  to  mediate,  and  make  inter- 
cession for  the  people,  so  Christ  is  our  Mediator  and  Intercessor  before  the 
throne:  "With  his  blood  he  entered  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  ob- 
tained eternal  redemption  for  us."  This  mediation  is  founded  upon  his 
sacrifice :  and  the  acceptableness  of  the  former  depends  upon  his  spotless 
purity  equally  with  the  latter.  A  mediator  could  in  no  case  be  admitted  to 
plead  in  behalf  of  a  criminal,  unless  he  himself  were  innocent.  Had  Moses 
been  guilty  of  idolatry  at  Horeb,  he  could  not  have  mediated  on  behalf  of 
Israel.  Our  "Advocate  with  the  Father  is  Jesus  Christ  the  righteous." 
Though  he  mingled  with  sinners,  yet  he  must  be  holy,  harmless,  and  unde- 
filed,  and  separate  from  them ;  and  though  he  pleaded  for  sinners,  yet  he 
must  not  extenuate  their  sin,  but  condemn  it  without  reserve,  and  justify  the 
righteous  government  of  God,  by  which  it  was  threatened  with  destruction. 
It  was  on  this  account  that  the  mediation  of  Christ  was  so  highly  acceptable 
to  God,  and  so  gloriously  successful,  that  he  gave  him  the  desire  of  his  heart. 
"  Thou  lovest  righteousness,  and  hatest  wickedness  :  therefore  God,  thy  God, 
hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  thy  fellows." 

Thirdly,  From  the  spotless  purity  of  Christ's  character  arises  his  fitness  to 
be  the  great  Exemplar  after  which  we  should  be  formed,  and  which  it  should 
be  our  daily  practice  to  imitate.  God  hath  "  predestinated  us  to  be  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  his  Son."  Jesus  saith  to  the  weary  and  heavy  laden, 
"  Learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto 
your  souls."  One  great  object  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  to  "  glorify  Christ;"  and 
this  he  doth,  not  only  by  "  receiving  of  the  things  of  Christ,  and  showing 
them  unto  us;"  but  by  working,  as  I  may  say,  by  his  spotless  life  as  a  model, 
and  forming  our  souls  into  a  resemblance  of  it.  And  as  the  Holy  Spirit 
"  glorifieth  Christ"  in  his  operations  upon  us,  so  also  must  we  glorify  him  by 
voluntarily  copying  after  his  example. 

The  nature  of  man  is  such  that  he  requires  an  example  before  his  eyes. 
We  all  feel  a  strong  propensity  to  imitation.  Hence  the  danger  of  evil,  and 
the  benefit  of  good  company;  and  hence  the  superior  effect  of  example,  in 
ministers  and  heads  of  families,  to  mere  precept.  But  where  shall  a  suit- 
able example  be  found?  God  is  too  much  above  us:  our  weak  souls  cannot 
look  steadfastly  at  his  glory.  With  angels  we  have  but  little  or  no  acquaint- 
ance; and  men,  even  the  best  of  them,  are  stained  with  imperfections,  which 
it  would  be  dangerous  to  imitate.  If  we  had  been  predestinated  to  be  con- 
formed to  the  image  of  the  best  merely  human  character,  we  should  never 
"  appear  faultless  before  the  presence  of  the  Divine  glory."  Whatever  im- 
perfections attend  us  in  the  present  state,  we  require  a  perfect  model,  other- 
wise we  shall  never  attain  perfection  in  any  state.  The  example  of  Christ 
is  the  only  one  that  is  adapted  to  our  circumstances.  In  his  face  the  glory 
of  God  is  seen,  without  the  eye  of  the  mind  being  dazzled  with  its  over- 
whelming lustre.  In  his  character  there  is  every  thing  to  love,  and  in  con- 
forming to  it  nothing  to  fear,  Happy  are  the  men  who  are  found  "  followers 
of  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth  1" 


THE  DEITY  OF  CHRIST.  693 

THE  DEITY  OF  CHRIST. 

THE    DEITY    OP    CHRIST    ESSENTIAL   TO   ATONEMENT. 

The  doctrine  of  atonement  by  the  death  of  Christ  is  one  of  the  great  and 
distinguishing  principles  of  the  gospel,  and  its  importance  is  acknowledged 
by  most  denominations  of  professing  Christians:  yet  there  are  some  who 
suppose  that  this  doctrine  is  not  necessarily  connected  with  the  Divinity  of 
Christ;  and,  indeed,  that  it  is  inconsistent  with  it.  It  has  been  objected,  that 
according  to  the  Scriptures  it  was  the  person  of  Christ  that  suffered  ;  but  that 
this  is  inconsistent  with  his  Divinity,  because  Divinity  could  not  suffer.  To 
which  it  may  be  answered,  that  though  the  person  of  Christ  suffered,  yet  that 
he  suffered  in  all  that  pertains  to  his  person  is  quite  another  thing.  A  great 
and  virtuous  character  among  men  might  suffer  death  by  the  axe  or  the 
guillotine,  and  this  would  be  suffering  death  in  his  person  ;  and  yet  he  might 
not  suffer  in  his  honour  or  in  his  character,  and  so  not  in  all  that  pertained 
to  him.  A  Christian  might  suffer  martyrdom  in  his  body,  and  yet  his  soul 
be  very  happy.  To  object,  therefore,  that  Christ  did  not  suffer  in  his  person, 
because  all  that  pertained  to  him  was  not  the  immediate  seat  of  suffering,  is 
reasoning  very  inconclusively.  It  is  sufficient  if  Christ  suffered  in  that  part 
of  his  person  which  was  susceptible  of  suffering. 

It  has  been  objected,  that,  as  humanity  only  is  capable  of  suffering,  there- 
fore humanity  only  is  necessary  to  make  atonement.  But  this  objection  pro- 
ceeds upon  the  supposition  that  the  value  of  atonement  arises  simply  from 
suffering,  and  not  from  the  character  or  dignity  of  him  who  suffers;  whereas 
the  Scripture  places  it  in  the  latter,  and  not  the  former.  "  The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." — He,  "  bi/  himself,  hath 
purged  our  sins."--— Some,  who  have  allowed  sin  to  be  an  infinite  evil,  and 
deserving  of  endless  punishment,  have  objected  to  the  necessity  of  an  infi- 
nite atonement,  by  alleging  that  the  question  is  not  what  sin  deserves,  but 
what  God  requires  in  order  to  exalt  the  dignity  of  his  government,  while  he 
displays  the  riches  of  his  grace  in  the  forgiveness  of  sin.  But  this  objection 
implies  that  it  would  be  consistent  with  the  Divine  perfections  to  admit,  not 
only  what  is  equivalent  to  the  actual  punishment  of  the  sinner,  but  of  what 
is  not  equivalent;  and,  if  so,  what  good  reason  can  be  given  why  God  might 
not  have  entirely  dispensed  with  a  satisfaction,  and  pardoned  sinners  with- 
out any  atonement?  On  this  principle  the  atonement  of  Christ  would  be 
resolved  into  mere  sovereign  appointment,  and  the  necessity  of  it  would  be 
wholly  given  up.  But,  if  so,  there  was  nothing  required  in  the  nature  of 
things  to  exalt  the  dignity  of  the  Divine  government,  whilst  he  displayed  the 
riches  of  his  grace ;  and  it  could  not  with  propriety  be  said  that  "  it  became 
Him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  to  glory,  to  make  the 
Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings." 

if  God  required  less  than  the  real  demerit  of  sin  for  an  atonement,  then 
there  could  be  no  satisfaction  made  to  Divine  justice  by  such  an  atonement. 
And  though  it  \vould  be  improper  to  represent  the  great  work  of  redemption 
as  a  kind  of  commercial  transaction  betwixt  a  creditor  and  his  debtor,  yet 
the  satisfaction  of  justice  in  all  cases  of  offence  requires  that  there  be  an  ex- 
pression of  the  displeasure  of  the  offended,  against  the  conduct  of  the  offender, 
equal  to  lohat  the  nature  of  the  offence  is  in  realitij.  The  end  of  punishment 
is  not  the  misery  of  the  offender,  but  the  general  good.  Its  design  is  to 
express  displeasure  against  disobedience ;  and  where  punishment  is  inflicted 
according  to  the  desert  of  the  offence,  there  justice  is  satisfied.     In  other 


694  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ES,SATS,  ETC. 

words,  such  an  expression  of  displeasure  is  uttered  by  the  Lawgiver,  that,  in 
it,  every  subject  of  his  empire  may  read  what  are  his  views  of  the  evil  which 
he  forbids,  and  what  are  his  determinations  in  regard  to  its  punishment.  If 
sinners  had  received  in  their  own  persons  the  reward  of  their  iniquity,  jus- 
tice would  in  that  way  have  been  satisfied;  and  if  the  infinitely  blessed  God, 
"  whose  ways  are  higher  than  our  ways,  and  whose  thoughts  are  higher  than 
our  thoughts,"  has  devised  an  expedient  for  our  salvation,  though  he  may 
not  confine  himself  to  a  literal  conformity  to  those  rules  of  justice  which  he 
has  marked  out  for  us,  yet  he  will  be  certain  not  to  depart  from  the  spirit  of 
them.  Justice  must  be  satisfied  even  in  that  way.  An  atonement  made  by 
a  substitute,  in  any  case,  requires  diat  the  same  end  be  answered  as  if  the 
guilty  party  had  actually  suffered.  It  is  necessary  that  the  displeasure  of  the 
offended  should  be  expressed  in  as  strong  terms,  or  in  a  way  adapted  to  make 
as  strong  an  impression  upon  all  concerned,  as  if  the  law  had  taken  its 
course ;  otherwise  atonement  is  not  made,  and  mercy  triumphs  at  the  expense 
of  righteousness. 

Let  it  be  inquired  then  whether  this  great  end  of  moral  government  could 
have  been  answered  by  the  sufferings  of  a  mere  creature.  Some  who  deny 
the  Divinity  of  Christ  appear  to  be  apprehensive  that  it  could  not,  and  have 
therefore  supposed  that  God,  in  order,  it  should  seem,  to  bring  it  within  the 
compass  of  a  creature's  grasp,  required  less  of  his  Son  than  our  sins  deserved. 
It  is  true,  indeed,  if  Christ  be  only  a  creature,  it  must  be  less,  infinitely  less, 
that  was  accepted,  than  what  was  strictly  deserved.  In  the  atonement  of 
Christ,  God  is  said  to  have  "  set  him  forth  to  be  a  propitiation — to  declare 
his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Now  this,  as  well  as  the  nature 
of  things,  implies  that  one  who  makes  an  atonement  must  be  of  so  much 
account  in  the  scale  of  being  as  to  attract  the  general  attention.  But  the 
sufferings  of  a  mere  man,  whose  obedience  could  be  no  more  than  duty,  or 
whose  humiliation  contained  in  it  no  condescension  below  the  place  that 
became  him,  would  be  no  more  adapted  to  excite  the  general  attention  of 
the  intelligent  creation  than  the  sufferings  of  an  insect  would  be  to  attract 
the  attention  of  a  nation.  It  were  as  rational  to  talk  of  the  king  of  Great 
Britain  setting  forth  a  worm  tortured  on  the  point  of  a  needle,  to  declare 
his  regard  to  righteousness,  while  he  pardoned  the  deluded  votaries  of  the 
Pretender,  as  to  talk  of  a  mere  creature  being  set  forth  as  a  propitiation  for 
the  DECLARATION  of  the  righteousness  of  God  in  the  remission  of  human 
guilt. 

To  suppose,  because  humanity  only  is  capable  of  suffering,  that  therefore 
humanity  only  is  necessary  to  make  atonement,  is  to  render  dignity  of  cha- 
racter of  no  account.  When  Zaleucus,  one  of  the  Grecian  kings,  had  made 
a  law  against  adultery,  that  whosoever  was  guilty  of  this  crime  should  lose 
both  his  eyes,  his  own  son  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  transgressor.  To 
preserve  the  honour  of  the  law,  and  at  the  same  time  to  save  his  own  son 
from  total  blindness,  the  father  had  recourse  to  an  expedient  of  losing  one 
of  his  own  eyes,  and  his  son  one  of  his.  This  expedient,  though  it  did  not 
conform  to  the  letter  of  the  law,  yet  was  well  adapted  to  preserve  the  spirit 
of  it,  as  it  served  to  evince  to  the  nation  the  determination  of  the  king  to 
punish  adultery,  as  much,  perhaps  more  than  if  the  sentence  had  literally 
been  put  into  execution  against  the  offender.  But  if  instead  of  this  he  had 
appointed  that  one  eye  of  an  animal  should  be  put  out,  in  order  to  save  that 
of  his  son,  or  if  a  common  subject  had  offered  to  lose  an  eye,  would  either 
have  answered  the  purpose?  The  animal,  and  the  subject,  were  each  pos- 
sessed of  an  eye,  as  well  as  the  sovereign.  It  might  be  added,  too,  that  it 
was  mere  bodily  pain ;  and,  seeing  it  was  in  the  body  only  that  this  penalty 
could  be  endured,  any  being  that  possessed  a  body  would  be  equally  capable 


THE  DEITY  OP  CHRIST.  695 

of  enduring  it.  True,  they  might  endure  it,  but  would  their  suffering  have 
answered  the  same  end?  Would  it  have  satisfied  justice?  Would  it  have 
had  the  same  effect  upon  the  nation,  or  tended  equally  to  restore  the  tone 
of  injured  authority? 

Some  have  placed  all  the  virtue  of  the  atonement  in  the  appointment  of 
God.  But,  if  so,  why  was  it  "not  possible  that  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of 
goats  should  take  away  sin?"  It  does  not  accord  with  the  Divine  proceed- 
ings to  be  prodigal  of  blood,  especially  in  a  superior  character,  where  one 
far  inferior  might  answer  the  same  end.  When,  in  order  to  try  Abraham, 
Isaac  was  bound,  and  ready  to  be  sacrificed,  a  lamb  was  found  for  a  burnt- 
offering;  and  if  any  gift  from  the  Divine  Father,  short  of  that  of  his  only 
begotten  Son,  would  have  answered  the  great  purposes  of  moral  government, 
there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  he  would  have  made  him  a  sacrifice,  but 
would  have  spared  him,  and  not  freely  have  "  delivered  him  up  for  us  all." 

It  has  been  objected,  against  the  necessity  of  Christ's  being  a  Divine  per- 
son in  order  to  his  making  atonement,  that,  if  he  who  makes  atonement  be 
infiinite,  it  must  needs  be  followed  by  the  salvation  of  the  whole  human  race. 
But  this  objection  supposes  that  the  number  of  the  saved  is  to  be  propor- 
tioned to  the  ability  of  the  Saviour;  and  then  it  would  seem  that  Christ  being 
a  mere  man,  he  saved  all  that  his  finite  merit  would  extend  to.  With  just 
as  much  propriety  might  it  be  alleged  that  the  power  by  which  we  were 
created  could  not  be  infinite;  for  if  it  had,  there  must  then  have  been  an 
infinite  number  of  worlds  in  existence.  And  the  wisdom  and  goodness  by 
which  we  are  saved  cannot  be  infinite;  for,  if  so,  all  the  world,  and  the 
fallen  angels  too,  would  be  interested  in  that  salvation. 

In  short,  the  Deity  and  atonement  of  Christ  have  always,  among  thinking 
people,  stood  or  fallen  together;  and  with  them  almost  every  other  import- 
ant doctrine  of  the  gospel.  The  person  of  Christ  is  the  foundation-stone  on 
which  the  church  is  built.  An  error,  therefore,  on  this  subject  affects  the 
whole  of  our  preaching,  and  the  whole  of  our  religion.  In  the  esteem  of 
the  apostle  Paul,  that  which  nullified  the  death  of  Christ  was  accounted  to 
be  another  gospel;  and  he  expressed  his  wish  that  those  who  propagated  it, 
and  so  troubled  the  churches,  were  cut  off.  The  principle  maintained  by 
the  Galatians,  it  is  true,  did  not  consist  in  a  denial  of  the  Deity  of  Christ; 
but  the  consequence  is  the  same.  They  taught  that  justification  was  by  the 
works  of  the  law,  from  whence  the  apostle  justly  inferred  that  "  Christ  is 
dead  in  vain."  And  he  who  teaches  thai  Christ  is  a  mere  creature  holds  a 
doctrine  which  renders  his  sufferings  of  none  effect.  If  the  Deity  of  Christ 
be  a  Divine  truth,  it  cannot  reasonably  be  denied  that  it  is  of  equal  import- 
ance with  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  his  righteousness.  If  therefore  a 
rejection  of  the  latter  was  deemed  a  perversion  of  the  gospel,  nothing  less 
can  be  ascribed  to  the  rejection  of  the  former. 

DEITY  OF  CHRIST  ESSENTIAL  TO  OUR  CALLING  ON  HIS  NAME  AND  TRUSTING  IN 
HIM  FOR  SALVATION. 

There  are  some  doctrines  of  greater  importance  than  others,  and  which 
may  properly  be  termed  fundamental  truths.  Whatever  difficulty  may  attend 
the  specification  of  those  doctrines,  it  will  not  be  found  more  difficult  than  a 
distinct  enumeration  of  those  Christian  graces  which  are  essential  to  true 
religion.  The  precise  degree  of  holiness  necessary  to  salvation  is  not  more 
easily  to  be  defined  than  the  degree  of  truth  to  be  believed ;  yet  no  one  can 
doubt  that  a  certain  degree  of  truth  and  holiness  is  essential  to  Christianity. 

The  importance  of  a  principle  must  be  determined  by  the  relation  it  bears 
to  other  principles  and  duties  of  religion.     Truth  is  a  system,  though  it  is 


696  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

not  taught  in  the  Scriptures  in  a  systematic  form.  The  gospel  is  not  a  mass 
of  discordant  sentiments,  but  possesses  a  lovely  proportion,  a  beautiful  ana- 
logy, Rom.  xii.  C.  The  oracles  of  God  contain  tlieir  "  first  principles,"  (Heb.) 
V.  12,)  which  suppose  a  scheme  or  system  of  principles.  To  show  the  im- 
portance of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  the  apostle  proceeds  to  prove 
that  it  involves  in  it  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  that  this  involves  in  it 
the  truth  of  Christianity,  1  Cor.  xv.  13-15.  There  is  no  part  of  the  works 
of  God  but  what  bears  a  relation  to  the  great  system.  The  infinitely  wise 
God  does  nothing  in  a  loose,  unconnected,  or  inharmonious  form  ;  connexion 
and  consistency  run  through  all  his  works.  And  it  would  be  strange  if 
redemption,  the  greatest  of  all  his  works,  were  accomplished  without  a  plan, 
or  without  a  system.  But  if  the  work  itself  form  a  complete  system,  just 
conceptions  of  it  will  be  the  same ;  otherwise  our  conceptions  must  be  at 
variance  with  truth. 

It  is  from  this  consideration  that  a  denial  of  one  Divine  truth  generally 
leads  on  to  the  denial  of  many  others.  It  is  by  the  gospel  as  it  is  by  the 
moral  law,  "to  offend  in  one  point  is  to  be  guilty  of  all."  You  cannot  break 
any  command,  without  violating  the  authority  of  the  Lawgiver;  and  this 
being  once  violated,  there  are  no  bounds  where  to  stop.  "  He  that  said,  Do 
not  commit  adultery,  said  also,  Do  not  kill.  And  if  thou  commit  no  adultery, 
yet  if  thou  kill,  thou  art  a  transgressor  of  the  law."  The  same  principle 
which  leads  thee  to  despise  the  Divine  authority  in  one  instance  would  lead 
thee  to  do  the  same  in  all,  as  occasion  might  offer.  It  is  much  the  same  in 
reference  to  evangelical  truth ;  we  cannot  reject  one  part  of  it,  especially  if 
that  part  be  amongst  its  fundamental  principles,  without  either  rejecting  or 
becoming  less  attached  to  the  rest. 

At  present  there  are  two  things  which  offer  themselves  to  our  consideration, 
in  reference  to  the  Deity  of  Christ;  each  of  which,  while  it  tends  to  confirm 
the  truth  of  the  doctrine,  exhibits  its  importance.  The  one  is,  Calling  on 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus ;  the  other  is,  Trusting  in  him  for  salvation. 
These  are  of  importance,  or  there  is  nothing  in  Christianity  which  is  so;  but 
a  denial  of  the  Deity  of  Christ  would  render  them  both  improper,  if  not  im- 
practicable. 

Calling  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  considered,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  of  equal  importance  with  believing  in  him,  having  the  same  promise 
of  salvation  annexed  to  it.— "Whosoever  shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  saved."  And  seeing  it  is  asked,  "How  shall  they  call  on  him 
in  whom  they  have  not  believed?"  (Rom.  x.  13,  14,)  it  is  strongly  intimated 
that  all  who  truly  believe  in  Christ  do  call  upon  him.  This  is  one  of  the 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  primitive  Christians.  Paul's  Epistle  to 
the  Corinthians  was  addressed  to  them,  in  connexion  with  "  all  who  in  every 
place  call  upon  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,"  1  Cor.  i.  2.  Now  as  a 
rejection  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ  renders  it  idolatry  to  worship  him,  or  call 
upon  his  name;  so  it  must  involve  a  rejection  of  that  by  which  primitive 
Christians  were  distinguished,  and  which  has  the  promise  of  salvation.  And 
where  tliese  things  are  rejected,  there  is  no  longer  any  possibility  of  Chris- 
tian union  ;  for  how  can  those  who  consider  Christ  to  be  a  mere  man  join  in 
the  worship  of  such  as  are  employed  in  calling  upon  his  name,  and  ascribing 
"  blessing,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power,  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever?" 
Rev.  v.  13.  If  there  were  no  objection  on  the  part  of  Trinitarians,  there 
ought  to  be  on  the  part  of  Arians  and  Socinians,  to  render  their  conduct 
consistent.*     If  we  be  guilty  of  idolatry,  they  ought  to  come  out  from 

*  A  certain  Socinian  is  known  to  have  declined  taking  any  part  in  the  family  worship  of 
a  Trinitarian,  and  gave  this  reason  for  it:  That  he  could  not  unite  with  those  who  call  upon 
the  name  of  Christ. 


THE  DEITY  OF  CHRIST.  697 

amongst  us,  and  be  separate,  as  the  Scriptures  command  Christians  to  do 
with  respect  to  idolaters,  2  Cor.  vi.  IG,  17.  But  if  they  be  so  inditTerent 
about  the  importance  of  religious  principle  as  not  to  scruple  such  matters, 
there  is  no  reason  that  we  should  be  the  same ;  and  we  have  no  warrant  to 
acknowledge  those  as  fellow  Christians  who  come  not  under  the  description 
given  of  such  in  the  New  Testament;  that  is,  who  call  not  upon  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

Trusting  in  Christ  for  salvation  is  represented  in  the  gospel  as  equivalent, 
and  of  equal  importance,  with  believing  in  him. — "In  his  name  shall  the 
Gentiles  trust." — "  I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  he 
is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  him  against  that  day," 
Matt.  xii.  21;  2  Tim.  i.  12.  But  trusting  in  Christ  must  be  intimately  con- 
nected with  a  belief  in  his  proper  Deity.  Without  this,  all  committing  of 
ourselves  to  him,  and  trusting  in  his  ability  to  keep  that  which  we  have  com- 
mitted to  him,  would  be  placing  confidence  in  an  arm  of  flesh;  and  would 
bring  down  the  curse  upon  us,  mstead  of  the  blessing.  God  has  expressly 
appropriated  trust  to  himself  alone,  and  prohibited  our  placing  it  in  a  mere 
creature.  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Cursed  be  the  man  that  trusteih  in  man, 
and  maketh  flesh  his  arm,  and  whose  heart  departeth  from  the  Lord." — 
"Blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  the  Lord,  and  whose  hope  the  Lord  is," 
Jer.  xvii.  5,  7. 

Every  creature  is  entirely  dependent  on  the  Creator,  and  is  totally  incom- 
petent to  answer  the  character  of  a  saviour,  especially  with  respect  to  that 
salvation  which  mankind  need.  That  there  may  exist  a  proper  foundation 
for  trust,  the  character  of  a  saviour  must  unite  omnipresent  and  omnipotent 
power,  to  control  every  intelligent  creature,  and  every  particle  of  matter  in 
the  universe,  and  render  every  thing  subservient  to  the  great  purposes  of  sal- 
vation. Omniscient  understanding  to  know  perfectly,  and  at  all  times,  their 
hearts,  their  dangers,  and  their  wants.  Infinite  wisdom,  to  select  unerringly, 
from  an  infinite  number  of  supposable  schemes,  for  the  accomplishment  of 
the  great  object,  that  which  is  best,  both  with  respect  to  the  end,  and  the 
infinitude  of  antecedent  means.  Absolute  immutability,  to  prosecute  inva- 
riably the  same  designs;  and  infinite  love,  to  rise  above  millions  of  provoca- 
tions, and  embrace  perpetually  the  same  good. 

That  scheme,  therefore,  which  denies  Christ  to  be  possessed  of  these 
Divine  prerogatives,  and  considers  him  as  a  mere  dependent  creature,  leaves 
no  .ground  for  its  abettors  to  trust  unreservedly  and  ultimately  in  him  for 
salvation ;  for,  according  to  their  principles,  Christ  cannot  be  an  adequate 
object  of  trust. 

Those  who  deny  the  Divinity  of  Christ  may  plead  that  they  confide  in  the 
truth  of  his  declarations ;  but  they  might  also  confide  in  the  declarations  of 
Peter  or  Paul,  seeing  that  their  testimony  is  equally  true.  But  to  commit 
our  souls  into  their  hands  would  be  unwarrantable  and  presumptuous;  and 
it  would  be  equally  so  to  commit  them  into  the  hands  of  Christ,  if  he  were 
a  mere  creature  like  them.  To  deny  his  proper  Divinity,  therefore,  is  to 
destroy  the  foundation  of  a  sinner's  hope,  and  to  make  void  the  distinctive 
evidence  of  primitive  Christianity: — CalUng  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  committing  our  souls  into  his  hands  for  salvation. 


DEFENCE    OF    THE    DEITY    OF    CHRIST. 

[In  reply  to  the  Rev,  Henry  Davis.] 

Your  correspondent  H.  D.  seems  dissatisfied  with  the  Trinitarian  doc- 
trine of  Christ's  proper  Deity,  and  wishes  to  substitute  the  indwelling  scheme 
Vol.  III.— S3  3  N 


"698  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

in  its  place. — In  writing  the  piece  which  occasioned  his  remarks,  T  did  not 
once  think  of  "  Athanasius,"  nor  of  any  human  writer;  but  simply  of  stating 
what  appeared  to  be  the  mind  of  God  in  his  word.  Neither  was  it  my  object 
to  prove,  concerning  any  denomination  of  professing  Christians,  that  they  are 
not  in  a  state  of  salvation;  but  merely  that  those  principles  which  disown 
Christ's  proper  Deity,  be  they  held  by  whom  they  may,  if  fully  embraced  so 
as  to  be  acted  upon,  do  not  consist  with  it. 

Your  correspondent  asks,  "  How  am  I  to  conceive  of  this?"  that  is,  of 
Christ's  proper  Deity.  "Am  1  to  consider  the  Deity  of  Christ  as  separate 
and  distinct  from  the  Deity  of  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit?  Is  there  one 
Deity  of  the  Son,  another  of  the  Father,  and  another  of  the  Spirit?"  If  he 
intend  to  ask  whether  the  proposition,  Christ  is  true  God,  mean  any  thing 
different  from  the  proposition,  the  Father  is  true  God?  I  answer,  it  certainly 
does.  But  if  whether  the  Deity  of  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  be  one  or  more 
Deities,  he  must  know  that  the  former,  and  not  the  latter,  is  the  avowed 
principle  of  Trinitarians.  I  have  always  supposed  that  Godhead  is  common 
to  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit;  and  that,  whatever  distinction  there  is  between 
them,  it  consists  not  in  their  nature,  but  in  tlieir  personality.  Surely  H.  D., 
while  he  objects  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  must  have  paid 
but  little  attention  to  it.  "There  is  one  person  of  the  Father,"  says  the 
writer  of  that  Creed,  "another  of  the  Son,  and  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
but  the  Godhead  (f  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Hohj  Ghost,  is  all  one." 
As  therefore  he  has  mistaken  the  premises,  the  consequence  of  "a  division 
in  Deity"  flills  of  course. 

But  "something  like  this,"  he  thinks,  "is  the  case  when  the  three  persons 
are  separately  addressed  in  prayer."  Did  not  the  primitive  Christians  call  on 
the  name  of  Christ?  Did  not  Stephen  call  upon  the  Lord  Jesus  to  receive 
his  spirit?  And  was  not  this  praying  to  him  as  distinct,  though  not  as 
"separate,"  from  the  Father?  Yet  I  suppose  Stephen  will  not  be  accused 
of  making  "a  division  in  Deity." 

"It  is  evident  that  amongst  common  Christians  there  are  many  who,  for 
want  of  time  and  inclination  to  read  and  examine  for  themselves,  have  no 
other  idea  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  than  that  of  three  Gods."  To 
whom  is  this  evident?  To  me  it  appears  that  those  Christians  who  read  the 
least  of  human  speculations  upon  this  subject,  and  content  themselves  with 
the  doctrine  abundantly  taught  in  the  Scriptures,  that  "  the  Father  is  God, 
the  Son  is  God,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  is  God,  yet  that  there  are  not  three 
Gods,  but  one  God,"  are  the  least  likely  to  err. 

But,  "  Is  not  tritheism  an  error  that  ought  to  be  guarded  against  as  well 
as  that  of  Socinianism?"  The  Scriptures  plentifully  guard  us  against  poly- 
theism ;  and  if  the  danger  of  tritheism  was  what  is  here  supposed,  it  is 
rather  surprising  that  they  never  guard  us  against  that.  Yet  so  it  is.  The 
sacred  writers  expressly  call  the  Father  God,  the  Son  God,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  God  (John  i.  1;  Acts  v.  3,4);  yet  they  seem  never  to  have  thought  of 
Christians  so  understanding  it  as  to  make  three  Gods,  and  therefore  never 
guard  against  it.  Neither  is  there  a  single  caution  in  all  the  word  of  God 
against  making  too  much  of  Christ,  though  there  are  many  against  making 
too  little  of  him.  The  union  between  him  and  the  Father  appears  to  me 
to  be  so  described  in  Scripture  as  to  leave  no  room  for  dishonouring  the 
latter,  while  we  truly  honour  the  former.*  On  the  other  hand,  a  jealousy 
for  the  honour  of  the  Father,  at  the  expense  of  that  of  the  Son,  was  the 
error  and  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  nation. 

The  Trinitarian  doctrine  of  the  eternal  Son  of  God,  the  second  person  in 

*  SeeCalvinistic  and  Socinian  systems  compared,  Letter  vii. 


THE    DEITT    OF    CHRIST.  699 

the  Godhead,  assuming  human  nature  in  the  fulness  of  time,  appears  to  me  to 
be  "the  great  mystery  of  godliness;"  and  that  which  ought  to  be  received 
•*  without  controversy,"  or  curious  speculations  how  these  things  are.  It  will 
not  be  expected  that  I  should  here  enumerate  the  many  passages  by  which 
this  is  supported  in  the  New  Testament ;  I  will  however  mention  one,  which 
has  lately  struck  me  as  possessing  peculiar  force.  It  is  1  John  i.  1,  2,  "  That 
which  was  from  the  beginning,  wliich  we  have  heard,  which  we  have  seen 
with  our  eyes,  which  we  have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands  have  handled  o." 
the  Word  of  life.  For  the  Life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it,  and 
bear  witness,  and  show  unto  you  that  eternal  Life  which  was  with  the  Father, 
and  was  manifested  unto  us." 

On  this  passage  I  would  remark — 1.  That  there  is  a  manifest  resemblance 
between  John's  introduction  to  his  Epistle  and  that  to  his  Gospel,  and  that 
the  same  personage  that  is  there  called  "  The  Word"  is  here  called  "The 
Life,"  and  "  The  Word  of  Life." — 2.  That  as  the  Word  who  was  "  with 
God,"  and  who  "  was  God,"  was  "  made  flesh,"  and  the  apostles  "  beheld  his 
glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and 
truth ;"  so  the  "  Life,  even  that  eternal  Life  that  was  with  the  Father,  was 
manifested,  and  they  saw  it."  And  the  manifestation  of  the  Life,  in  human 
nature,  is  given  as  the  reason  why  he  came  to  be  "  seen  with  the  eyes, 
and  looked  upon,  and  handled;"  plainly  intimating  that  if  he  had  not  thus 
been  manifested,  he  would  have  been  concealed  from  all  mortal  eyes. — 3.  It 
was  not  the  Deity  itself,  "  personally  distinguished  as  the  Father,"  (for 
which  Dr.  Watts  in  his  latter  days  contended,*)  that  was  manifested;  but 
"  that  eternal  Life  which  was  with  the  Father." 

As  to  the  indwcUing  scheme,  I  do  not  at  present  sufficiently  comprehend 
it.  If  H.  D.  will  give  a  brief  and  clear  statement  of  it,  and  of  the  evidence 
on  which  it  rests,  whether  in  his  own  words  or  those  of  the  ablest  authors 
who  have  written  upon  it,  I  will  endeavour  seriously  and  candidly  to  con- 
sider what  he  may  advance. 


EEMARKS    ON    THE    INDWELLING    SCHEME. 

[In  reply  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Davis.] 

I  PROPOSED  m  my  last  that  you  should  state  the  indwelling  scheme,  with 
the  scriptural  grounds  on  which  you  supposed  it  to  rest.  I  wish  you  had 
complied  with  this  proposal;  merely  writing  about  a  subject  brings  nothing 
to  an  issue.  I  will  endeavour,  however,  to  collect  your  sentiments  as  well 
as  I  can. 

I  agree  with  you  that  "  attempts  to  investigate  difficult  parts  of  Divine 
truth  should  be  conducted  with  humility  and  candour."  If  any  thing  I  have 
written,  or  may  write,  be  inconsistent  with  either  of  these  virtues,  I  am 
willing  to  bear  the  blame.  But  I  hope  an  attempt  to  prove  that  the  denial 
of  Christ's  proper  Deity  is  inconsistent  with  worshipping  him,  and  trusting 
in  him  for  salvation,  is  not  necessarily  subject  to  such  a  charge.  I  am  far 
from  thinking  that  every  person  is  aware  of  the  legitimate  consequences  of 
his  own  doctrine,  or  that  in  his  approaches  to  God  he  acts  up  to  them ;  and 
still  further  from  "  excluding  from  salvation  all  who  may  not  have  the  same 
ideas  of  the  subject  with  myself"  I  must  add,  however,  that  true  candour 
does  not  consist  in  entertaining  a  good  opinion  of  one  another,  whatever  he 
our  religious  principles ;  but  in  speaking  the  truth  in  love.  You  may  think 
well  of  me,  and  I  of  you ;  and  we  may  go  on  complimenting  each  other, 

*  Palmer's  Life  of  Watts,  p.  62. 


700  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

till  we  both  fall  into  perdition.  As  to  your  personal  religion,  and  that  of 
the  "  very  many  "  who  you  say  think  with  you,  I  have  never  called  it  in 
question.  It  is  of  things,  not  persons,  that  I  have  written.  If  any  of  us 
find  ourselves  affected  by  what  another  advances,  it  becomes  us  to  examine 
whether  what  he  alleges  be  true,  and  not  to  content  ourselves  with  exclaim- 
ing against  his  want  of  candour.  If  I  think  the  worse  of  any  man  on  ac- 
count of  his  differing  from  7?ie,  that  will  only  betray  my  vanity  and  folly; 
but  if  I  do  not  think  the  worse  of  a  man  for  what  I  account  his  differing 
from  the  Scriptures,  and  thereby  dishonouring  Christ,  that  is  esteeming  men 
irrespective  of  the  truth  that  dwelleth  in  them,  and  rendering  it  of  no  im- 
portance ;  which,  however  pleasing  to  flesh  and  blood,  may  be  no  less  repug- 
nant to  the  spirit  of  Christianity  than  the  most  uncharitable  bitterness. 

You  ask,  "  whether,  by  the  proper  Deity  of  Christ,  I  mean  any  thing 
more  than  his  being  called  God  in  the  Scriptures."  Certainly  I  do :  or  I 
have  all  along  been  deceiving  myself  and  the  reader.  I  mean  that  he  is 
what  he  is  called.  But  do  I  suppose  "  that  he  is  God  in  the  same  sense  as 
the  three  persons  united  are  one  God  ?"  No  ;  I  do  not.  The  Father  is  not 
God  in  this  sense  any  more  than  the  Son  and  Spirit.  We  no  where  read 
that  the  Father  is  a  God,  the  Son  a  God,  or  the  Spirit  a  God,  when  spoken 
of  in  distinction  from  each  other ;  nor  do  I  recollect  any  such  idea  con- 
veyed in  the  Scriptures;  yet  each  Divine  person  has  every  perfection  of 
Godhead  ascribed  to  him. 

You  have  twice  suggested  that  the  Son  and  Spirit,  having  assumed  visible 
appearances,  must  have  a  nature  different  from  Deity.  You  cannot  mean 
that  the  nature  or  appearance  assumed  was  different  from  Deity ;  for  of  this 
there  is  no  dispute;  but  the  nature  assutning.  But  what  proof  is  there  of 
this?  I  do  not  know  that  the  Holy  Spirit  ever  assumed  any  other  nature 
than  his  own,  though  he  descended  on  Christ  in  the  form  or  appearance  of 
a  dove;  and  though  the  Son  assumed  human  nature,  yet  this  implies  no 
inferiority  to  the  Father,  in  respect  of  what  he  was  antecedently  to  such 
assumption. 

I  have  no  objection  to  our  inquiring,  not  only  into  the  evidence  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  contained  in  Scripture,  but,  as  far  as  Scripture 
informs  us,  what  that  doctrine  is.  It  does  not  become  us  however  to  take 
up  the  principle  of  the  Divine  Unity,  however  true  and  important,  and, 
having  formed  an  idea  of  it  as  being  personal,  resolve  to  admit  of  no  other 
than  what  shall  agree  with  our  preconceived  notion ;  for  this  were  to  regu- 
late certainty  by  uncertainty,  the  certain  light  of  revelation  by  the  uncertain 
conjectures  supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  light  of  nature.  We  ought  to 
regulate  our  ideas  of  the  Divine  Unity  by  what  is  taught  us  in  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  Trinity;  and  not  those  of  the  Trinity  by  what  we  know,  or 
think  we  know,  from  the  light  of  nature,  of  the  Unity. 

It  appears  to  me,  by  the  tenor  of  your  pieces,  especially  from  some  pas- 
sages, that  you  and  your  brethren  have  in  this  matter  symbolized  with  the 
Socinians,  who,  having  taken  up  the  idea  of  God  as  being  one  person,  reject 
every  thing  in  the  Scriptures  that  is  inconsistent  with  it;  and  therefore  re- 
nounce first  the  Deity,  and  then  the  atonement  of  Christ ;  and^  in  short, 
almost  every  thing  pertaining  to  revelation,  except  what  might  have  been 
learned  without  it.  I  do  not  say  that  you  go  their  lengths ;  but  would  seri- 
ously and  affectionately  entreat  you  to  consider  whether  you  have  not  adopted 
their  principle.  Do  you  not  make  your  ideas  of  the  unity  of  God  the  stand- 
ard by  which  to  try  the  Scripture  doctrine  of  the  Trinity ;  forming,  as  you 
say,  "  the  best  ideas  you  can"  of  the  latter  subject,  and  holding  nothing  fast 
except  the  former?  If  the  admission  of  Christ's  proper  Deity,  though  taught 
as  plainly  and  much  more  frequently  in  the  New  Testament  than  the  other. 


THE    DEITY    OF    CHRIST.  701 

cannot  be  understood  so  as,  in  your  ideas,  to  be  "  fully  consistent,"  it  must 
be  given  up,  and  a  "Godlike  form"  of  a  man,  as  one  of  your  writers  ex- 
presses it,  substituted  in  its  place.  But  if,  as  you  acknowledge,  "  the  three 
Divine  persons  spoken  of  in  Scripture  be  in  some  sense  one  God,"  why 
should  you  not  suspect,  or  rather  renounce,  your  own  ideas  of  the  unity,  as 
if  it  must  needs  be  confined  to  one  person?  And,  instead  of  "  forming  the 
best  ideas  you  can"  hotv  this  is,  why  should  you  not  be  content  with  believing 
that  it  is  so,  without  pret'ending  to  pry  into  that  which  is  above  your  compre- 
hension ?  Nor  ought  it  to  be  objected  that  so  abstruse  a  subject  cannot  be 
of  any  great  importance.  Can  you  communicate  to  me,  or  form  to  yourself, 
any  idea  of  sell^existence,  eternity,  or  infinity?  Yet,  if  you  do  not  believe 
them,  you  do  not  believe  in  God.  Your  own  scheme  also  appears  to  be  equally 
incomprehensible  as  ours ;  for  you  do  not  pretend  to  "  explain  how  the  Son 
and  Spirit  derive  their  nature  from  the  Father."  Here  then  you  can  admit 
of  mystery,  though,  as  to  the  question,  "  How  the  three  Divine  persons 
spoken  of  in  Scripture  are  one  God,"  you  are  for  going  about  to  "  form  the 
best  idea  that  you  can;"  and,  if  none  present  themselves,  conclude  that 
proper  Deity  belongs  only  to  one  of  them — a  singular  method  this  of  answer- 
ing the  question ! 

If  you  think  that  you  believe  "  the  three  Divine  persons  spoken  of  in 
Scripture  to  be  Divine,  and  to  be  one  God,"  do  you  not  deceive  yourself? 
You  speak  of  "  the  Son  and  Spirit  having  a  derived  nature."  If  by  deriva- 
tion you  mean  what  is  essential  and  eternal,  as  expressed  by  the  term  begotten, 
there  is  no  dispute  on  this  head.  But  if  you  mean  that  they  were  produced 
by  the  will  and  power  of  the  Father,  they  are  mere  creatures;  and  however 
exalted,  cannot  be  "  Divine."  No  Socinian,  I  apprehend,  would  deny  that 
God  dwelt  in  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  enabling  him  to  perform  all  his  mighty 
works.  But  he  would  tell  you,  and  justly  too,  that  this  does  not  prove  him 
to  be  any  thing  more  than  human.  Dr.  Watts,  I  am  aware,  spoke  of  the 
indwelling  of  the  Father  in  such  a  way  as  that  the  Father  and  the  human 
nature  became  "  one  person ;"  and  thus  conceived  that  he  maintained  the 
proper  Deity  of  Christ.  But,  whether  he  did  or  not,  his  conceit  of  the 
Father's  assuming  human  nature,  which  the  New  Testament  invariably 
ascribes  to  the  Son  or  Word,  or  that  eternal  Life  that  was  with  the  Father, 
leads  on  to  the  neglect,  and  by  degrees  to  the  disbelief,  of  this  important 
truth.  I  scarcely  remember  ever  to  have  heard  a  minister  of  your  persuasion 
introduce  the  subject  in  the  pulpit:  and  much  less  insist  upon  it  with  that 
earnestness  and  delight  which  is  so  frequently  found  in  the  writings  of  the 
New  Testament. 

Have  you  not  symbolized  with  the  Socinians  till  you  have  nearly,  if  not 
entirely,  lost  this  great  doctrine?  Do  you  really  consider  Christ  as  any 
thing  more  than  a  man  extraordinarily  inspired  of  God?  If  you  do,  how 
is  it  that  you  should  feel  yourself  hurt  when  the  contrary  is  maintained?  I 
advanced  nothing  in  the  piece  which  first  attracted  your  notice  but  the  Di- 
vinity of  Jesus  Christ.  I  had  not  the  remotest  idea  of  opposing  the  indwell- 
ing scheme.  I  thought  nothing  about  it ;  but  merely  stated  a  doctrine  which 
your  writers.  Watts  and  Doddridge,  professed  to  maintain.  Yet  this  excites 
your  suspicions.  Can  it  be  a  matter  of  doubt  whereabouts  you  are?  Excuse 
me  if  I  inquire  further.  Will  your  scheme  allow  you  to  worship  Christ,  I  do 
not  say  "  separately,"  but  distinctly  from  the  Father,  as  the  martyr  Stephen 
worshipped  him,  and  prayed  to  him  in  his  dying  moments ;  and  as  all  the 
primitive  Christians  worshipped  him,  calling  t/pon  his  name?  Finally,  Can 
you,  in  the  full  persuasion  of  this  scheme,  trust  in  him  for  salvation,  as  one 
who  is  able  to  keep  that  which  is  committed  to  him  ?  Does  it  not  rather 
teach  you  to  trust  in  the  Father  only,  as  dwelling  in  hira. 

3n2 


703  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC, 

These  are  serious  things,  and  require  to  be  answered  in  some  other  way 
than  by  exclaiming  against  the  want  of  candour.  Candour,  sir,  requires  us 
to  deal  plainly  and  faithfully  with  each  other.  By  the  manner  in  which  you, 
and  writers  on  your  side  of  the  question,  express  yourselves,  it  would  seem 
to  be  a  matter  of  small  account  what  we  believe  on  these  momentous  sub- 
jects, provided  we  do  but  think  well  of  one  another.  But  surely  that  which 
affects  the  objects  of  worship,  and  the  foundation  of  hope,  cannot  be  of  tri- 
fling importance.  Principles  form  the  character  in  the  sight  of  God  :  a  hand- 
ful of  cockle  may  seem  of  but  little  consequence  at  seed  time,  but  it  will 
appear  different  at  harvest. 

Your  scheme  requires  you  to  symbolize  with  Socinians  in  denying  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  "  equal  with"  the  Father,  and  to  explain  away  those 
scriptures  which  speak  of  him  as  such.  Thus  that  glorious  passage,  in  Phil, 
ii.  5-7,  is  degraded  and  martyred:  "Who,  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought 
it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God."  This  is  made  to  mean  that  "  his  human 
soul,  being  in  union  with  the  Godhead,"  that  is,  with  the  Father,  "was  in- 
vested with  a  God-like  form  and  glory  in  all  ages.  Thus  he  oftentimes  ap- 
peared to  the  patriarchs  as  the  Angel  of  the  Lord,  and  as  God.  This  seems 
to  be  '  the  form  of  God'  which  the  apostle  speaks  of;  nor  did  he  think  it 
'  any  robbery,'  or  presumption,  so  to  do ;  that  is,  to  appear  ano  act  as  God. 
Yet  he  '  emptied  himself,'  or  divested  himself  of  this  God-like  form  or 
appearance,  this  Divine  Shechinah ;  and,  coming  in  the  flesh,  he  consented 
to  be  '  made  in  the  likeness  of  other  men  ;'  nay,  he  took  upon  him  '  the  form 
of  a  servant,'  insteaa  of  '  the  form  of  God.'  "* 

"The  form  of  God"  means  the  God-like  form  assumed  by  a  man!  A 
man,  or  human  soul,  thought  it  no  presumption  to  "  appear  and  act  as  God  !" 
A  man  consented  to  be  made  in  the  likeness  of  men.  No;  this  was  loo 
gross :  therefore  the  term  "  other "  is  added  to  help  out.  A  man  was  so 
humble  and  condescending  as  to  take  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant!  And 
the  existence  of  this  man  was  necessary  to  the  covenant  of  redemption  ;t 
that  is,  till  God  had  formed  a  creature  out  of  nothing,  he  had  no  counsel, 
plan,  or  design,  what  should  be  done!  And  is  this  Dr.  Watts? — the 
sweet  singer  of  our  Israel ;  the  man  who  in  his  better  days  taught  us  thus  to 
worship — 

"  Ere  the  blue  heavens  were  stretched  abroad^ 
From  everlasting  was  the  Word  ; 
With  God  he  was,  the  Word  was  God, 
And  must  divinely  be  adored." 

How  are  the  mighty  fallen ! 

By  the  several  passages  of  Scripture  which  you  have  introduced,  in  sup- 
port of  the  indwelling  scheme,  it  seems  to  me  that  you  interpret  that  as 
being  essential  which  is  only  economical,  just  as  in  other  instances  you 
make  that  to  be  economical  which  is  essential.  Referring  to  John  xiv.  10, 
you  say,  "  Our  Lord  appeals  to  his  works  to  prove  that  he  was  in  the  Father, 
and  the  Father  in  him — the  Father  in  me  doeth  the  works."  All  that 
Christ  said  or  did  in  the  Father's  name  was  indeed  a  proof  of  such  a  mu- 
tual indwelling  as  that  he  who  had  seen  the  one  had  seen  the  other;  but 
not  of  our  Lord's  Deity  consisting  in  the  Father's  dwelling  in  him.  It  might 
as  well  be  alleged  from  this  passage  that  the  Deity  of  the  Father  consisted 
in  that  of  the  Son,  who  is  said  to  be  "  in  him."  This  and  all  other  such 
passages,  which  ascribe  the  works  of  Christ  to  the  power  of  the  Father, 
are  expressive  of  the  economy  of  things,  and  not  of  the  insufficiency  of  the 
Saviour. 

*  Palmer's  Life  of  Watts,  p.  86.  t  lb.  p.  68. 


THE  DEITY  OF  CHRIST.  703 

I  submit  to  your  consideration  the  following  brief  statement  of  my  views 
on  this  subject.  The  first  measure  in  the  execution  of  the  great  work  of 
redemption  was  that  he  who  was  "  in  the  form  of  God,"  and  as  such  "  equal 
with  God,"  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant ;  and,  having  taken  that  form, 
it  was  fitting,  in  the  account  of  Him  who  hath  abounded  towards  us  in  all 
wisdom  and  prudence,  that  he  should  act  under  it.  Now  it  belongs  to  the 
character  of  a  servant  that  he  receive  his  instructions  from  him  whose  servant 
he  is;  and  thus  did  Christ.  Though,  considered  as  Divine,  "  he  knew  all 
things,"  John  xxi.  17 ;  yet  as  a  servant,  and  as  being  made  in  the  likeness 
of  men,  he  grew  in  knowledge,  taught  nothing,  and  knew  nothing,  as  it 
were,  but  what  he  had  heard  and  learned  of  the  Father.  "  I  speak  to  the 
world,"  says  he,  "  those  things  which  I  have  heard  of  him." — "  Ye  seek  to 
kill  me,  a  man  that  hath  told  you  the  truth  which  I  have  heard  of  God:  this 
did  not  Abraham." — "  I  have  given  unto  them  the  words  which  thou  gavest 
mc,"  John  viii.  26,  40 ;  xvii.  8. 

Furtlier,  It  belongs  to  the  character  of  a  servant  that  he  act  under  the 
authority  and  be  directed  bi/  the  icill  of  him  whose  servant  he  is ;  and  thus 
did  Christ.  Though,  as  a  Son,  his  throne  was  acknowledged  by  the  Father 
himself  to  be  for  ever  and  ever,  Heb.  i.  8,  yet  as  a  servant  he  learned  obe- 
dience. He  was  sent  by  the  Father,  and  did  every  thing  in  obedience  to 
his  will.  "  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the 
Father  do." — "  I  seek  not  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  who 
sent  me." — "  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the 
will  of  him  that  sent  me,"  John  v.  19,  30;  vi.  33. 

Finally,  It  belongs  to  the  character  of  a  servant  that  he  he  supported  in  his 
iDork  by  him  who  employs  him;  and  this  was  Christ.  As  a  Divine  person 
he  was  acknowledged  to  be  most  mighty — the  mighty  God  (Psal.  xlv.  3; 
Isa.  ix.  G) ;  yet  as  a  servant,  and  during  his  humiliation,  he  is  commonly 
represented  as  doing  what  he  did  by  the  power  of  the  Father.  He  ordinarily 
ascribes  his  miracles  to  this,  and  not  to  his  own  power.  It  was  "  the  Father 
who  was  in  him  that  did  the  works."  Thus  he  was  "  God's  servant  whom 
he  upheld,  his  elect  in  whom  his  soul  delighteth." 

Is  it  not  a  pity,  sir,  that  this  surprising  instance  of  condescension,  for  the 
very  purpose  of  redeeming  us  from  the  wrath  to  come,  should  be  converted 
into  an  argument  against  his  essential  dignity?  If  it  be  asked.  What  is  it 
then  which  is  ascribed  to  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  if  his  miracles  and  works 
are  ordinarily  ascribed  to  the  Father,  or  to  the  Holy  Spirit :  and  of  what  use 
was  it?  1  answer.  It  gave  value  and  virtue  to  all  he  did  and  suffered.  Thus 
he  is  represented  as  "  by  himself"  purging  our  sins — "  The  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ,  his  Son,  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." — "We  have  a  great  High  Priest, 
who  is  passed  into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,"  Heb.  i.  3 ;  v.  14 ;  1 
John  i.  7. 

You  mention  some  other  passages :  as,  "  God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh  ;" 
by  which,  I  suppose,  you  would  understand  the  Father,  or  the  Deity,  with- 
out distinction  of  persons.  But  who  was  it  that  was  "  seen  of  angels,  believed 
on  in  the  world,  and  received  up  into  glory?"  Was  this  the  Father? — Fre- 
quent mention  has  also  been  made  of  Col.  ii.  9,  "  In  him  dwelleth  all  the 
fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily ;"  as  though  it  was  not  the  second  person  in 
the  Godhead  only  that  assumed  human  nature,  but  the  Godhead  itself  To 
this  I  answer.  If  the  passage  refer  to  the  constitution  of  the  person  of  Christ, 
which  to  me  is  doubtful,  it  may  without  any  force  be  understood  of  every 
perfection  of  the  Divine  nature  dwelling  in  him,  in  common  with  the  Father. 
To  interpret  it  of  the  Godhead,  without  distinction  of  persons,  is  to  contra- 
dict the  whole  tenor  of  the  New  Testament.  "God  sent  forth  his  Son, 
made  of  a  woman." — "  The  Word  that  was  with  God,  and  who  was  God, 


704 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


even  that  eternal  Life  that  was  with  the  Father,  was  made  flesh,  or  mani« 
fested  to  us,"  Gal.  iv.  4;  John  i.  1,  14;   1  John  i.  2. 

God  being  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,  has  no  relation, 
I  apprehend,  to  the  constitution  of  Christ's  person,  but  to  the  exercise  of 
mercy  through  his  atonement.  Thus  it  is  that  God  in  Christ,  or  for  Christ's 
sake,  is  said  to  have  forgiven  us,  Eph.  iv.  3*2. 


ON  THE  SONSHIP  OF  CHRIST. 

The  meaning  of  the  terms,  "  Son  of  God,"  and  "  07ily  begotten  Son  nf 
God"  must  needs  be  of  importance,  inasmuch  as  the  belief  of  the  idea 
signified  by  them  was  made  a  leading  article  in  the  primitive  professions  of 
faith,  John  vi.  69;  iii.  18;  xx.  31;  Acts  xviii.  37;  1  John  iv.  15.  What- 
ever disputes  have  arisen  of  late  among  Christians,  there  seems  to  have  been 
none  on  this  subject  in  the  times  of  the  apostles.  Both  Jews  and  Christians 
appear  to  have  agreed  in  this :  the  only  question  that  divided  them  was, 
whether  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God  or  not?  If  there  had  been  any  ambiguity 
in  the  term,  it  would  have  been  very  unfit  to  express  the  first  article  of  the 
Christian  faith. 

It  has  been  frequently  suggested  that  the  ground  of  Christ's  sonship  is 
given  us  in  Luke  i.  3.5,  and  is  no  other  than  his  miraculous  conception  • 
"The  Holy  Spirit  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Highest  shall 
overshadow  thee:  therefore  also  that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of  thee 
shall  be  called  the  Son  of  God." 

It  is  true  that  our  Lord  was  miraculously  conceived  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  that  such  a  conception  was  peculiar  to  him;  but  it  does  not  follow  that 
by  this  he  became  the  "  Son"  or  "  only  begotten  Son  of  God."  Nor  does 
the  passage  in  question  prove  any  such  thing.  It  has  been  thought  that  the 
phrase  "  Son  of  God,"  in  this  place,  is  used  in  a  peculiar  sense,  or  that  it 
respects  the  origin  of  Christ's  human  nature,  as  not  being  by  ordinary  gene- 
ration of  man,  but  by  the  extraordinary  influence  of  God;  and  that  he  is 
here  called  the  Son  of  God  in  the  same  sense  as  Adam  is  so  called,  (Luke 
iii.  38,)  as  being  produced  by  his  immediate  power.  If  this  be  the  meaning 
of  the  term,  in  the  passage  in  question,  I  should  think  it  will  be  allowed  to 
be  peculiar,  and  therefore  that  no  general  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  it 
as  to  the  meaning  of  the  term  in  other  passages.  But,  granting  that  the 
sonship  of  Christ  in  this  place  is  to  be  understood  in  the  same  sense  as  it  is 
commonly  to  be  taken  in  the  New  Testament,  still  it  does  not  follow  that 
the  miraculous  conception  is  the  origin  of  it.  It  may  be  a  reason  given  why 
Christ  is  c.edled  the  Son  of  God  ;  but  not  why  he  is  so.  Christ  is  called  the 
Son  of  God  as  raised  from  the  dead,  and  as  exalted  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
Acts  xiii.  33;  Heb.  i.  4,  5.  Did  he  then  become  the  Son  of  God  by  these 
events?  This  is  impossible;  for  sonship  is  not  a  progressive  matter.  If  it 
arose  from  his  miraculous  conception,  it  could  not,  for  that  reason,  arise 
from  his  resurrection  or  exaltation ;  and  so,  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  arose 
from  his  resurrection  or  exaltation,  it  could  not  proceed  from  his  miraculous 
conception.  But  if  each  be  understood  of  his  being  hereby  proved,  achioto- 
ledged,  or,  as  the  Scriptures  express  it,  "  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God  with 
power,"  all  is  easy  and  consistent. 

Whether  the  terms,  "  Son  of  God,"  and  "  only  begotten  Son  of  God,"  be 
not  expressive  of  his  Divine  personality,  antecedent  to  all  consideration  of 
his  being  conceived  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  womb  of  the  virgin,  let  the 
following  things  determine : — 


THE  SONSHIP  OF  CHRIST.  705 

First,  The  glory  of  "  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,"  and  the  glory  of 
the  "  Word,"  are  used  as  convertible  terms,  as  being  the  same ;  but  the  latter 
is  allowed  to  denote  the  Divine  person  of  Christ,  antecedent  to  his  being 
made  flesh;  the  same,  therefore,  must  be  true  of  the  former.  "The  Word 
was  made  flesh,  and  we  beheld  his  glory," — that  is,  the  glory  of  the  Word, 
"  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace  and  truth."  It 
is  true,  it  was  by  the  Word  being  "  made  flesh,  and  dwelling  among  us," 
that  his  glory  became  apparent;  but  the  glory  itself  was  that  of  the  eternal 
Word,  and  this  is  the  same  as  "  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father." 

Secondly,  The  Son  of  God  is  said  to  "  dwell  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father ;" 
that  is,  he  is  intimately  acquainted  with  his  character  and  designs,  and  there- 
fore fit  to  be  employed  in  making  them  known  to  men.  "  The  only  begot- 
ten Son,  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him."  If  this 
be  applied  to  his  Divine  person,  or  "  that  eternal  life  which  was  with  the 
Father,  and  was  manifested  to  us,"  it  is  natural  and  proper;  it  assigns  his 
omniscience  as  qualifying  him  for  making  known  the  mind  of  God;  but  if 
he  became  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father  by  his  miraculous  conception,  or 
by  any  other  means,  the  beauty  of  the  passage  vanishes. 

Thirdly,  God  is  frequently  said  to  have  sent  his  son  into  the  world ;  but 
this  implies  that  he  was  his  Son  antecedenfly  to  his  being  sent.  To  suppose 
otherwise  is  no  less  absurd  than  supposing  that  when  Christ  sent  forth  his 
twelve  disciples  they  were  not  disciples,  but  that  they  became  such  in  conse- 
quence of  his  sending  them,  or  of  some  preparation  pertaining  to  their  mis- 
sion. 

Fourthly,  Christ  is  called  the  Son  of  God  antecedently  to  his  miraculous 
conception,  and  consequently  he  did  not  become  such  by  it. — "  In  the  ful- 
ness of  time  God  sent  forth  his  Son,  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law; 
that  he  might  redeem  them  that  were  under  the  law." — "  God  sent  his  own 
Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh."  The  terms,  "made  of  a  woman,  made 
under  the  law,"  are  a  parenthesis.  The  position  affirmed  is,  that  God  sent 
forth  his  Son  to  redeem  the  transgressors  of  the  law.  His  being  made  of  a 
woman,  and  made  under  the  law,  or  covenant  of  works,  which  man  had 
broken,  expresses  the  necessary  means  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  great 
end  ;  which  means,  though  preceding  our  redemption,  yet  follow  the  sonship 
of  the  Redeemer.  There  is  equal  proof  that  Christ  was  "  the  Son  of  God" 
before  he  was  "  made  of  a  woman,"  as  that  he  was  "  the  Word"  before  he 
was  "  made  flesh."  The  phraseology  is  the  same  in  the  one  case  as  in  the 
other.  If  it  be  alleged  that  Christ  is  here  called  the  Son  of  God  on  account 
of  his  being  made  of  a  woman,  I  answer,  if  so,  it  is  also  on  account  of  his  being 
"made  under  the  law,"  which  is  too  absurd  to  admit  of  a  question.  More- 
over, to  say  that  "  God  sent  his  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh,"  is 
equal  to  saying  that  the  Son  of  God  assumed  human  nature:  he  must 
therefore  have  been  the  Son  of  God  before  his  incarnation. 

Fifthly,  Christ  is  called  the  Son  of  God  antecedent  to  his  being  "  mani- 
fested to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil ;"  but  he  was  manifested  to  destroy 
the  works  of  the  devil  by  taking  upon  him  human  nature;  consequently  he 
was  the  Son  of  God  antecedent  to  the  human  nature  being  assumed.  There 
is  equal  proof  from  the  phraseology  of  1  John  iii.  8  that  he  was  the  "  Son 
of  God"  antecedent  to  his  being  "  manifested  to  destroy  the  works  of  the 
devil,"  as  there  is  from  that  of  I  Tim.  iii.  16  that  he  was  "  God"  antecedent 
to  his  being"  manifested  in  the  flesh;"  or  from  1  John  i.  2  that  "  that  eter- 
nal Life  which  was  with  the  Father"  was  such  antecedent  to  his  being 
"  manifested  to  us." 

Sixthly,  The  ordinance  of  baptism  is  commanded  to  be  administered  "in 
Vol.  III.— 89. 


706  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  terma 
"  Father"  and  "  Holy  Spirit"  will  be  allowed  to  denote  Divine  persons;  and 
what  good  reasons  can  be  given  for  another  idea  being  affixed  to  the  term 
"Son'r 

Seventhly,  The  proper  Deity  of  Christ  precedes  his  office  of  Mediator,  or 
High  Priest  of  our  profession,  and  renders  it  an  exercise  of  condescension. 
But  the  same  is  true  of  his  sonship :  "  He  maketh  his  Son  a  High  Priest." 
— "  Though  he  was  a  Son,  yet  learned  he  obedience."  His  being  the  Son 
of  God,  therefore,  amounts  to  the  same  thing  as  his  being  a  Divine  person. 

Eighthly,  It  is  the  proper  Deity  of  Christ  which  gives  dignity  to  his  office 
as  Mediator;  but  this  dignity  is  ascribed  to  his  being  the  "Son  of  God." 
"  We  have  a  great  High  Priest,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God."  His  being  the  Son 
of  God,  therefore,  amounts  to  the  same  thing  as  his  being  a  Divine  person. 

Lastly,  It  is  the  proper  Deity  of  Christ  which  gives  ejjicacy  to  his  suffer- 
ings :  "  by  himself  he  purges  our  sins."  But  this  efficacy  is  ascribed  to  his 
being  the  "  Son  of  God  :"  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  cleanseth  us 
from  all  sin."  His  being  the  Son  of  God,  therefore,  amounts  to  the  same 
thing  as  his  being  a  Divine  person. 

Those  who  attribute  Christ's  sonship  to  his  miraculous  conception  (those 
at  least  to  whom  I  refer)  are  nevertheless  constrained  to  allow  that  the  term 
im.plics  proper  Divinity.  Indeed,  this  is  evident  from  John  v.  18,  where  his 
saying  that  "God  was  his  own  Father"  is  supposed  to  be  "  making  himself 
equal  with  God."  But  if  the  miraculous  conception  be  the  proper  founda- 
tion of  his  sonship,  why  should  it  contain  such  an  implication?  A  holy 
creature  might  be  produced  by  the  overshadowing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
yet  should  be  merely  a  creature;  that  is,  he  might,  on  this  hypothesis,  pro- 
fess to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  yet  be  so  far  from  making  himself  equal  with 
God,  as  to  pretend  to  be  nothing  more  than  a  man. 

It  has  been  objected  that  Christ,  when  called  the  Son  of  God,  is  com- 
monly spoken  of  as  engaged  in  the  work  of  mediation,  and  not  simply  as  a 
Divine  person  antecedent  to  it. — I  answer.  In  a  history  of  the  rebellion,  in 
the  year  1745,  the  name  of  his  Royal  Highness,  the  commander-in-chief, 
would  often  be  mentioned  in  connexion  with  his  equipage  and  exploits;  but 
none  would  infer  from  hence  that  he  thereby  became  the  king's  son. 

It  is  further  objected  that  sonship  implies  inferiority,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  attributed  to  the  Divine  person  of  Christ. — But  whatever  inferiority  may 
be  attached  to  the  idea  of  sonship,  it  is  not  an  inferiority  of  nature,  which  is 
the  point  in  question ;  and  if  any  regard  be  paid  to  the  Scriptures,  the  very 
contrary  is  true.  Christ's  claiming  to  be  the  Son  of  God  was  "  making  him- 
self," not  inferior,  but  as  God,  or  "  equal  with  God." 

Once  more,  Sonship,  it  is  said,  implies  posteriority,  or  that  Christ  as  a  Son 
could  not  have  existed  till  after  the  Father :  to  attribute  no  other  Divinity  to 
him,  therefore,  than  what  is  denoted  by  sonship,  is  attributing  none  to  him; 
as  nothing  can  be  Divine  which  is  not  eternal. — But  if  this  reasoning  be  just, 
it  will  prove  that  the  Divine  purposes  are  not  eternal,  or  that  there  was  once 
a  point  in  duration  in  which  God  was  without  thought,  purpose,  or  design. 
For  it  is  as  true,  and  may  as  well  be  said,  that  God  must  exist  before  he 
could  purpose,  as  that  the  Father  must  exist  before  he  had  a  Son;  but  if  God 
must  exist  before  he  could  purpose,  there  must  have  been  a  point  in  dura- 
tion in  which  he  existed  without  purpose,  thought,  or  design ;  that  is,  in 
which  he  was  not  God !  The  truth  is,  the  whole  of  this  apparent  difficulty 
arises  from  the  want  of  distinguishing  between  the  order  of  nature  and  the 
order  of  time.  In  the  order  of  nature,  the  sun  must  have  existed  before  it 
could  shine ;  but  in  the  order  of  time,  the  sun  and  its  rays  are  coeval ;  it 
never  existed  a  single  instant  without  them.     In  the  order  of  nature,  God 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  TRINITY.  707 

must  have  existed  before  he  could  purpose;  but  in  the  order  of  time,  or 
duration,  he  never  existed  without  his  purpose;  for  a  God  without  thought 
or  purpose  were  no  God.  And  thus  in  the  order  of  nature  the  Father  must 
have  existed  before  the  Son;  but,  in  that  of  duration,  he  never  existed  with- 
out the  Son.     The  Father  and  the  Son,  therefore,  are  properly  eternal. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  TRINITY. 

No  sober  Trinitarian  would  take  upon  him  to  say  precisely  to  what  de- 
gree the  distinctions  in  the  Godhead  extend.  It  is  generally  supposed,  how- 
ever, that  the  term  pa-son  approaches  the  nearest  to  the  Scriptural  idea  of 
any  term  that  could  be  applied  to  this  subject;  yet  those  who  use  and  con- 
tend for  this  term,  in  opposition  to  that  of  three  nanies  or  ihree  properties,  do 
not  mean  to  suggest  that  the  distinctions  in  the  Deity  are  in  all  respects  the 
same  as  between  three  persons  among  men.  The  latter  have  no  necessary 
connexion  or  union  with  each  other,  so  as  to  denominate  them  one.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  there  is  nothing  in  creation  perfectly  analogous  to  the 
mode  of  the  Divine  subsistence ;  and  therefore  nothing  by  which  it  can  be 
fully  conceived.  And  what  if  this  should  be  the  case?  Where  is  the  wonder 
that  there  should  be  something  in  God  peculiar  to  himself,  in  the  mode  of 
his  existence,  which  we  cannot  comprehend?  If  Socinians  would  but  mo- 
destly consider  the  weakness  of  the  human  understanding,  they  would  not 
decide  so  peremptorily  on  the  other  hand  concerning  the  unity  of  God,  as 
that  it  must  needs  he  personal,  or  not  at  all.  If  it  be  too  much  for  us  to  say 
with  exactness  to  what  degree  the  distinction  reaches,  is  it  not  also  too  much 
for  them  to  decide  upon  the  precise  kind  and  degree  of  union  which  is  ne- 
cessary to  denominate  the  great  Creator  of  the  world — the  one  God? 

The  doctrine  of  a  Trinity  in  unity  is  evidently  a  doctrine  of  pure  revela- 
tion, and  could  never  have  been  discovered  by  the  mere  light  of  nature.  But, 
by  comparing  Scripture  with  itself,  we  may  plainly  perceive  that  the  Divine 
unity  is  not  a  unity  of  person.  Though  there  are  three  in  the  Godhead  who 
are  dignified  with  the  same  incommunicable  titles  of  Jehovah,  God,  and 
Lord — possessing  the  same  attributes  and  perfections,  and  entitled  to  the 
same  worship  and  adoration — yet  the  Scriptures  do  not  exhibit  a  plurality 
of  Deities,  but  teach  us  that  Jehovah  our  God  is  one  Jehovah.  The  obvious 
conclusion  is,  that  these  three  are  one  God,  and  that  the  Scripture  doctrine 
of  unity  is  of  more  persons  than  one  in  the  Godhead.  The  following  pass- 
ages, among  many  others,  are  very  full  to  this  purpose: — 

"Go,  teach  all  nations;  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the 
Son,  and  nf  the  Hohj  Spirit. — There  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven; 
the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holif  Spirit,  and  these  three  are  one. — I  am 
one  that  bear  witness  of  myself. —  The  Father  that  sent  me  beareth  witness 
of  me. — It  is  the  Spirit  that  beareth  witness. — And  the  Hohj  Spirit  de- 
scended in  a  bodily  shape  like  a  dove  upon  him;  and  a  voice  came  from 
heaven  which  said,  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased. — 
When  the  Comfoiter  is  come,  whom  I  unll  send  unto  you  from  the  Father, 
even  the  Spirit  of  truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify 
of  me. — Now  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  for  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  and 
for  the  love  o(  the  Spirit,  that  you  strive  together  with  me  in  your  prayers  to 
God  for  me. —  Through  him  (that  is,  Christ)  we  both  have  access  by  one 
Spirit  to  the  Father. — Praying  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  keep  yourselves  in  the 
love  of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal 


W8 


MISCELLANEOTTS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


life. —  Tlie  Lord  direct  your  hearts  into  the  love  of  God,  and  the  patient 
waiting  for  Christ. — The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God, 
and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  with  you  all." 

On  reading  these  and  similar  passages,  together  with  a  great  number  of 
others  which  teach  the  proper  Deity  of  Christ,  we  conclude  that  in  a  myste- 
rious way,  fiir  above  our  comprehension,  there  are  in  the  Divine  unity  three 
subsistencies ;  and  as  the  New  Testament  constantly  represents  each  of  these 
three  as  bearing  personal  names,  sustaining  personal  offices,  and  performing 
personal  acts,  we  think  ourselves  warranted  in  accounting  them  three  Divine 
persons. 

Socinians,  however,  object  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  on  account  of  its 
being  incomprehensible :  and  Dr.  Priestley  denies  that  the  first  teachers  of 
Christianity  taught  any  "  mysterious  doctrines,  or  doctrines  in  their  own 
nature  incomprehensible;"*  and  insists  upon  the  necessity  of  "considering 
in  what  manner  three  persons  are  one  God,  upon  the  general  principle  that 
every  proposition,  before  it  can  be  believed,  must  be  understood  in  some 
sense  or  other."f 

The  first  preachers  of  Christianity  taught  the  self-existence  of  God:  Rev, 
i.  4,  "Grace  be  unto  you,  and  peace,  from  him  who  is,  and  who  was,  and 
who  is  to  come."  But  the  self-existence  of  God  is  allowed  by  Dr.  Priestley 
himself  to  be  so  much  of  a  mystery  that  "he  does  not  understand  the  man- 
ner of  it."  He  can  here  distinguish  between  things  which  are  above  reason 
and  things  contrary/  to  it.  "Though  it  be  above  our  reason,"  he  says,  "to 
comprehend  how  this  original  Being,  and  the  cause  of  all  other  beings, 
should  be  himself  uncaused,  it  is  a  conclusion  by  no  means  properly  contrary 
to  reason."!  Now,  why  might  not  an  atheist  demand  of  Dr.  Priestley  an 
account  of  the  mode  or  manner  how  God  himself  can  exist,  upon  the  general 
principle,  "that  every  proposition,  before  it  can  be  believed,  must  be  under- 
stood in  some  sense  or  other?"  Why  should  not  this  general  principle  apply 
to  the  manner  in  which  God  always  existed,  as  an  uncaused  Being,  as  well 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  three  persons  are  one  God?  And  if  it  be  proper 
to  distinguish  between  things  above  reason  and  things  contrary  to  it,  in  the 
one  case,  why  not  in  the  other? 

The  truth  is,  it  is  not  necessary  that  every  thing  contained  in  a  proposition 
should  be  clearly  understood,  in  order  to  our  being  rationally  convinced 
that  such  a  proposition  is  true.  We  ought  not  to  deny  every  thing  we  cannot 
comprehend;  otherwise  a  man  born  blind  would  reason  right  when  he  forms 
this  syllogism:  We  can  only  know  the  shape  of  different  substances  by  feeling 
them ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  handle  them  at  a  distance;  therefore,  it  is  im- 
possible to  know  the  shape  of  different  bodies  which  lie  beyond  our  reach! 
A  blind  man,  by  the  concurring  testimony  of  all  about  him,  may  be  convinced 
that  the  figure  of  different  bodies  may  be  clearly  ascertained  by  sight,  though 
we  cannot  handle  them.  But  when  convinced  of  this  on  the  ground  of  tes- 
timony, he  never  can  be  made  to  conceive  how  this  is  true.  It  is  therefore 
a  fundamental  maxim,  in  all  true  philosophy,  that  many  things  may  be  incom- 
prehensible and  yet  demonstrable,  that  though  seeing  clearly  be  a  sufficient 
reason  for  affirming,  yet  not  seeing  at  all  can  never  be  a  reason  for  denying. 

When  it  is  affirmed  that  in  the  Godhead  there  are  three,  and  that  these 
three  are  one  God,  it  has  been  objected,  not  only  that  the  doctrine  is  incom- 
prehensible, but  that  the  terms  themselves  involve  a  contradiction;  to  this  it 
might  be  replied,  that  if  the  Divine  Being  were  affirmed  to  be  three  in  the 
same  sense  in  which  he  is  said  to  be  one,  the  objection  would  be  valid;  but 

*  Letters  to  a  Philosophical  Unbeliever,  Part  II.  p.  209.  t  Letters  to  Dr.  Horae. 

X  Letters  to  a  Philosophical  Unbeliever,  Part  I.  p.  46. 


JUSTIFICATION.  709 

the  contradiction  here  is  only  a  seeming  one,  and  is  no  other  than  what 
appears  in  other  propositions  concerning  the  Divine  Being,  wliich  are  also 
true.  Suppose  it  were  affirmed  that  it  is  possible  for  God  to  do  evil,  and  yet 
that  it  is  impossible  he  should  do  evil :  this  would  involve  an  apparent  con- 
tradiction ;  and  if  the  two  branches  of  the  proposition  were  to  be  understood 
in  the  same  sense  of  possible  and  impossible,  the  contradiction  would  be  real. 
But  to  say  that  it  is  not  naturally  impossible  for  God  to  do  evil,  were  he 
so  inclined,  is  only  affirming  what  is  necessary  to  his  being  a  free  agent,  and 
so  of  being  virtuous  or  holy;  and  to  say  that  it  is  morally  impossible  for  God 
to  do  evil  IS  only  ascribing  to  him  that  perfection  of  holiness  which  consti- 
tutes the  true  glory  of  his  character.  So  to  affirm  that  the  centre  and  surface 
of  the  globe  are  exceedingly  remote,  and  yet  so  exceedingly  near  as  to  be 
equally  the  central  point  of  infinite  space,  is  an  apparent  contradiction,  and 
yet  demonstrably  true.  Tliat  the  remotest  periods  of  time  are  alike  the  centre 
of  infinite  duration  is  also  a  most  evident  truth,  and  yet  a  caviller  might 
object  that  the  terms  of  these  propositions  involve  a  contradiction;  it  is  like 
saying  that  two  points  may  be  one,  and  that  one  may  be  two.  Yet,  opposite 
as  the  terms  may  appear,  the  truth  of  the  proposition  is  not  at  all  affected  by 
them,  but  rests  on  the  strongest  demonstration. 


JUSTIFICATION. 

THE    DOCTRINE    OF    IMPUTED    RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

*'  This  is  the  name  wherewith  she  shall  be  called.  The  Lord  our  righteousness."— 
Jer.  xxxiii.  16. 

It  may  seem  too  much  for  the  church  of  Christ  to  bear  a  name  which  is 
properly  applicable  only  to  Christ  himself,  and  is  expressly  given  to  him  in 
chap,  xxiii.  C  of  the  same  prophecy.  Interpreters  have  attempted  to  account 
for  this  in  different  ways.  Some  have  rendered  the  words,  "  And  this  is  the 
name  of  Him  that  shall  call  her,"  as  we  should  say,  by  his  grace,  "  The 
Lord  our  righteousness."  But  the  words  clearly  import  an  appellation  given 
to  the  church.  Others  have  supposed  the  church  to  be  called  after  the  name 
of  Christ  on  account  of  her  intimate  union  with  him,  as  a  woman  is  called 
after  the  name  of  her  husband.  But  this  is  a  modern  practice,  to  which 
therefore  there  can  be  no  allusion. 

The  name  in  the  Hebrew  is  Jehovah-tsidkenu;  and,  if  T  am  not  mistaken, 
the  use  of  several  other  of  these  compound  terms  in  the  Old  Testament  will 
determine  the  meaning  of  the  passage  in  question.  When  Abraham  was 
about  to  offer  up  his  son,  in  the  very  moment  of  extremity  his  hand  was 
stayed,  and  a  lamb  was  provided.  Abraham,  in  commemoration  of  this 
signal  interposition,  called  the  name  of  the  place  Jehovah-jireh,  the  Lord 
will  see  or  provide.  When  God  gave  Israel  the  victory  over  Amalek,  Moses 
built  an  altar,  and  called  it  Jehovah-nissi,  the  Lord  my  banner.  When 
Gideon,  having  seen  an  angel  of  God,  was  apprehensive  that  he  should  die, 
and  the  Lord  comforted  him,  saying,  "Peace  be  unto* thee,  fear  not;"  he 
built  an  altar,  and  called  it  Jthovah-sliaJom,  the  Lord  send  peace.  Finally, 
when  the  church  in  the  latter  day,  under  the  form  of  a  city,  is  described  in 
prophecy,  it  is  said  that  its  name  shall  be  called  Jchovah-shammah,  the  Lord 
is  there:  Gen.  xxii.  14;  Exod.  xvii.  15;  Judg.  vi.  24;  Ezek.  xlviii.  35.  Now 
the  place  where  Abraham  received  the  Lamb  was  not  Jehovah,  nor  either  of 
the  altars  erected  by  Moses  and  Gideon.    They  were  only  memorials  of  what 

30 


710  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Jehovah  had  wrought.  Neither  will  the  city  described  by  Ezekiel  be  Jehovah; 
but  the  presence  of  Jehovah  shall  be  so  sensibly  and  manifestly  with  it.  that 
this  shall  be  its  name,  or  distinguishing  characttr.  Thus  it  is  that  the  church, 
under  the  gospel  dispensation,  shall  be  called  Jehovah-tsidkenu,  the  Lord  our 
righteousness;  not  because  she  is  Jehovah,  but  because  her  justification,  by 
the  righteousness  of  Jehovah,  forms  a  kind  of  prominent  feature  in  her 
countenance.  This  leading  truth  is  inscribed  upon  her  in  deep  and  legible 
characters,  like  those  upon  the  altars  of  Moses  and  Gideon.  She  is  even  a 
standing  memorial  of  it  to  all  generations. 

Such,  I  take  it,  is  the  meaning  of  this  prophecy.  Let  us  next  inquire 
whether  it  accords  with  fact.  If  there  be  a  leading  principle  which  distin- 
guishes the  gospel  church  more  than  any  other,  it  may  be  expected  to  occupy 
a  conspicuous  place  in  the  New  Testament.  It  is  true,  the  Old  Testament 
church  was  accepted  of  God  through  the  same  medium  that  we  are;  but,  the 
righteousness  of  Jesus  not  being  actually  wrought,  it  does  not  form  so  pro- 
minent a  feature  in  that  dispensation.  As  soon  as  our  Lord  entered  on  his 
ministry,  he  declared  his  errand  to  be,  "  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost."  The  self-righteous  Pharisees,  who  were  whole  in  their  own  eyes,  were 
most  of  them  left  to  perish  in  their  own  deceivings,  while  publicans  and 
harlots  entered  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before  them.  Every  encourage- 
ment was  given  to  faith  in  the  Redeemer.  In  answer  to  this  the  diseased 
were  cured,  and  the  guilty  forgiven,  whatever  had  been  their  former  charac- 
ter. Those  who  embraced  the  Saviour  from  among  the  sect  of  the  Phari- 
sees, and  who  were  righteous  in  their  own  eyes,  were  brought  to  an  open 
renunciation  of  every  thing  of  this  kind,  and  to  sue  for  mercy  among  the 
chier  of  sinners.  This  was  particularly  the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  who 
"  counted  all  things  but  loss  that  he  might  win  Christ,  and  be  found  in  him; 
not  having  his  own  righteousness,  which  was  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is 
through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith," 
Phil.  iii.  8,  9. 

When  the  apostles,  commissioned  by  their  Lord,  went  forth  preaching  the 
gospel  to  every  creature,  this  was  their  errand.  To  the  Jews  they  thus  ad- 
dressed themselves :  "  Be  it  known  unto  you,  therefore,  men  and  brethren, 
that  through  this  man  is  preached  unto  you  the  forgiveness  of  sins :  and  by 
him  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be 
justified  by  the  law  of  Moses,"  Acts  xiii.  38,  39.  As  to  the  Gentiles,  their 
address  to  them  was  in  substance  as  follows :  "  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors 
for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you,  in  Christ's 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.  For  he  hath  made  him  to  be  sin  for  us  who 
knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him,"  2 
Cor.  V.  20,  21. 

In  almost  all  the  Epistles,  we  find  this  great  truth  written  in  legible  cha- 
racters. It  is  almost  the  sole  object  of  that  to  the  Romans.  To  quote  all 
the  evidence  from  it  were  to  quote  the  Epistle  itself.  I  shall  only  observe 
that  there  are  some  errors  noted  in  that  Epistle,  among  believers,  and  which 
were  to  be  objects  of  forbearance ;  but  justification  by  faith  in  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ,  to  the  renouncing  of  all  dependence  on  the  works  of  the  law, 
is  not  represented  as  a  question  that  divided  believers,  but  as  a  principle  of 
such  importance  as  to  distinguish  believers  from  unbelievers.  "  The  Gen- 
tiles which  followed  not  after  righteousness  have  attained  to  righteousness, 
even  the  righteousness  which  is  of  faith.  But  Israel,  which  followed  after 
the  law  of  righteousness,  has  not  attained  to  the  law  of  righteousness. 
Wherefore?  Because  they  sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  the  works 
of  the  law ;  for  they  stumbled  at  that  stumbling-stone.  Being  ignorant  of 
God's  righteousness,  and  going  about  to  establish  their  own  righteousness, 


JUSTIFICATION.  711 

they  have  not  submitted  themselves  to  the  righteousness  of  God,"  Rom.  ix. 
30-32 ;  X.  3. 

The  disorders  of  the  Corinthians  were  greater  than  those  of  any  other  of 
the  primitive  churches.  This,  with  some  who  profess  to  believe  this  im- 
portant truth  in  the  present  day,  would  have  been  thought  a  sufficient  reason 
for  withljoldiug  it  in  this  instance,  lest  it  should  be  abused;  but  Paul  did  not 
withhold  it.  "  Of  him,"  says  he,  "  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  of  God  is 
made  unto  us  wisdom,  and  rigliteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemp- 
tion," 1  Cor.  i.  30,  31.  He  had  found  them  sunk  in  vice  and  profligacy. 
Speaking  of  fornicators,  idolaters,  adulterers,  effeminate,  abusers  of  them- 
selves with  mankind,  thieves,  covetous,  drunkards,  revilers,  extortioners; 
"and  such,"  says  he,  "were  some  of  you:  but  ye  are  washed,  but  ye  are 
sanctified,  but  ye  are  justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the 
Spirit  of  our  God,"  1  Cor.  vi.  9-11. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  like  that  to  the  Romans,  is  principally  com- 
posed of  this  doctrine.  It  is  here  considered  of  such  importance  as  that  the 
rejection  of  it  "  perverted  the  gospel  of  Christ."  Those  teachers  who  set 
themselves  against  it,  and  thereby  troubled  the  churches,  the  apostle  wished 
to  have  them  "cut  off"  from  among  them.  And  those  professors  of  Chris- 
tianity who  gave  into  another  system  he  considered  as  "  fallen  from  grace," 
or  as  having  deserted  the  truth  of  the  gospel;  and  told  them  plainly  that 
Christ  was  "  become  of  no  effect  to  them,"  Gal.  i.  7 ;  v.  4,  12. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  the  object  of  which  seems  to  be  to  endear 
Christ,  and  the  knowledge  of  him,  enumerates  the  spiritual  blessings  with 
which  God  hath  blessed  us  in  him,  and  among  these  is  his  having  made  us 
"  accepted  in  the  Beloved."  And  again,  "  By  grace  ye  are  saved,  through 
faith,  and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God.  Not  of  works,  lest 
any  man  should  boast." 

Similar  observations  might  be  made  on  almost  all  the  remaining  Epistles. 
I  shall  content  myself  with  only  referring  the  reader  to  the  following  pas- 
sages, (Phil  iii.  7-9;  1  Tim.  i.  9;  Tit.  iii.  4-7;  2  Pet.  i.  1  ;  1  John  ii.  1  ; 
Rev.  xix.  8,)  and  offering  a  few  remarks  on  the  apparent  inconsistency  of 
Paul  and  James  on  this  subject.  If  the  justification  on  which  these  sacred 
writers  insist  were  the  same,  their  doctrine  would  certainly  wear  every  ap- 
pearance of  contradiction,  inasmuch  as  that  the  one  affirms  we  are  justified 
"  by  faith  without  the  works  of  the  law,"  while  the  other  insists  that  a  man 
is  justified  "  by  works,  and  not  by  faith  only."  Yea,  and  what  is  more,  each 
of  them  appeals  to  the  case  of  Abraham,  as  an  example  of  his  doctrine,  Rom. 
iv.  1-G;  James  ii.  21-26.  But  if  the  justification  on  which  they  severally 
insist  be  different,  different  things  may  be  affirmed  concerning  each,  without 
any  contradiction.  And  this  is  manifestly  the  case.  Paul  discourses  on  the 
justification  of  the  ungodly,  or  of  sinners  being  accepted  of  God,  which  is 
by  faith  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  without  works;  James  on  the  justifi- 
cation of  the  godly,  or  of  a  saint  being  approved  of  God,  and  which  is  by 
works.  Abraham  is  said  to  have  been  justified  by  faith,  when  he  first  be- 
lieved the  promise,  prior  to  his  circumcision  ;  but  by  works,  many  years  after 
it,  his  faith  was  made  manifest,  when  he  offered  Isaac  his  son  upon  the 
altar.  The  one  therefore  relates  to  his  acceptance  with  God  as  a  sinner,  the 
other  to  his  being  approved  of  God  as  a  saint.  Both  together  completed  his 
character.  "  He  believed,  and  it  was  accounted  to  him  for  righteousness;"' 
he  obeyed,  and  was  "  called  the  friend  of  God." 

Upon  the  whole,  if  these  observations  be  just,  we  are,  by  this  appellation 
given  to  the  Christian  church,  furnished  with  a  criterion  by  which  to  judge 
of  it.  It  is  composed  of  such  characters  as,  renouncing  all  dependence  upon 
their  own  righteousness,  rely  only  upon  the  righteousness  of  Christ  for  ao 


712  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC 

ceptance  with  God;  while  at  the  same  time  their  faith  is  not  a  dead,  inope- 
rative opinion,  but  a  vital  principle,  productive  of  good  works. 

We  also  see  the  justice  with  which  divines  have  insisted  on  the  import- 
ance of  this  great  article  of  faith.  It  was  with  good  reason  that  Luther,  in 
particular,  considered  it  as  a  kind  of  corner-stone  in  the  Reformation.  Those 
reformed  communities,  whether  national  or  congregational,  which  have 
relinquished  this  principle  in  their  confessions  of  faith,  or  which,  retaining 
it  in  their  confessions,  yet  renounce  or  neglect  it  in  their  ordinary  minis- 
trations, have  with  it  lost  the  spirit  and  power  of  true  religion. 

DEFENCE    OF    THE    DOCTRINE    OF    IMPUTED    RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

[In  reply  to  a  Correspondent,  in  1799.] 

I  AGREE  with  your  correspondent,  Christopher,  that  "  a  manly  and  Chris- 
tian avowal  of  our  sentiments  tends  to  the  discovery  and  establishment  of 
truth;"  to  which  also  "I  devoutly  wish  that  all  our  differences  may  verge." 
But  if  I  thought  that  "  difference  of  opinion,"  or,  as  I  should  call  it,  the 
imbibing  of  opposite  religious  principles,  was  any  otherwise  "  unavoidable 
in  the  present  state"  than  as  every  other  species  of  sinful  imperfection  is  so, 
I  should  consider  the  attainment  of  truth  as  an  object  of  no  importance; 
and  all  our  labours  to  rectify  our  own  and  each  others'  errors  as  so  many 
attempts  to  subvert  the  order  of  nature.  It  were  absurd  to  attempt  to  reduce 
to  uniformity  the  natural  differences  of  men's  tastes  and  features ;  and  if 
differences  in  religion  be  of  the  same  kind,  as  your  correspondent  seems  to 
think,  it  were  equally  absurd  to  attempt  to  lessen  them,  or  "  devoutly  to  wish 
them  to  verge  towards  truth." 

But  really,  sir,  I  feel  at  a  loss  how  to  enter  upon  a  defence;  and  this  be- 
cause I  cannot  perceive  that  any  thing  I  have  advanced  is  the  object  of  your 
correspondent's  attack.  It  is  true,  he  begins  by  expressing  his  disapproba- 
tion of  imputed  righteousness;  but  I  am  not  the  inventor  of  that  doctrine, 
or  of  the  terms  by  which  it  is  expressed.  If  there  be  any  thing  objectionable 
in  either,  it  is  the  apostle  Paul  that  must  be  accountable  for  it,  who  in  the 
fourth  chapter  of  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  has  repeatedly  used  the  very 
language  at  which  your  correspondent  has  taken  offence.  If  the  objection 
had  been  made  to  any  explanation  of  the  doctrine  which  I  had  given,  I 
should  have  considered  myself  as  called  upon  to  reply ;  but  as  what  is  alleged 
is  against  imputation  itself,  I  have  no  concern  in  the  business.  It  is  on  Paul 
that  Christopher  has  made  his  attack,  and  he  and  Paul  must  settle  the  mat- 
ter. It  is  true,  he  has  explicitly  stated  the  notion  of  imputation  to  which  he 
objects,  which  he  says  is  this — "  To  ascribe  that  to  a  man  which  he  has  not, 
whereby  he  is  considered  righteous,  or  a  good  man."  But  this  is  as  foreign 
from  any  thing  I  have  advanced  as  darkness  is  from  light.  To  have  answered 
me,  he  should  have  collected  my  ideas  of  the  subject :  if  there  were  none  to 
collect,  there  could  be  nothing  to  answer.  I  have  no  notion  of  "ascribing" 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  to  the  believing  sinner  personally,  any  more  than 
he  has.  I  should  as  soon  "  ascribe"  the  unrighteousness  of  the  sinner  to 
Christ  as  the  righteousness  of  Christ  to  the  sinner.  The  imputation  of  sin 
to  Christ,  and  of  righteousness  to  the  sinner,  appears  to  me  to  consist,  not 
in  God's  thinking  or  judging  of  characters  differently  from  what  they  are,  or 
declaring  them  to  be  what  they  are  not;  but  in  his  treating  or  dealing  with 
ihcm*  not  according  to  their  personal  merit  or  demerit,  but  according  to 
those  of  another.  God  neither  thought  his  Son  to  be  wicked,  nor  declared 
him  to  be  so ;  but  he  treated  or  dealt  with  him  as  if  he  had  been  so.     God 

*  In  a  subsequent  record  of  his  views  the  author  defines  imputation  as  consisting  not  of 
treatment,  but  charging  or  reckoning,  which  is  the  ground  of  treatment. — Ed. 


JUSTIFICATION.  713 

neither  thinks  the  character  of  the  believing  sinner  such  as  his  righteous  law 
approves,  nor  declares  it  to  be  so ;  but  he  treats  or  deals  with  him  as  if  it 
were  so,  out  of  respect  to  the  righteousness  of  him  in  whom  he  believeth. 

Of  course,  by  the  term  righteous,  as  it  is  used  with  reference  to  justifica- 
tion, I  do  not  mean  the  same  thing  as  being  "  a  good  man."  I  should  as 
soon  consider  Christ's  being  "  made  sin  for  us"  as  the  same  thing  wilh  his 
being  made  a  bad  man,  as  I  should  our  being  made  "  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  him"  to  be  the  same  thing  with  our  being  made  good  men.  This 
is  utterly  confounding  justification  with  sanctification,  which  indeed  appears 
to  me  to  be  the  drift  of  the  whole  piece. 

The  statement  which  Christopher  gives  of  men's  recovery  by  Jesus  Christ 
seems  to  represent  sinners  not  as  accepted  of  God  out  of  regard  to  what 
Christ  has  done,  but  on  the  ground  of  "  the  Divine  life  and  likeness  within 
us ;"  and  that  the  righteousness  which  he  disclaims  as  the  ground  of  his 
hope  is  not  what  he  performs  under  the  character  of  a  Christian,  but  merely 
what  he  has  performed  prior  to  his  sustaining  that  character,  or  while  he 
was  unrighteous. 

The  connexion  in  which  he  has  introduced  Col.  i.  27,  "Christ  in  you  the 
hope  of  glory,"  renders  it  pretty  evident  that  by  "  Christ,"  in  this  passage,  he 
understands  the  image  or  likeness  of  Christ  in  us.  But  surely  this  was  not 
Paul's  meaning;  of  Christ,  who  was  in  or  among  the  Colossians,  he  adds, 
"  whom  we  preach."  But  it  was  not  the  image  of  Christ  in  our  hearts  that 
was  the  subject  of  Paul's  ministry. 

If  even  our  evangelical  obedience  be  the  ground  of  acceptance  with  God, 
I  should  be  glad  to  be  informed — (1.)  Plow  is  it  that  tvorks  are  constantly 
excluded  in  the  justification  of  sinners?  Rom.  iii.  24-27  ;  iv.  2-8.  (2.)  How 
is  it  that  God  is  said  to  justify  the  tingodhj  ?  chap.  iv.  5.  I  do  not  suppose 
that,  when  a  sinner  is  justified,  he  is  actually  an  enemy  to  God;  for  in  the 
same  passage  he  is  supposed  to  a  believer,  which  character  is  inconsistent 
with  such  a  state  of  mind.  But,  as  Dr.  Owen  has  observed,  "  To  say  that 
he  who  worketh  not  is  justified  through  believing,  is  to  say  that  his  works, 
whatever  they  be,  have  no  influence  in  his  justification ;  nor  hath  God  in 
justifying  him  any  respect  unto  them." — (3.)  How  is  it  that  the  righteous- 
ness by  which  we  are  justified  is  represented  as  revealed  to  faith,  and  as 
being  to  and  upon  all  them  that  believe?  chap.  i.  17;  iii.  22.  Are  the  dis- 
positions of  our  own  minds  "revealed"  to  us? — (4.)  How  is  it  that  such 
objections  are  made  to  the  Christian  doctrine  of  justification,  if  holy  disposi- 
tions were  the  ground  of  it?  If  Paul  had  taught  justification  by  evangelical 
works,  and  only  meant  to  reject  those  which  were  done  prior  to  embracing 
the  gospel,  with  what  plausibility  could  it  have  been  objected  that  this  doc- 
trine gave  liberty  to  sin?  If  the  "  righteousness  through  which  grace  reigns 
to  eternal  life"  (chap.  v.  21)  meant,  as  Christopher  explains  it,  "our  own 
righteous  dispositions,"  with  what  propriety  does  the  apostle  ask,  in  the  fol- 
lowing words,  "  What  shall  we  say  then?  Shall  we  continue  in  sin,  that 
grace  may  abound  ?     God  forbid  !" 

Your  correspondent  remarks  that  "  his  friend  Gains  seems  partial  to  the 
phrase  imputed  righteousness."  Is  it  unbecoming  a  Christian,  then,  to  be 
partial  to  the  phraseology  of  Scripture?  What  if  I  should  ask  friend  Chris- 
topher whether  he  be  not  prejudiced  against  this  phrase;  and  not  the  phrase 
only,  but  the  doctrine  conveyed  by  it?  He  might  answer.  No  :  I  shall  allow 
it  in  the  same  sense  in  which  sin  is  imputed  to  us,  that  is,  really  and  truly, 
by  participation  of  a  fallen  nature.  Then  really  and  truly,  friend  Chris- 
topher, either  you  or  I  are  entirely  out  as  to  the  meaning  of  words.  Does 
the  word  impute  really  and  truly  mean  to  participate?  When  Ahimelech 
pleaded  before  Saul,  saying,  "  Let  not  the  king  impute  any  thing  unto  hia 
Vol.  IIL— 90  3  o  2 


714  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

servant,"  (1  Sam.  xxii.  15,)  did  he  mean,  Do  not  cause  me  to  participate  in  a 
conspiracy  ?  When  Shimei  entreated  David,  saying,  "  Let  not  my  lord  impute 
iniquity  unto  me,"  (2  Sam.  xix.  19,)  did  he  mean.  Do  not  make  me  wicked? 
Does  he  not  rather  mean.  Do  not  deal  with  me  according  to  my  desert? 

And  does  the  imputation  of  the  sin  of  our  first  parent  to  his  posterity  con- 
sist in  participation?  That  it  is  connected  with  it  I  allow.  Could  an  indi- 
vidual be  found  who  had  never  made  the  sin  of  his  first  fiither  his  own,  by 
participating  in  it,  he  would,  I  suppose,  have  nothing  to  fear  from  its  being 
imputed  to  him.  And  much  the  same  may  be  said  concerning  righteous- 
ness; for  until  a  sinner  believes  in  Christ,  which  includes  an  acquiescence 
in  the  gospel  way  of  salvation,  he  has  nothing  to  hope  from  imputation. 
These  things  have  an  inseparable  connexion;  but  the  plain  meaning  of 
words  must  be  altered  before  we  can  consider  them  as  the  same. 

We  have  the  same  authority  for  believing  that  our  sins  were  imputed  to 
Christ  as  that  Adam's  sin  was  imputed  to  his  posterity.  The  word  "  impute" 
is  used  in  neither  case,  but  both  are  compared  to  the  imputation  of  right- 
eousness. "As  by  one  man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners,  so  by 
the  obedience  of  one  shall  many  be  made  righteous." — "  He  hath  made  him 
to  be  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness 
of  God  in  him,"  Rom.  v.  19;  2  Cor.  v.  31.  Now  will  Christopher  affirm 
that  Christ  was  really  and  truly  made  sin  by  participation  ? 

It  does  not  follow  from  hence  that  "  the  old  man,  any  more  than  the  new 
man,  is  a  mere  creature  of  imputation,"  or  that  the  necessity  of  "  repentance 
and  the  love  of  God"  is  superseded.  It  is  strange  that  Christopher  should 
have  so  little  regard  to  the  credit  of  his  own  understanding  as  to  insinuate 
the  contrary.  He  who  cannot  distinguish  between  the  blessings  of  justifica- 
tion and  sanctification,  without  setting  aside  the  importance  of  either,  has  in 
xny  opinion  yet  to  learn  one  of  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God. 

REMARKS  ON  GOd's  JUSTIFYING  THE  UNGODLY. 

[In  reply  to  Dr.  Joseph  Jenkins  of  Walworth. 

The  passage  in  my  last  paper,  on  which  J.  J.  has  animadverted  is  as  fol- 
lows— "  God  is  said  to  justify/  the  ungodly,"  Rom.  iv.  5.  I  do  not  suppose 
that  when  a  sinner  is  justified  he  is  actually  an  enemy  to  God ;  for  in  the 
same  text  he  is  supposed  to  be  a  believer,  which  character  is  inconsistent 
with  such  a  state  of  mind. 

Now  he  who  controverts  these  principles  may  be  supposed  to  maintain 
the  contrary ;  namely,  that  when  a  sinner  is  justified  he  is  actually  at  enmity 
with  God  ;  and  that  though  he  is  a  believer,  as  the  text  intimates,  yet  his  being 
so  includes  nothing  inconsistent  with  such  a  state  of  mind.  And  such  in 
fact  is  the  statement  of  this  correspondent. — (I.)  He  endeavours  to  main- 
tain that  when  a  sinner  is  justified  he  is  God's  enemy.  It  is  true,  he  says, 
"I  do  not  suppose,  any  more  than  Gains,  that  a  man  can  be  justified  and  at 
the  same  time  be  an  enemy  to  God ;"  but  he  means  only  to  allow  that  he 
does  not  continue  an  enemy  to  God  after  he  is  justified,  concerning  which 
there  is  no  dispute.  The  question  is, — In  what  state  of  mind  is  the  sinner, 
with  regard  to  enmity  and  friendship,  antecedent  to  his  justification?  And, 
by  all  that  J.J.  has  written,  it  appears  that  he  considers  him  as  God's  enemy 
"until"  he  is  justified. — (2.)  He  labours  to  prove  that  his  being  a  believer 
includes  in  it  nothing  inconsistent  with  such  a  state  of  mind.  The  faith 
which  is  "  counted  for  righteousness,"  he  supposes,  must  either  mean  Christ, 
the  object  of  faith,  or  a  spiritual  illumination  of  the  understanding,  in  which 
the  mind  is  passive :  at  all  events,  it  must  include  no  holy  disposition  of 
heart,  that  is,  nothing  inconsistent  with  enmity  to  God. 


JUSTIFICATION.  715 

Before  we  examine  these  positions,  it  seems  necessary  to  have  a  clear  un- 
derstanding  of  what  is  meant  by  justification.  J.  J.  distinguishes  between 
justification  in  theeyeof  justice,  or  a  sinner's  being  accepted  in  the  Beloved; 
and  justification  as  it  respects  the  sensation  or  perception  of  the  blessing  in 
a  person's  own  mind;  adding,  that  "  his  more  immediate  business  is  with  the 
latter."  I  am  certainly  obliged  to  him  for  this  explanation,  for  without  it  I 
should  have  supposed  the  question  to  relate  wholly  to  acceptance  with  God 
itself,  and  not  to  the  sensation  or  perception  of  this  blessing  in  the  mind; 
and  still  less  to  the  pleas  which  the  sinner  is  to  "  bring  forward,"  in  his  ap- 
plication for  mercy.  I  must  say,  however,  if  J.  J.'s  "business"  lies  here, 
assuredly  mine  does  not;  having  never,  that  I  recollect,  advanced  a  single 
idea  on  the  subject.  But  if  it  did,  it  would  not  affect  the  argument;  for  if 
we  be  not  in  a  justified  state  till  we  cease  to  be  the  enemies  of  God,  it  is 
impossible  we  should  enjoy  any  previous  sensation  or  perception  of  it,  as  no 
one  can  truly  perceive  that  which  does  not  exist. 

To  me  it  appears  that  the  distinguishing  of  justification  into  acceptance 
with  God,  and  the  sensation  or  perception  of  this  blessing  which  a  sinner 
enjoys,  has  nothing  in  the  Scriptures  to  support  it.  I  think  it  will  be  found 
on  inquiry  that  the  former  is  that  which  the  sacred  writings  term  justifica- 
tion, and  that  the  latter  is  denominated  "  peace  with  God,"  which  follows  on 
it  as  a  consequence,  Rom.  v.  1.  A  sensation  of  peace  is  as  distinct  from 
justification  as  a  sensation  of  wrath  is  distinct  from  condemnation.  As  some 
are  justified,  that  is,  exempt  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  and  entitled  to  ever- 
lasting life,  according  to  the  uniform  declarations  of  the  statute-book  of 
heaven,  while,  owing  to  a  cloud  upon  their  minds,  they  are  far  from  clearly 
perceiving  it ;  so  others  stand  condemned,  that  is,  exposed  to  the  curse  of 
the  law,  according  to  the  uniform  declarations  of  the  same  statute-book  of 
heaven,  while,  through  ignorance  and  unbelief,  they  have  no  proper  sense 
of  it. 

The  question  is  not  concerning  any  secret  persuasions  in  the  mind  of 
man,  or  any  secret  purpose  in  the  mind  of  God ;  but  simply  this.  Do  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  which  form  the  statute-book  of  heaven,  and  fully  express 
the  mind  of  God,  pronounce  any  man  pardoned  or  justified  in  his  sight, 
while  his  heart  is  in  a  state  of  enmity  against  him? 

"  It  is  plainly  implied,"  says  J.  J.,  "  in  the  Lord's  justifying  the  ungodly, 
that  they  are  ungodly  tintil  justified."  But,  before  any  conclusion  can  be 
drawn  from  these  words,  it  is  necessary  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  them, 
particularly  of  the  term  "  ungodly."  This  term,  I  apprehend,  is  not  de- 
signed, in  the  passage  under  consideration,  to  express  the  actual  state  of 
mind  which  the  party  at  the  time  possesses,  but  the  character  under  which 
God  considers  him  in  bestowing  the  blessing  of  justification  upon  him. 
Whatever  be  the  present  state  of  a  sinner's  mind — whether  he  be  a  haughty 
Pharisee  or  a  humble  publican — if  he  possess  nothing  which  can  in  any  de- 
gree balance  the  curse  which  stands  against  him,  or  at  all  operate  as  a  ground 
of  acceptance  with  God,  he  must  be  justified,  if  at  all,  as  unworthy,  ungodly, 
and  wholly  out  of  regard  to  the  righteousness  of  the  Mediator.  He  that  is 
justified  must  be  justified  as  "  ungodly,"  in  like  manner  as  he  that  is  saved 
must  be  saved  among  the  "  chief  of  sinners,"  1  Tim.  i.  1.5.  But  as  Paul's 
using  the  latter  expression  of  himself  does  not  prove  that  at  the  time  he 
uttered  it  he  was  one  of  the  worst  of  characters,  so  neither  does  his  using  the 
former  concerning  others  prove  that  they  are  at  the  time  of  their  justifica- 
tion the  enemies  of  God.  If  it  be  objected  that  the  term  "  ungodly"  is  no 
where  else  used  but  to  express  a  state  of  enmity  to  God,  it  may  be  answered 
that  God  is  nowhere  else  said  to  "justify  the  ungodly."  The  interpretation 
put  upon  this  term,  therefore,  is  no  more  singular  than  the  phraseology  of 


716  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

the  text  itself..  Both  the  one  and  the  other  ought  no  doubt  to  be  interpreted 
by  the  general  tenor  of  Scripture,  and  the  particular  scope  of  the  writer.  If 
the  sense  here  given  clash  with  either  of  them,  let  it  be  rejected.  To  me  it 
appears  in  harmony  with  both.  When  the  reader  has  considered  the  fol- 
lowing observations,  let  him  judge  whether  it  be  so  or  not. 

1.  It  is  the  uniform  language  of  the  Scriptures  that  "  without  repentance 
there  is  no  forgiveness,"  Psal.  xxxii.  5;  Prov.  xxviii.  13;  Mark  i.  4;  iv.  12; 
Luke  iii.  5;  xxiv.  47;  Acts  iii,  19;  v.  31 ;  viii.  22;  1  John  i.  9.  The  very 
passage  to  which  the  apostle  in  the  context  refers,  (Psal.  xxxii.,)  as  affording 
an  example  of  the  imputation  on  which  he  was  treating,  clearly  holds  up  the 
idea  of  forgiveness  as  preceded  by  repentance.  It  is  of  no  account  to  allege 
the  difference  between  pardon  and  justification;  for,  whatever  difference  there 
is  between  these  blessings,  there  is  none  which  affects  the  argument.  They 
are  not  so  distinct  as  that  the  one  can  in  any  instance  exist  without  the  other. 
He  that  is  justified  is  pardoned.  If,  therefore,  repentance  precede  the  one, 
it  must  precede  the  other.  But  if  justification  be  preceded  by  repentance,  it 
cannot  be  said  that  a  person  is  an  enemy  to  God  "  until  he  is  justified,"  for 
enmity  and  repentance  are  inconsistent. 

2.  It  is  the  uniform  language  of  the  New  Testament,  that  those  whom  God 
justijicth  are  believers,  John  iii.  18,  36 ;  v.  24 ;  Acts  xiii.  39 ;  Rom.  iii.  26, 
28;  iv.  24;  V.  1 ;  x.  4;  Gal.  ii.  16;  iii.  24;  Phil.  iii.  9.  The  very  persons 
referred  to  in  the  text  under  consideration  are  supposed  to  "  believe  in  him 
who  justifieth  the  ungodly."  But  faith  "  worketh  by  love,"  and  is  therefore 
inconsistent  with  a  state  of  enmity  to  God.  If  the  uniform  language  of  Scrip- 
ture had  been,  we  believe  by  or  through  being  justified,  we  should  certainly 
have  concluded  that  justification  in  the  order  of  things  preceded  believing, 
and  consequently  that  those  who  are  justified  were  at  the  same  time  enemies 
to  God.  And  as  it  is  the  reverse,  or  that  we  are  justified  by  or  through  be- 
lieving, why  should  we  not  equally  conclude  that  faith  in  the  order  of  things 
precedes  justification,  and  consequently  that  they  who  are  justified  were  at 
the  time  not  the  enemies  but  the  friends  of  God? 

3.  The  apostle,  in  the  same  Epistle  as  that  which  contains  the  passage  in 
question,  speaks  of  justification  as  preceded  by  vocation  or  calling.  "Whom 
he  did  foreknow,  he  also  did  predestinate :  whom  he  did  predestinate,  them  he 
also  called:  and  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  justified:  and  whom  he  justi- 
fied, them  he  also  glorified,"  Rom.  viii.  29,  30.  It  cannot  be  pleaded  that 
the  order  of  things  is  not  here  preserved.  It  is  allowed  on  all  hands  that 
predestination  is  preceded  in  the  order  of  nature  by  foreknowledge,  calling 
by  predestination,  and  glorification  by  justification.  What  good  reason  then 
can  be  given  why  justification  should  not  from  hence  be  concluded  to  be 
preceded  by  vocation  ?  But  the  vocation  here  spoken  of  is  a  holy  one,  the 
same  with  that  mentioned  in  2  Tim.  i.  9,  "  He  hath  saved  us,  and  called  us 
with  a  holy  calling;"  which  must  therefore  be  inconsistent  with  enmity  to  God. 

4.  The  design  of  the  apostle  in  the  context  was  to  establish  the  doctrine 
o(  free  justification  by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  without  the  works  of  the  law — 
a  justification  that  should  exclude  boasting,  or  glorying.  Now  this  design 
is  equally  accomplished  by  the  interpretation  here  defended  as  by  the  con- 
trary. I  am  aware  that  this  ground  will  be  disputed,  and  let  it  be  disputed. 
The  principle  on  which  I  rest  my  defence,  on  this  part  of  the  subject,  is  the 
following: — whatever  be  the  state  of  a  person's  mind  at  the  time,  it 

MAKES  no  difference  AS  TO  THE  GROUND  OF  JUSTIFCATION.       J.   J.  will    not 

deny  this;  he  has  acknowledged  as  much  himself  "In  this  case,"  he  says, 
"all  works,  good  and  bad,  are  out  of  the  question;"  and,  if  so,  doubtless  all 
dispositions  are  the  same.  None  of  them,  be  they  what  they  may,  can  avail 
any  thing  towards  justifying  one  who  has  not  continued  in  all  things  written 


JUSTIFICATION.  717 

in  tlie  book  of  the  law  to  do  tliem.  But,  if  so,  of  what  account  is  it  to  the 
doctrine  of  justification  by  grace,  to  maintain  their  nonexistence  at  the  time? 
The  existence  or  nonexistence  of  things  that  are  "  out  of  the  question"  can 
signify  nothing  to  the  argument,  and  alTord  no  ground  of  glorying. — More- 
over, if  the  existence  of  a  holy  disposition  at  the  time  of  our  being  first  made 
partakers  of  the  blessing  of  justification  detract  from  the  grace  of  it,  why 
should  it  not  operate  in  the  same  way  afterwards?  Justification  is  not  of  so 
transient  a  nature  as  to  be  begun  and  ended  in  an  instant.  Though  not  pro- 
gressive, like  sanctification,  yet  it  is  a  permanent  privilege,  or  state  of  blessed- 
ness bestowed  on  believers.  As  condemnation  is  a  state  of  exposedness  to 
the  curse,  under  which  every  unbeliever,  remaining  such,  continues;  so  justi- 
fication is  a  state  of  exemption  from  it,  in  which  every  believer  in  Jesus 
abides.  It  is  true  we  are  introduced  to  this  blessed  state  at  the  moment  of 
believing;  from  that  instant  we  are  no  more  under  the  law,  but  under  grace; 
the  curses  of  the  former  stand  no  longer  against  us,  and  the  blessings  of  the 
latter  become  our  portion.  But  though  our  introduction  to  the  blessing  be 
transient,  yet  the  blessing  itself  continues  as  long  as  we  continue  believers 
in  Christ,  and  united  to  him,  which  is  to  the  end.  Hence  justification  and 
condemnation  are  each  described  in  language  expressive  of  their  continuity. 
"It  is  God  that  justijieth:  who  is  he  that  condemneth?  He  that  believeth  on 
the  Son  hath  everlasting  life:  and  he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see 
life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  Hence  also  believers,  in  every 
stage  of  life,  deal  with  Christ  for  justification,  desiring  nothing  more  than 
that  they  may  be  found  in  him,  not  having  their  own  righteousness,  which  is 
of  the  law ;  but  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness 
which  is  of  God  by  faith.  And  this  accounts  for  Abraham's  believing  for 
righteousness,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  not  merely  when  he  first  believed  in 
God,  but  after  he  had  loved  and  served  him  a  number  of  years;  and  for 
David's  having  righteousness  imputed  to  him  without  works  on  his  recovery 
from  a  state  of  backsliding.  Now  do  the  holy  dispositions  of  Christians  de- 
tract from  the  freeness  of  their  continued  acceptance  with  God?  If  not,  why 
should  the  existence  of  any  such  dispositions  detract  from  the  freeness  of  their 
first  acceptance?  If  it  be  necessary  that  the  mind  be  at  enmity  with  God 
"  until"  we  are  first  introduced  to  this  blessing,  in  order  to  its  being  merely 
of  grace,  why  should  it  not  be  equally  necessary  that  it  should  remain  so 
through  life,  in  order  to  its  continuing  to  be  merely  of  grace? 

5.  Neither  Abraham  nor  David,  whose  cases  the  apostle  selects  for  the 
illustration  of  his  argument,  was,  at  the  time  referred  to,  the  enemy  of  God. 
"Abraham  believed  God,  and  it  was  counted  to  him  for  righteousness;"  and 
it  is  concerning  his  justification  that  the  following  reflection  is  made.  "  Now 
to  him  that  worketh  is  the  reward  reckoned,  not  of  grace,  but  of  debt."  It 
is  here  plainly  supposed  of  Abraham,  that  if  he  had  "  worked,"  and  so 
obtained  the  reward,  it  had  been  a  matter  of  debt,  and  he  had  had  whereof 
to  glory.  And  did  not  Abraham  work  prior  to  the  period  to  which  this 
refers  ?  He  certainly  should  not  have  performed  a  single  good  work,  but 
have  been  an  enemy  to  God,  according  to  J.  J.'s  hypothesis.  But  the  truth 
is,  he  had  been  a  believer  in  God  and  a  true  worshipper  of  him  for  many 
years,  at  the  time  when  he  is  said  to  have  believed  in  God,  and  it  was 
counted  to  him  for  righteousness.  Gen.  xv.  6;  xii.  1-3;  Heb.  xi.  8.  Here 
then  is  an  account  of  one  who  had  walked  with  God  for  a  series  of  years 
"working  not,  but  believing  on  him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly;"  a  clear 
proof  that  by  "working  not"  the  apostle  did  not  mean  a  wicked  inaction, 
but  a  renunciation  of  works  as  the  ground  of  acceptance  with  God. 

"  David  also,"  continues  the  apostle,  "  describeth  the  blessedness  of  the 
man  unto  whom  God  imputeth  righteousness  without  works,  saying.  Blessed 


718  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS;  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

are  they  whose  iniquities  are  forgiven,  and  whose  sins  are  covered.  Blessed 
is  the  man  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not  impute  sin."  Of  whom  speaketh  the 
psalmist,  in  this  thirty-second  Psalm;  of  himself,  or  of  some  other  man?  Of 
himself,  as  is  manifest  from  the  whole  Psalm.  It  is  one  of  those  penitential 
songs  which  he  penned  after  his  fall  and  recovery.  The  third  and  fourth 
verses  describe  the  state  of  his  mind  after  he  had  sinned,  and  before  he  had 
repented.  The  "blessedness"  of  which  he  speaks  is  a  blessedness  arising 
from  free  forgiveness.  Hence  the  apostle,  in  the  text  under  consideration, 
very  properly  puts  this  gloss  upon  his  words:  "David  describeth  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  man  unto  whom  God  imputeth  righteousness  without  works." 
David  did  not  say  it  was  "without  works;"  he  said  nothing  about  works; 
but  he  described  the  blessedness  of  him  who  possessed  a  free  forgiveness, 
which  was  the  same  thing.  Paul  supposed  that  David  "worked  not;"  but 
had  he  never  performed  a  "  good  work"  at  the  period  referred  to?  Was  he 
at  that  time  an  enemy  to  God?  J.  J.'s  hypothesis  requires  that  it  should  have 
been  so ;  but  it  was  not  so.  Let  the  reader  judge  whether  the  cases  of  Abra- 
ham and  David  be  not  decisive,  and  whether  they  ought  not  to  decide  the 
controversy,  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  passage  in  question. 

I  had  supposed  that  when  a  sinner  is  justified  he  is  not  an  enemy  of  God, 
seeing  he  is  a  believer.  J.  J.  attempts,  it  should  seem,  to  invalidate  this 
argument  by  so  explaining  faith  as  that  it  shall  include  in  it  nothing  incon- 
sistent with  enmity  to  God.  I  cannot  but  remark  the  unpleasant  situation 
of  the  writer  in  this  part  of  his  work.  With  him  it  seems  a  very  difficult 
thing  to  determine  what  the  apostle  means  by  that  faith  which  is  counted  for 
righteousness.  "  If  it  were  to  be  considered  as  a  work,  he  supposes  it  would 
overturn  the  whole  reasoning  of  the  verse."'  If  it  were  considered  as  a  work 
performed  to  furnish  a  ground  of  justification  it  would  ;  but  not  else.  That 
faith  is  a  work  we  are  expressly  taught  by  one  who  perfectly  understood  its 
nature,  John  vi.  28,  29.  But  that  we  are  justified  by  it  as  a  work,  or  as  a 
part  of  moral  obedience,  J.  J.  knows  I  utterly  deny.  But  if  it  be  not  counted 
for  righteousness  as  a  work,  "  it  must  mean  either  Christ  the  object  of  faith, 
or  a  spiritual  illumination  of  the  understanding,  in  which  the  mind  is  totally 
passive."  That  it  does  not  mean  the  former,  one  should  think,  is  evident, 
in  that  it  is  called  believing.  "He  that  believeth,  his  faith,  or  believing,  is 
counted  for  righteousness."  And  if  it  mean  the  latter,  it  will  go  to  confound 
what  the  Scriptures  elsewhere  distinguish.  Spiritual  blindness  is  represented 
as  an  obstacle  to  believing,  and  spiritual  illumination  as  that  which  precedes 
it,  2  Cor.  iv.  4;  John  vi.  40.  But  faith  in  this  passage  "  must"  mean  this 
or  that.  Perhaps  it  must,  in  order  to  comport  with  J.  J.'s  hypothesis ;  and 
this  spiritual  light  or  discernment  7nust  also  be  supposed  to  have  nothing 
spiritual  in  it,  or  it  will  be  equally  inconsistent  with  a  state  of  enmity  to  God 
as  believing.  But  let  him  seriously  consider  whether  that  hypothesis  which 
requires  such  forced  and  far-fetched  interpretations  of  Scripture  to  support 
it  can  be  any  part  of  "evangelical  truth." 

To  me  it  appears  a  plain  and  easy  matter  to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  faith 
in  the  passage  referred  to.  It  is  believing;  and  this  believing  is  counted  for 
righteousness;  not  as  a  work,  but  as  the  prescribed  means  of  interesting  us 
in  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  Thus  it  was  common  for  Christ  to  say  to 
diseased  people,  whom  he  had  healed,  "  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee."  Did 
he  mean  by  this  to  make  a  saviour  of  faith?  No:  faith  did  not  cause,  nor 
so  much  as  co-operate,  in  these  cures,  which  were  accomplished  only  by  his 
own  power ;  but  it  was  the  prescribed  means  by  which  they  became  inte- 
rested in  the  exercise  of  that  power.  I  use  the  term  interest  as  I  do  that  of 
justification,  not  for  what  we  may  have  in  the  secret  purpose  of  God,  but  for 
that  part  or  portion  which  we  have  in  spiritual  blessings  according  to  the 


JUSTIFICATION.  719 

revealed  will  or  promise  of  God  in  the  Scriptures.  The  healing  efficacy 
proceeded  from  Christ,  and  not  from  faith,  yet  without  faith  they  would  not 
have  heen  healed;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  justification. 

NATURE    OF   IMPUTATION. 

[In  reply  to  Ignotus.] 

I  CORDIALLY  agree  with  your  correspondent!  on  the  necessary  connexion 
between  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  Divinity  and  justification  by  the  imputation 
of  his  righteousness.  But  the  former  of  the  two  grounds  on  which  he  rests 
it  I  would  seriously  entreat  him  to  reconsider.  He  represents  die  imputa- 
tion of  righteousness  as  consisting  in  a  "  transfer  of  surplus  virtue;"  and  as 
every  creature,  however  exalted,  owes  its  all  to  God,  it  can  have  none  to 
spare  for  the  use  of  others.  But  if  this  be  the  nature  of  imputation,  how  are 
we  to  understand  it  in  the  case  of  the  Jirst  Adam?  If,  instead  of  trans- 
gressing the  Divine  precept,  he  had  faithfully  obeyed  it,  there  is  every  reason 
to  conclude  that  his  posterity,  instead  of  being  exposed  to  sin  and  death,  as 
they  now  are,  would  have  been  confirmed  in  a  state  of  holiness  and  happiness; 
that  is,  his  obedience  would  have  been  imputed  to  them,  as  is  now  his  dis- 
obedience. Yet  in  this  case  there  would  have  been  no  "surplus"  of  obe- 
dience, or  any  thing  done  by  our  first  parent  beyond  what  was  his  duty  to 
do.  From  hence,  1  conceive,  it  is  clear  that  the  imputation  of  righteous- 
ness consists  not  in  the  transfer  of  overplus  of  virtue;  and  that  Divinity  is 
not  necessarily,  and  in  all  cases,  connected  with  it. 

I  shall  not  here  take  upon  me  to  decide  whether  Christ's  obedience  to  the 
Father  was  necessary  on  his  own  account.  Whether  it  was  or  not  makes 
nothing  as  to  his  being  qualified  to  accomplish  our  salvation.  The  imputa- 
tion of  righteousness,  as  the  Scriptures  represent  it,  appears  to  me  to  be 
this  : — God  for  wise  and  holy  ends  blessed  one,  or  many,  in  reward  of  the 
obedience  of  another,  to  ivhom  they  are  related,  in  a  manner  as  though  it  ivcre 
performed  by  themselves.  Thus,  if  the  first  Adam  had  continued  obedient, 
God  would  have  expressed  his  approbation  of  his  conduct,  not  only  by  con- 
firming him,  but  his  posterity  after  him,  in  a  state  of  holiness  and  happiness. 
And  thus  the  obedience  unto  death  yielded  by  the  Second  Adam  is  repre- 
sented as  that  with  which  God  is  so  well  pleased,  that,  in  reioard  of  it,  he 
not  only  exalted  Him  far  above  all  principality  and  power,  but  bestowed  full, 
free,  and  eternal  salvation  on  all  those  who  believe  in  him,  how  great  soever 
had  been  their  transgressions. 

But,  it  may  be  said,  if  this  be  the  idea  which  the  Scriptures  give  us  of  the 
imputation  of  righteousness,  and  it  be  applicable  to  the  first  as  well  as  the 
Second  Adam,  whence  arises  the  necessity  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  in  order 
that  his  righteousness  should  be  imputed  to  us?  I  do  not  suppose  that  it 
was  necessary  to  imputation  itself,  but  rather  to  its  being  available  to  the 
justification  of  the  ungodly.  Imputed  righteousness  may  take  place,  whether 
it  be  that  of  a  mere  man  or  of  one  who  is  both  God  and  man ;  but  the  right- 
eousness of  a  mere  creature  would  not  avail  for  the  pardon  and  justification 
of  rebellious  men. 

There  is  an  important  difference  between  the  supposed  imputation  of  the 
righteousness  of  the  first  Adam,  and  that  of  the  Second.  God's  promising 
to  bless  the  sinless  posterity  of  the  former,  by  confirming  them  in  a  state  of 
holiness  and  happiness,  had  nothing  in  it  which  could  clash  with  any  of  his 
perfections.  He  might  thus  have  blessed  them  without  any  previous  obe- 
dience being  performed  on  their  behalf,  as  it  appears  that  he  actually  did  the 
elect  angels.  His  promising  to  bless  the  children,  in  reward  of  the  obe- 
dience of  the  parent,  was  that,  while  he  e.xpressed  his  love  to  both,  he  might 


720  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

also  express  his  love  of  righteousness.  But,  in  receiving  rebellious  sinners 
to  favour,  there  required  a  proviso  for  the  security  of  his  honour,  that  he 
might  appear  to  be  what  he  was— just  as  well  as  the  justifier.  "  It  became 
him,  in  bringing  many  sons  to  glory,  to  make  the  Captain  of  their  salvation 
perfect  through  sufferings."  The  glory  of  the  Divine  character  must  not  be 
tarnished.  That  for  the  sake  of  which  we  are  pardoned  and  justified  there- 
fore, be  it  what  it  may,  must  at  least  be  equivalent,  as  to  its  influence  on 
moral  government,  to  justice  having  taken  its  natural  course.  Hence  arises 
the  necessity  of  the  Deity  of  Christ,  in  order  to  our  justification.  Though 
the  obedience  of  a  mere  creature  might  be  the  medium  of  conveying  bless- 
edness to  his  sinless  posterity,  yet  none  but  that  of  a  Divine  person  could 
accomplish  the  salvation  of  sinners;  because  the  obedience  of  a  mere  crea- 
ture could  not  have  done  such  honour  to  the  Divine  law  as  should  have  been 
equal  to  the  dishonour  which  it  had  received  from  us ;  nor  could  the  suffer- 
ings of  any  one  that  was  not  God  have  expressed  the  Divine  displeasure 
against  sin  in  so  striking  and  impressive  a  manner  as  if  every  transgressor 
had  received  his  just  recompense  of  reward.  But,  admitting  the  Redeemer 
to  be  Divine,  all  is  plain  and  easy.  Hence  that  which  is  peculiarly  ascribed 
to  the  Deity  of  Christ  in  regard  of  his  sufferings  is  their  value  or  virtue. 
"  By  himself  he  purged  our  sins." — "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son, 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin,"  Heb.  i.  3j  1  John.  i.  7. 


IMPUTATION. 
[From  a  MS.  of  the  author,  without  date.] 

It  has  been  common  to  suppose  that  we  are  so  implicated  in  Adam's 
transgression,  or  that  such  a  union  subsisted  between  him  and  his  posterity, 
as  that  what  was  done  by  the  one  was  done  by  the  other ;  or  that  we  are 
really  accountable  for  his  obedience,  it  being  our  disobedience  as  much  as 
the  act  of  one  part  of  the  body  belongs  to  the  whole  man.  Thus,  or  to  this 
effect,  I  myself  have  written  in  certain  publications ;  particularly  in  my  an- 
swer to  Mr.  Dan.  Taylor.  But  since  that  time  I  have  had  different  thoughts 
on  the  subject,  which,  however,  I  at  present  only  put  down  as  thoughts,  and 
not  as  settled  articles  of  faith. 

Unless  we  had  full  evidence  from  Scripture  of  different  intelligent  beings 
being  so  united  as  that  the  voluntary  actions  of  one  shall  properly  belong  to 
the  other,  I  ought  not  to  believe  that  so  it  is.  It  is  certainly  contrary  to  all 
our  ideas  of  accountableness,  and  to  every  dictate  of  conscience.  If  Adam's 
transgression  in  Eden  were  really  ours,  why  do  we  not  repent  of  it  as  we  do 
for  our  other  sins?  Mr.  Hall,  late  of  Arnsby,  whose  ideas  on  imputation 
were  entirely  such  as  are  here  opposed,  yet  describes  repentance  as  "  arising 
from  a  conviction  of  personal  blame."*  We  may  be  sorry  for  the  sin  of 
Adam,  and  of  other  sinners ;  but  we  never  repent  of  that  which  we  in  our 
own  persons  have  not  committed. 

I.  Is  there  not  an  important  difference  between  punishment  and  suffering  ? 
All  punishment  is  suffering;  but  all  suffering  is  not  punishment.  If  a  soldier 
have  his  hand  cut  off  for  lifting  it  up  against  his  commander,  it  is  punish- 
ment; but  if  it  be  shot  off  in  battle,  it  is  mere  suffering. 

II.  Though  an  innocent  creature  cannot  be  justly  exposed  to  punishment, 
yet  may  it  not  be  to  suffering?  If  a  commander-in-chief  order  a  troop  of 
his  best  soldiers  to  scale  a  wall  in  the  mouth  of  danger,  they  are  exposed 
to  suffering;  nor  would  they  think  of  replying,  as  in  case  of  his  ordering 
them  to  receive  each  a  hundred  lashes,  "  What  have  we  done  to  deserve  this 

*  Circular  Letter  of  the  Northamptonshire  Association,  1780, 


JUSTIFICATION.  721 

treatment?"  But  if  a  human  commander,  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  wise, 
just,  and  good  object,  may  thus  expose  his  innocent  men  to  suffering,  why 
may  not  the  same  be  said  of  the  great  Master  of  the  universe?  Have  we  not 
been  too  much  in  the  habit  of  concluding  that  suffering  necessarily  supposes 
the  party  to  have  sinned ;  and  so  because  we  saw  the  human  race  suffer,  even 
in  their  earliest  inl;incy,  we  have  concluded  that  they  must  have  sinned  in 
the  person  of  their  grand  progenitor.  But  do  not  the  brute  creation  also 
suffer?  yet  they  have  not  sinned.  Did  not  the  family  of  Achan  suffer  death, 
as  well  as  his  oxen,  and  his  asses,  and  his  sheep?  yet  they  were  not  trans- 
gressors in  "  the  accursed  thing,"  any  more  than  the  cattle.  Are  we  not  so 
linked  together  in  society  that  in  millions  of  examples  one  suffers  the  con- 
sequence of  another's  crime,  though  he  partook  not  with  him  in  the  guilt? 
It  may  be  true  that  all  suffering  supposes  sin  somewhere.  The  suffering  of 
the  brutes  may  be  a  part  of  the  punishment  of  the  sin  of  man,  who  has  a 
propriety  in  them;  and  the  suffering  of  Achan's  family  was  undoubtedly  a 
part  of  the  punishment  of  his  sin.  But  yet  it  does  not  necessarily  suppose 
sin  in  the  suffering  party. 

III.  May  not  the  same  event  be  a  punishment  to  the  guilty  party,  and  to 
the  innocent  mere  suffering?  The  death  of  Achan's  sons  and  daughters, 
and  oxen,  and  asses,  and  sheep,  as  well  as  his  own  death,  was  to  him  a  pun- 
ishment, but  to  them  mere  sutTering.  And  supposing  his  children  to  be 
grown  up,  and  to  be  entirely  under  the  influence  of  the  love  of  God  and 
righteousness,  they  must  have  hated  their  father's  crime,  and  have  acquiesced 
in  the  doom ;  not  on  the  principle  of  being  participants  of  his  guilt,  but  of 
such  a  measure  being  a  just  -punishment  to  him,  and  on  their  part  adapted 
to  the  general  good.  "  Let  our  lives,"  they  would  say,  "  be  made  a  sacri- 
fice that  may  stand  as  a  lasting  monument  to  Israel  never  more  to  touch  the 
accursed  thing!"  In  such  a  case,  their  death,  though  a  part  of  their  father's 
punishment,  yet  to  them  would  be  merely  an  affliction,  an  affliction  that 
should,  through  the  grace  of  God,  introduce  them  to  everlasting  life. 

Some  righteous  persons  might  perish  in  the  overthrow  of  Judea  by  the 
RomanSj^jwho  had  all  along  sighed  and  cried  for  the  abominations  of  the 
land.  To  the  nation  that  event  was  punishment,  but  to  them  it  might  be 
mere  affliction,  and  of  the  nature  of  a  blessing.  Now  what  consequence 
would  follow  were  I  to  suppose  the  sentence  of  death,  and  of  its  antecedent 
miseries,  passed  upon  all  mankind  in  consequence  of  Adam's  sin,  to  be  to 
him  a  punishment,  but  to  them  merely  an  affliction  ? 

There  are  "  other  instances"  of  imputation  as  well  as  that  of  Adam's  sin  to 
his  posterity,  from  which  it  is  possible  some  light  may  be  derived  to  this  im- 
portant subject :  e.  g.  our  sin  was  imputed  to  Christ,  and  his  righteousness 
is  imputed  to  us.  "  He  was  made  sin  for  us  who  knew  no  sin,  that  we  might 
be  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him,"  2  Cor.  v.  21.  And  as  both  these 
instances  of  imputation  are  mentioned  together,  it  should  seem  that  they 
both  proceed  on  the  same  principle. 

In  what  sense  then  was  our  sin  imputed  to  Christ,  or  how  was  he  "  made 
sin?"  Surely  not  by  a  participation  of  it,  for  he  is  expressly  said  in  the 
same  passage  to  have  known  no  sin.  God  did  not  judge  him  to  be  the  sinner, 
for  his  judgments  are  according  to  truth.  The  whole  seems  to  have  been 
that  for  wise  and  gracious  ends  he  was  treated  as  though  he  had  been  the 
sinner,  and  the  greatest  sinner  in  the  world. 

Further,  In  what  sense  is  Christ's  righteousness  imputed  to  us,  or  how  are 
we  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him  ?  Not  by  a  participation  of  it.  It  is 
not  true,  nor  will  it  ever  be  true,  that  the  holy  excellence  of  Christ  is  so 
ours  as  that  we  cease  to  be  unworthy,  and  are  deserving  of  eternal  life.  The 
whole  appears  to  be  the  same  as  in  the  former  instance,  God  for  the  sake 

Vou  III.— 91  3  P 


722  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

of  the  obedience  of  his  Son  treats  us  as  thovgh  we  were  righteous,  worthy 
or  meritorious. 

Since  writing  the  above,  however,  T  have  some  doubts  whether  imputation 
consist  in  treatment.  Rather,  is  it  not  that  which  is  ihe  ground  of  treatment? 
I  have  said  in  "  Dialogues,  Letters,  and  Essays,"  vol.  ii.  p.  50,  "  Imputa- 
tion of  sin  or  righteousness  consists  in  charging  ox  reckoning  to  the  account 
of  the  party  in  such  a  way  as  to  impart  to  him  its  evil  or  beneficial  effects." 


TO  THE  AFFLICTED. 


Those  whose  Christian  compassion  induces  them  frequently  to  visit  the 
sick  see  and  hear  things  of  which  others  can  scarcely  form  any  conception. 
They  see  affliction,  not  merely  in  easy  circumstances,  wherein  it  is  alleviated 
as  far  as  possible  by  the  comforts  of  life,  but  as  it  exists  in  the  poor  man's 
dwelling,  aggravated  by  privations  and  hardships,  many  of  which  would 
seem  intolerable  to  some,  even  in  a  time  of  health.  They  sympathize  with 
you,  and  as  far  as  they  are  able,  it  is  presumed,  administer  to  your  relief. 

But  there  is  one  thing  which  has  particularly  struck  the  writer  of  this 
address;  namely,  the  different  manner  in  which  affliction  is  borne  by  religious 
and  by  irreligious  people.  He  wishes  to  be  understood  as  speaking  genc' 
rally,  rather  than  universally.  Some  who  are  thought  to  be  religious  are  not 
so ;  and  some  that  are  truly  religious  are  the  subjects  of  morbid  nervous 
sensibility ;  while  others,  who  are  not  so,  have  much  constitutional  patience 
and  equanimity.  But  other  things  being  equal,  he  has  perceived  a  wide 
difference  in  favour  of  religion.  In  visiting  the  dwellings  of  Christian  people 
in  times  of  affliction,  his  heart  has  been  cheered  by  their  cheerfulness.  Their 
troubles  have  seemed  to  be  more  than  balanced  by  their  enjoyments.  Hope 
has  glistened  in  their  very  tears,  and  submission  to  the  will  of  God  has 
brightened  their  emaciated  countenances.  But  on  entering  the  abodes  of 
the  irreligious,  such  discontent,  despondency,  and  misery  have  appeared,  that 
he  has  come  away  quite  dejected.  The  smile  of  hope  and  the  tear  of  joy 
were  there  alike  unknown :  all  was  darkness,  and  the  prospect  of  thicker 
darkness. 

Let  us  try  to  find  out  the  causes  and  the  cure  of  this  state  of  mind,  which 
adds  so  much  to  the  miseries  of  life.  If  every  one  could  tell  his  tale,  and 
would  tell  the  truth,  we  might  hear  some  such  accounts  as  these : — 

My  heart  was  set  upon  certain  things,  and  I  seemed  almost  to  have  gained 
them,  when  unexpectedly  I  was  seized  with  this  heavy  affliction.  And  now 
all  my  plans  are  broken;  I  seem  likely  to  die  disappointed;  and,  what  is 
worse,  I  have  thought  nothing,  or  next  to  nothing,  of  an  hereafter. 

I  have  lived,  says  another,  a  thoughtless  and  careless  life,  putting  the  evil 
day  far  from  me.  I  began  by  entertaining  a  dislike  to  the  worship  of  God, 
dad  so  forsook  it,  and  turned  the  sabbath  into  a  day  of  sports.  I  kept  bad 
company,  and  soon  began  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  Bible.  I  drank,  swore, 
and  when  in  company  laughed  at  religion;  though  a  secret  persuasion  that 
it  would  prove  true  sometimes  made  me  very  unhappy  when  alone.  I  laid 
my  account  with  living  as  long  as  my  neighbours;  but  I  am  afraid  now  that 
I  shall  not  recover,  and  that  my  soul  is  lost.  Oh  how  little  did  I  think,  a 
iew  weeks  ago,  that  I  should  be  so  soon  arrested  in  my  course!  What  hd*e 
I  done  ?     W  hat  can  I  do  ? 

I  have  lived  a  sober  life,  says  a  third,  and  have  not  been  used  to  doubt  but 
that  through  the  merits  of  Christ  this  would  answer  every  purpose :  but  since 


TO  THE  AFFLICTED.  723 

■I  have  been  laid  aside,  I  have  been  thinking,  in  case  I  should  die,  whether 
this  ground  will  bear  me ;  and  the  more  I  think  of  it,  the  more  it  seems  to 
sink  under  me.  I  am  a  sinner,  and  know  not  how  my  sins  are  to  be  forgiven. 

I  have  been  brought  up  in  a  Christian  family,  says  a  fourth,  and  have 
heard  the  gospel  from  my  childhood ;  yet  my  conscience  tells  me  that  I  am 
not  a  Christian.  I  heard  the  truth,  but  never  received  it  in  the  love  of  it, 
that  I  might  be  saved.  I  conformed  to  family  worship,  but  my  heart  was 
never  in  it.  So  much  was  it  against  the  grain  of  my  inclination,  that  I 
longed  to  get  from  under  the  yoke.  At  length  my  father  died,  and  I  had 
what  I  wished  for — my  liberty.  Since  then  I  have  been  very  wicked.  And 
now  I  am  brought  down  to  death's  door.  I  know  not  what  will  be  the  end. 
The  Lord  have  mercy  upon  me ! 

If  any  of  these  cases  be  yours,  or  nearly  so,  allow  me  to  remind  you  that 
a  time  of  affliction  is  a  time  when  God  calls  you  to  a  serious  inquiry  into 
the  state  of  your  soul.  "  In  the  day  of  adversity  consider."  It  is  the  only 
time,  it  may  be,  in  which  the  voice  of  religion  and  conscience  can  be  heard. 
You  may  have  been  "  as  the  wild  ass  used  to  the  wilderness,"  neither  to  be 
turned  nor  restrained ;  all  those  who  have  sought  to  reclaim  you  have  but 
wearied  themselves;  but  as  in  her  month  she  was  to  be  found,  so  are  you  in 
yours.  Consider  then  that  God  has  laid  his  hand  upon  you  that  he  may 
cause  you  to  feel  what  he  could  do,  and  induce  3'ou  to  hearken  while  he 
reasons  with  you.  He  has  awakened  you  also  to  some  sense  of  your  danger, 
that  you  may  feel  your  need  of  the  salvation  of  Christ  ere  it  is  for  ever  hid 
from  your  eyes.  I  dare  not  comfort  you  on  the  consideration  of  your  distress 
of  mind  as  though  it  were  a  hopeful  sign  of  salvation.  If  it  lead  you  to  the 
Saviour,  you  will  be  saved;  but  if  not,  it  may  be  to  you  but  the  beginning 
of  sorrows.  Your  sins  are  much  more  numerous  and  heinous  than  you  are 
aware  of;  it  is  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  to  have  departed  from  the  living  God, 
and  to  have  spent  so  large  a  part  of  the  life  he  gave  you  without  his  fear 
being  in  you.     God  might  justly  cut  you  off,  and  cast  you  into  perdition. 

But  consider  the  faithful  saying,  "  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners,  even  the  chief  of  sinners."  You  have  doubtless  heard  of  this, 
but  perhaps  have  never  considered  its  import.  If  Jesus  came  into  the  world 
on  such  an  errand,  he  must  be  the  Messiah  foretold  by  the  prophets,  the  Son 
of  God,  and  the  Saviour  of  men.  If  he  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners, 
the  world  must  have  been  in  a  lost  and  hopeless  condition.  If  any  thing 
could  have  been  done  by  man  towards  saving  himself,  it  would  doubtless 
have  been  left  to  him :  God  would  not  unnecessarily  have  interfered,  espe- 
cially to  send  his  Son  to  be  made  a  sacrifice  for  us.  It  does  not  comport 
with  the  wisdom  of  God  to  send  his  Son  to  suffer  and  die,  to  accomplish  that 
which  might  have  been  accomplished  without  him.  Moreover,  if  Jesus  Christ 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  he  must  have  come  luith  a  desiirn,  which 
is  what  no  mere  creature  ever  did.  Whatever  design  there  may  be  concern- 
ing our  coming  into  the  world,  we  are  not  the  subjects  of  it;  but  Christ  was 
the  subject  of  design.  "  He  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  was 
made  in  the  likeness  of  men ;"  and  this  from  a  state  of  mind  that  we  are 
called  upon  to  imitate,  Phil.  ii.  7.  His  coming  into  the  world  was  nothing  less 
than  the  Word  being  made  Jlcsh,  and  dwelling  among  men;  or  that  eternal 
Life  that  was  toith  the  Father  being  manifested  to  us.  But  if  all  this  be 
true,  sin  must  be  indeed  an  evil  and  bitter  thing,  and  salvation  from  it  a 
matter  of  the  greatest  importance.  And  shall  we  so  pursue  our  farms  and 
merchandise  as  to  make  light  of  it?  "  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to 
save  sinners."  It  is  sufficient  to  warrant  our  coming  to  him  that  such  are 
we.  Finally,  if  he  came  to  save  the  chief  of  sinners,  whatever  our  sins  have 
been,  they  can  furnish  no  reason   for  despair.     Even  the  sin  against  the 


724  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC/ 

Holy  Ghost  is  not  unpardonable  as  being  too  great  for  the  mercy  of  God,  or 
for  the  atonemont  of  Christ;  but  as  precluding  that  which  is  necessary  to  an 
interest  in  both — repentance,  Heb.  vi.  6.  If  therefore  our  sins  be  lamented, 
and  we  have  faith  in  Christ,  however  numerous  or  heinous  they  have  been, 
we  shall  find  mercy.  If  a  ship  founders  at  sea,  and  while  her  company  are 
some  floating  on  pieces  of  wreck,  and  others  swimming  for  their  lives,  a 
friendly  vessel  bears  down  and  throws  out  a  rope  to  every  one  of  them,  would 
it  be  for  any  one  to  hesitate  as  to  his  taking  hold  of  it? 

Many  in  the  day  of  adversity  have,  like  the  prodigal,  been  brought  to  a 
right  mind ;  but  many  are  not  so.  Some  are  unaffected,  and  even  hardened, 
under  their  afflictions.  Nothing  is  heard  but  murmurings  and  complainings; 
and  nothing  seen  but  sullen  discontent,  depression,  and  despondency. 
Others,  being  deeply  intrenched  in  the  persuasion  that  they  have  lived  a 
good  life,  all  that  is  said  to  them  respecting  the  gospel  makes  no  impression 
on  their  minds.  Others  are  secure  in  consequence  of  having  imbibed  some 
false  scheme  of  religion;  and  others,  who  are  tender  at  the  time,  and  appear 
to  believe  the  gospel,  are  no  sooner  restored  to  health  than  they  lose  their  im- 
pressions, and  return  to  their  former  courses. 

Let  us  review  these  cases.  If  affliction  has  been  the  means  of  humbling 
you,  and  bringing  you  to  a  right  mind,  you  have  reason,  not  only  to  be 
reconciled  to  it,  but  to  consider  it  among  your  greatest  mercies.  It  has 
been  good  for  you  to  bear  the  yoke  of  adversity ;  and  this  should  teach  you 
to  be  resigned  to  the  will  of  God  as  to  your  future  lot.  "  It  was  by  affliction," 
said  a  good  man,  "  that  I  was  first  brought  into  the  way,  and  by  affliction 
that  I  have  been  kept  in  it.  '  Before  I  was  afflicted  I  went  astray,  but  now 
I  have  learned  thy  word.'" 

Bat  if  the  visitations  of  God  have  tended  only  to  harden  you,  and  to  pro- 
voke you  to  suUenncss  and  discontent,  you  have  reason  to  fear  lest  you  should 
be  given  up  to  such  a  state  of  mind.  "Why  should  ye  be  stricken  any  more? 
Ye  will  revolt  more  and  more." — "Ephraim  is  joined  to  idols:  let  him  alone!" 

If  you  be  full  of  self-righteous  confidence,  flattering  yourself  that  your  life 
has  been  good,  and  that  you  have  nothing  to  fear,  consider  whether  you  be 
not  in  the  very  condition  of  those  whom  our  Saviour  describes  as  ivhole,  and 
so  needing  no  physician.  You  appear  to  have  no  wants ;  and  therefore  none 
of  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  are  interesting  to  you.  A  very  interesting 
narrative  was  published  a  few  years  since  of  such  a  case  as  this.  A  worthy 
minister,  on  visiting  a  dying  man,  was  told  by  him,  with  great  self-com- 
placency, that  "he  had  never  been  guilty  of  any  particular  sins,  and  was  not 
therefore  uneasy  on  that  score." — "  To  every  thing  I  said,"  says  the  minister, 
"he  gave  that  unlimited  assent  which,  when  coming  from  an  unenlightened 
person,  has  always  appeared  to  me  peculiarly  embarrassing.  To  every  truth 
I  stated,  his  monotonous  reply  was, '  Yes,  sir,' — '  To  be  sure,  sir,' — '  Certainly, 
sir,'  and  the  like.  I  now  felt  (as  I'have  often  done  under  similar  circum- 
stances) discouraged,  perplexed,  and  grieved ;  and  could  not  but  deeply 
lament  the  mental  darkness  under  which  the  poor  man  appeared  to  be 
enveloped.  After  a  short  pause,  1  frankly  confessed  that  I  knew  not  what 
to  say  to  him ;  observing  that  he  appeared  to  have  no  wants — that  the  bless- 
ings of  the  gospel  were  for  the  poor,  the  wretched,  and  the  lost — that  if  he 
were  lamenting  his  sins,  crying  for  mercy,  and  inquiring  the  way  of  salva- 
tion, I  thouglit  I  should  know  how  to  address  him;  but  that,  with  his  present 
views,  the  gospel  must  necessarily  appear  to  him  of  very  litde  value."  This 
faithful  remonstrance,  together  with  a  charge  of  having  neglected  his  own 
salvation  for  the  sake  of  worldly  advantage,  which  charge  the  minister  was 
enabled  to  bring  home  to  his  conscience,  appears  to  have  been  the  means 
of  awakening  him  to  a  sense  of  his  danger.     "What!"  said  he,  "and  is  it 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY.  725 

too  late?  Is  all  lost?  Is  my  poor  soul  abandoned?  Have  I  lived  in  the 
neglect  of  all  these  things?  And  is  it  come  to  this?  Oh  what,  what  shall 
I  do?  O  my  sins !  O  my  poor  soul !  O  my  God,  my  God !  shall  I  be  cast 
off  for  ever?  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  Is  there  no  way  open  for  me? 
Oh  what,  what  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" — The  way  of  salvation  being  pointed 
out  to  him,  he  appeared  with  great  sincerity  to  embrace  it,  and  died  very 
happily.  But  many  have  died  in  the  very  spirit  of  the  Jews,  seeking  after 
acceptance  with  God,  without  attaining  it.  And  wherefore?  "Because  they 
sought  it  not  by  faith,  but  as  it  were  by  the  works  of  the  law:  for  they  stum- 
bled at  that  stumbling-stone." 

But  your  security  may  be  in  consequence  of  your  having  imbibed  some 
false  species  of  religion,  which  influences  your  mind  like  an  opiate,  divest- 
ing you  of  all  painful  reflection,  and  filling  you  with  dreams  of  future  happi- 
ness. A  confidence  of  this  sort  is  more  difficult  to  be  shaken  than  self- 
righteous  hope  itself  Those  who  have  not  made  much  pretence  to  religion 
have  not  so  great  sacrifices  to  make  in  embracing  the  gospel  as  those  who 
have.  You  account  your  darkness  light:  but  "  if  the  light  which  is  in  us  be 
darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness !"  There  is  an  intoxicating  quality  in 
false  religion,  and  in  the  false  joys  excited  by  it :  like  strong  drink,  it  pro- 
duces a  kind  of  happiness  at  the  time,  and  a  vehement  desire  of  repeating 
the  delicious  draught ;  but  its  end  is  bitter,  Prov.  xxiii.  29-35.  We  have  no 
mind  to  dispute  with  you,  but  wish  to  declare  unto  you  the  gospel  of  God, 
and  leave  it.  If  the  "  faithful  saying"  above  referred  to  be  received,  it  will 
issue  in  your  salvation;  if  not,  we  can  only  deliver  our  own  souls! 

Finally,  though  your  mind  may  have  undergone  a  change  during  your 
affliction,  yet  recollect  that  sick-bed  repentances  are  often,  though  not 
always,  like  what  is  said  of  the  goodness  of  Ephraim  :  "As  a  morning  cloud, 
and  as  the  early  dew,  it  goetli  away."  If  you  abound  in  vows  and  promises 
as  to  your  future  life,  it  is  rather  a  sign  that  you  know  but  little  of  yourself 
than  of  a  real  cliange  for  the  better.  An  immediate  apprehension  of  death 
is  capable  of  producing  great  effects,  which  are  often  mistaken  for  a  change 
of  heart.  Be  confident  of  the  truth  of  Christ's  doctrine  and  promises;  but 
be  diffident  of  yourself  To  doubt  his  word  is  unbelief;  but  to  be  jealous 
of  yourself  is  one  of  the  fruits  of  faith.  If  God  should  restore  you  to  health, 
and  you  prove  by  your  Christian  conversation  that  his  word  has  taken  deep 
root  in  your  mind,  your  fellow  Christians  will  rejoice  over  you,  and  join  in 
blessing  God  that  the  day  of  visitation  has  been  to  you  a  day  of  salvation. 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY. 

THE  NATURE  AND  PROGRESSIVENESS  OF  THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY. 

One  of  the  leading  characteristics  by  which  the  religion  of  the  Bible  is 
distinguished  from  those  systems  of  philosophy  and  morality  which  many 
would  impose  upon  us  in  its  place,  is,  that  every  thing  pertaining  to  it  bears 
a  relation  to  eternity.  The  object  of  all  other  systems  is  at  best  to  form  the 
manners ;  but  this  rectifies  the  heart.  They  aspire  only  to  lit  men  for  this 
world  ;  but  this,  while  it  imparts  those  dispositions  which  tend  more  than 
any  thing  to  promote  peace,  order,  and  happiness  in  society,  fixes  the  affec- 
tions supremely  on  God  and  things  above. 

That  such  should  be  the  exclusive  property  of  revealed  religion  is  not  sur- 
prising, since  it  is  this  only  that  assures  us  of  the  existence  of  an  eternal 

3p2 


726 


MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


hereafter.  If  we  relinquish  this,  all  beyond  the  grave  is  uncertainty,  and 
our  attention  will  of  course  be  confined  to  the  transitory  concerns  of  a  few 
revolving  suns.  The  conclusion  of  those  who  doubt  the  resurrection  ever 
has  been  and  will  be,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  But, 
believing  in  the  Scriptures  of  truth,  immortality  opens  to  our  view.  This  is 
the  seed  time  and  eternity  the  harvest.  All  that  is  known  of  God  and  done 
for  him  in  this  life  is  preparatory  to  the  joy  that  is  set  before  us. 

To  this  affecting  theme,  fellow  Christians,  let  us  bend  our  attention. 
Would  we  be  heavenly-minded,  we  must  think  of  what  heaven  is.  Would 
we  set  our  affections  on  things  above,  we  must  know  them,  converse  with 
them,  and  perceive  their  superior  value  to  things  on  the  earth.  It  is  true, 
when  all  is  done,  it  is  but  little  we  can  comprehend.  It  is  a  weight  of  glory 
which  if  let  down  upon  our  minds  in  our  present  feeble  state  would  overset 
them.  It  did  not  appear  even  to  an  inspired  apostle,  while  upon  earth,  what 
believers  "  would  be ;"  but  if  we  can  only  obtain  a  few  ideas  of  it,  a  glimpse 
of  glory  through  the  breakings  of  interposing  clouds,  it  will  more  than  repay 
us  for  the  utmost  attention.  What  pains  do  men  take  by  artificial  mediums 
to  descry  the  heavenly  bodies!  Every  discovery,  whether  real  or  imaginary, 
is  to  them  a  source  of  rapture  and  delight.  Yet  they  expect  no  possession 
in  these  supposed  worlds  of  wonder.  It  is  not  the  object  which  they  dis- 
cover, but  the  act  of  discovery,  which  by  giving  birth  to  a  momentary  fame 
is  their  reward.  And  shall  we  be  indifferent  towards  those  blessed  realities 
in  which  every  thing  that  we  discover  is  our  own,  and  our  own  for  ever? 

Let  us  first  inquire  into  the  nature  of  that  blessedness  which  God  has 
prepared  for  them  that  love  him,  and  then  consider  its  progressive  cha- 
racter. 

1  have  no  desire  to  indulge  in  speculations  concerning  the  place;  nor  to 
enter  on  any  curious  inquiries  how  spirits  while  separate  from  their  bodies 
can  receive  or  communicate  ideas;  nor  to  throw  out  conjectures  upon  any 
thing  which  God  hath  not  been  pleased  to  reveal.  My  object  is,  as  far  as  may 
be,  to  collect  the  sa-iptural  account  of  things,  or  to  ascertain  wherein  con- 
sists that  fulness  of  joy  which  is  at  God's  right  hand,  and  which  will  continue 
to  flow  as  in  rivers  of  pleasure  for  evermore. 

The  easiest  and  most  satisfactory  medium  of  conception  which  we  have 
of  these  things  appears  to  me  to  be  furnished  by  our  own  present  eipcricnce. 
The  Scriptures  abundantly  teach  us  that  the  blessedness  of  heaven  is  the 
same  for  substance  as  that  which  we  now  partake  of  by  faith.  This  is  clearly 
intimated  in  those  passages  in  which  grace  is  represented  as  the  ear?iest  and 
foretaste  of  glory.  Our  Saviour  is  said  to  have  received  power  "  to  give 
eternal  life  to  as  many  as  were  given  him."  "  And  tJiis,"  he  adds,  "  is  life 
eternal,  to  know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast 
sent."  To  whomsoever  therefore  Christ  gives  this  knowledge,  he  gives  the 
earnest  of  the  promised  possession,  and  which,  as  to  the  nature  of  it,  is  the 
same  as  the  possession  itself  The  promises  to  them  that  overcome,  in  the 
second  and  third  chapters  of  the  Revelation  of  John,  agree  with  what  is 
actually  experienced  in  the  measure  of  the  present  world,  though  expressed 
in  highly  figurative  language,  as  the  "eating  of  the  tree  of  life,"  "partaking 
of  the  hidden  manna,"  a  being  "  clothed  in  white  raiment,"  and  "  made  pillars 
in  the  temple  of  God."  Were  we  to  read  that  sublime  passage  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  without  observing  its  introduction,  we  should  undoubtedly 
consider  it  as  a  description  of  the  heavenly  state,  and  of  that  only  : — "Mount 
Sion,  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  the  innumerable 
company  of  angels,  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born  who 
are  written  in  heaven,  God  the  Judge  of  all,  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  Jesus  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant,  and  the  blood  of  sprinkling 


THE  HEAVENLV  GLORr.  727 

that  speaketh  better  things  than  tlie  blood  of  Abel !"  What  can  this  mean 
but  the  very  heaven  of  heavens?  Yet  the  apostle  tells  the  Hebrews  that  they 
were  already  "come  to"  this  celestial  city,  and  to  all  its  honours  and  privi- 
leges. On  what  principle  can  this  be  understood  but  this,  that  the  church 
below  and  the  church  above  are  one — "  the  whole  family  of  heaven  and 
earth,"  and  he  that  cometh  to  one  branch  or  part  of  it,  cometh  in  effect  to 
the  whole? 

If  then  we  can  review  the  sources  of  our  best  and  purest  joys  in  this  world, 
or  observe  those  of  the  saints  whose  history  is  recorded  in  Scripture,  and 
only  add  perfection  to  them,  we  have  in  substance  the  scriptural  idea  of 
heavenly  glory.  The  nature  of  Canaan's  goodly  fruits  was  clearly  ascertained 
by  ilie  clusters  that  were  carried  into  the  wilderness. 

We  have  seen  already  that  the  grand  source  of  spiritual  enjoyment  in  the 
present  life  is  the  "  knowledge  of  the  only  true  God,  and  of  Jesus  Christ 
whom  he  hath  sent."  And  what  is  this  but  an  epitome  of  the  gospel,  and 
the  faith  of  it?  To  have  a  just  sense  of  the  glory  of  the  Lawgiver  and  the 
Saviour,  and  of  the  harmony  between  them  in  the  salvation  of  lost  sinners ; 
to  see  every  Divine  perfection  as  it  is  manifested  in  the  person  and  work  of 

Christ;  in  a  word,  believingly  to  contemplate  God  in  a  Mediator is 

eternal  life!  This  was  the  water  which  Christ  imparted,  and  which  to  them 
who  imbibed  it  became  in  them  "  a  well  of  living  water  springing  up  into 
everlasting  life." 

Look  at  the  enjoyments  of  the  Scripture  saints,  and  see  if  they  did  not 
arise  from  the  same  spring  that  shall  supply  the  city  of  the  living  God,  even 
in  the  heaven  of  heavens.  Every  thing  that  manifested  the  glory  of  the 
Divine  character  was  to  them  a  source  of  enjoyment;  and  as  all  God's  other 
works  were  wrought  in  subserviency  to  the  redemption  of  the  church  by  his 
Son,  this  was  the  theme  whicli  above  all  others  engrossed  their  attention. 
What  was  it  that  filled  Abraham's  heart  with  joy?  What  that  eclipsed  the 
world  in  the  esteem  of  IMoses?  What  that  made  the  tongue  of  David  as  the 
pen  of  a  ready  writer?  It  was  Christ.  That  in  the  "  everlasting  covenant" 
which  was  all  his  salvation,  and  all  his  desire,  was  its  containing  the  pro- 
mise of  Christ.  If  we  find  any  of  the  prophets  filled  with  more  than  usual 
ardour,  it  is  when  Christ  is  the  theme:  "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a 
son  is  given,  and  the  government  shall  be  upon  his  shoulder;  and  his  name 
shall  be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  mighty  God,  the  everlasting 
Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace. — Behold,  the  Lord  God  will  come  with  strong 
hand,  and  his  arm  shall  rule  for  him :  behold,  his  reward  is  with  him,  and 
his  work  before  him.  He  shall  feed  his  flock  like  a  shepherd :  he  shall 
gather  the  lambs  with  his  arm,  and  carry  them  in  his  bosom,  and  shall 
gently  lead  those  that  are  with  young. — Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of  Zion  : 
shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem  :  behold,  thy  King  cometh  unto  thee;  he  is 
just,  and  having  salvation ;  lowly,  and  riding  upon  an  ass,  and  upon  a  colt 
the  foal  of  an  ass."  It  is  easy  to  see  in  these  and  similar  passages  a  beam 
of  heavenly  glory  shining  upon  the  writers.  In  short,  it  was  eternal  life  for 
them  to  know  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  loould  send. 

What  of  heaven  there  was  upon  earth  during  the  time  of  our  Saviour's 
ministry  consisted  of  the  knowledge  of  him,  and  the  knowledge  of  him 
involved  that  of  the  Father  who  sent  him.  Who  can  read  the  interview 
between  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  or  the  words  of  Simeon  in  the  temple,  without 
perceiving  that  a  beam  of  celestial  glory  had  descended  upon  them,  and 
raised  them  above  themselves?  "  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord  ;  and  my 
spirit  hath  rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour!" — "Then  took  he  him  up  in  his 
arms,  and  blessed  God,  and  said,  Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart 
in  peace,  according  to  thy  word :  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation!" 


72S 


MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


And  when  Jesus  commenced  his  public  ministry,  what  a  chnrming  interest 
was  excited  among  the  people!  John,  observing  liim  as  he  walked,  said  to 
two  of  his  disciples,  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God!"  They  immediately  fol- 
low Jesus.  Jesus,  turning  to  them,  asks,  "  What  seek  ye?"  They  cannot 
express  all  they  wish  at  that  time  and  place  ;  but,  desirous  of  a  more  intimate 
acijuaintance  with  him,  ask,  "Where  dwellest  thou?"  Tlie  answer  was, 
"  Come  and  see."  And  when  they  had  spent  the  evening  with  him,  one  of 
them  (Andrew)  goes  and  finds  his  brother  Simon,  and  said,  "  We  have  found 
the  Messiah !"  And  he  brought  him  to  Jesus.  The  day  following  Jesus 
findeth  Philip,  and  said  unto  him,  "  Follow  me  !"  Philip  findeth  Nathanael, 
and  said,  "  We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets, 
did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph." — "  Can  there  any  good 
thing,"  said  Nathanael,  "  Come  out  of  Nazareth  ?"  The  answer  is,  as  before, 
"  Come  and  see." 

The  enjoyments  of  these  people  were  a  heaven  upon  earth;  yet  at  the 
same  time  Christ  was  nothing  to  unbelievers.  "  He  was  in  the  world,  and 
the  world  was  made  by  him,  and  the  world  knew  him  not." — "  But  as  many 
as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God,  even  to 
them  that  believe  on  his  name." — "  The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt 
among  them,  (and  they  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten 
of  the  Father,)  full  of  grace  and  truth."  Thus  it  was  that  of  his  fulness  they 
all  received,  and  grace  for  grace.  In  him  the  invisible  God  was  in  a  man- 
ner rendered  visible;  for  he  who  dwelt  in  his  bosom  came  down  and  declared 
him.  In  beholding  his  glory,  therefore,  they  beheld  the  glory  of  God,  and 
were  partakers  in  measure  of  eternal  life,  John  i.  10-18. 

It  is  a  remarkable  saying  of  our  Lord  to  Nathanael,  when  his  mind  was 
transported  with  joy  and  surprise,  "  Thou  shalt  see  greater  things  than  these 
— hereafter  you  shall  see  hccwenopcn,  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and 
descending  upon  the  Son  of  man."  The  allusion  is,  I  doubt  not,  to  the 
vision  of  Jacob  at  Beth-el :  and  what  the  ladder  was  to  him — namely,  a 
medium  on  which  the  angels  of  God  ascended  and  descended,  that  Christ 
would  be  to  his  church  after  his  resurrection.  I  say  to  his  church  ;  for  though 
the  intimation  is  given  to  Nathanael,  yet  it  was  not  of  any  thing  which  he 
should  see  in  distinction  from  others,  but  in  common  with  them.  The 
pronoun  is  plural :  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  hereafter  you  shall  see  heaven 
open,"  &c.  But  what  a  saying  is  this  !  When  the  wrath  of  God  was  poured 
upon  a  guilty  world,  it  is  expressed  by  this  kind  of  language  :  "  The  win- 
dows of  heaven  were  opened."  What  then  can  it  here  denote  but  that  God 
would,  in  honour  of  Him  in  whom  his  soul  delighted,  pour  forth  a  deluge 
of  blessings  in  his  name?  Then,  when  Jesus  had  said  unto  his  disciples, 
"  Thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day, 
and  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name 
among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem  ;"  when  thousands  of  Jews  found 
mercy  under  a  single  sermon,  and  tens  of  thousands  from  among  the  Gentiles 
partook  of  the  benefits  of  his  death ;  and  when,  as  the  great  High  Priest  of 
our  profession,  he  had  entered  into  the  holy  of  holies,  and  consecrated  a  new 
and  living  way  for  the  most  intimate  communion  between  God  and  his 
people, — then  was  heaven  opened. 

The  words  of  our  Lord  to  Nicodemus  are  also  here  in  point:  "  No  man 
hath  ascended  up  to  Heaven  but  He  that  came  down  from  heaven,  even  the 
Sou  of  man,  who  is  in  heaven."  The  connexion  of  the  passage  will  con- 
vince us  that  a  personal  ascent  or  descent  is  out  of  the  question.  The  mean- 
ing appears  to  be  this:  No  man  hath  known  the  mind  of  God,  save  He  that 
was  always  with  him,  and  is  still  wiUi  him,  dwelling  as  in  his  bosom. — Thus 
the  phrase  ascending  to  heaven  is  used  in  Deut.  xxx.  13,  and  Rom.  x.  6. 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY.  729 

The  Greek  might  seek  after  wisdom,  and  the  Jew  make  his  boast  of  God; 
but  no  man  shouhi  be  able  to  find  out  the  wisdom  from  above,  nor  discover 
the  way  of  life,  but  by  coming  to  Christ  and  taking  him  for  his  guide. 
Nicodemus,  though  a  master  in  Israel,  yet,  while  a  stranger  to  Christ,  stum- 
bled at  the  very  threshold  of  the  heavenly  doctrine.  Christ  told  him  of  earthly 
things,  namely,  tiie  new  birth,  which  was  only  one  of  the  first  principles  of 
true  religion^  a  subject  confined  to  the  earth,  and  which  every  babe  in  grace 
was  acquainted  with,  and  he  could  not  understand  it :  how  then  should  he 
climb  up  as  it  were  into  heaven,  and  discover  the  mind  of  God  ?  Christ 
taught  what  1ie  knew,  and  they  that  received  not  his  testimony  were  strangers 
to  the  kingdom  of  God ;  but  they  that  received  it,  looking  to  him  as  the 
Israelites  looked  to  the  brazen  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  found  eternal  life. 

The  prayer  of  our  Saviour  in  behalf  of  his  followers  shows  also  that  hea- 
ven consists  in  that  which  has  its  commencement  in  this  world  :  "  Neither 
pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  who  shall  believe  on  me  through 
their  word  :  that  they  all  may  he  one,  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in 
thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us,  that  the  world  may  believe  that  thou 
liast  sent  me."  What  is  heaven  but  to  be  of  one  heart  with  the  Father  and 
with  Christ,  even  as  they  are  one?  Yet  this  blessed  union  is  not  confined 
to  the  heavenly  state :  it  was  to  take  place  on  earth,  and  be  visible  to  men ; 
how  else  should  the  world  be  convinced  by  it  that  Jesus  was  sent  of  God? 
So  far  then  as  we  enter  into  the  views  and  pursuits  of  God  and  of  his  Christ, 
so  much  we  enjoy  of  heaven ;  and  so  far  as  we  come  up  to  this  standard  in 
our  social  and  visible  character,  so  much  does  our  conduct  tend  to  convince 
the  world  of  the  reality  of  religion. 

The  kingdom  of  grace,  especially  the  gospel  dispensation,  is  described  by 
Paul,  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  in  language  equally  applicable 
to  the  kingdom  of  glory,  and  which,  indeed,  at  first,  brings  the  latter  to  our 
thoughts :  "As  it  is  written,  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neitiier  have 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  him.     But  God  hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit." 

Once  more.  The  prayer  of  Paul  in  behalf  of  the  Ephesians,  and  of  all 
saints,  is  very  expressive  on  this  subject:  "  For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees 
unto  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the  whole  family  in 
heaven  and  earth  is  named,  that  he  would  grant  you,  according  to  the  riches 
of  his  glory,  to  be  strengthened  with  might  by  his  Spirit  in  the  inner  man ; 
that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith ;  that  ye,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the 
breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height:  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ, 
which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of 
God."  If  there  be  a  sentence  in  the  Bible  expressive  of  ultimate  bliss,  one 
would  think  it  were  this  of  being  "  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God ;"  yet 
this  is  held  up  as  an  object  not  altogether  unattainable  in  the  present  life. 

But  let  us  look  with  close  attention  at  the  different  parts  of  this  wonderful 
prayer. 

Observe,  First,  The  character  under  which  God  is  addressed :  "  The 
Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  whom  the  whole  family  in  heaven  and 
earth  is  named."  We  sometimes  hear  prayers  among  us  beginning  with  a 
great  flow  of  pompous  words,  and  high-sounding  names  ascribed  to  the 
Divine  Majesty,  without  any  relation  to  what  is  prayed  for;  but  the  more  we 
examine  the  prayers  recorded  in  Scripture,  the  more  we  shall  find  that  all 
their  prefitory  ascriptions  are  appropriate  ;  that  is,  they  bear  an  intimate  rela- 
tion to  the  petitions  that  follow.  Thus  Jacob  prayed  when  in  fear  of  Esau: 
"O  God  of  my  father  Abraham,  God  of  my  father  Isaac,"  &c.  Thus  also 
David,  "  O  thou  that  hearest  prayer,  unto  thee  shall  all  flesh  come."     And 

Vol.  III.— 92 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

thus  the  souls  under  the  altar,  "  IIow  long,  O  Lord,  liohj  and  true,  dost  thoa 
not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood?"  The  same  is  observable  in  this  prayer 
of  Paul.  "  The  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  is  supposed  to  be  through 
him  the  Father  of  all  that  believe  in  him,  even  of  the  whole  "  family  in  heaven 
and  earth ;"  and  to  be  more  ready  to  impart  good  things  to  them  than  the 
tenderest  father  can  be  to  his  children.  The  combining  also  of  the  church 
in  heaven  and  the  church  on  earth,  and  the  representing  of  them  as  but  one 
fannhj,  though  in  different  situations,  seem  designed  to  furnish  a  plea  that 
all  the  blessedness  might  not  be  confined  to  the  former,  but  that  a  portion 
of  h  might  be  sent,  as  it  were,  from  the  Father's  table  to  those  children  who 
had  not  yet  passed  the  confines  of  sin  and  sorrow. 

Secondly,  The  rule  by  which  the  Lord  is  entreated  to  confer  his  favours : 
"According  to  the  riches  of  his  glory."  By  the  term  "  riches,"  we  have  the 
idea  of  ililness,  or  all-sufficiency  ;  and  by  the  "  riches  of  his  glory,"  that  per- 
haps of  an  established  character  for  goodness.  Taken  together,  they  suggest 
that,  in  drawing  near  to  God,  whether  for  ourselves  or  others,  we  must  utterly 
renounce  all  human  worthiness,  and  plead  with  him  ouly  for  his  name's  sake. 
This  is  a  plea  which  has  never  failed  of  success. 

Thirdly,  The  petitions  of  which  the  prayer  is  composed  :  "  That  he  would 
grant  you — to  be  strengthened  with  might  by  his  Spirit  in  the  inner  man," 
&-C.  By  reviewing  these  petitions,  as  quoted  above,  we  shall  perceive  that 
the  first  three  are  preparatory  to  those  which  follow.  The  import  of  them 
is  that  believers  might  be  girded,  as  it  were,  for  an  extraordinary  effort  of 
mind.  He  prays  for  their  being  possessed  of  certain  things  "  that  they  may 
be  able"  to  comprehend  other  things.  Such  is  the  weakness  of  our  souls 
for  contemplating  heavenly  subjects,  especially  "  the  breadth,  and  length,  and 
depth,  and  height"  of  redeeming  love,  that,  without  grace  to  prepare  us  for 
it,  it  would  be  utterly  beyond  our  reach. 

The  first  thing  prayed  for  is  that  we  may  be  "  strengthened  with  might  by 
his  Spirit  in  our  inner  man."  We  may  possess  strong  mental  powers,  and 
by  cultivating  them  may  be  able  to  reason  high,  and  imagine  things  that 
shall  fill  our  own  minds  and  those  of  others  with  agreeable  amazement;  yet 
without  that  might  which  is  produced  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  may  be  mere 
babes  in  true  religion,  or,  what  is  worse,  "  without  God  in  the  world."  It  is 
being  strong  in  faith,  in  hope,  and  in  love,  that  enables  the  mind  to  "  lay 
hold  of  eternal  life." 

To  this  is  added,  "  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith."  For 
one  to  dwell  in  the  heart  of  another  is  the  same  thing  as  to  be  the  object  of 
his  intense  affection;  and  as  all  that  we  at  present  know  of  Christ,  and  con- 
sequently all  the  love  that  we  bear  to  him,  has  respect  to  his  character  as 
revealed  in  the  gospel,  it  is  "  by  faith"  that  he  is  said  to  dwell  in  us.  Did  not 
Christ  dwell  in  the  hearts  of  the  Ephesians  then  already  ?  He  did  ;  but  the 
object  of  the  apostle's  prayer  in  this  instance  was,  not  that  they  might  be 
saints,  but  eminent  saints;  not  that  they  might  merely  love  Christ  in  sin- 
cerity, but  in  the  highest  or  most  intense  degree.  And  as  this  prayer  is  pre- 
paratory to  what  follows,  it  shows  that  the  more  intensely  we  love  him,  the 
more  capable  we  are  of  comprehending  his  love  to  us.  We  may  talk  of 
everlasting  love,  and  fancy  ourselves  to  have  a  deep  insight  into  the  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel ;  but  if  his  name  be  not  dearer  to  us  tlian  life,  it  will  be 
little  or  nothing  more  than  talk.  The  deeds  of  David  would  appear  abun- 
dantly more  glorious  to  Jonathan  than  to  those  cold-hearted  Israelites  who 
had  no  regard  for  him.  Of  all  the  disciples  none  were  so  loving  as  John, 
and  none  have  written  so  largely  on  the  love  of  God,  and  of  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Once  more,  He  adds,  "  That  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love."  If 
Christ's  dwelling  in  our  hearts  be  expressive  of  love  to  him,  it  may  seem  as 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY.  731 

though  this  part  of  the  prayer  was  a  mere  repetition ;  but  the  emphasis  ap- 
pears to  lie  upon  the  terms  rooted  and  grounded.  They  are  both  meta- 
phorical;  one  referring  to  a  tree  or  plant,  and  the  other  to  a  building.  Now, 
seeing  it  was  the  desire  of  the  apostle  that  believers  should  soar  upward  in 
one  respect,  he  is  concerned  that  they  should  be  prepared  for  it  by  descend- 
ing downward  in  another.  If  the  tree  be  not  well  rooted,  or  the  building 
well  grounded,  the  higher  it  rises,  the  greater  will  be  its  danger  of  falling. 
And  what  is  that  in  love  to  Christ,  it  may  be  asked,  which  is  analogous  to 
this?  It  may  be  its  being  accompanied  in  all  its  operations  by  a  knowledge 
of  his  true  character.  One  is  greatly  enamoured  of  a  stranger  who  has  saved 
his  life,  and  thinks  at  the  same  time  he  should  be  happy  to  spend  his  days 
with  him ;  but  as  he  comes  to  know  him,  he  finds  they  cannot  live  together. 
He  regards  him  as  a  deliverer,  but  dislikes  him  as  a  man.  Another  in  simi- 
lar circumstances  not  only  feels  grateful  for  his  deliverance,  but  is  attached 
to  his  deliverer.  The  more  he  knows  of  him,  the  better  he  loves  him,  and 
wishes  for  nothing  more  than  to  dwell  with  him  for  ever.  The  regard  of  the 
former,  we  should  say,  is  not  "  rooted,"  or  "  grounded  ;"  but  that  of  the  latter 
is.  It  is  easy  to  apply  this  to  the  love  of  Christ,  and  thus  to  account  for  the 
fall  of  many  fair  and  towering  professors,  as  well  as  for  the  growth  of  true 
believers. 

But  what  is  the  object  of  all  these  petitions?  They  are  only  preparatory, 
as  before  observed,  to  what  follows.  And  what  is  this  ?  "  That  ye  may  be 
able  to  comprehend  what  is  the  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height; 
and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge."  The  love 
ascribed  to  Christ,  is  that,  no  doubt,  which  induced  him  to  lay  down  his 
life  for  us,  and  which  still  operates  in  the  carrying  into  effect  every  branch 
of  our  salvation.  But  who  can  ascertain  its  dimensions?  Whether  v^e  con- 
sider the  extent  of  its  designs,  the  duration  of  its  effects,  the  guilt  and  misery 
from  which  it  recovers  us,  or  the  glory  and  happiness  to  which  it  raises  us, 
we  are  lost  in  the  boundless  theme.  How  should  it  be  otherwise,  when  it 
"passeth  knowledge,"  even  that  of  the  most  exalted  creatures? 

The  perception  which  we  have  of  this  great  subject,  however,  is  termed 
**  comprehending,"  or  taking  hold  of  it.  It  is  not  peculiar  to  sublime  and 
elevated  genius  to  soar  above  the  skies.  The  Christian,  borne  on  the  wings 
of  faith,  may  adopt  the  language  of  Milton,  and  in  a  much  more  real  and 
interesting  sense : — 

'« Up-led  by  thee 
Into  the  heaven  of  heavens  I  have  presumed, 
An  earthly  guest,  and  drawn  empyreal  air." 

One  more  step  remains  ere  we  reach  the  top  of  this  Divine  climax.  In 
proportion  as  we  comprehend  the  love  of  Christ,  we  are  supposed  to  be 
"  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of  God."  If  there  be  a  sentence  in  the  Bible  ex- 
pressive of  ultimate  bliss,  I  say  again,  surely  it  is  this.  To  be  filled  with 
God,  with  the  fulness  of  God,  with  all  the  fulness  of  God — what  things  are 
these?  Yet  by  being  strengthened  with  might  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our 
inner  man,  by  Christ's  dwelling  in  our  hearts  by  faith,  and  by  being  rooted 
and  grounded  in  love,  we  are  supposed  to  be  able,  in  measure,  to  grasp  the 
mighty  theme  of  redeeming  love,  and  so  to  partake  of  the  Divine  fulness. 

There  is  a  perceivable  and  glorious  fitness  in  God's  imparting  his  fulness 
through  the  knowledge  of  the  love  of  Christ.  First,  It  is  through  his  dying 
love  that  the  fulness  of  the  Divine  character  is  dii^played.  Much  of  God  is 
seen  in  his  other  works ;  but  it  is  here  only  that  we  behold  his  inliole  character. 
Great  as  were  the  manifestations  of  his  glory  under  former  dispensations, 
they  contained  only  a  partial  display  of  him.     "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at 


7^  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

any  time,"  said  John  :  "  but  the  only  begotten  Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom 
of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared  him." — Secondly,  It  is  through  the  dying 
love  of  Christ  that  a  way  is  opened  for  the  consistent  communication  of  Divine 
blessedness  to  guilty  creatures.  God's  fulness  is  a  mighty  stream ;  but  sin 
was  a  mountain  which  tended  to  impede  its  progress,  and  so  to  prevent  our 
being  filled  with  it.  This  mountain,  by  the  dying  love  of  Christ,  was  re- 
moved, and  cast  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  Hence  the  way  is  clear :  all 
spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  places  flow  freely  to  us  through  Christ  Jesus. 
God  can  pour  forth  the  fulness  of  his  heart  towards  sinners  without  the  least 
dishonour  attaching  to  his  character  as  having  connived  at  sin. — Thirdly,  It 
is  as  knowing  the  love  of  Christ  that  we  imhibc  the  Divine  fulness.  To  be 
filled  with  the  fulness  of  God,  it  is  not  only  necessary  that  the  object  be 
exhibited,  and  a  way  opened  for  its  being  consistently  communicated,  but 
that  the  soul  be  emptied  of  those  impediments  which  obstruct  its  entrance. 
There  is  no  room  for  the  fulness  of  God  in  the  unrenewed  mind ;  it  is  pre- 
occupied with  other  things.  All  its  thoughts,  desires,  and  affections  are 
filled  with  the  trash  of  this  world.  If  it  assume  the  appearance  of  religion, 
still  it  is  so  bloated  with  self-sufficiency  that  there  is  no  place  for  a  free  sal- 
vation. But  knowing  the  love  of  Christ,  as  revealed  in  the  gospel,  all  these 
things  are  accounted  loss,  and  the  fulness  of  God  finds  free  access. 

And  as  it  is  in  the  beginning,  so  it  is  in  the  whole  of  our  progress.  If  we 
prefer  the  study  of  other  things  to  the  doctrine  of  the  cross,  even  of  those 
things  which  in  subserviency  to  this  are  lawful,  we  shall  pursue  a  barren 
track.  We  may  feed  our  natural  powers,  but  our  graces  will  pine  away.  It 
is  by  the  study  of  Christ  crucified  that  our  souls  will  be  enriched ;  for  this  is 
the  medium  through  wliich  God  delights  to  communicate  of  his  fulness. 

Having  considered  something  of  the  nature  of  the  heavenly  blessedness, 
our  next  object  of  meditation  is  its  progressive  character.  By  the  man- 
ner in  which  some  have  spoken  and  written  of  the  heavenly  state,  it  would 
seem  not  only  as  if  all  would  possess  an  equal  measure  of  blessedness,  but 
that  this  measure  would  be  completed  at  once ;  if  not  on  the  soul's  having 
left  the  body,  yet  immediately  on  it3  reunion  with  it  at  the  resurrection.  But 
such  ideas  appear  to  me  to  have  no  foundation  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  salvation  is  altogether  of  grace,  and  that  every  crown 
will  be  cast  at  the  feet  of  Christ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  they  shall  be  in 
all  respects  alike.  Paul's  crown  of  rejoicing,  for  instance,  will  greatly  con- 
sist in  the  salvation  of  those  among  whom  he  laboured;  but  this  cannot  be 
the  case  with  every  other  inhabitant  of  heaven.  And  with  respect  to  the 
completion  of  the  bliss,  there  certainly  will  be  no  such  imperfection  attend- 
ing it  as  to  be  a  source  of  sorrow,  but  rather  of  joy,  as  affording  matter  for 
an  endless  progression  of  knowledge,  and  consequently  of  love,  and  joy,  and 
praise.  There  is  no  sorrow  in  the  minds  of  angels  in  their  present  state; 
yet  they  are  described  as  looking  with  intenseness  and  delight  into  the  doc- 
trine of  the  cross;  which  clearly  indicates  a  progressiveness  in  knowledge 
and  happiness.  God  is  perfect,  and  immutably  the  same;  but  it  is  as  he  is 
revealed  or  manifested  to  us  that  we  enjoy  him  as  our  portion.  If,  therefore, 
he  be  gradually  manifesting  himself  through  time,  and  thereby  causing  the 
tide  of  celestial  bliss  to  rise  higher  and  higher,  it  may  be  the  same  to  eternity. 
Nay  more,  if  heavenly  bliss  consist  in  knowing  the  love  of  Christ,  and  that 
love,  when  all  is  said  and  done,  "  passeth  knowledge,"  it  must  be  so ;  there 
must  either  come  a  period  when  the  finite  mind  shall  have  perfectly  compre- 
hended the  infinite,  and  therefore  can  have  nothing  more  to  learn,  or  know- 
ledge and  happiness  must  be  eternally  progressive. 

I  might  here  consider  the  doctrine  as  proved ;  but  other  evidences  will 
appear  by  examining  the  causes  of  it,  as  taught  us  in  the  Scriptures.     That 


THE  HEAVENLr  GLORY.  733 

the  happiness  of  saints  and  angels  is  now  increasing  is  abundantly  evident 
from  the  progressive  state  of  various  things  from  whence  it  rises.  Our  Lord 
assures  us  that  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth ;  but,  if 
so,  the  gradual  progress  of  his  kingdom  among  men,  from  its  first  beginning, 
must  have  caused  a  gradual  influx  of  joy  to  the  heavenly  world.  The  same 
might  be  said,  no  doubt,  of  other  things  which  are  working  together  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  Divine  designs.  But  I  shall  select  two  great  events 
as  having  an  influence  in  this  way  beyond  any  thing  else  with  which  we  are 
acquainted.  These  are,  the  first  and  second  appearing  of  Christ.  The 
one  will  give  us  some  idea  of  the  increase  of  heavenly  blessedness  during 
the  separate  state,  and  the  other  after  it. 

The  person  and  work  of  Christ,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  grand  medium  by 
which  the  Divine  character  is  manifested.  Every  stage  of  his  undertaking, 
therefore,  may  be  expected  to  exhibit  it  with  increasing  lustre,  and  so  to 
augment  the  blessedness  not  only  of  saints  on  earth,  but  of  saints  and  angels 
in  heaven.  The  appearing  of  Christ,  whether  to  save  or  to  judge  the  world, 
is  an  event  which  the  Scriptures  seem  to  have  marked  with  emphasis,  and 
God  to  have  honoured  by  a  peculiar  manifestation  of  his  glory.  Such  is  the 
idea  suggested  by  the  following  passages :  "  Who  hath  saved  us,  and  called 
us  with  an  holy  calling,  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his 
own  purpose  and  grace,  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began ; 
but  is  now  made  manifest  by  the  appearing  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who 
hath  abolished  death,  and  hath  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  through 
the  gospel." — "  Looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and  the  glorious  appearing 
of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  From  the  former  of  tliese 
passages  we  see  that  the  first  appearing  of  our  Saviour  was  the  time  marked 
out  of  God  for  pouring  forth  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  or  for  manifesting  what 
had  been  hid  in  his  secret  purposes  from  before  the  foundation  of  the  world: 
from  the  latter  we  see  that  his  second  appearing  is  not  only  a  time  to  which 
Christians  may  look  forward  with  hope,  but  that  it  is  itself  their  hope,  "  that 
blessed  hope;"  as  though  all  other  hopes  were  comprised  in  it:  and,  in  that 
it  is  denominated  "  glorious,"  it  is  intimated  that  the  glory  of  Christ  shall  in 
that  day  be  manifested  beyond  what  it  has  ever  been  before. 

The  influence  which  the  first  of  these  events  had  on  the  happiness  of  the 
church  on  earth  surpassed  every  thing  which  had  gone  before  it.  Not  only 
was  the  daughter  of  Zion  called  to  "rejoice  greatly"  at  the  coming  of  her 
King,  but  is  directed  to  "  get  upon  the  high  mountain,"  as  if  to  proclaim  the 
glad  tidings  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Yea,  fields,  and  woods,  and  seas,  and 
heaven,  and  earth,  are  called  upon  to  unite  in  the  general  joy,  Zech.  ix.  9 ; 
Isa.  xl.  8;  Psal.  xcvi.  11,  12.  And  is  it  possible  that  the  blessed  above 
should  be  uninterested  on  this  occasion?  If  the  repentance  of  a  sinner  gives 
them  joy,  what  must  they  feel  on  the  appearance  of  him  who  came  to  save  a 
world! 

The  ministry  of  angels,  and  the  appearance  of  other  celestial  inhabitants 
during  the  Lord's  residence  on  earth,  aiford  some  idea  of  the  lively  interest 
which  they  felt  in  his  undertaking. 

When  the  heavenly  messengers  announced  his  birth  to  the  shepherds,  they 
did  not  preach  an  unfelt  gospel ;  by  turning  the  "good  tidings  which  should 
be  to  all  people"  into  a  song  of  praise,  they  manifested  how  much  their  own 
hearts  were  in  the  subject. — In  their  ministering  to  him  after  his  temptations 
in  the  wilderness  we  see  a  cordiality  resembling  that  of  Melchizedek  to 
Abraham,  when  he  brought  forth  bread  and  wine,  and  blessed  him.  It  was 
not  for  them  to  appear  at  the  scene  of  conflict,  lest  the  glory  of  the  victory 
should  seem  to  be  diminished  ;  but  they  may  congratulate  him  on  his  return, 
and  furnish  him  with  those  things  which  he  refused  to  obtain  by  miracle  at 

3Q 


734  MISCELLANEOUS   TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

the  instance  of  the  tempter. — The  appearance  of  Moses  and  Ellas  on  the 
mount  of  transfiguration,  and  their  speaking  of  his  decease  which  he  should 
accomplish  at  Jerusalem,  strongly  evinces  the  deep  interest  which  they  took 
in  it ;  and  affords  a  specimen  of  that  which  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
heavenly  inhabitants. 

During  our  Saviour's  sufferings,  as  under  his  temptations,  it  seems  to  have 
been  ordered  that  the  hosts  of  heaven,  as  well  as  his  friends  on  earth,  should 
in  a  manner  forsake  him  ;  not  as  being  uninterested  in  the  event,  (for  legions 
of  them  were  ready,  if  God  had  given  commandment,  to  have  rescued  him, 
or  avenged  his  wrongs,)  but  that  he  might  grapple  as  it  were  single-handed 
with  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  that  to  him  might  be  given  the  whole  glory 
of  the  victory.  Except  a  single  angel,  who  appeared  to  strengthen  him  prior 
to  the  conflict,  all  seem  to  have  stood  aloof,  and  with  awful  silence  witnessed 
its  result.  But  when,  rising  from  the  dead,  he  began  his  return  from  the 
field  of  battle,  they  again  met  him,  as  Melchizedek  met  Abraham,  with  their 
blessings  and  congratulations.  The  resurrection  of  our  Lord  was  at  too 
early  an  hour  for  the  most  zealous  of  his  disciples  to  be  present;  but  the 
heavenly  watchers  were  there;  and,  on  his  leaving  the  tomb,  were  stationed 
to  give  information  to  them  that  would  be  seeking  him.  The  question 
which  they  put  to  Mary,  "Woman,  why  weepest  thou?"  would  seem  to 
intimate  that,  if  she  had  known  all,  she  would  not  have  wept,  unless  it  were 
for  joy !  As  from  that  day  Satan  had  begun  to  fall  before  him,  a  mighty 
influx  of  joy  must  needs  have  been  diffused  through  all  the  heavenly  regions. 

If  we  follow  our  Redeemer  in  his  ascension  and  session  at  the  right  hand 
of  God,  where  he  is  constituted  Lord  of  all,  angels,  principalities,  and  powers 
being  made  subject  to  him,  and  where  he  sits  till  his  enemies  are  made  his 
footstool,  we  shall  observe  the  tide  of  celestial  blessedness  rise  higher  still. 
The  return  of  a  great  and  beloved  prince,  who  should,  by  only  hazarding 
his  life,  have  saved  his  country,  would  fill  a  nation  with  ecstasy.  Their  con- 
versation in  every  company  would  turn  upon  him,  and  all  their  thoughts  and 
joys  concentrate  in  him.  See  then  the  King  of  kings,  after  having  by  death 
abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light;  after  spoiling  the 
powers  of  darkness,  and  ruining  all  their  schemes;  see  him  return  in  triumph! 
There  was  something  like  triumph  when  he  entered  into  Jerusalem.  All  the 
city  was  moved,  saying,  "  Who  is  this  ?"  And  the  multitude  answered.  It 
is  Jesus,  the  prophet  of  Nazareth  ;  and  the  very  children  sung,  Hosanna  to 
the  Sou  of  David  :  blessed  be  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ; 
hosanna  in  the  highest!  How  much  greater  then  must  be  the  triumph  of 
his  entry  into  the  heavenly  Jerusalem !  Would  not  all  the  city  be  "  moved" 
in  this  case,  saying,  Wlwis  this?  See  thousands  of  angels  attending  him, 
and  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  come  forth  to  meet  him !  The  entrance 
of  the  ark  into  the  city  of  David  was  but  a  shadow  of  this,  and  the  respon- 
sive strains  which  were  sung  on  that  occasion  would  on  this  be  much  more 
applicable. 

"  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates. 
And  be  yc  lift  up,  ye  everlasting  doors; 

And  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in. 
JVho  is  this  King  of  glory  ? 

The  Lord  strong  and  mighty, 

The  Lord  mighty  in  battle. 

Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates  ; 
Even  lift  them  up,  ye  everlasting  doors; 

And  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  iu. 
Who  is  this  King  of  glory  ? 
The  Lord  of  hosts,  he  is  the  liing  of  glory!" 

To  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the  mighty  influx  of  joy  which  this  event 
would  produce  in  heaven  is  impossible :  a  few  particulars  of  it  however  are 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY.  735 

intimated  in  the  Scriptures.  The  angels  of  God,  previously  to  the  appearing 
of  Christ,  would  learn  the  Divine  character  principally  from  the  works  of 
creation  and  providence.  When  he  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  they 
sang  together;  and  when,  in  the  government  of  the  world  which  he  had 
made,  he  manifested  his  wisdom,  power,  justice,  and  goodness,  they  cried 
one  to  another,  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts ;  the  w'hole  earth 
is  full  of  his  glory."  But  when  the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  the  death 
of  Christ  was  revealed,  they  are  represented  as  fixing  upon  this  as  their 
chosen  theme — "  Which  things  the  angels  desire  to  look  into." 

What  an  idea  does  this  last  quoted  passage  convey  of  the  intense  desire 
and  delight  of  those  holy  intelligences  while  exploring  the  mysteries  of 
redeeming  grace!  Stooping  down,  like  the  cherubim  towards  the  ark  and 
the  mercy-seat,  their  minds  are  fixed  upon  the  delightful  theme.  Yet  such 
was  its  depth  that  they  did  not  pretend  to  fathom  it,  but  merely  to  look,  or 
rather  desire  to  look  into  it.  The  gospel  was  to  them  a  new  mine  of  celestial 
riches,  a  well-spring  of  life  and  blessedness. 

Much  to  the  same  purpose  are  the  words  of  Paul  to  the  Ephesians.  Speak- 
ing of  the  gospel  which  was  given  him  to  communicate  to  the  Gentiles,  he 
calls  it  "  the  mystery  which  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  had  been  hid 
in  God,  who  created  all  things  by  Jesus  Christ :  to  the  intent  that  noio  unto 
the  principalities  and  powers  in  heavenly  places  might  be  known,  by  the 
church,  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God."  By  whatever  mediums  God  had 
heretofore  made  known  his  manifold  wisdom,  it  is  through  the  redemption 
of  the  church  that  it  must  "  now"  be  viewed,  even  by  the  highest  orders  of 
intelligences.  And  thus  it  was  designed  to  be  from  the  beginning:  all 
things  were  ordered  in  the  secret  purpose  of  God,  and  the  fit  time  of  every 
event  determined,  "  to  the  intent"  that  the  tide  of  mercy  might  rise  and 
overflow  with  the  rising  glory  of  his  Son,  and  that  the  spoils  of  his  warfare 
on  behalf  of  men  should  not  only  furnish  them  with  an  everlasting  feast,  but 
a  surplus  as  it  were  to  be  distributed  among  the  friendly  angels.  The  foun- 
dation of  this  well-ordered  frame  was  laid  in  creation  itself:  for  God  "  created 
all  things  by  Jesus  Christ;"  that  is,  not  merely  as  a  co-worker  with  him, 
but  as  the  end  to  which  every  thing  was  made  to  fit,  or  become  subservient: 
"All  things  were  created  bt/  him,  and  for  him." 

We  seem  to  ourselves  to  be  the  only  parties  under  God  who  are  concerned 
for  the  spread  of  Christ's  kingdom  in  the  world;  but  it  is  not  so.  Tlie  an- 
swer of  the  angel  to  John,  who  by  mistake  was  going  to  worship  him,  is 
worthy  of  our  notice :  "  See  thou  do  it  not :  I  am  thy  fellow  servant,  and  of 
thy  brethren  that  have  the  testimony  of  Jesus."  This  language  conveys  an 
idea  not  only  of  the  lively  interest  which  those  holy  beings  take  in  the  pro- 
motion of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth,  but  of  their  union  and  co-operation 
with  us  in  every  thing  pertaining  to  it.  We  know  not  in  what  manner  this 
is  effected;  but  so  it  is;  and  as  their  perception  both  of  the  worth  and  the 
loss  of  God's  favour  is  exceedingly  more  vivid  and  enlarged  than  ours,  such 
in  their  view  must  be  the  importance  of  saving  a  soul  from  death.  By  how 
much  also  their  love  to  God  and  disinterested  benevolence  to  men  exceeds 
the  languid  affections  of  sinful  creatures,  by  so  much  more  lively  must  be 
the  interest  which  they  feel  in  the  progress  of  this  work.  The  joy  ascribed 
to  them  on  the  repentance  of  a  sinner  is  that  which  might  be  expected  :  how 
much  higher  must  it  rise  then  when  the  strong  holds  of  Satan  give  way  in  a 
town,  a  city,  or  a  country,  where  sinners  have  heretofore  from  time  imme- 
morial been  led  captive  by  him  at  his  will !  While  the  poor  servants  of 
Christ  are  labouring  under  a  thousand  discouragements,  and  sighing  under 
their  own  unfruitfulness,  they,  if  they  were  permitted  to  speak,  would  say 
to  each  of  them,  as  to  Mary,  "  Why  weepest  thou  ?" 


736 


MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 


It  cannot  be  supposed  surely  that  what  has  been  observed  of  angels  is 
confined  to  them,  and  that  the  ascension  of  Christ  added  nothing  to  the 
blessedness  of  the  redeemed  themselves.  It  might  be  presumed  that  they 
who  are  his  bone  and  his  flesh  would  not  be  the  last  either  in  bringing  back 
the  King  or  in  enjoying  his  triumphs.  But  we  need  not  rest  this  conclusiori 
on  mere  presumptive  evidence.  Though  the  visions  of  John,  in  respect  of 
design,  were  mostly  prophetic  of  events  to  be  accomplished  on  earth,  yet 
much  of  the  scenery  is  taken  from  the  work  of  heaven,  and  affords  some 
very  interesting  ideas  of  that  blessed  state.  Surely  the  "  new  song"  of  the 
living  creatures  and  the  elders  who  were  "  round  about  the  throne"  may  be 
considered  in  this  light;  and  they  are  represented  as  not  only  joining  with 
angels  in  ascribing  worthiness  to  the  Lamb,  but  as  dwelling  upon  one  sub- 
ject peculiar  to  themselves:  "Thou  art  worthy — for  thou  wast  slain,  and 
hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood,  out  of  every  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people,  and  nation." 

It  is  also  observable  that  these  living  creatures  and  elders  who  were 
redeemed  from  among  men  are  described  as  rejoicing  over  the  fall  of  Baby- 
lon, and  in  the  prospect  of  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb ;  which  seems  to  be 
only  a  prophetic  mode  of  describing  the  overthrow  of  popery,  and  the  gene- 
ral prevalence  of  true  religion.  Rev.  xix.  But,  if  so,  the  church  above  must 
be  interested  in  all  that  is  going  on  in  the  church  below;  and  must  derive 
a  large  portion  of  its  enjoyments  from  the  progress  of  that  cause  in  defence 
of  which  millions  of  its  members  have  shed  their  blood.  The  exaltation  of 
Christ,  as  King  of  Zion,  adds,  therefore,  to  the  happiness  of  both  heaven 
and  earth. 

In  what  sense  could  Christ  be  said  to  "prepare  a  place"  for  his  followers, 
if  his  presence  did  not  greatly  tend  to  augment  the  blessedness  of  that  world 
whither  he  went,  and  render  it  a  sweet  resort  to  them  when  they  should  have 
passed  their  days  of  tribulation?  If  heavenly  bliss  consist  much  in  social 
enjoyment,  the  arrival  of  anij  interesting  character  must  be  somewhat  of  an 
acquisition.  If  our  present  conceptions,  however,  be  any  rule  of  judging,  the 
being  introduced  to  certain  dear  friends  who  have  gone  before  us  will  be  a 
source  of  pleasure  inexpressible.  In  this  point  of  view  every  one  who  goes 
before  contributes  in  some  degree  to  prepare  a  place  for  those  that  follow 
after;  and  as  things  continually  move  on  in  the  same  direction,  the  sum  total 
of  heavenly  enjoyment  must  be  continually  accumulating.  But  if  such  be 
the  influence  arising  from  the  accession  of  creatures,  what  must  that  have 
been  which  followed  His  entrance  who  is  life  itself?  His  presence  would 
render  those  blest  abodes  ten  thousand  times  more  blessed  !  Hence  the  grand 
motive  to  heavenly-mindedness  in  the  New  Testament  is  drawn  from  the 
consideration  of  Christ's  being  in  heaven.  "  If,"  said  Paul,  "  ye  be  risen 
with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  are  above,  ichere  Christ  sitteth  on  the 
right  hand  of  God.  And  what  the  aposde  recommended  to  others  was  exem- 
plified in  himself;  for  he  had  "a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better."  But  to  "  be  with  Christ"  is  not  to  be  shut  up  with 
him  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  unacquainted  with  what  is  going  on  in  behalf 
of  his  kingdom  in  this  world.  On  the  contrary,  we  shall  there  occupy  a 
situation  suited  to  a  more  enlarged  view  of  it.  Solomon  represents  every 
event  as  having  its  proper  season,  and  all  the  works  of  God  as  forming  a 
beautiful  whole ;  but  intimates  that  man  in  the  present  life  is  too  near  the 
object  to  be  able  to  perceive  it  in  all  its  parts.  He  is  too  much  in  the  world, 
and  the  world  in  him,  to  judge  of  things  pertaining  to  it  on  a  large  scale. 
"  I  have  seen  the  travail,"  saith  he,  "  which  God  hath  given  to  the  sons  of 
men  to  be  exercised  in  it.  He  hath  made  every  thing  beautiful  in  its  time: 
also  he  hath  set  the  world  in  their  heart,  so  that  no  man  can  find  out  the 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY.  737 

work  that  God  maketh  from  the  beginning  to  the  end."  But  to  be  with 
Christ  is  to  be  at  the  source  of  influence  and  the  centre  of  intelligence.  It 
is  to  be  in  company  with  him  that  sitteth  at  the  helm,  knowing  and  directing 
all  things,  and  to  feel  a  common  interest  with  him  in  all  that  is  carrying  on. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  ideas  given  us  of  the  effects  of  Christ's  J?rs^  appear- 
ing; but  the  New  Testament  ascribes  full  as  much  if  not  more  to  his  appearing 
a  second  time  without  sin  unto  salvation.  God  seems  to  have  determined  to 
honour  the  appearing  of  his  Son  by  rendering  it  the  signal  for  pouring  forth 
a  flood  of  blessedness  on  the  created  system.  The  glory  which  accompanied 
his  first  appearing  eclipsed  every  thing  which  had  gone  before  it.  The  dis- 
pensation which  It  introduced  is  the  jubilee  of  the  church,  in  which  millions 
who  sat  in  heathen  darkness  have  been  liberated  and  brought  forth  to  the 
light  of  life.  But  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  on  his  second  appearing 
will  be  greater  still ;  and  the  increase  of  celestial  happiness  will  transcend 
every  thing  which  eye  hath  seen  or  ear  heard,  or  which  it  hath  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  to  conceive.  Believers  have  received  abundance  of  grace 
already,  and  shall  receive  abundance  more  on  their  arrival  at  their  Father's 
house ;  but  both  are  unequal  to  "  the  grace  that  shall  be  brought  unto  thera 
at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ." 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  glory  of  that  day  is  set  forth  in  such  lan- 
guage as  in  a  manner  to  eclipse  every  thing  that  may  be  enjoyed  in  a  sepa- 
rate state  before  it;  and  on  some  occasions  it  is  actually  passed  over  as  though 
it  had  no  existence.  Thus,  when  Paul  would  comfort  the  Thessalonians 
for  the  loss  of  their  Christian  friends,  he  says  nothing  of  their  being  imme- 
diately present  with  the  Lord  ;  but  of  their  being  raised  from  the  dead,  and 
caught  up  to  meet  the  Lord  on  his  second  appearing. 

Among  the  many  passages  of  Scripture  which  hold  up  this  important 
truth  are  the  following:  "  I  shall  behold  his  face  in  righteousness :  I  shall  be 
satisfied  when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness. — Looking  for  that  blessed  hope,  and 
the  glorious  appearing  of  the  great  God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. — 
Looking  for  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God. — And  to  wait 
for  his  Son  from  heaven,  whom  he  raised  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus,  who 
delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come. — Henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord  the  righteous  Judge  shall  give  me 
at  that  day;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  that  love  his  appearing. — 
Gird  up  the  loins  of  your  mind,  be  sober  and  hope  to  the  end,  for  the  grace 
that  is  to  be  brought  unto  you  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ. — Surely  I 
come  quickly.     Amen ;  even  so  come,  Lord  Jesus." 

The  most  plausible  arguments  that  are  alleged  against  the  doctrine  of  a 
separate  state  have  been  drawn  from  these  and  such-like  passages ;  and 
though  there  be  no  ground  for  such  a  conclusion,  yet  we  are  hereby  taught 
to  expect  that  the  glory  which  shall  at  that  time  be  revealed  will  greatly 
transcend  every  thing  that  has  gone  before  it.  The  streams  of  grace  have 
flowed  and  overflowed  in  all  their  meandering  directions ;  but  here  they  meet 
and  fall  into  the  ocean  of  glory. 

The  following  particulars  may  in  some  measure  serve  to  account  for  the 
strong  language  of  the  New  Testament  upon  this  subject. 

First,  Salvation  2oiU  be  then  completed. — It  hath  pleased  God  to  accom- 
plish this  great  work  by  degrees.  We  are  saved  from  the  curse  of  sin,  by 
our  Redeemer's  having  been  made  a  curse  for  us;  from  the  dominion  of  it, 
by  the  renewing  of  his  Spirit;  from  the  being  of  it  at  death;  but  the  effects 
of  it  remain  till  the  resurrection.  This  last  act  of  deliverance  is  of  such 
importance  as  to  be  the  assigned  object  of  our  Saviour's  second  appearance. 
"  He  shall  come  a  second  time  without  sin  unto  salvation."  Christ's  engage- 
ments in  behalf  of  those  whom  the  Father  hath  given  him  extend  not  only 

Vol.  III.— 93  3  q  2 


738  MISCELLANEOUS    TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC- 

to  the  saving  of  their  souls  from  wrath,  but  of  their  bodies  from  the  pit  of 
corruption,  and  in  this  have  their  issue.  "  This  is  the  Father's  will  who  hath 
sent  me,  that  of  all  which  he  hath  given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should 
raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day."  This  deliverance  is  called  "The  adoption, 
to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body ;"  and  is  represented  as  that  for  which 
believers,  even  those  who  had  the  first-fruits  of  the  Spirit,  groaned  within 
themselves.  Every  part  of  the  work  of  salvation  is  great,  and  accompanied 
with  joy ;  but  this,  being  the  last,  will,  on  this  account,  in  some  respects,  be 
the  greatest.  The  husbandman  rejoices  when  his  seed  is  sown,  and  at  every 
stage  of  its  growth;  but  the  joy  of  harvest,  when  he  reaps  the  fruit  of  his 
labour,  crowns  the  whole.  What  the  jubilee  was  to  them  that  were  in  bond- 
age, that  the  resurrection  will  be  to  the  righteous  dead.  The  one  was  accom- 
panied with  general  joy,  with  a  public  proclamation,  with  the  blowing  of  the 
trumpet,  and  with  the  liberty  of  the  captives;  and  so  will  the  other.  "  The 
Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the 
archangel,  and  the  trump  of  God ;  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first." 

That  this  should  augment  the  happiness  of  heaven  is  easily  conceived. 
The  reunion  of  soul  and  body  will  both  furnish  new  matter  for  joy  and  en- 
large our  capacity  for  receiving  it.  If  Christ  watches  over  our  dust  as  a  part 
of  his  charge,  we  ourselves  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  indifferent  towards  it. 
We  know  that  in  contemplating  the  grave  as  our  long  and  lonesome  habita- 
tion, or  as  that  of  our  friends,  we  have  felt  much.  The  plaintive  language 
of  Job  has  here  often  been  adopted :  "  Man  lieth  down,  and  riseth  not :  till 
the  heavens  be  no  more  they  shall  not  awake,  nor  be  raised  out  of  their 
sleep!"  But  by  how  much  we  have  sown  in  tears,  by  so  much  we  shall  reap 
in  joy.  To  hail  the  happy  day  after  so  long  an  imprisonment — to  find  our 
vile  bodies  changed,  and  fashioned  like  unto  Christ's  glorious  body — to  feel 
ourselves  no  more  subject  to  corruption,  dishonour,  and  weakness,  but  pos- 
sessed of  incorruption,  honour,  and  immortal  vigour,  fully  adapted  to  the 
state  to  which  we  shall  be  introduced — must  needs  be  a  source  of  joy  un- 
speakable. Hence  the  language  of  the  prophet,  which,  though  it  foretells  a 
glorious  revival  of  the  church,  yet  alludes  to  the  joy  of  the  resurrection: 
"  Thy  dead  shall  live :  my  deceased,  they  shall  arise :  awake  and  sing,  ye 
that  dwell  in  dust:  for  thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall 
cast  out  the  dead."* 

Secondly,  The  opposition  which  from  the  entrance  of  sin  into  the  creation 
has  been  carrying  on  against  God  shall  noio  come  to  an  end,  and  all  its  mis- 
chievous effects  be  brought  to  a  glorious  issue. — For  this  purpose  was  the  Son 
of  God  manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil:  and  which 
purpose  will  now  be  fully  accomplished.  Death  is  represented  as  the  last 
enemy,  which  being  destroyed  in  the  resurrection,  it  is  supposed  that  every 
other  enemy  shall  have  fallen  before  it.  Here  then  will  be  the  triumphant 
conclusion  of  the  war  between  Michael  and  the  dragon,  the  Seed  of  the 
woman  and  the  seed  of  the  Serpent.  The  appearing  of  Christ,  to  raise  the 
dead  and  judge  the  world,  marks  the  season  or  "  time  of  the  restitution  of 
all  things,  which  God  hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  holy  prophets 
since  the  world  began."  Hence  the  rebellion  raised  in  the  dominions  of 
God  shall  be  crushed  ;  pardon  conferred  on  some,  punishment  inflicted  on 
others,  and  law,  peace,  and  order  restored  to  their  ancient  channels.  Now, 
as  sin,  whether  in  ourselves  or  others,  has  been  the  source  of  all  our  unhap- 
piness,  to  see  it  in  this  manner  finished,  and  the  cause  of  Satan  utterly 
ruined,  cannot  but  produce  an  influx  of  joy  inexpressible. 

Thirdly,  The  creatures  of  God  will  then  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of 

*  Isaiah  xxvi,  19.     Lovvth's  Translation. 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORT.  73d 

corruption,  or  the  yohe  ofhemg  subservient  to  Jiis  enemies,  Rom.  viii.  18-23. 
To  magnify  "the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us"  at  the  resurrection,  the 
apostles  represent  it  as  an  object  interesting  to  creation  in  general,  and  for 
which  it  groaneth  and  travaileth  as  it  were  in  pain,  longing  for  our  deliver- 
ance as  the  signal  of  its  own.  As,  when  a  province  rises  up  against  legiti- 
mate authority,  the  greater  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  its  resources  are  drawn 
in,  and  made  to  subserve  the  interest  of  the  rebels  against  the  rightful  sove- 
reign ;  so  when  man  apostatized  from  God,  all  the  creatures,  whether  ani- 
mate or  inanimate,  which  by  the  laws  of  nature  were  subservient  to  his 
happiness,  were  drawn,  as  it  were,  into  the  confederacy.  Sun,  moon,  stars, 
clouds,  earth,  air,  sea,  birds,  beasts,  fishes,  and  all  other  creatures  which  con- 
tributed to  man's  happiness,  are,  through  his  revolt,  in  some  way  or  other 
made  to  subserve  the  cause  of  rebellion.  To  this  "vanity"  they  are  sub- 
jected :  "  not  willingly"  indeed  (for  every  creature  in  its  proper  station  natu- 
rally inclines  to  serve  and  honour  its  Creator,  and  whenever  it  does  otherwise 
it  is  against  nature) ;  "  but  by  reason  of  him  who  hath  subjected  the  same  in 
hope."  In  other  words.  The  great  Supreme,  having  first  established  the 
laws  of  nature,  did  not  judge  it  proper  to  overturn  them  on  account  of  their 
abuse ;  but  to  permit  the  creatures  to  go  on  serving  the  cause  of  rebellion, 
till  in  his  own  due  time  he  should  deliver  them  from  their  servitude  by  other 
means.  Yet  to  show  their  original  bent,  and  how  much  their  present  sub- 
jection is  against  the  grain,  they  frequently  rise  up,  as  if  to  revenge  their 
Creator's  cause  against  their  abusers.  The  sun  smites  them  by  day,  and  the 
moon  by  night;  the  waters  drown  them;  the  air,  full  of  pestilential  vapours, 
infects  their  vitals;  the  earth  trembles  under  them,  and  disgorges  floods  of 
liquid  fire  to  consume  them;  and  the  animals  revolt  against  them,  and  even 
seize  them  for  their  portion.  In  a  word,  nature,  by  a  bold  figure  of  speech, 
is  personified  and  described  as  labouring  under  the  pangs  of  child-births- 
longing  to  be  delivered  of  its  cumbrous  load. 

And  as  the  "redemption"  or  resurrection  of  our  body  will  mark  the  period 
when  this  disorder  shall  come  to  an  end,  it  is  considered  as  the  birth-day  of 
a  new  creation.  Hence  the  interests  of  the  sons  of  God  are  described  as 
including  those  of  creation  in  general.  The  latter  are,  as  it  were,  bound  up 
in  the  former:  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  one  being  a  glorious  liberty  to  the 
other,  each  longs  for  the  same  event :  "  The  earnest  expectation  of  the  crea- 
ture waiteth  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God." 

Now,  as  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth  will  henceforth  be  the  abode 
of  righteousness,  and  no  more  subject  to  the  vanity  of  subserving  the  cause 
of  sin,  this  must  needs  contribute  to  augment  the  blessedness  of  the  blessed; 
for  as  it  would  grieve  a  loyal  heart  to  see  the  resources  of  his  country  turned 
against  their  rightful  sovereign ;  so  it  must  rejoice  him  to  see  the  rebellion 
crushed,  and  every  thing  appropriated  to  his  honour,  and  the  peace,  order, 
and  happiness  of  society.  Such  are  the  sentiments  expressed  in  the  148th 
Psalm,  in  which  every  creature  in  heaven  above,  and  in  the  earth  beneath, 
according  to  its  capacity,  is  called  upon  to  join  in  praising  God. 

Fourthly,  The  glory  of  Christ  as  a  Saviour  will  he  manifested  beyond  any 
thing  which  has  appeared  before. — Christ  is  glorified  whenever  a  sinner  is 
brought  to  believe  in  him,  and  more  so  when  multitudes  flock  to  his  stand- 
ard; but  all  this  is  little  when  compared  to  the  general  assembly  of  the  saved, 
every  one  of  which  furnishes  an  example  of  the  efficacy  of  his  death.  The 
great  Physician  appears  with  his  recovered  millions,  and  in  the  presence  of 
an  assembled  universe,  presents  them  to  the  Father.  In  that  day  Christ  will 
no  doubt  be  honoured  by  his  people ;  but  that  which  is  principally  held  up 
to  us  is  his  being  honoured  by  others  for  what  is  seen  in  them.  He  shall 
come  "to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all  th,em  that  believe." 


740  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

Now,  as  every  manifestation  of  Christ's  glory  has  been  productive  of  an 
influx  of  blessedness  to  his  people,  and  is  that  indeed  in  whicli  it  consi&ts, 
this  being  the  greatest  of  all  his  manifestations,  it  may  well  be  supposed  to 
be  accompanied  with  the  greatest  augmentation  of  blessedness  which  has 
ever  been  experienced. 

Fifthly,  The  mystery  of  God  willbcjinishcd,  or  his  great  designs  concern- 
ing the  world  and  the  church  will  be  accomplished. — It  has  been  already 
noticed  that  one  reason  why  man  labours  in  vain  to  find  out  the  work  of 
God  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  is  his  nearness  to  the  object ;  or  his  being 
in  the  world,  and  the  world,  as  it  were,  in  him.  Another  is,  that  these  parts, 
though  designed  to  form  a  whole,  resemble,  at  present,  the  detached  wheels 
of  a  machine,  before  they  are  put  together.  God,  who  sees  the  end  from 
the  beginning,  views  them  as  complete;  but  this  is  too  much  for  creatures,, 
even  the  most  exalted.  The  heavenly  inhabitants  themselves  can  know 
things  only  as  they  are  manifested.  Whatever  therefore  turns  up  in  provi- 
dence which  casts  a  light  on  God's  designs  is  to  them  an  object  of  delightful 
attention,  and  serves  of  course  to  augment  their  blessedness.  But  if  the  suc- 
cessively putting  together  of  every  part  of  this  Divine  system  has  gradually 
lieightened  their  enjoyments,  what  must  be  the  effect  of  the  whole  being 
completed  1  Inrmmerable  events,  of  which  we  in  this  world  were  ready  to 
think  hardly,  and  they  in  the  other  were  unable  to  perceive  the  use,  will 
now  appear  wise,  merciful,  and  glorious. 

We  have  been  used  to  speak  of  creation,  providence,  and  redemption,  as 
if  they  were  distinct  systems:  but  it  may  then  appear  that  they  were  in  reality 
one  great  system  ;  and  that  the  two  former  have  all  along  subserved  the  latter. 
"  All  things  were  created  by  him,  and  for  him  ;  and  he  is  before  all  things, 
and  by  him  all  things  consist." 

But  it  may  be  said.  One  great  end  of  Christ's  second  coming  will  be  "  to 
judge  the  world,"  and  that  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  this  can  increase 
the  happiness  of  the  righteous,  unless  they  be  so  swallowed  up  in  selfish 
feelings  as  to  care  only  for  themselves.  I  answer,  the  righteous  will  not  be 
swallowed  up  in  selfish  feelings,  and  yet  their  happiness  will  be  abundantly 
increased.  The  design  of  the  last  judgment  is  not  merely  to  decide  the 
future  state  of  men,  but  to  manifost  the  holiness,  justice,  and  goodness  of 
the  Divine  proceedings.  In  this  world  God  requires  us  to  confide  in  his 
equity,  and  does  not  give  account  of  any  of  his  operations;  but  in  that 
day  every  intelligent  creature  shall  perceive  not  only  what  he  does,  but  ivhy 
he  does  it.  Such  a  display  of  things  to  the  wicked  must,  I  acknowledge, 
be  a  source  of  unspeakable  misery,  as  it  will  deprive  them  of  the  small  con- 
solation of  even  thinking  well  of  tiiemselves  at  the  expense  of  their  Creator's 
character ;  but  that  which  silences  them  will  satisfy  the  righteous,  and  fill 
them  with  sentiments  of  the  highest  admiration  and  esteem.  Their  present 
feelings  will  not  be  so  extinguished  as  to  render  them  hard-hearted  towards 
any  creature.  They  will  rather  be  overcome  by  the  consideration  of  the 
righteousness  and  fitness  of  the  Divine  proceedings.  If  they  be  swallowed 
up  it  will  not  be  in  selfishness,  but  in  the  love  of  God,  to  whose  will  all  infe- 
rior affections  ought  to  be  and  will  be  subordinate.  There  is  a  satisfaction 
felt  by  every  friend  of  justice  in  the  conviction  and  execution  of  a  murderer. 
Humanity  in  this  case  is  jiot  extinguished,  but  enlarged  :  it  is  individual  com- 
passion overcome  by  regard  to  the  general  good.  Thus,  in  whatever  light 
we  consider  the  coming  of  our  Lord,  it  is  a  "  blessed  hope,"  and  a  "glorious 
appearing,"  to  all  that  love  it. 

The  happiness  of  Jacob  in  reviewing  the  issue  of  that  mysterious  train  of 
events  which  brought  him  and  his  family  down  to  Egypt  must  have  over- 
balanced, not  only  \\\q  sorrows  which  he  felt  during  the  suspense,  but  the  joy 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORY.  7^1 

of  his  whole  life:  much  more  will  the  happiness  of  saints,  on  reviewing  the 
issue  of  all  the  dispensations  of  God,  overbalance,  not  only  their  former 
afflictions,  but  all  their  preceding  joys. 

Great,  however,  as  their  happiness  will  be  at  the  appearing  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  language  used  in  reference  to  that  period  shows  it  to  be  but  an  introduc- 
tion to  greater  joys:  "Then  shall  the  King  say  to  them  on  his  right  hand, 
Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prei)ared  for  you  from 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world — enter  ye  into  the  joy  of  our  Lord!" 

The  likeness  of  Christ,  which  is  attributed  to  our  "  seeing  him  as  he  is," 
seems  to  be  expressive  of  something  more  than  a  freedom  from  sin.  It  de- 
notes, not  a  negative,  but  a  positive  blessing;  not  an  instantaneous,  but  a 
gradual  assimilation,  like  that  which  is  insensibly  contracted  by  being  in 
the  company  of  one  with  whom  our  hearts  unite.  We  shall,  doubtless,  from 
our  first  introduction  into  his  presence,  on  leaving  this  mortal  body,  be  so 
far  like  him  as  to  have  no  remains  of  contrariety  to  him ;  but  a  positive  like- 
niindedness  with  him  may,  nevertheless,  be  capable  of  perpetual  increase,  as 
his  mind  shall  be  more  and  more  discovered  by  us.  The  spirits  of  the  just 
made  perfect  are  happy,  as  being  free  from  every  degree  of  misery ;  but  not 
so  filled  with  positive  enjoyment  as  to  be  incapable  of  receiving  more:  and 
thus  it  may  be  with  respect  to  positive  holiness.  What  is  holiness  but  that 
in  which  the  whole  law  is  summed  up, — love?  But  love  is  capable  of 
becoming  more  rooted  and  grounded,  as  well  as  more  intense,  as  the  worth 
of  its  object  becomes  more  known  and  appreciated.  And  as  every  degree 
of  attainment  capacitates  the  mind  for  greater  attainments,  and  the  objects  to 
be  known  -pass  knowledge,  there  'is  reason  to  believe  that  the  things  which 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him  include  nothing  less  than  an  eternal 
accumulation  of  blessedness. 


DEGREES   IN    GLORY   PROPORTIONED    TO   WORKS    OF    PIETY,   CONSISTENT  WITH 
SALVATION  BY  GRACE  ALONE. 

A  CONSTANT  reader  of  the  Evangelical  Magazine  approves  of  several 
observations  which  were  made  on  the  parable  of  the  unjust  steward  (Vol. 
III.  p.  55G) ;  but  wishes  me  to  show  more  particularly  the  consistency  of 
spiritual  and  eternal  blessings  being  bestowed  as  a  reward  of  works  of  piety 
and  charity,  and  consequently  of  different  degrees  of  glory  being  hereafter 
conferred  on  different  persons,  according  to  their  conduct  in  the  present  life, 
with  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace  alone.  I  consider  the  above  as  an 
interesting  inquiry,  and  submit  the  following  as  an  answer. 

In  the  first  place,  It  seems  proper  a  little  more  fully  to  establish  the  senti- 
ments themselves.  Whether  we  can  perceive  their  consistency,  or  not,  they 
manifestly  appear  to  be  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The  same  Divine 
writers  who  teach  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace  alone,  teach  also  that 
eternal  life  will  be  conferred  as  a  reicard  on  those  who  have  served  the  Lord 
with  fidelity,  and  suffered  for  his  sake  in  the  present  world.  "Blessed  are 
they  which  are  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake :  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven."  In  the  addresses  to  the  seven  Asiatic  churches,  eternal  life, 
under  various  forms  of  expression,  is  promised  as  the  reicard  of  those  who 
shall  overcome  the  temptations  and  persecutions  of  the  present  state.  Nor 
is  it  a  mere  promise  of  eternal  life  in  general  to  those  who  shall  overcome; 
but  of  a  reward  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  This  subject  will 
appear  with  the  fullest  evidence,  if  we  consider  the  nature  of  that  enjoyment 
of  which  the  heavenly  state  will  consist. 

First,  Heavenly  bliss  will  greatly  consist  in  our  being  approved  of  God. 
There  is  a  day  approaching,  when  "God  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things 


742  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

of  darkness,  and  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the  heart;  and  then  shall 
every  man  have  praise  of  God."  That  which  Enoch  had  on  earth  all  God's 
faithful  servants  shall  have  in  heaven,  testimony  that  they  have  pleased  God; 
and  a  heaven  it  will  be  of  itself!  But  it  is  impossible  that  all  good  men 
should  partake  of  this  satisfaction  in  an  equal  degree,  unless  they  had  all 
acted  in  this  world  exactly  alike. 

Secondly,  Heavenly  bliss  will  consist  in  the  exercise  of  love,  supreme  love 
to  God.  And,  if  so,  the  more  we  have  done  for  him,  the  more  our  hearts 
will  be  filled  with  joy  on  the  remembrance  of  it.  The  same  principle  that 
makes  us  rejoice  in  his  service  here  will  hereafter  make  us  rejoice  that  we 
have  served  him  ;  and  as  love  here  makes  us  glory  even  in  tribulation,  if  God 
may  but  be  honoured,  so  there  it  will  make  us  rejoice  that  we  were  counted 
worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  his  name's  sake.  It  is  thus  that  our  present 
"light  afflictions  work  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory;"  and  thus  that,  by  labouring  and  suffering  in  his  cause,  we  "lay  up 
for  ourselves  treasures  in  heaven."  All  this  supposes  that,  unless  we  have 
equally  laboured  and  suffered  for  God  in  this  world,  we  cannot  equally  enjoy 
him  in  the  next. 

Thirdly,  Heavenly  bliss  will  consist  in  ascribing  glory  to  God  and  the 
Lamb;  but  this  can  be  performed  only  in  proportion  as  we  have  glory  to 
ascribe.  He  that  has  done  much  for  God  has  obtained  more  crowns,  if  I 
may  so  speak,  than  others;  and  the  more  he  has  obtained,  the  more  will  he 
have  to  cast  at  the  Redeemer's  feet.  When  we  hear  a  Thornton,  a  Howard, 
or  a  Paul,  acknowledge,  "By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am,"  there  is  a 
thousand  times  more  meaning  in  the  expression,  and  a  thousand  times  more 
glory  redounds  to  God,  than  in  the  uttering  of  the  same  words  by  some  men, 
even  though  they  be  men  of  real  piety.  The  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  speaks 
of  those  to  whom  he  had  been  made  useful,  as  if  such  would  be  his  joy  and 
crown  another  day.  But  if  there  were  not  different  degrees  of  glory  in  a 
future  state,  every  one  that  enters  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  yea,  every  infant 
caught  thither  from  the  womb  or  the  breast,  must  possess  the  same  joyful 
recollection  of  its  labours,  and  the  same  crown,  as  the  apostle  Paul.  Tlie 
stating  of  such  a  supposition  is  sufficient  to  refute  it. 

Fourthly,  Heavenly  bliss  will  consist  in  exploring  the  wonders  of  the  love 
of  God.  Spiritual  knowledge  expands  the  soul,  so  as  to  render  it  capable 
of  containing  more  than  it  would  otherwise  do.  Every  vessel  will  be  hlled, 
as  some  have  expressed  it ;  but  every  vessel  will  not  be  of  equal  dimensions. 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  are  represented  as  conspicuous  characters  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  with  whom  it  will  be  a  blessedness  to  sit  down  in  com- 
munion. Peter  and  Paul,  and  other  such  eminent  characters,  are  prepared 
for  a  greater  degree  of  enjoyment  than  Christians  in  common. 

Some  have  objected  against  this  doctrine,  "  that  we  are  all  loved  with  the 
same  love,  purchased  by  the  same  blood,  called  by  the  same  calling,  and 
heirs  of  the  same  inheritance ;  and  therefore  it  may  be  supposed  that  we  shall 
all  possess  it  in  the  same  degree."  But  if  this  reasoning  would  prove  any 
thing,  it  would  prove  too  much ;  namely,  that  we  should  all  be  upon  an 
equality  in  the  present  world,  as  well  as  in  that  which  is  to  come ;  for  we  are 
now  as  much  the  objects  of  the  same  love,  purchased  by  the  same  blood, 
called  by  the  same  calling,  and  heirs  of  the  same  inheritance,  as  we  shall  be 
hereafter;  and  if  these  things  be  consistent  with  the  greatest  diversity  in  this 
life,  there  is  no  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  thence  but  that  it  may  be  equally 
so  in  that  which  is  to  come. 

What  remains  is  that  we  prove  the  consistency  of  this  doctrine  with  that 
of  salvation  by  grace  alone.  If  the  doctrine  of  rewards  implied  the  notion 
of  merit,  or  desert,  the  inconsistency  of  the  one  with  the  other  would  be 


THE  HEAVENLY  GLORT.  743 

manifest.  Man,  even  in  his  purest  state,  could  merit  nothing  at  the  hand  of 
his  Creator;  since  the  utmost  of  what  he  did,  or  could  do,  was  his  duty: 
much  less  is  it  possible  for  fallen,  guilty  creatures  to  merit  any  thing  at  the 
hand  of  an  offended  God,  except  it  be  shame  and  confusion  of  face.  But  no 
such  idea  is  included  in  the  doctrine  of  rewards,  which  is  only  designed  to 
encourage  us  in  every  good  word  and  work,  and  to  express  Jehovah's  regard 
to  righteousness,  as  well  as  his  love  to  the  righteous. 

In  the  first  place.  Rewards  contain  nothing  inconsistent  with  the  doctrine 
of  grace,  because  those  very  works  which  it  pleased  God  to  honour  are  the 
effects  of  Ms  own  operation.  He  rewards  the  works  of  which  he  is  the  author 
and  proper  cause.  He  who  "  ordains  peace  for  us" — "  hath  wrought  all  our 
works  in  us." 

Secondly,  All  rewards  to  a  guilty  creature  have  respect  to  the  mediation 
of  Christ.  Through  the  intimate  union  that  subsists  between  Christ  and 
believers,  they  are  not  only  accepted  in  him,  but  what  they  do  is  accepted 
and  rewarded  for  his  sake.  "  The  Lord  had  respect  to  Abel,  and  to  his 
offering ;"  and  we  are  said  to  "offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices  acceptable  to  God 
by  Jesus  Christ."  As  there  is  no  sin  so  heinous  but  God,  for  Christ's  sake, 
will  forgive  it;  no  blessing  so  rich,  but  he  will  bestow  it;  so  there  is  no  ser- 
vice so  small,  but  he  will  reward  it.  A  cup  of  cold  water  given  to  a  disciple 
for  Christ's  sake  will  insure  a  disciple's  reward. 

Thirdly,  God's  graciously  connecting  blessings  with  the  obedience  of  his 
people  serves  to  show,  not  only  his  love  to  Christ,  and  to  them,  but  his 
regard  to  righteousness.  His  love  to  us  induces  him  to  bless  us ;  and  his 
love  to  righteousness  induces  him  to  bless  us  in  this  particular  mode.  An 
affectionate  parent  designs  to  confer  a  number  of  favours  on  his  child,  and 
in  the  end  to  bequeath  him  a  rich  inheritance.  He  designs  also  to  have 
his  mind  suitably  prepared  for  the  proper  enjoyment  of  these  benefits;  and 
therefore,  in  the  course  of  his  education,  he  studiously  confers  his  favours  by 
way  of  encouragement,  as  rewards  to  acts  of  filial  duty.  He  gives  him  a 
new  garment  for  this,  and  a  watch  for  that :  for  his  attention  to  the  flocks 
and  herds,  he  shall  have  a  sheep,  or  a  cow,  which  he  shall  call  his  own  ;  and 
for  his  assiduity  in  tilling  the  soil,  he  shall  have  the  product  of  a  particular 
field.  It  is  easy  to  perceive  in  this  case  that  the  father  does  not  consider 
these  things  as  properly  the  child's  due,  upon  a  footing  of  equity ;  but  to 
manifest  his  approbation  of  filial  obedience.  Thus  our  heavenly  Father  gives 
grace  and  glory.  Thus  it  is  that  finding  is  connected  with  seeking,  and 
croicns  of  glory  with  overcoming.  It  is  thus,  as  well  as  by  the  atonement  of 
Christ,  that  "  grace  reigns  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life."  Those 
who  at  the  last  day  shall  be  saved  will  be  sufficiently  convinced  that  it  is  all 
of  grace,  and  that  they  have  no  room  for  glorying  but  in  the  Lord ;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  moral  governmentof  God  will  be  honoured,  the  equity 
of  his  proceedings  manifested,  and  the  mouths  of  ungodly  sinners  stopped  ; 
even  when  the  Judge  declares  in  the  face  of  the  universe,  concerning  the 
righteous,  "  These  shall  walk  with  me  in  white,  for  they  are  worthy." 

THE  FINAL  CONSUMMATION  OF  ALL  THINGS. 
[Replies  to  some  objections  of  the  Rev.  John  Newton,  St.  Mary  Woolnoth.] 

I  HAVE  received  a  letter  from  Father  Newton,  very  highly  approving  of 
"The  Gospel  its  own  Witness;"  and  understanding  that  a  second  edition 
of  the  work  was  now  at  press,  he  proposes  a  few  emendations.  The  worst 
of  it  is,  that  advice  offered  by  such  venerable  men  as  him  and  Dr.  John 
Erskine,  and  with  such  a  degree  of  friendship,  can  hardly  be  refused ;  and 
yet  if  I  were  to  follow  every  body's  counsel,  I  might  alter  all  that  I  have 


744  MISCELLANEOUS  TRACTS,  ESSAYS,  ETC. 

written.     His  objections,  however,  are  confined  to  a  few  expressions. — See 
Vol.  II.  p.  95,  line  18-25. 

On  this  statement,  accompanied  with  some  other  remarks,  Mr.  Newton 
asks: — 1.  "Why  may  not  'a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth'  be  expounded 
figuratively,  as  in  other  places ;  and  be  referred  to  the  kingdom  of  God  upon 
earth — the  gospel  state?"  I  answer.  No:  the  new  heaven  and  new  earth  are 
represented  as  following  the  general  conflagration,  2  Pet.  iii.  12,  13.  In  the 
Revelation,  this  state  is  also  represented  as  following  the  last  judgment,  chap. 
xxi.  1,  2. — 2.  "May  we  not  pray  that  'the  will  of  God  may  be  done  upon 
earth  as  in  heaven,'  without  looking  so  far  forward  as  the  final  consumma- 
tion of  all  things?" — We  may  in  some  degree,  but  not  fully,  or  without 
having  a  reference  to  the  final  state  of  things.  When  we  pray  to  be  made 
like  Christ  ourselves,  we  always  look  forward  to  the  time  when  we  shall  be 
perfected,  as  the  period  in  which  our  request  shall  be  fulli/  answered.  So 
it  is  in  this  case ;  and  as  this  does  not  hinder  our  praying  for  progressive 
sanctity  in  the  use  of  all  the  means  of  grace,  so  neither  does  the  other  hinder 
our  praying  for  the  success  of  Christ's  kingdom.  In  both  cases  we  cannot 
pray  for  the  ultimate  end  without  praying  for  all  the  means  by  which  it  is 
effected. — 3.  "  Does  not  the  desire  of  revisiting  the  spots  and  scenes  of  past 
transactions  belong  to  our  present  situation  and  conformation  ?  Will  it  not, 
like  many  of  our  human  and  social  feelings,  have  no  further  influence  upon 
the  soul  when  freed  from  the  body  and  from  the  earth  ?" — It  may  be  so ;  and 
I  think  I  shall  alter  this  a  little,  as  well  as  add  something  on  the  second 
question. — 4.  "  Suppose  we  had  a  desire  to  visit  these  places  after  the  con- 
flagration, how  shall  we  find  them  ?  We  cannot  now  ascertain  where  Eden 
was,  and  many  other  things,  owing  perhaps  to  the  alteration  produced  in  the 
earth  by  the  flood.  But  the  alteration  produced  by  the  final  conflagration 
will  probably  be  much  greater." — Perhaps  we  may  then  be  better  geographers 
than  we  are  now.  Many  places  are  at  present  wisely  concealed  from  us  to 
prevent  abuse  from  superstition,  of  which  we  shall  then  be  in  no  danger. — 
Such  would  be  my  answers  to  Mr.  Newton,  if  he  were  a  brother ;  but  he  is 
a  father,  and  so  full  of  love  and  kindness  that  I  know  not  what  to  do  with 
him. 


REVIEWS. 


THE  ABUSE  OF  REVIEWS. 

[Written  under  a  concealed  signature  several  years  before  the  "  Strictures  on 
Sandeinanianism."j 

The  practice  of  reviewing  the  publications  of  the  age  as  they  appear  is  a 
species  of  writing  much  adapted  to  a  periodical  work.  It  is  acceptable  to 
the  generality  of  readers  to  see  in  a  small  compass  what  is  going  on  in  the 
literary  and  religious  world ;  and  even  in  works  which  are  not  wholly 
devoted  to  this  object,  it  is  agreeable  to  trace  the  leading  principles  of  now 
and  then  a  particular  piece  which  attracts  the  public  attention.  But  in  these, 
as  in  all  other  reviews,  there  is  need  of  a  much  greater  portion  of  judgment 
and  candour  than  many  writers  possess.  If  the  editor  or  principal  managers 
of  a  work  of  tliis  kind  indulge  either  a  partial  fondness  for  some  men,  or  a 
censorious  dislike  of  others,  their  review  will  become  a  mere  vehicle  of  flat- 
tery or  abuse. 

These  reflections  have  been  occasioned  by  a  friend  putting  into  my  hands 
the  fourth  volume  of  the  New  Theological  Repository.  On  looking  it  over, 
it  appeared  to  me  not  a  little  tinctured  with  these  faults;  the  latter  more 
especially.  A  writer  in  the  Biblical  Magazine  has  already  noticed  one 
instance  of  their  petulance,  and  brought  home  the  charge  to  the  confusion 
of  the  writer;  and  if  you  judge  the  following  remarks  upon  the  conduct  of 
these  gentlemen  towards  your  friend  Mr.  Fuller  admissible,  they  are  much 
at  your  service. 

On  looking  over  the  index  of  the  Theological  Repository,  I  observed 
under  the  name  of  this  writer  a  long  list  of  supposed  errors  laid  to  his  charge. 
Now,  thought  I,  surely  Mr.  Fuller  has  published  some  good  things  since 
this  Magazine  has  made  its  appearance!  But  if  the  other  volumes  of  the 
work  resemble  this,  and  this  contain  a  fair  account  of  him,  he  must  be  a  very 
erroneous  and  dangerous  writer:  all  he  publishes  is  naught,  and  deserving 
of  reprobation.  It  is  true,  they  praise  his  former  productions,  written  twelve 
or  thirteen  years  ago ;  but  even  this  seems  rather  from  a  design  to  give  an 
edge  to  their  present  censures  than  from  any  thing  like  a  regard  to  what  is 
good  in  them.  Surely,  said  I,  this  is  not  the  simple  fruit  of  a  regard  to 
truth.  Is  it  owing  to  some  personal  antipathy,  which  tliey  may  have  con- 
ceived against  him ;  or  is  a  disposition  to  censure  the  element  in  which  they 
live? 

I  observe  there  is  a  great  deal  of  apparent  coolness  and  self-possession  in 
all  their  animadversions,  but  this  is  not  always  at  the  greatest  remove  from 
unchristian  bitterness.  Mr.  Sandeman  was  very  calm;  yet  he  has  been 
accused,  and  perhaps  not  without  reason,  of  "  gross  misrepresentation,  illi- 
beral censure,  and  sarcastical  contempt:"*  and  whether  in  this  case  the  dis- 

*  Booth's  "  Glad  Tidings."     Preface,  p.  vii. 

Vol.  III.— 94  3  R  745 


746  REVIEWS. 

ciple  be  not  as  his  master,  they  who  are  acquainted  with  the  productions  of 
both  will  easily  determine. 

As  to  the  controversy  with  Mr.  M'Lean,  I  cannot  approve  of  the  conduct 
of  these  by-standers,  who,  as  if  they  doubted  whether  what  their  leader  has 
advanced  were  sufficient,  must  need  obtrude  themselves  as  his  coadjutors, 
and  attempt  to  worry  his  opponent. 

The  lengthened  list  of  errors  imputed  to  Mr.  Fuller  by  these  gentlemen 
is  little  else  than  an  index  to  Mr.  M'Lean's  pamphlet;  a  review,  or  rather 
an  echo,  of  which  is  given  in  three  succeeding  numbers  of  the  volume 
alluded  to.  It  is  marvellous  what  a  bone  of  contention  these  writers  make 
of  that  which  the  Scriptures  exhibit  as  the  food  of  the  faithful.  They  affect 
to  consider  fiiith  as  a  very  simple  thing,  needing  no  explanation  ;  yet  scarcely 
any  writers  have  said  so  much  to  explain  it,  or  made  so  much  of  their  expla- 
nation. A  mere  review  of  a  pamphlet  on  this  subject  shall  contain  more 
matter  than  the  original  piece  which  gave  occasion  for  it. 

The  writers  in  this  work,  I  observe,  have  accused  Mr.  Fuller  of  error  on 
three  leading  subjects;  namely,  regeneration,  justification,  and  particular 
redemption.  Permit  me  therefore  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  each  of 
them. 

1.  Mr.  F.  is  criminated  for  having  pleaded  for  regeneration  being  necessary 
to  believing.  He  contends,  it  seems,  for  "  holy  dispositions  of  heart  previous 
to  faith."  Does  he  hold  with  any  self-wrought  goodness  in  the  heart  of  a 
sinner?  This  will  not  be  pretended.  Does  he  plead  that  a  man  may  sus- 
tain a  holy  character  while  an  unbeliever?  No.  Does  he  plead  for  any 
other  holiness  of  disposition  than  what  is  essential  to  the  very  act  of  be- 
lieving? He  does  not.  Now  his  opponent,  notwithstanding  the  triumphs 
of  the  party,  has,  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  conceded  almost  every  thing 
that  Mr.  Fuller  pleads  for  on  this  subject. 

1.  He  admits  faith  to  be  not  only  an  act  of  the  mind,  but  a  Tioly  act.  But, 
if  so,  unless  a  mind  void  of  holy  dispositions  can  perform  a  holy  action,  one 
would  think  it  must  be,  after  all,  as  Mr.  F.  has  stated  it. — 2.  He  acknow- 
ledges faith  to  be  not  only  "  good"  or  holy,  but  "  an  effect  of  the  regenerating 
influence  of  the  Spirit  and  word  of  God."  But  if  this  be  allowed,  where  is 
the  difference  between  them?  Mr.  F.  would  not  object  to  the  influence  of 
the  tvoi'd  in  regeneration,  provided  it  were  granted  him  that  it  was  not  by 
the  word  savingly  believed  ;  for  it  is  regeneration  by  faith  that  he  opposes. 
His  words  are,  "All  that  I  contend  for  is,  that  it  is  not  by  means  of  a  spirit- 
ual perception,  or  belief  of  the  gospel,  that  the  heart  is,  for  the  first  time, 
effectually  influenced  towards  God."  And  if  the  above  concession  may  be 
depended  upon,  as  expressing  the  fixed  sentiments  of  Mr.  M'Lean,  he  does 
not  contend  that  it  is;  for  that  which  is  the  "  effect"  of  regeneration  can- 
not, for  this  reason,  be  the  cause  or  means  of  it. 

2.  Mr.  F.  stands  accused  of  undermining  the  doctrine  o{  free  justification; 
for  the  fitness  of  fiiith  to  receive  it  is  made,  it  seems,  "  to  depend  on  its 
moral  excellency."  Suppose  it  were  said,  it  depends  on  its  being  trrie,  living 
faith  1  This  undoubtedly  is  all  that  Mr.  F.  intends ;  and  one  would  think 
this  could  not  be  denied  him.  In  turning  to  the  pages  referred  to,  I  find 
Mr.  M'Lean  labouring  with  all  his  might  to  prove  that  his  opponent  pleads 
for  such  a  fitness  in  faith  as  that  we  are  put  into  a  state  of  justification  as  a 
suitable  testimony  of  Divine  regard  towards  it.  But  surely  this  is  up-hill 
work.  How  pitiable  is  the  fate  of  a  controversial  writer!  After  disowning 
a  sentiment  in  almost  every  form  of  language,  unless  it  be  that  of  forswear- 
ing it,  he  is  still  accused  of  holding  it.  His  words  must  be  tortured  and 
twisted  into  a  thousand  forms,  to  make  them  mean  what  he  asserts  they  do 
not  mean. 


ABUSE  OF  REVIEWS.  747 

After  all,  Mr.  M'Lean  has  some  diffidence  about  him,  though  his  reviewer 
has  none.  He  "  thinks"  this  must  be  Mr.  Fuller's  meaning.  "  If  he  is  not 
gready  mistaken,"  it  is  so.  Yet  Mr.  F.  declares  the  contrary.  He  professes 
to  be  of  one  mind  with  Mr.  M'Lean  on  this  subject;  but  Mr.  M.  will  not 
allow  it.  How  is  this?  It  has  been  observed  that  the  followers  of  Messrs. 
Glass  and  Sandeman  have  a  singular  talent  for  discerning  a  sdf-rightcous 
spirit  in  all  but  themselves.  A  person  in  that  connexion  once  called  upon 
a  friend  of  mine,  who  was  nearly  of  his  sentiments  as  to  Christian  doclriiie; 
but  happening,  unfortunately,  to  discover  a  partiality  for  believer's  baptism, 
he  was  instantly  condemned  as  a  Pharisee,  and  assured  that  he  made  a  right- 
eousness of  it.  Thus  it  is  that  Mr.  M.  has  discovered  the  self  righteousness 
of  Mr.  F.  He  first  insinuated  something  of  this  kind  in  some  marginal 
notes  of  the  second  edition  of  his  treatise  on  the  Commission,  and  has  ever 
since  been  labouring  to  make  good  his  insinuations.  If  he  fail  in  this  the 
whole  of  what  he  has  written  against  Mr.  F.  jpon  justification  must  appear 
to  the  reader,  as  he  himself  justly  observes,  "  a  piece  of  insipid  altercation." 

But  why  does  Mr.  F.  plead  for  the  moral  excellency  of  faith,  as  necessary 
to  justification,  if  he  do  not  make  justification  a  reward  conferred  upon  it  as 
such?  Why  do  Mr.  M.  and  his  party  plead  for  true  faith,  in  order  to 
justification?  An  answer  to  this  question  will  be  an  answer  to  the  other. 
Why  does  Mr.  M.  admit  the  holiness  of  faith?  By  what  he  has  last  written, 
it  should  seem,  he  would  not  allow  such  a  faith  as  is  not  holy,  "  a  mere 
empty  speculation,"  to  be  justifying.  He  must  admit  therefore  that  we  are 
justified  by  that  which  is  a  holy  exercise  of  the  mind,  and  tliat  which  is  a 
duty,  though  it  is  not  for  the  sake  of  any  holiness  in  it,  or  duty  performed 
by  us.*  And  what  does  Mr.  F.  plead  for  more?  Whether  faith  contains  any 
holy  affection  or  not,  makes  nothing  as  to  the  freeness  of  justification;  be- 
cause, whatever  holiness  a  creature  may  possess  short  of  "  continuing  in  all 
things  written  in  the  book  of  the  law,  to  do  them,"  it  is  oi  no  account  in  that 
important  article.  But  if  it  were  otherwise,  while  Mr.  M.  and  his  friends 
admit  fiiith  to  be  a  holy  act  of  the  mind,  though  they  will  have  it  to  be 
purely  intellectual,  the  same  consequence  attaches  to  their  notion  as  to  that 
which  they  oppose.  Let  the  reader  judge,  therefore,  whether  all  they  have 
alleged  on  this  subject  be  any  other  than  "  a  piece  of  insipid  altercation." 

3.  The  heaviest  charge  is  yet  behind.  Mr.  F.  is  not  only  erroneous,  but 
self-condemned.  He  has  abandoned  his  principles,  it  seems,  on  particular 
redemption.  He  has  formerly  written  well  on  this  subject,  but  of  late  has 
contradicted  himself  "A  new  edition  of  his  former  excellent  pamphlet," 
say  these  editors,  "  is  a  desideratum."  Mr.  F.'s  late  error,  it  seems,  consists 
in  his  placing  the  peculiarity  of  redemption,  not  in  the  degree  of  Christ's 
sufferings,  or  in  any  want  of  sufficiency  as  to  the  nature  of  the  atonement, 
but  merely  in  the  sovereignty  of  its  application.  And  this  is  an  error  of  such 
magnitude  as  ought  to  sink  him  in  the  esteem  of  religious  people!  "  What," 
say  they,  "  will  the  Calvinists  of  the  present  day  say  to  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject?" Many  of  those  called  Calvinists  in  the  present  day  are  not  so.  If 
the  words  of  Calvin  upon  the  very  subject  in  question  were  printed  by  Mr. 
F.  as  his  own,  they  would  be  sufficient  in  the  account  of  great  numbers  of 
modern  Calvinists  to  prove  him  an  Arminian.  And  will  the  editors  of  the 
Theological  Repository  stoop  to  appeal  to  popular  religious  opinion,  which 
on  other  occasions  tliey  hold  in  such  sovereign  contempt?  Ardent  zeal,  on 
certain  occasions,  is  very  condescending.  It  is  said  of  Mr.  M'Lean,  that  he 
lately  advanced  sentiments  concerning  original  sin,  and  the  obedience  of 

*  The  reader  may  see  this  subject  clearly  and  satisfactorily  stated  in  President  Edwards's 
Sermons  on  Justification. 


748  REVIEWS. 

Christ,  which  are  not  commonly  received  among  religious  people,  nor  uni- 
versally in  his  own  connexions.  How  is  it  that  these  gentlemen,  who  pro- 
fess to  "  respect  no  man's  person,"  do  not  hold  him  up  to  reproach ;  and  ask, 
What  will  Calvinists  of  the  present  day  say  to  this? 

"  That  this  is  not  the  Scripture  doctrine,"  they  add,  "  we  think  has  fre- 
quently been  shown ;  but  by  no  one  more  satisfactorily  than  by  Mr.  f""uller 
himself"  Does  Mr.  F.  then,  in  his  former  pamphlet,  place  the  peculiarity 
of  redemption  upon  different  ground  1  With  what  face  can  these  writers 
insinuate  that  he  does?  Had  they  quoted  his  own  statement  of  the  doctrine, 
the  reader  would  have  seen  that,  whether  Mr.  F.  be  right  or  wrong  in  his 
views,  he  set  out  on  the  same  principle  in  that  piece  which  he  maintains  in 
his  later  publications.  Let  him  speak  for  himself  "  I  suppose  Philanthropos 
is  not  ignorant  that  Calvinists  in  general  have  considered  the  particularity  of 
redemption  as  consisting,  not  in  the  degree,  of  Christ's  sufferings,  as  though 
he  must  have  suffered  more  if  more  had  finally  been  saved,  or  in  any  insvjji- 
ciencij  that  attended  them,  bu  in  the  sovereign  purpose  and  design  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son,  whereby  they  were  constituted  or  appointed  the  price 
of  their  redemption,  the  objects  of  that  redemption  ascertained,  and  the  ends 
to  be  answered  by  the  whole  transaction  determined.  They  suppose  the 
sufferings  of  Christ,  in  themselves  considered,  as  of  infinite  value,  sufficient 
to  have  saved  all  the  world,  and  a  thousand  worlds,  if  it  had  pleased  God  to 
have  constituted  them  the  price  of  their  redemption,  and  made  them  effectual 
to  that  end.     These  views  of  the  subject  accord  with  my  own." 

But,  it  will  be  asked,  does  he  not  here  represent  Christ  as  dying  in  the 
character  of  a  shepherd  for  his  flock,  a  husband  for  his  church,  and  a  surety 
for  his  people?  He  does;  but  each  of  these  particulars  is  adduced  merely 
in  proof  of  a  speciality  of  design  in  the  death  of  Christ,  and  not  of  the  want 
of  any  sufficiency  in  the  nature  of  the  atonement  itself  If  they  prove  more 
than  this,  they  prove  more  than  the  writer  manifestly  appears  to  have  in- 
tended. Every  charge  therefore  of  his  having  relinquished  his  sentiments, 
founded  on  those  arguments,  must  be  nugatory.  All  of  them  go  to  establish 
that  the  number  of  the  saved  was  wholly  dependent  on  the  purpose  of  the 
Father,  and  the  design  of  the  Son ;  and  wherein  this  differs  from  "  the  pecu- 
liarity of  redemption  consisting  in  the  sovereign  application  of  the  atone- 
ment," I  am  not  able  to  perceive.  Christ's  dying  as  a  shepherd  for  his  sheep, 
a  husband  for  his  church,  and  a  surety  for  his  people,  is  the  same  thing  in 
Mr.  F.'s  account  as  his  dying  with  a  purpose  or  design  that  his  death  should 
be  applied  to  their  salvation,  rather  than  others.  It  is  manifest  he  then 
thought,  as  well  as  now,  that  the  obedience  and  death  of  Christ,  in  them- 
selves considered,  were,  like  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  necessary  for  an  indi- 
vidual, but  sufficient  for  a  world;  sufficient  for  all,  but  effectual  only  to  the 
elect. 

These  gentlemen  would  persuade  their  readers  that  upon  Mr.  F.'s  present 
principles  Christ  was  equally  wounded  for  the  transgressions  of  Judas 
Iscariot  as  for  those  of  the  apostle  John.  And  if  by  this  were  meant  no  more 
than  that  his  death  was  in  itself  equally  sujjicient  for  both,  it  certainly  is  the 
sentiment  for  which  Mr.  F.  pleads,  and  that  in  his  earlier  as  well  as  his  later 
publications.  But  if  it  means  that  there  was  the  same  design  towards  both, 
this  is  not  his  sentiment,  nor  is  it  to  be  found  in  his  later  publications,  any 
more  than  in  his  earlier  ones. 

A  very  unjust  and  unfriendly  insinuation  has  been  made  by  one  of  your 
correspondents,  as  though  Mr.  F.'s  not  having  answered  his  opponent  Mr. 
M'Lean  arose  from  a  consciousness  of  the  badness  of  his  cause.  That  men 
whose  prejudices  lie  on  that  side  of  the  question  should  exult,  and  labour  to 
provoke  him  to  write,  is  no  more  than  is  common  in  such  cases.     But  it  is 


scott's  warrant  and  nature  of  faith.  749 

well  known  that  Mr.  F.  has  in  several  controversies  suffered  his  antagonist  to 
have  the  last  word ;  and  when  he  has  thought  proper  to  write,  he  has  always 
been  so  slow  in  printing  that  he  has  seldom  answered  any  considerable  work 
in  the  same  year.  From  the  time  of  Mr.  M'Lean's  pamphlet  making  its  ap- 
pearance his  hands  have  been  so  full  of  more  important  business  as  scarcely 
to  afford  him  the  opportunity  to  read,  much  less  to  answer  that  performance. 
Whether  Mr.  F.  intends  to  make  any  reply  is  best  known  to  himself  I 
know,  however,  that  several  of  his  friends  have  endeavoured  to  dissuade  him 
from  it. — 1.  From  an  apprehension  that  such  disquisitions,  united  v.ith  his 
other  labours,  may  be  injurious  to  his  health. — 2.  Because  of  the  illiberality 
of  his  opponent,  in  having  interspersed  his  performance  with  a  number  of 
insinuations  that  Mr.  F.  had  knowinghj  and  wilfully  misrepresented  him. 
Such  intimations  become  neither  the  Christian  nor  the  man;  they  tend  also 
to  divert  the  reader's  attention  from  truth,  and  to  interest  it  in  what  is  merely 
personal.  Were  I  disposed,  I  am  sure  that  I  could  make  out  the  charge  of 
wilful  misrepresentation  against  Mr.  M.,  in  as  many  instances,  and  on  as 
good  grounds,  as  those  which  he  has  preferred  against  Mr.  F. ;  but  I  would 
scorn  the  attempt.  Whatever  misstatements  either  of  them  may  have  given 
of  each  other's  sentiments,  and  however  difficult  it  may  be  to  account  for 
them  on  fair  grounds,  I  am  persuaded  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is 
capable  of  doing  it  knowinglt/  and  wilfully ;  and  a  writer  that  will  maintain 
the  contrary,  whatever  be  his  talents,  is  unworthy  of  an  answer. — 3.  Because 
of  the  vast  quantity  of  misconstrued  and  distorted  meaning  put  upon  his 
words,  which  will  require  to  be  set  right ;  and  which  is  a  task  not  a  little 
irksome  both  to  the  writer  and  the  reader,  and  which  few  men  who  can 
better  employ  their  time  would  wish  to  undertake. 


THE  REV.  THOMAS  SCOTT'S  "WARRANT  AND  NATURE  OF 
FAITH,"  ETC. 

The  design  of  this  treatise,  if  we  rightly  comprehend  it,  is  to  discuss 
various  important  points  advanced  in  Mr.  Booth's  "  Glad  Tidings  to  Perish- 
ing Sinners."  We  are  happy  in  perceiving  that  both  these  respectable  writers 
agree  as  to  the  complete  warrant  which  every  sinner  who  hears  the  gospel 
has  to  believe  in  Christ  for  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  antecedent  to  all  holy 
qualifications  or  dispositions  whatever, — a  truth  which  leaves  all  unbelievers 
without  excuse,  which  points  out  the  way  of  peace  to  awakened  sinners,  and 
affords  a  plain  direction  to  gospel  ministers  to  invite  their  auditors,  without 
distinction,  to  a  participation  of  eternal  life. 

This  important  truth,  though  plentifully  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and 
generally,  if  not  universally,  embraced  by  the  reformers,  puritans,  and  non- 
conformists, has  been  much  opposed  in  the  present  century.  Those  writers 
who  have  laboured  to  set  aside  the  gospel  offer,  as  inconsistent  with  the  doc- 
trines of  grace,  have  with  it  explained  away  the  free  invitations  of  the  gospel 
as  they  respect  the  unregenerate ;  considering  them  as  addressed  only  to  sin- 
ners made  sensible  of  their  sin,  and  thirsting  after  spiritual  blessings;  and 
contending  that  no  other  descriptions  of  men  have  any  warrant  to  embrace 
them.  This  notion  Mr.  Booth  has  successfully  combated,  proving,  beyond 
all  just  contradiction,  that  the  invitations  of  the  gospel  are  addressed  to  sin- 
ners as  sinners. 

There  are  several  important  particulars,  however,  in  which  Mr.  Booth  and 
Mr.  Scott  disagree,  and  which  are  well  worthy  the  attention  of  those  who 

3r2 


750 


REVIEWS. 


wish  for  clear  and  accurate  views  of  evangelical  truth.  Mr.  Booth  is  partial 
to  the  term  tvarrnnt,  and  seems  to  have  studiously  kept  the  idea  of  obligation 
out  of  sight.  Mr.  Scott,  on  the  other  hand,  undertakes  to  prove  that  faith 
in  Christ  is  the  dutt/  of  all  who  hear  the  gospel,  and  observes  that  no  war 
rant  seems  to  be  required  for  obedience  to  a  plain  commandment.  Consider 
ing  faith  however  as  implying  an  all-importantbenefit,he  admits  the  propriety 
of  the  inquiry.  What  warrant  has  a  sinner  for  expecting  it  from  his  oftended 
God?  In  this  view,  he  observes,  "  the  term  warrant  signifies  a  ground  of  en- 
couragement, authorizing  an  application,  and  giving  sufficient  reason  to  ex- 
pect success ;  insomuch  that  he  who  applies  in  the  prescribed  manner  cannot 
be  rejected  consistently  with  the  truth  of  the  Holy  Scriptures."  Such  a 
ground  of  encouragement  Mr.  Scott  allows  to  exist  in  the  word  of  God, 
irrespective  of  all  holy  dispositions  whatsoever. 

But  Mr.  Booth  not  only  denies  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  heart  to  icar- 
rant  our  believing,  but  explodes  the  idea  of  its  being  necessary  to  the  act  of 
believing  itself;  or,  as  he  defines  it,  of  relying  on  Christ  for  salvation;  con- 
tending also  that,  prior  to  his  justification,  the  sinner  performs  no  good  act, 
but  is  an  enemy  to  God.  Mr.  Scott  takes  the  opposite  ground,  maintaining 
that  no  man  ever  believed  in  Christ  while  under  the  dominion  of  sin;  that 
saving  faith  is  the  effect  of  regeneration,  or  the  renewal  of  an  unholy  crea- 
ture to'a  right  spirit;  and  that  those  who  "work  not,  but  believe  in  him  who 
justifieth  the  ungodly,"  are  not  persons  who  are  inactive,  but  who  "cease  to 
work  in  respect  of  justification ;"  not  enemies  of  God,  but,  having  transgressed 
his  law,  are  rendered  for  ever  incapable  of  being  justified  by  any  thing  done 
by  themselves;  or  in  any  other  character  than  that  of  ungodly,  to  whom 
mercy  is  shown  merely  out  of  regard  to  the  righteousness  of  him  in  whom 
they  believe. 

To  establish  these  positions,  Mr.  Scott  confines  his  attention  to  one  leading 
point,  which  makes  up  the  body  of  his  performance;  namely,  that  faith  is 
not  a  mere  act  of  the  understanding,  but  a  hohj  exercise  of  the  heart.  Our 
author  seems  to  have  apprehended  that,  if  this  idea  could  be  established,  his 
work  would  be  done,  and  to  have  reasoned  on  some  such  principles  as  the 
following: — If  faith  itself  be  a  spiritual  exercise,  it  must  be  the  effect  of 
regeneration ;  as  no  sinner,  while  an  enemy  to  God,  can  be  induced  by  any 
influence,  human  or  Divine,  to  perform  that  which  is  spiritually  good. 
Further,  if  faith  be  a  holy  exercise,  and  precede  justification,  the  sinner 
when  he  is  justified,  though,  being  a  transgressor  of  the  law,  he  be  in  the 
account  of  the  Judge  of  all  "  ungodly,"  yet  is  not  actually  at  enmity  with 
God,  inasmuch  as  every  degree  of  holy  exercise  must  be  inconsistent  with 
such  a  state  of  mind. 

In  the  discussion  of  this  leading  point — which  after  all  we  incline  to  think 
Mr.  Booth  does  not  deny,  though  he  may  have  advanced  things  inconsistent 
with  it — Mr.  Scott  goes  over  a  great  variety  of  topics,  and  examines  various 
passages  of  Scripture,  which  had  been  produced  on  the  other  side.  The 
most  forcible  of  his  arguments  appear  to  be  the  following : — Our  Lord 
assures  us  that  no  man  can  come  to  him  except  he  is  taught  of  God,  drawn 
of  the  Father,  and  has  heard  and  learned  of  him.  And  has  this  teaching, 
drawing,  hearing,  and  learning,  he  inquires,  nothing  holy  in  its  nature? 
Faith  in  Clirist  is  not  only  the  source  of  all  the  obedience  which  follows 
after  it,  but  is  itself  an  act  (f  obedience.  But  all  obedience  is  the  expression 
of  love,  and  is  never  performed  by  an  unrenewed  heart,  not  even  by  Divine 
influence.  Unbelief  arises  from  an  evil  heart,  which  "  loveth  darkness  rather 
than  light:"  faith  therefore,  which  is  its  opposite,  arises  from  the  love  of 
light  rather  than  darkness.  As  unbelief  is  attributed  to  voluntary  blindness, 
so  faith  is  ascribed  to  a  holy  illumination,  to  "  light  shining  into  the  heart," 


SCOTT  S  WARRAXT  AND  NATURE  OF  FAITH.  751 

which  gives  it  a  holy  bias.  Regeneration  is  assigned  as  the  reason  why  some 
believed  in  Christ  while  others  received  him  not.  Of  their  believing  on  his 
name,  this  is  given  as  the  cause;  "they  wc7-e  born,  not  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  Faith  in  Christ  is  the  effect  and 
evidence  of  regeneration.  "  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ 
is  born  of  God."  That  this  is  the  .sense  of  the  passage  is  evident  from  simi- 
lar phraseology  being  used  of  other  effects  and  evidences  of  regeneration  by 
the  same  writer,  and  in  the  same  Epistle.  "  Every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of 
God. — Every  one  that  doeth  righteousness  is  born  of  him."  Repentance  is 
constantly  represented  as  previous  to  forgiveness,  and  consequently  to  justi- 
fication, of  which  forgiveness  is  a  branch;  it  is  also  generally  mentioned  as 
preceding  faith  in  Christ,  and  in  some  instances  as  influential  on  it.  "  Repent, 
and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out. — Repent,  and  believe 
the  gospel. — If  peradventure  God  will  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknow- 
ledging of  the  truth. — Ye  repented  not  that  ye  might  believe." 

Mr.  Booth  pleads  that  the  word  of  God  is  the  means  of  regeneration,  and 
the  seed  or  principle  of  eternal  life.  Mr.  Scott  replies,  not  by  denying  either 
of  these  positions,  but  by  suggesting  that  we  cannot  explain  the  manner  in 
which  God  uses  the  word  in  regeneration  any  more  than  that  in  which  ani- 
mals and  vegetables  are  produced  according  to  the  course  of  nature.  And 
though  the  word  of  God  be  the  seed  from  whence  the  fruits  of  grace  arise, 
yet  must  the  ground  be  made  good  ere  it  will  be  received  so  as  to  become 
productive. 

Mr.  Booth  alleges  the  case  of  the  prodigal,  as  favouring  his  idea  of  there 
being  nothing  good  in  a  man  prior  and  in  order  to  believing.  Mr.  Scott 
replies,  "And  did  our  Lord  in  this  parable  represent  the  returning  sinner  as 
driven  merely  by  distress  to  seek  deliverance  from  God?  What  did  he  then 
mean  by  the  expression  'when  he  came  to  himself?'  Is  it  not  evident 
that  from  that  time  he  possessed  a  right  mind?  and  are  not  all  his  expres- 
sions those  of  sorrow  and  humiliation  for  sin,  and  of  deep  self-abasement?" 

Mr.  Booth  suggests  that  the  publican,  in  the  parable,  far  from  considering 
himself  as  possessing  any  holy  disposition,  appears  as  a  criminal  deserving 
of  destruction ;  and  who  dare  not  lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven  even  when  he 
cried  for  mercy.  Mr.  Scott  replies,  "  The  question  is  not  in  what  light  the 
publican  viewed  himself,  but  whether  there  was  nothing  in  his  spirit  intrin- 
sically better  than  in  that  of  the  boasting  Pharisee ;  and  whether  his  self- 
abasing  cry  for  mercy  was  not  an  exercise  of  true  holiness.  That  it  sprang 
from  humility  and  contrition,  and  was  not  extorted  by  mere  terror,  the  Lord 
himself  testifies.  "  I  tell  you  that  this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified 
rather  than  the  other ;  for  every  one  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted." 
This  testimony  ought  to  be  decisive. 

Finally,  Mr.  Booth  suggests  that,  if  there  be  any  holiness  previous  to  justi- 
fication, those  characters  in  whom  it  is  found  may  be  justified,  if  not  wholly, 
yet  in  part,  by  their  own  righteousness.  Mr.  Scott  replies,  by  alleging  a 
principle  in  which  we  supposed  all  Calvinistic  divines  were  agreed;  namely, 
that  no  degree  of  good  whatever,  in  creatures  who  have  once  broken  the 
Divine  law,  can  in  the  least  avail  towards  their  justification  ;  and  that  a  re- 
nunciation of  our  own  righteousness,  imaginary  or  real,  is  of  the  essence  of 
faith  in  Christ. 

We  have  felt  much  interested  in  this  serious  discussion.  The  parties  appear 
in  some  few  instances  to  have  mistaken  each  other's  meaning,  as  is  com- 
monly the  case  more  or  less  in  controversial  writings.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  question  is  not  whether  a  carnal  heart  will,  of  its  own  accord,  believe  in 
Christ,  but  whether  it  does  so,  under  Divine  injlucncc,  without  any  predis- 
position of  the  will.     On  the  other  hand,  the  question  in  dispute  is  not  con- 


752  REVIEWS. 

cerning  a  rvarrant,  but  a  willingness  to  believe ;  nor  in  what  light  it  is 
necessary  for  a  sinner  to  view  himself  in  his  application  for  mercy,  but  of 
what  manner  of  spirit  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  be  ere  he  will  rightly  apply 
Neither  do  we  perceive  how  regeneration  by  or  without  the  word  can  affect 
the  question  at  issue  between  these  writers,  which  is,  whether  regeneration 
precede  faith.  If  faith  were  understood  as  a  belief  of  the  word,  and  the 
mind  were  allowed  to  be  passive  in  it,  it  possibly  might;  but  if  the  belief  of 
the  word  be  not  faitli,  but,  as  Mr.  Booth  considers  it,  something  "  presup- 
posed," the  influence  of  the  word  upon  the  soul,  whatever  it  is,  and  in  what- 
ever way,  one  should  think  must  be  the  same.  The  mind  is  certainly  active 
in  its  "reliance"  on  Christ  for  salvation,  and  such  activity  we  think  Mr. 
Booth  will  not  assert  to  be  the  effort  of  an  unregenerate  heart. 

We  earnestly  wish  those  who  may  have  read  one  of  these  treatises  to  read 
the  other,  and  any  thinking  serious  mind  will  find  himself  amply  repaid  for 
the  perusal. 


THE  REV.  A.  BOOTH'S  "GLAD  TIDINGS,"  ETC. 

We  have  already  expressed  our  sentiments  of  this  work  in  reviewing  Mr. 
Scott's  "Warrant  and  Nature  of  Faith,"  which  was  occasioned  by  it.  In  the 
present  edition  Mr.  Booth  has  made  some  alterations,  and  some  additions. 
We  observe  with  pleasure  he  has  expressed  himself  with  more  caution,  as  to 
the  nature  of  faith  in  Christ,  than  before.  In  the  first  edition,  "  a  firm  per- 
suasion of  his  being  the  promised  Messiah,  and  that  the  Christian  religion 
is  from  God,"  was  excluded  from  the  definition,  and  only  considered  as 
something  "  presupposed"  in  believing.  But  in  this  it  is  "  a  general  persua- 
sion" of  these  truths  only  that  is  thus  represented.  This  we  consider  as 
unexceptionable. 

We  wish  Mr.  Booth  had  been  equally  attentive  in  his  revision  of  chap,  iii., 
wherein  the  objections  are  answered.  As  to  those  persons  who  plead  for 
any  disposition  of  heart  being  necessary  to  warrant  an  application  to  Christ, 
whoever  they  are,  we  have  nothing  to  say  in  their  behalf.  But  those  who, 
with  Mr.  Scott,  consider  regeneration  as  necessary,  in  the  nature  of  things, 
to  believing,  whether  they  be  right  or  wrong,  appear  to  be  rather  unfairly 
treated.  Far  be  it  from  us  to  accuse  this  truly  respectable  writer  of  wilful 
misrepresentation ;  we  are  persuaded  he  is  incapable  of  it.  But  it  is  no  un- 
common thing  for  an  author,  in  the  heat  of  controversy,  to  be  insensibly 
warped  from  the  line  of  a  fair  and  impartial  statement  of  the  sentiments  of 
his  opponent. 

"  It  is  objected,"  says  Mr.  Booth,  "though  it  be  not  necessary  for  a  sinner 
to  knoiv  that  he  is  born  again  before  he  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  yet  regene- 
ration itself  must  precede  faith ;  for,  the  heart  of  a  sinner  being  naturally  in 
a  state  of  enmity  to  the  Divine  character,  he  will  never  turn  to  God,  while  in 
that  situation,  for  pardon  and  acceptance."  To  this  he  answers,  "Before 
this  objection  can  justly  be  considered  as  valid,  it  must  be  evinced  not  only 
that  regeneration  precedes  faith,  but  also  that  it  is  necessary  to  authorize  a 
sinner's  reliance  on  Jesus  Christ."  But  why  must  this  be  first  evinced? 
The  objection,  from  whomsoever  Mr.  Booth  took  it,  appears  manifestly  not 
expressive  of  the  sentiments  defended  by  Mr.  Scott;  who,  we  are  persuaded, 
detests  the  idea  of  any  holy  disposition  authorizing  a  sinner  to  come  to  Jesus. 
He  contends  however  that  without  it  he  never  tDill  come.  A  state  of  mind 
may  be  necessary,  in  the  nature  of  things,  to  our  coming  to  Christ,  which  is 
no  part  of  the  "  warrant"  for  so  doing.    Mr.  Booth  himself  admits  a  specula- 


BOOTH- S  GLAD  TIDINGS.  753 

tive  change  of  mind,  with  a  conviction  of  sin,  to  be  so;  yet,  as  he  elsewhere 
justly  observes,  "It  is  not  under  the  notion  of  being  deeply  awakened  in 
conscience  that  sinners  must  first  believe  in  Jesus,  but  as  transgressors." 
Why  then  may  not  Mr.  Scott,  or  those  of  his  sentiments,  be  allowed  to  argue 
in  the  same  manner  with  respect  to  the  necessity  of  a  change  of  heart?  Why 
does  Mr.  Booth  insist  that,  if  it  be  necessary  at  all,  it  must  be  necessary  for 
the  purpose  of  authorizing  him  to  come?  Finally,  Why  does  Mr.  Booth 
allege  that  a  persuasion  of  regeneration  being  necessary  to  believing  must 
lead  the  awakened  sinner  to  "investigate  the  state  of  his  own  soul  in  search 
of  it,  with  much  the  same  solicitude  as  if  he  considered  it  as  a  warrant." 
All  these  allegations  appear  to  be  equally  directed  against  what  he  allows  as 
what  he  opposes.  If  conviction  of  sin  may  be  necessary  to  believing,  without 
affording  any  warrant  for  it,  so  may  regeneration ;  and  if  a  persuasion  of  the 
necessity  of  regeneration  to  believing  must  needs  turn  the  attention  of  a  sin- 
ner into  a  wrong  direction,  such  a  persuasion  respecting  conviction  of  sin 
must  have  the  same  effect. 

Again,  "  It  has  with  confidence  been  demanded,"  says  Mr.  Booth, 
"whether,  if  sinners  must  not  come  to  Christ  as  penitent,  and  as  possessing 
a  holy  disposition,  they  are  to  believe  in  him  as  impenitent,  and  as  under  the 
reigning  power  of  their  depravity.  But  this,  adds  he,  like  some  other  objec- 
tions, is  not  pertinent;  for  the  question  is,  what  is  the  proper  warrant  for  a 
sinner  to  believe  in  Jesus?"  Now,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge,  the  con- 
trary of  this  is  true.  The  question  here  was  not,  what  is  the  proper  warrant 
for  a  sinner  to  believe  in  Jesus?  for  that  is  not  a  matter  of  dispute;  but, 
tcJiat  is  the  state  of  his  heart  in  the  moment  ivhcn  he  first  believes? — Mr, 
Booth's  answer  appears  to  be  evasive.  "A  sinner  must  come,"  he  says, 
"  neither  as  penitent  nor  as  impenitent,  but  merely  under  the  character  of 
one  that  is  guilty  and  perishing."  The  term  as,  in  the  objection,  means  the 
character  which  the  sinner  actually  sustains ;  but,  in  the  answer,  the  character 
under  which  he  is  to  view  himself  It  is  thus,  as  we  apprehend,  that  the 
objection  is  evaded.  Mr.  Booth  would  not  say  that,  in  coming  to  Christ,  a 
sinner  is  neither  penitent  nor  impenitent;  yet,  to  meet  the  objection,  it  is 
necessary  he  should  say  so ;  for  the  question  is  not,  under  what  character  a 
sinner  must  view  himself  in  coming  to  Christ;  but  what  character,  with 
regard  to  penitence  or  impenitence,  does  he  actually  sustain? 

It  is  not  our  object  to  enter  into  Mr.  Booth's  reasonings,  many  of  which 
we  cordially  approve ;  but  barely  to  state,  in  a  leading  instance  or  two, 
wherein  we  conceive  he  has  not  done  justice  to  his  opponents. 

We  shall  only  add  a  few  remarks  on  the  note  which  Mr.  Booth  has  intro- 
duced in  answer  to  a  passage  in  our  review  of  Mr.  Scott's  "  Warrant  and 
Nature  of  Faith."  It  was  our  design  in  that  review  to  give,  according  to 
the  best  of  our  capacity,  an  impartial  statement  of  the  controversy.  Mr, 
Booth  however  complains  of  a  misapprehension  of  his  meaning.  He  had 
said,  "  If  sinners  be  reconciled  to  God  and  his  law,  previous  to  believing  in 
Jesus,  and  to  a  view  of  revealed  mercy,  it  should  seem  as  if  they  had  not 
much  occasion  either  for  faith,  or  grace,  or  Christ.  Because  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  persons  of  such  piety  are  already  accepted  of  God,  bear  his 
image,  and  are  in  the  way  to  heaven."  On  this  passage  we  remarked,  Mr. 
Booth  suggests  that,  if  there  be  any  holiness  previous  to  justification,  those 
characters  in  whom  it  is  found  may  be  justified,  if  not  wholly,  yet  in  part,  by 
their  own  righteousness.  We  have  no  objection  to  acknowledge,  on  a 
revision  of  the  subject,  that  Mr.  Booth's  words  did  not  warrant  this  construc- 
tion :  and  that  it  had  been  better  to  have  quoted  them  as  they  were  than  to 
have  put  any  construction  upon  them.  We  also  acquit  Mr.  Booth  of  the 
obnoxious  principle  alluded  to.     But,  having  said  thus  much,  it  requires  to 

Vol.  III.— 95 


754  REVIEWS. 

be  added  that  the  above  sentence,  which  stands  the  same  in  both  editions, 
appears  to  be  far  from  defensive. 

First,  It  represents  that  which  is  pleaded  for  only  as  an  essential  part  of  a 
sinner's  return  to  God,  as  though  it  were  a  whole,  sufficient  to  denominate 
his  character  as  a  saint,  and  to  prove  his  being  accepted  of  God.  It  was 
necessary  that  the  prodigal  should  come  to  himself,  justify  his  father's  con- 
duct, and  condemn  his  own,  before  and  in  order  to  his  return ;  but  the 
necessity  of  his  return  was  not  thereby  superseded,  nor  was  he  accepted  of 
his  fadier  until  he  did  return.  It  is  true,  the  father  beheld  him  "  while  a 
great  way  oflT,"  and  met  the  first  movement  of  his  heart  towards  him ;  but, 
whatever  were  his  kind  designs,  he  was  not  accepted,  according  to  the  estab- 
lished laws  of  the  house,  till  he  had  actually  returned.  It  was  not  necessary 
that  while  he  thus  justified  his  father's  character  he  should  be  ignorant  of 
his  readiness  to  forgive.  Without  a  persuasion  of  this,  however  he  might 
have  reproached  himself,  he  could  have  had  no  encouragement  to  return  as 
a  supplicant.  Nor  is  it  supposed  that  a  sinner,  in  being  brought  to  justify 
God  as  a  Lawgiver,  must  needs  be  ignorant  of  his  being  revealed  as  the 
God  of  grace;  but  the  question  is,  whether,  in  the  order  of  things,  it  be  pos- 
sible for  him  to  see  or  believe  any  grace  in  the  gospel,  beyond  what  he  feels 
of  the  equity  of  the  law.  He  may  be  persuaded  of  God's  exercising  what  is 
called  pardon ;  and  knowing  himself  to  be  a  sinner,  exposed  to  wrath,  he 
may  be  affected  with  it :  but  it  cannot  possibly  appear  to  him  to  be  a  gracious 
pardon,  any  further  than  as  he  feels  reconciled  to  the  justice  of  his  claims  as 
a  Lawgiver.  To  suppose  it  possible  that  we  should  believe  the  doctrine  of 
grace,  without  being  first  made  to  feel  the  equity  of  the  law,  so  as  to  justify 
God  and  condemn  ourselves,  is  to  suppose  a  contradiction.  There  is  no 
grace  but  upon  this  supposition,  and  we  cannot  see  that  which  is  not  to  be 
seen.  Whatever  promises  there  may  be  to  the  least  degree  of  holiness,  if 
they  respect  the  first  movement  of  the  heart  towards  Christ,  it  is  under  the 
consideration  of  its  issuing  in  faith  in  him,  without  which  no  works  of  a 
sinful  creature  can  be  accepted ;  such  promises  therefore  ought  not  to  be 
brought  for  the  purpose  of  superseding  it.  "  He  that  cometh  to  God  must 
first  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek 
him."  Many  promises  also  are  made  to  believing ;  but  if  from  hence  we 
were  to  infer  that  a  man  is  sufficiently  blessed  in  believing,  so  as  to  render 
coming  to  God  unnecessary,  we  should  put  a  force  upon  the  Scriptures. 
Believing  is  supposed  to  have  its  immediate  issue  in  coming,  and  therefore 
is  treated  in  the  Scriptures  as  in  effect  the  same  thing,  John  vi.  35. 

Secondly,  It  is  supposed  that,  when  once  a  sinner  is  accepted  of  God,  he 
has  but  little  occasion  for  either  faith,  or  grace,  or  Christ,  in  comparison  of 
what  he  had  before.  "  If  after  a  person  is  reconciled  to  the  Divine  charac- 
ter," says  Mr.  Booth,  "he  applies  to  Christ  for  justification,  he  cannot,  con- 
sistently with  his  new  state,  believe  in  him  as  justifying  the  ungodly,  nor 
consider  himself  as  entirely  worthless,  and  on  a  level  with  siimers  in  gene- 
ral." But,  1.  This  supposes  him  not  only  to  be  renewed  in  the  spirit  of  his 
mind,  but  to  be  conscious  of  it,  which  Mr.  Booth's  opponents  do  not  contend 
for.  2.  Supposing  he  were  conscious  of  it,  did  not  "Abraham  believe  on 
him  that  justifieth  the  ungodly,"  and  that  many  years  after  his  being  a  good 
man  and  a  believer?  and  did  he  not  consider  himself  at  that  time  as  "  entirely 
worthless,  and,  as  to  acceptance  with  God,  on  a  level  with  sinners  in  gene- 
ral?"— See  Rom.  iv.  3-5,  compared  with  Gen.  xv.  6;  xii.  1-3;  Heb.  xi.  8. 
We  might  add,  does  not  every  good  man  stand  in  the  same  need  of  faith, 
and  grace,  and  Christ,  with  respect  to  justification,  as  at  the  first  moment 
when  he  believed?  And,  in  all  his  approaches  to  God  for  this  blessing,  does 
he  not  consider  himself  as  "  entirely  worthless,  and  upon  a  level  with  sin- 
ners in  jreneral?" 


MK.  BOOTH'S  SERMON.  755 


MR,  BOOTH'S  SERMON,— "  THE  AMEN  OF  SOCIAL  PRAYER." 

*  [This  sermon  was  one  of  a  series  of  discourses  on  the  Lord's  prayer,  delivered  at  the 
monthly  meeting  in  London,  and  published  by  desire  of  the  ministers  who  heard  it.] 

The  summary  of  prayer  given  by  our  Saviour  to  his  disciples  stands  un- 
equalled for  conciseness  and  comprehensiveness.  Every  petition,  and  almost 
every  word  in  such  a  prayer,  may  be  expected  to  contain  an  important  mean- 
ing. That  such  a  meaning  is  comprehended  in  the  concluding  term,  and 
which  forms  in  itself  a  perfect  sentence,  the  judicious  author  of  this  sermon 
has  fully  evinced.  Previous  to  his  attempting  this,  however,  he  expresses 
his  utter  dislike  of  the  practice  of  preaching  from  a  single  word,  as  a  trial 
of  skill,  and  offers  what  must  appear  to  every  candid  reader  a  suthcient  rea- 
son for  his  complying  with  the  request  of  his  brethren  in  this  instance. 

Having  stated  the  scriptural  meaning  of  the  term  "Amen,"  he  proceeds  to 
consider  various  important  truths,  directions,  encouragements,  cautions,  and 
reproofs,  which  are  suggested  by  it.  Particularly,  That  to  close  our  prayers 
with  a  suitable  Amen  they  are  required  to  be  offered  with  understanding ; 
for  without  knowing  the  revealed  will  of  God,  and  our  own  unworthiness  as 
sinners  before  him,  believing  in  the  all-sufficient  atonement  and  prevailing 
intercession  of  Christ,  and  depending  on  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  can- 
not hope  for  success  in  our  petitions — With  fervour ;  for  if  we  be  not  in 
earnest  in  our  prayers,  our  Amen  loses  its  emphasis,  and  becomes  a  super- 
ficial formality,  a  mere  word  in  course — Also  with  expectation;  for  the 
animating  principle  of  our  "so  be  it"  arises  from  the  grounds  we  have  to 
believe  that  so  it  shall  be.  Our  obligation  to  pray  is  not  from  hence ;  but 
our  encouragement  is.  We  are  not  warranted  to  expect  an  answer  to  our 
prayers  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  we  may  prefer;  but  in  God's  time 
and  manner  we  are.  We  have  no  ground  to  hope  for  success  in  prayer 
against  the  prevalence  of  our  corruptions,  unless  we  also  watch  against  them ; 
but,  so  praying,  we  have. 

Further,  That  the  Amen  of  prayer  suggests  various  reproofs  and  solemn 
cautions,  both  to  those  who  lead  and  those  who  unite  in  the  worship.  Par- 
ticularly in  him  who  leads,  or  is  the  mouth  of  the  assembly,  it  reproves  all 
words  which  persons  of  the  weakest  capacity  do  not  understand ;  all  quaint 
expressions,  or  terms  or  phrases  that  are  adapted  to  raise  a  smile,  or  which 
in  any  way  savour  of  wit  or  contrivance ;  all  ambiguous  language,  or  words 
of  doubtful  meaning;  all  contending  or  arguing  for  or  against  a  doctrine; 
and  every  thing  like  anger,  envy,  or  malignity,  or  which  has  a  natural  ten- 
dency to  interfere  with  devout  attention,  deep  solemnity,  and  the  lively  exer- 
cise of  holy  affections  towards  God ;  for  to  all  or  any  of  these  things  how 
shall  a  serious  assembly  say.  Amen  ? — In  those  who  silently  unite  in  this 
solemn  duty  it  cautions  against,  and  severely  reproves,  every  degree  of  neg- 
ligence respecting  their  attendance  at  the  place  of  prayer,  before  the  devo- 
tional exercise  begins ;  all  wandering  thoughts  and  inattention  during  the 
exercise ;  all  unkind,  unsociable,  and  immoral  feelings  towards  one  another ; 
and  all  aversion  of  heart  from  the  genuine  meaning  of  the  ascriptions,  con- 
fessions, or  petitions,  which  are  presented ;  for,  with  such  frames  and  feel- 
ings, how  can  they  with  a  good  conscience  say  Amen  ? 

The  sermon  concludes  with  a  very  solemn  and  interesting  address  to 
those  who  take  the  lead  in  prayer,  those  who  unite  in  it,  and  those  who  pay 
litde  or  no  regard  to  it.  On  the  whole,  the  writer  of  this  review  feels  thank- 
ful to  God,  and  the  worthy  author,  for  having  seen  this  highly  interesting 
publication. 


756  REVIEWS. 


MEMOIRS  OF  REV.  JAMES  GARIE. 

It  is  good  to  read  the  lives  of  holy  men;  and  the  more  holy  they  have 
been  the  better.  Some  readers,  it  is  true,  are  not  satisfied  unless  they  dis- 
cover in  others  the  same  low,  grovelling,  half-hearted  kind  of  life  which  they 
find  in  themselves.  But  satisfaction  of  this  sort  is  better  missed  than  found. 
It  is  good  to  be  reproved,  and  stirred  up  to  labour  after  greater  degrees  of 
spirituality  than  any  which  we  have  hitherto  attained. 

It  is  good  also  to  observe  the  difference  between  the  accounts  of  the  same 
person  as  communicated  by  a  friend,  and  by  himself  As  given  by  the 
former,  the  character  appears  nearly  faultless ;  as  depicted  by  the  latter,  it 
abounds  with  imperfection.  Whence  this  difference?  We  know  more  of 
ourselves  than  any  other  person  can  know  of  us.  What  then  will  our  lives 
be,  when  declared  by  Him  who  knoweth  all  things?  Well  might  one  of  the 
greatest  and  best  of  men  desire  that  he  might  be  found  in  Mm  ! 

It  is  pleasant  that  in  the  same  years,  months,  and  days  that  we  have  been 
walking  in  the  ways  of  God  ourselves,  others,  whom  we  know  not,  were 
travelling  in  the  same  direction,  and  with  kindred  sensations.  What  a 
society  shall  we  find  assembled,  when  we  get  home !  We  read  the  lives  of 
eminently  holy  men  in  former  times,  and,  when  we  come  to  their  decease, 
are  ready  to  ask  with  a  sigh.  Are  there  any  such  men  to  be  found  in  these 
days  ?  God  hath  a  reserved  people,  however,  in  this  as  well  as  in  every 
other  age. 

The  characters  of  men  are  chiefly  known  by  trial.  It  is  not  how  we  may 
feel  and  conduct  ourselves  in  times  when  we  have  nothing  in  particular  to 
affect  us;  kut  how  we  bear  the  temptations  and  afflictions,  the  smiles  and  the 
frowns,  the  evil  reports  and  the  good  reports  of  the  world,  that  determines 
what  we  are.  Mr.  Garie  had  his  share  of  these  trials.  Doubtless  there  are 
men  who  have  passed  through  greater ;  but  his  were  sufficient  to  furnish 
proof  of  his  being  not  only  a  true  christian,  but  an  eminent  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  his  removals  from  place  to  place,  he  appears  to  have  kept  his 
eye  on  one  object,  and  in  patience  to  have  possessed  his  soul.* 

While,  however,  we  admire  his  piety,  meekness,  and  patience,  it  becomes 
us  to  learn  instruction  from  the  things  which  befell  him.  In  his  first  removal 
we  see  the  danger  of  congregational  churches  submitting  to  the  influence 
and  direction  of  a  few  opulent  individuals,  (whose  desire  it  frequently  is  to 
obtain  a  minister  who  shall  deal  gently  with  their  vices,)  till,  lightly  esteem- 
ing their  greatest  mercies,  they  are  justly  deprived  of  them. 

In  determining  on  the  question  of  joining  the  Established  Church, we  find 
him  frankly  avowing  the  influence  of  early  spiritual  advantages  which  he 
had  there  received,  of  the  amiable  and  dear  friends  he  had  in  it,  and  of  what 
he  accounted  the  leadings  of  Providence.  But  no  mention  is  made  of  his 
inquiring  into  the  revealed loill  of  Christ  upon  the  subject;  nor  any  intima- 
tion given  that,  after  having  examined  the  Scriptures,  he  was  convinced  that 
a  national  establishment  was  the  most  consistent  with  them. 

In  the  repulses  he  met  with,  we  cannot  but  perceive  the  lamentable  evils 
which  arise  from  the  church  being  so  connected  with  the  world  as  that  the 
best  interests  of  a  Christian  congregation  shall  be  decided  by  the  prejudices 
and  intrigues  of  men  who  care  not  for  its  spiritual  welfare,  and  the  greater 
part  of  whom  may  be  strangers  to  true  religion. 

*  Mr.  Garie  encountered  great  hazards  in  preaching  the  gospel  in  Ireland  in  1790,  par. 
ticularly  in  Sligo,  where  his  chapel  was  burned  soon  after  its  opening,  and  his  life  threat- 
ened.— Ed. 


DOCTRINES  OP  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS.  757 

We  are  glad  to  find  that  Mr.  Garie's  family,  like  that  of  Mr.  Pearce,  has 
been  thought  worthy  of  the  patronage  of  the  religious  public.  It  speaks  well 
for  our  times  that  the  families  of  men  who  have  been  eminent  in  disinter- 
ested labours  for  God  are  provided  for  by  his  people.  The  spirit  discovered 
in  Mr.  Garie's  diary  will  both  reprove  and  provoke  to  emulation  those  who 
are  in  any  degree  like-minded;  and  may  convince  others  that  religion  is  not 
a  cunningly  devised  fable,  but  a  solemn  reality. 


MR.  BEVAN'S  DEFENCE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  DOCTRINES  OF 
THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS. 

Concerning  the  atonement  or  satisfaction  of  Christ,  Penn  and  Claridge 
profess  to  reject  what  they  term  "  the  vulgar  doctrine  of  satisfaction ;"  and 
our  author  allows  them  to  have  disowned  "  vicarious  atonement,"  and  "  the 
appeasing  of  vindictive  wrath."*  We  should  be  sorry  to  affix  ideas  to  terms 
which  were  not  in  the  mind  of  the  writer;  but,  if  we  understand  them, 
atonement  is  reparation  made  to  the  injured  authority  of  the  Divine  law. 
"Vicarious  atonement"  is  for  that  reparation  to  be  made  by  a  substitute, 
who  endures  the  curse  of  the  law  in  the  sinner's  stead ;  and  "  the  appeasing 
of  vindictive  wrath"  is  not  the  changing  of  God's  mind  from  hatred  to  love; 
but  having  expressed  his  displeasure  against  sin,  in  the  death  of  his  Son, 
justice  is  satisfied,  and  he  can  now  consistently  display  his  compassion  to 
sinners  for  Christ's  sake. 

We  do  not  think  it  was  the  intention  of  these  writers  to  favour  the  Soci- 
nian  doctrine;  but  in  opposing  the  crude  notion  of  Christ's  having  so  paid 
the  debt  as  to  lay  the  Governor  of  the  world  under  a  natural  obligation  to 
discharge  the  debtor,  and  that  immediately,  or  without  the  intervention  of 
repentance  and  faith,  we  cannot  but  observe  that  they  have  made  very  near 
advances  to  it.  We  earnestly  entreat  our  author  and  his  connexions  to  re- 
consider this  subject,  and  carefully  to  examine  whether  they  may  not  renounce 
this  notion,  without  giving  up  our  Saviour's  "  vicarious  atonement,"  or  his 
having  endured  the  curse  of  God's  righteous  law  in  the  sinner's  stead. 
Were  we  to  abandon  this  idea,  we  could  afiix  no  meaning  to  a  great  part  of 
the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah ;  nor  should  we  feel  any  solid  ground  on 
which  to  rest  our  everlasting  hopes. 

In  chap  V.  and  vi.  our  author  proceeds  to  examine  the  sentiments  of  the 
early  Friends  concerning  the  Scriptures.  Penn,  Barclay,  and  others,  cer- 
tainly were  not  Socinians  on  this  subject,  any  more  than  on  the  foregoing 
ones ;  but  they  wrote  much  to  prove  that  the  Scriptures  were  not  the  only, 
no?  the  primary,  rule  of  faith  and  manners ;  for  this  honour  they  ascribe  to 
the  Spirit  as  dwelling  in  man.  This  position,  though  wide  of  Socinianism, 
yet  led  them  to  write  in  a  manner  very  capable  of  being  turned  by  an  inge- 
nious Socinian  to  the  advantage  of  his  cause. 

It  is  with  pleasure  we  find  the  early  Friends  acknowledging  the  Scriptures 
to  have  been  written  by  Divine  inspiration,  and  to  be  the  words  of  God ;  and 

*  The  introductory  part  of  the  following  review  is  omitted,  as  relating  merely  to  the  cir- 
cumstances  under  which  the  "Defence"  was  written;  it  was  occasioned  by  the  representa- 
tions of  Hannah  Barnard,  an  American  preacher  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  of  Mr. 
Evans  in  his  ♦'  Sketch  of  the  different  Denominations,"  that  the  original  tenets  of  that 
Society  were  Socinian. 

In  Mr.  Fuller's  republication  of  Mrs.  Hannah  Adams's  "  View  of  Religions,"  to  which  he 
prefixed  his  "  Essay  on  Truth  j"  the  article  "Friends"  was  supplied  by  Mr.  Sevan,  with 
whom  INIr.  F.  had  become  intimately  acquainted. — Ed. 

3S 


758  REVIEWS. 

also  that  "  whatever  doctrine  or  practice,  though  under  pretensions  to  the 
immediate  dictates  and  teachings  of  the  Spirit,  is  contrary  to  them,  ought  to 
be  rejected  as  false  and  erroneous."  But  we  do  not  perceive  the  consistency 
between  this  and  their  denying  them  to  be  the  principal  rule  of  faith  and 
manners;  that  is,  the  principal  rule  by  which  the  other  is  to  be  judged  of. 
Ought  we  to  try  the  truth  of  the  Scriptures,  then,  by  their  agreement  with 
what  we  suppose  to  be  the  dictates  and  teachings  of  the  Spirit  within  us,  or 
the  truth  of  these  supposed  dictates  and  teachings  by  their  agreement  with 
the  Scriptures?  The  above  concession  appears  to  be  in  favour  of  the  latter, 
and  so  to  decide  the  question. 

We  readily  admit  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  greater  than  the  Scriptures, 
as  God  is  greater  than  the  greatest  of  his  works ;  and  that  by  his  renewing 
influence  the  mind  is  taught  to  know  what  it  would  never  form  just  con- 
ceptions of  without  it.  This  we  consider  as  that  anointing  of  which  the 
apostle  speaks,  by  which  believers  are  said  to  "  know  all  things."  But  we 
do  not  perceive  the  propriety  of  calling  this  "  a  rule  of  faith  and  manners." 
The  extraordinary  revelations  of  the  Spirit,  such  as  those  of  David,  concern- 
ing his  pursuit  of  the  Amalekites;  and  to  Paul,  respecting  his  going  into 
Bithynia, — were  indeed  a  rule  to  them,  as  much  as  a  written  revelation  is  to 
us.  But  it  is  very  unsafe  to  reason  from  them  to  the  ordinary  teachings  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  since  the  "  sealing  up  of  the  vision  and  prophecy."  The 
one  was  a  revelation  of  new  truths  to  the  mind  ;  the  other  enables  us  to  dis- 
cern the  glory  of  that  which  is  already  revealed.  The  former  supplied  the 
want  of  a  perfect  rule,  while  the  sacred  writings  were  incomplete ;  the  latter 
teaches  us  how  to  walk  by  it,  now  that  it  is  completed.  The  teaching  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  we  conceive,  is  that  which  forms  us  by  the  rule,  rather  than  the 
rule  itself 

It  has  been  said  by  Antinomians  that  it  is  not  the  moral  law,  but  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  their  hearts,  which  is  a  rule  to  them.  Our  answer  has  been.  You 
confound  the  rule  of  a  holy  life  with  the  cause  of  it.  Whatever  is  a  rule  to 
us  must  be  known  or  knowable  by  us ;  but  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  heart  is  a 
secret  spring,  of  which  we  can  know  nothing  but  by  its  effects.  It  is  the 
source  of  all  spiritual  judgment  and  action ;  but  the  rule  by  which  we  are  to 
judge  and  act  is  God's  revealed  will.  Whether  this  answer  be  just, — and  if 
it  be,  whether  it  does  not  apply  alike  to  both  cases, — we  hope  will  be  seri- 
ously and  candidly  considered. 

With  respect  to  the  question  between  our  author  and  his  opponent,  we 
have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  early  Friends  would  neither  have  ap- 
proved nor  endured  the  opinions  of  Hannah  Barnard.  It  is  true  they  each 
set  up  a  rule  superior  to  the  Scriptures ;  but  that  of  the  one  is  the  reason  of 
the  individual ;  the  other,  the  teachings  of  the  Spirit.  By  the  rule  of  Han- 
nah Barnard,  many  parts  of  the  present  canon  of  Scripture  are  rejected  as 
untrue;  by  theirs,  the  whole  is  admitted  to  be  authentic.  She  rejects  the  ac- 
count of  the  miraculous  conception,  of  the  miracles,  and  of  the  resurrection 
of  Christ.  But  Barclay  considers  it  as  "damnable  unbelief  not  to  believe 
all  those  things  to  have  been  certainly  transacted  which  are  recorded  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  concerning  them." 

The  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  chapters  contain  a  review  of  the 
charges  exhibited  against  Hannah  Barnard,  with  her  answers,  &ic.  The 
former  appear  to  be  worded  with  great  caution,  and  proved,  beyond  all  just 
contradiction.  By  her  answers,  in  several  instances,  she  departs  from  Chris- 
tian ground,  and  ought  to  rank  as  a  deist.  The  partiality  discovered  for  her 
cause  by  Mr.  Evans,  in  his  "Sketch  of  the  Denominations,"  adds  another 
to  the  numerous  proofs  which  have  gone  before  tliat  Socinianism  feels  a 
sympathy  (as  of  one  that  is  near  akin)  with  infidelity. 


DOCTRINES  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS.  759 

The  sentiments  of  the  Friends  on  the  unlawfulness  of  war,  under  the 
Christian  dispensation,  are  well  known.  Hannah  Barnard  has  advanced  a 
step  further,  maintaining  that  war  is  in  itself  wrong ;  and  consequently  that 
the  wars  of  the  Jews  with  the  seven  nations  of  Canaan  could  not  have  been 
made  with  the  Divine  approbation.  Were  we  to  judge  the  sentiments  of  the 
Friends  by  those  of  Anthony  Benezet,  who  considers  war  as  having  been 
suffered  rather  than  approved  under  the  Old  Testament,  in  like  manner  as 
men  were  "  suffered  to  put  away  their  wives,"  we  must  acknowledge  that 
we  could  not  perceive  their  consistency  with  the  commandments  of  God  to 
Israel  to  make  war  on  the  Canaanites,  and  his  displeasure  against  those  who 
refused.  But  as  he  is  not  one  of  the  early  Friends,  and  what  he  has  written 
is  considered  as  only  his  private  opinion,  the  sentiments  of  the  Society  on 
this  subject  are  to  be  sought  elsewhere. 

Their  disapprobation  of  all  war  appears  to  be  confined  to  the  Christian 
dispensation,  and  to  be  founded  on  such  passages  as  Matt.  v.  3S,  39,  "  Ye 
have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said.  An  eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth : 
but  I  say  unto  you.  That  ye  resist  not  evil."  They  suppose  that  the  law 
warranted  a  retaliation  of  injuries;  but  that  the  gospel  requires  forbearance 
and  forgiveness.  We  do  not  think  it  was  the  design  of  our  Lord,  in  this 
passage,  to  oppose  the  genius  of  the  gospel  dispensation  to  that  of  the  law, 
but  to  rectify  the  abuses  which  had  been  made  of  the  latter  by  the  false 
glosses  of  the  Jews,  who  perverted  the  lawful  punishments  of  the  magistrate, 
as  allowed  in  Exod.  xxi.  24,  to  the  purposes  of  revenge  and  private  retalia- 
tion. But  whatever  we  may  think  of  this,  and  of  the  lawfulness  of  resisting 
unjust  aggression,  or  threatened  invasion,  we  see  nothing  in  the  principle,  as 
maintained  by  the  Friends,  that  reflects  on  the  justice  of  the  wars  of  Israel, 
which  they  consider  as  founded  on  Divine  authority. 

Upon  the  whole,  though  we  differ  from  the  Friends  in  many  important 
particulars,  and  have,  we  hope  with  Christian  candour,  stated  our  objections 
to  some  of  them,  yet  there  are  many  things  in  this  work  which  afford  us 
pleasure.  It  is  gratifying  to  see  so  unanimous  and  decided  a  stand  made 
against  the  spirit  of  infidelity,  under  the  form  of  Unitarianism ;  and  to  find 
it  conducted  with  so  much  calmness  and  justice.  Such  cases  as  those  of 
Hannah  Barnard  are  permitted  to  try,  not  only  individuals,  but  societies.  It 
is  pleasant  also  to  observe  in  our  author  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the 
writings  of  others  besides  those  of  his  own  denomination.  We  cannot  but 
from  hence  entertain  a  hope  that  he,  and  the  Friends  in  general  who  may 
give  the  foregoing  remarks  a  perusal,  will  take  them  in  good  part,  and  can- 
didly consider  the  force  of  them.  It  is  from  such  a  mutual  interchange  of 
sentiments  between  different  denominations,  who  have  been  in  different  habits 
of  thinking,  that  each  is  likely  to  derive  advantage.  In  this  way  we  may  be 
candid,  charitable,  and  liberal,  without  becoming  indifferent  to  religious 
principles. 

The  work  itself  is  elaborate,  and  fraught  with  information  on  the  subjects 
it  embraces.  It  contains  much  close  thinking  and  conclusive  reasoning. 
We  will  only  add,  that,  though  it  is  natural  and  proper  for  a  society  to  vindi- 
cate the  principles  of  its  first  founders  when  they  are  misrepresented,  yet,  in 
pursuing  this  object,  there  is  danger  of  considering  their  opinions  as  ora- 
cular. "  The  first  of  considerations,"  as  this  writer  allows,  "  is  not,  who 
has  believed? — but,  what  is  the  truth?" 


760  REVIEWS.' 


THE  REV.  CHARLES  JERRAM'S  LETTERS  ON  THE 
ATONEMENT. 

The  many  able  productions  which  have  appeared  in  defence  of  this  im- 
portant doctrine  might  seem  to  render  all  future  vindications  of  it  unneces- 
sary. But  while  its  adversaries  write  and  labour  to  exhibit  it  in  a  false  and 
exceptionable  point  of  light,  its  friends  must  write  also,  though  it  be  only 
to  restate  its  evidence,  and  to  correct  their  misrepresentations. 

By  the  advertisements  at  the  end  of  these  Letters  we  learn  who  was  the 
author  of  the  excellent  "  Letters  to  a  Universalist,"  hitherto  known  by  the 
name  of  Scrutator.  The  occasion  of  both  these  pieces  appears  to  be 
nearly  the  same.  The  Universalists  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mr.  Jerram 
having  been  very  assiduous,  it  seems,  in  propagating  their  principles,  he  has 
felt  it  his  duty  to  vindicate  the  doctrines  which  they  have  attempted  to 
discredit. 

But  how  is  this?  Do  Universalists  disown  the  atonement?  It  is  well 
known  that  the  adversaries  of  the  atonement  have  long  been  friendly  to  Uni- 
versalism ;  and  Mr.  Vidler  was  warned,  at  the  outset  of  his  career,  "  to  be- 
ware of  the  whirlpool  of  Socinianism ;"  but  is  it  so  that  they  have  actually 
formed  a  junction  ?  The  writer  opposed  in  these  Letters  does  not  profess 
to  reject  the  doctrine  of  atonement,  but  to  give  a  new  explanation  of  it. 
Such,  we  recollect,  was  the  object  of  a  pamphlet  published  not  long  since 
by  a  Mr.  John  Simpson  of  Hackney,  entitled,  "Plain  thoughts  on  the  New 
Testament  Doctrine  of  Atonement ;"  and  the  explanation  given  by  him 
amounted  to  this,  namely,  The  reconciliaton  of  the  mind  to  God,  or  con- 
version ! 

But  wherein  is  the  difference  between  the  scheme  of  these  writers  and 
that  of  Socinians  in  general  ?  According  to  Mr.  Simpson,  it  lies  in  this : 
many  of  the  latter,  with  Dr.  Taylor,  make  atonement  to  consist  in  the  recon- 
ciliation of  our  heathen  ancestors  to  Christianity,  to  the  superseding  of  per- 
sonal conversion  in  their  descendants;  and  this, he  thinks, renders  it  almost, 
if  not  altogether,  a  nullity.  To  this  we  take  the  liberty  of  adding,  Socinians 
in  general  renounce  not  only  the  doctrine,  but  the  word  atonement,  which 
they  are  very  well  aware  conveys  the  idea  of  satisfaction.  But  Mr.  Simpson, 
and  the  Universalists,  though  they  agree  with  their  brethren  in  rejecting  the 
doctrine,  yet  seem  to  think  it  best  to  retain  the  icord,  and  to  put  their  own 
sense  upon  it. 

Mr.  Jerram  considers  this  merely  a  piece  of  artifice.  "  Under  pretence 
of  being  advocates  for  the  atonement,"  he  says,  "  they  have  attempted  to 
undermine  it,  renouncing  the  doctrine,  while  they  retain  the  name.  They 
have  chosen  to  call  this  doctrine,  as  it  has  for  ages  been  understood  by  all 
denominations  of  Christians,  any  thing  but  the  atonement;  and  have  appro- 
priated the  name  to  a  set  of  notions  which  bear  no  more  resemblance  to  the 
ideas  which  it  has  hitherto  been  accustomed  to  designate  than  the  writings 
of  Socinus  to  the  Episdes  of  St.  Paul.  This  artifice  has  so  far  succeeded 
as  sometimes  to  prevent  the  alarm  which  a  naked  statement  of  their  real 
sentiments  would  have  occasioned.  Persons  who  have  always  been  taught 
to  consider  the  atonement  of  Christ  as  the  only  foundation  of  a  sinner's  hope 
might  have  been  starded  at  an  avowed  opposition  to  it ;  but  by  retaining  the 
name,  though  the  thing  be  given  up,  the  change  they  are  persuaded  to  make 
appears  less  formidable.  And  when  such  sentiments  have  been  addressed 
to  minds  of  a  speculative  turn,  and  who  have  never  been  well-grounded  in 
the  principles  they  profess  to  believe,  they  have  seldom  been  without  effect. 


JERRAM  ON  THE  ATONEMENT.  761 

At  first  they  were  not  disposed  to  contend  for  trifles,  so  long  as  they  con- 
ceived the  principal  doctrine  remained  unirapeached ;  and  feeling  desirous 
of  being  ranked  among  '  the  candid  and  liberal  inquirers  after  truth,'  they 
next  lent  a  favourable  ear  to  every  thing  that  presented  itself  under  the  mask 
of  improvement.  To  this  succeeded  a  number  of  flattering  compliments 
addressed  to  their  vanity — and  now  the  work  is  done.  They  presently  dis- 
cover the  absurdity  of  their  former  opinions,  and  look  down  with  pity  or  con- 
tempt on  those  who  still  hug  the  chains  of  prejudice,  and  creep  on  in  the 
obsolete  path  of  their  forefathers.  They  commence  the  zealous  disciples  of 
Socinus — the  'rational'  worshippers  of  the  all-benevolent  Deity — and  all 
this  without  relinquishing  an  iota  of  the  doctrine  of  atonement!" 

The  work  before  us  contains  four  letters,  which  Mr.  Jerram  has  addressed 
to  his  opponent.  In  the  first  he  states  the  question  at  issue.  Declining  all 
contention  about  the  term  satisfoclion,  he  endeavours  to  ascertain  the  thing 
which  he  means  to  defend.  "  I  collect,"  says  he,  "  from  your  letter,  that  you 
mean  to  set  aside  every  other  consideration  in  the  pardoning  of  sin  but  the 
mercy  and  love  of  God ;  you  oppose  every  thing  vicarious  in  the  nature  of 
Christ's  death,  every  idea  of  making  an  atonement  to  Divine  justice,  or  of 
Christ's  suffering  any  thing  in  the  place  of  sinners."  This  doctrine  Mr. 
Jerram  maintains;  and  proceeds  to  answer  no  less  than  sixteen  objections 
which  his  opponent  had  raised  against  it.  In  the  second  letter,  he  endeavours 
to  establish  the  doctrine  from  the  general  current  of  Scripture;  in  the  third, 
from  the  nature  of  the  Jewish  sacrifices  and  priesthood ;  and  in  the  fourth 
from  the  fitness  of  things. 

At  the  close  of  several  valuable  notes,  taken  principally  from  the  elaborate 
and  masterly  work  of  Dr.  Magee,  on  the  same  subject.  In  the  last  of  these 
notes  Mr.  Jerram  has  taken  occasion  to  vindicate  his  friend,  Mr.  Fuller,  from 
a  very  unfair  statement  given  by  Mr.  John  Evans,  in  his  "  Sketch  of  the 
different  Denominations;"  in  which  Mr.  Fuller's  views  on  this  important 
doctrine  are  ranked  with  those  of  Arians  and  Sabellians.  It  would  seem  as 
if  these  writers,  like  the  hero  across  the  Channel,  were  very  much  in  want 
of  help,  or  they  would  not  wish  to  press  those  into  an  alliance  with  them  who 
are  known  to  be  averse  to  their  system. 

If  the  reader  has  seen  the  "  Letters  to  a  Universalist,"  before  referred  to, 
he  will  observe  that  the  present  are  less  diffuse ;  and,  what  may  appear  not  a 
little  surprising,  are  written  in  a  very  gentle  and  argumentative  strain,  and 
without  any  reference  to  the  learned  languages.  The  sarcastic  "  Scrutator" 
is  here  the  calm,  dispassionate,  but  decided  advocate  for  what  appears  to 
him  a  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christianity.  To  account  for  the  difference, 
we  must  have  recourse  to  the  preface  to  his  former  pamphlet.  "  He  was  not 
ignorant,"  as  he  then  observed,  "  that  when  a  man  sits  down  to  debate  a 
point  with  another  he  should  avoid  every  appearance  of  personality,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  whatever  might  even  indirectly  hurt  the  feelings  of  his  oppo- 
nent. The  investigation  of  truth  is  the  only  object  at  which  he  should  aim. 
But  the  office  of  a  reviewer  is  widely  different.  It  is  his  province  to  hold 
up  the  disputants  to  the  view  of  the  world;  to  praise  what  is  commendable, 
and  to  correct  what  deserves  censure.  It  belongs  to  him  to  point  out  the 
perspicuity,  strength,  and  conclusiveness  of  an  argument,  as  well  as  the  can- 
dour and  ingenuousness  with  which  it  is  conducted ;  nor  is  it  less  his  duty, 
however  painful,  to  expose  the  petulance  of  little  minds,  the  arrogance  of 
the  sciolist,  the  unsupported  claims  to  candour  of  the  illiberal,  and  to  wrest 
the  palm  of  victory  from  the  hand  of  the  vanquished." 


Vol.  III.— 96  3  s  2 


762  REVIEWS. 


THE  VOICE  OF  YEARS. 


The  late  Mr.  Huntington  was,  beyond  all  doubt,  an  extraordinary  man ; 
and  his  labours  have  produced  extraordinary  effects.  Whatever  opinion  we 
entertain  of  their  good  or  evil  tendency,  all  know  that  he  has  gathered 
together  a  great  body  of  people,  and  impregnated  their  minds  with  principles 
which  will  not  soon  become  extinct.  And  as  he  has  not  only  preached,  but 
wrote,  his  labours  may  be  expected  to  produce  effects  for  many  years  to 
come :  on  this  account,  it  becomes  a  duty  to  ascertain  their  nature  and  their 
tendency. 

The  author  of  the  piece  before  us  appears  to  have  been  well  qualified  for 
his  undertaking,  both  as  to  his  means  of  knowing  Mr.  Huntington,  and  the 
unprejudiced  state  of  his  mind  towards  him.  He  is  also  evidently  a  man  of 
close  observation  and  serious  reflection. 

There  are  two  questions,  however,  which,  on  reading  his  performance, 
have  arisen  in  our  minds.  First,  Whether  the  account  which  he  has  given 
of  Mr.  Huntington's  "good  qualities,"  supposing  it  to  be  just,  includes  any 
indications  of  personal  religion?  Secondly,  Whether  the  account  of  his 
good  and  bad  qualities  can  be  made  to  consist  with  each  other? 

If  our  object  were  to  ascertain  whether,  in  the  judgment  of  charity,  Mr. 
Huntington  was,  or  was  not,  a  true  Christian,  justice  would  require  us  first 
to  ascertain,  as  far  as  possible,  the  correctness  or  defectiveness  of  these 
accounts  of  him ;  but  this  not  being  our  object,  we  may  suppose  them  to  be 
correct,  and,  as  far  as  human  observation  can  extend,  perfect.  Our  inquiry, 
then,  is  simply  this  :  Whether  those  "  good  qualities"  which  are  here  ascribed 
to  him,  and  weighed  against  his  evil  ones,  have  any  thing  truly  good  in 
them?  If  they  have  not,  and  yet  are  allowed,  notwithstanding  all  his  faults, 
to  prove  him  a  good  man,  the  consequence  may  be  fatal  to  thousands,  who 
shall  venture  to  follow  his  example. 

To  us  it  appears  that  the  good  qualities  ascribed  to  Mr.  Huntington,  taken 
in  connexion  with  the  comments  by  which  they  are  explained,  are  of  an 
equivocal  character;  they  may  accompany  true  religion,  or  they  may  not. 
There  is  not  a  Christian  grace,  nor  the  exercise  of  a  Christian  grace,  neces- 
sarily contained  in  any  one  of  them.  No  one  will  say  that  a  "  plain  and 
natural"  manner  of  speaking  has  any  religion  in  it.  If  there  be  any  thing 
of  this,  it  must  be  looked  for  in  his  being  "  Scriptural,  experimental,  and 
evangelical :"  yet  when  by  the  first  of  these  terms  is  meant  little  more 
than  that  his  discourses  abounded  in  Scripture  quotations,  supposed  to  be 
gathered  out  of  a  concordance ;  by  the  next,  that,  in  preaching,  he  was  wont 
to  tell  of  his  own  feelings,  which  corresponded  with  those  of  others  like- 
minded  with  him;  and  by  the  last,  that  he  dwelt  on  some  of  the  great  truths 
of  the  gospel ;  what  is  there  in  all  this  indicative  of  true  religion?  The  same 
may  be  said  of  his  being  "  independent,  contemplative,  and  laborious  :"  they 
may  be  connected  with  true  religion,  or  they  may  not.  They  are  not  the 
things  which  prove  "  the  root  of  the  matter  to  have  been  in  him." 

It  may  be  said  that  the  author  does  not  profess  to  give  Mr.  Huntington's 
character  as  a  Christian,  but  as  a  minister.  It  is  an  unhappy  circumstance, 
however,  in  a  case  wherein  the  good  and  the  bad  are  to  be  weighed  one 
against  the  other,  that  his  good  qualities,  as  a  minister,  should  prove  nothing 
for  him  as  a  Christian,  while  his  bad  qualities  as  a  minister  prove  every  thing 
against  him  as  a  Christian.  His  good  qualities  contain  nothing  decisive  of 
his  goodness;  but  his  bad  qualities  are  indications  of  the  predominancy  of  a 
spirit  which  is  not  of  God. 


THE  VOICE  OF  TEARS.  763 

We  proceed,  secondly,  to  inquire  whether  the  account  of  Mr.  Huntington's 
good  and  bad  qualities  can  be  made  to  consist  with  each  other. 

It  has  long  been  common  for  some,  who  have  disapproved  of  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington's spirit  and  conduct,  to  speak  of  him,  notwithstanding,  as  preaching 
the  pure  gospel.  And  our  author,  though  he  will  never  allow  him,  he  says, 
to  have  preached  it  /«%,  yet  seems  willing  to  grant  that  he  preached  it  as 
far  as  he  went,  and  that,  upon  the  whole,  he  was  "  evangelical."  Nay,  more  : 
he  represents  him  as  often  expatiating  upon  the  truths  of  the  gospel  "  with  a 
cheerfulness  and  tluency  which  sufficiently  testified  his  own  interest  in  them, 
and  his  ardent  desire  that  his  hearers  should  be  partakers  with  him  in  the 
blessings  of  a  new  and  everlasting  covenant."  Yet  he  is  described,  at  the 
same  time,  as  being  conceited,  overbearing,  vindictive,  proud,  inaccessible, 
covetous,  and,  we  may  add,  blasphemous,  continually  swearing  to  the  truth 
of  his  dogmas,  by  the  life  of  God!!!  We  do  not  understand  how  these 
things  can  be  made  to  agree. 

It  is  true,  as  Mr.  Cfx-il  observes,  that  the  preaching  of  Christ  is  "God's 
ordinance,  and  that  although  Christ  maybe  ignorantly,  blunderingly,  and 
even  absurdly  preached  by  some;  yet  God  will  bless  Ms  own  ordinance." 
But  we  think  there  is  a  material  difference  between  these  failings  and  those 
?uornl  qualities  which  are  ascribed  to  Mr.  Huntington.  We  can  reconcile 
the  former  with  true  religion,  but  not  the  latter. 

Allowing,  however,  that  God  may  bless  his  own  truth,  let  it  be  delivered 
by  whom  it  may,  yet  is  there  no  reason  to  suspect  whether  doctrine  imbibed 
by  such  a  mind  is  free  from  impure  mixture?  whether,  if  the  vessel  be 
tainted,  the  liquor  will  not  taste  of  it? 

One  thing  is  clear ;  they  who  "  lack  virtue,  temperance,  patience,  godliness, 
brotherly  kindness,  charity,"  or  are  "  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous, 
boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  unthankful,  unholy,"  are  not  allowed  by  the 
Scriptures  to  understand  or  believe  the  truth.  The  former  are  described  as 
"  blind,  and  such  as  cannot  see  afar  off;"  and  the  latter  as  "  ever  learning, 
but  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ;"  nay,  as  "  resisting 
the  truth  ;  men  of  corrupt  minds,  reprobate  concerning  the  faith,"  3  Pet.  i.  9  ; 
2  Tim.  iii.  1-8.  How  far  men  may  preach  the  truth  without  understanding 
or  believing  it,  in  the  Scriptural  sense  of  the  terms,  we  shall  not  decide ;  but 
certainly  we  should  suspect  whether  truth  from  such  a  source,  or  throuo-h 
such  a  medium,  is  likely  to  be  very  pure. 

The  Scriptures  do  not  acknowledge  men  of  unholy  lives  as  ministers  of 
the  gospel,  but  declare,  in  the  most  peremptory  terms,  that  "  he  that  saith,  I 
know  him,  and  keepeth  not  his  commandments,  is  a  liar,  and  the  truth  is  not 
in  him,"  1  John  ii.  4.  Our  Lord  himself,  when  warning  his  followers  against 
false  prophets,  assured  them  that  "a  good  tree  could  not  bring  forth  evil 
fruit,"  any  more  than  an  evil  tree  could  bring  forth  good  fruit;  "wherefore," 
saith  he,  "by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them,"  Matt.  vii.  18-20. 

We  do  not  say  that  such  was  Mr.  Huntington's  character,  but  barely  that, 
if  the  account  given  of  him  in  this  performance  be  just,  we  do  not  perceive 
what  else  it  could  be.  We  suppose,  therefore,  that  either  Mr.  Huntington's 
character  must  have  appeared  to  this  observer  of  him  much  worse,  or  his 
preaching  much  better,  than  it  really  was. 

We  should  apprehend,  merely  from  this  performance,  and  without  any 
reference  to  his  publications,  that  whatever  portion  of  truth  his  preaching 
might  contain,  there  was  a  vein  of  false  doctrine  running  through  it,  which 
tainted  it  to  the  bone  and  marrow,  buoyed  up  himself  and  his  admirers  in 
false  hope,  and  rendered  his  ministry  unworthy  of  the  character  of  "  evan- 
gelical." And  if  this  were  to  be  suspected,  without  any  reference  to  his  pub- 
lications, how  much  more  likely  does  it  appear  when  they  are  taken  into  the 


764  REVIEWS. 

account!  In  all  that  we  have  seen  of  them,  the  object  of  the  writer  appears 
to  have  been  to  exhibit  himself.  How  this  can  comport  with  the  character 
of  a  Christian  minister  we  do  not  understand.  "We  preach  not  ourselves, 
but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  and  ourselves  your  servants  for  Jesus'  sake." 
And  if  the  obedience  and  death  of  Christ  were  in  honour  of  the  Divine  law, 
we  do  not  understand  how  Christ  could  be  either  believed  in  or  preached, 
while  the  law  was  degraded.  We  may  degrade  the  works  of  the  laic  as  a 
ground  of  justification ;  this  the  apostle  did  :  but  he  that  thinks  meanly  of 
the  law  itself  must  think  meanly  of  the  gospel,  as  doing  honour  to  it.  If 
there  be  no  glory  in  the  law,  there  is  none  in  the  gospel. 

To  allege  that  there  are  things  in  the  precepts  of  the  New  Testament 
which  are  not  specifically  required  by  the  decalogue  is  mere  evasion.  This 
was  not  the  question  between  Mr.  Huntington  and  "  other  ministers ;"  but 
whether  the  Divine  law,  as  summed  up  by  our  Lord  in  love  to  God  and  our 
neighbour,  does  not  comprehend  all  duty,  and  be  not  binding  on  all  men, 
believers  and  unbelievers.  It  was  not  the  defectiveness  of  the  decalogue,  in 
comparison  with  the  precepts  of  Christ,  that  led  Mr.  Huntington  to  degrade 
it.  Had  this  been  the  case,  the  subject  of  "  Christian  duty,"  as  inculcated  in 
the  New  Testament,  would  have  occupied  a  place  in  his  ministry;  but  Mr. 
Huntington,  it  seems,  "  never  said  any  thing  of  that  kind!" 

We  doubt  whether  the  apostle  Paul  would  have  acknowledged  such  a 
doctrine  to  be  the  gospel,  or  such  a  character  as  that  which  is  ascribed  to 
him  to  consist  with  Christianity;  and  whether,  instead  of  selecting  things  out 
of  it  for  imitation,  he  would  not  have  sought  them  in  other  characters. 
"Brethren,"  said  he  to  the  Philippians,  "  be  followers  together  of  me,  and 
mark  them  which  walk  so  as  ye  have  us  for  an  ensample.  For  many  walk, 
of  whom  I  have  told  you  often,  and  now  tell  you  even  weeping,  that  they  are 
the  enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ."  We  have  no  doubt,  however,  of  the 
truth  and  importance  of  our  author's  remarks  on  preaching  Christ.  What- 
ever be  our  "  qualifications,"  or  talents,  if  the  person  and  work  of  Christ  be 
not  the  favourite  theme  of  our  preaching,  we  had  better  be  day-labourers 
than  preachers. 


ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


THE  FALL  OF  ADAM. 

''Was  the  fall  of  Adam  foredetermined  or  only  foreseen  by  God." 

The  concern  which  the  decrees  of  God  have  with  the  fall  of  man  has 
often  been  the  subject  of  inquiry.  I  do  not  see  the  reason,  however,  why 
this  particular  fact  should  be  singled  out  from  others.  There  is  nothing 
revealed,  that  I  know  of,  concerning  the  fall  of  man  being  the  object  either 
of  the  Divine  foreknowledge  or  decree.  The  Scriptures  declare,  in  gene- 
ral, that  God  knoweth  the  end  from  the  beginning,  from  which  we  may 
conclude  with  certainty  that  he  knew  all  the  events  of  time,  all  the  causes 
and  eifects  of  things,  through  all  their  multiplied  and  diversified  channels. 
The  Scriptures  also  ask,  "  Who  is  he  that  saith,  and  it  cometh  to  pass, 
when  the  Lord  commandeth  it  not?"  which  intimates  that  the  providence 
and  purpose  of  God  are  concerned  in  whatever  cometh  to  pass.  The  voli- 
tions of  free  agents,  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good,  are  constantly  represented 
as  falling  under  the  counsels  and  conduct  of  Heaven.  Never  did  men  act 
more  freely  nor  more  wickedly  than  the  Jews,  in  the  crucifixion  of  Christ; 
yet  in  that  whole  business  they  did  no  other  than  what  "  God's  hand  and 
counsel  determined  before  to  be  done."  The  delivery  of  Christ  into  their 
hands  to  be  crucified,  as  performed  by  Judas,  was  a  wicked  act ;  yet  was  he 
"  delivered  according  to  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of 
God."  The  proof  that  the  fall  of  man  was  an  object  of  Divine  foreknow- 
ledge is  merely  inferential ;  and  from  the  same  kind  of  proof  we  may  con- 
clude that  it  was,  all  things  considered,  an  object  of  predetermination. 

That  this  subject  is  deep  and  difficult,  in  the  present  state,  is  admitted, 
and  wicked  men  may  abuse  it  to  their  own  destruction;  but  the  thing  itself 
is  no  less  true  and  useful,  if  considered  in  the  fear  of  God.  There  is  a 
link,  as  some  have  e.^pressed  it,  that  unites  the  purposes  of  God  and  the 
free  actions  of  men,  which  is  above  our  comprehension;  but  to  deny  the 
fact  is  to  disown  an  all-pervading  providence ;  which  is  little  less  than  to 
disown  a  God.  It  is  observable,  in  one  of  the  foregoing  passages,  that 
Peter  unites  "  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God"  together, 
and  seems  to  have  had  no  idea  of  admitting  the  one  without  the  other.  It 
is  also  worthy  of  notice,  that,  in  his  manner  of  introducing  the  subject,  it 
appears  to  have  no  tendency  whatever  to  excuse  them  from  guilt,  by  throw- 
ing the  blame  on  the  Almighty :  on  the  contrary,  it  is  brought  in  for  the 
purpose  of  conviction,  and  actually  answered  the  end ;  those  to  whom  it 
was  addressed  being  "  pricked  in  their  hearts,"  and  crying  out,  "  Men  and 
brethren,  what  shall  we  do?" 

The  decrees  of  God  seem  to  be  distinguishable  into  efficient  and  permis" 
sive.  With  respect  to  moral  good,  God  is  the  proper  and  efficient  cause 
of  it.  This  James  teaches:  "Every  good  and  perfect  gift  is  from  above, 
and  aometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights ;"  particularly  the  blessing  of 

765 


766  ANSWERS    TO    QUERIES. 

regeneration,  which  contains  all  moral  goodness  in  embryo:  as  it  follows, 
"  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  with  the  word  of  truth." 

With  respect  to  moral  evil,  God  permits  it,  and  it  was  his  eternal  purpose 
so  to  do.  If  it  be  right  for  God  to  permit  sin,  it  could  not  be  wrong  foi 
him  to  determine  to  do  so,  unless  it  be  wrong  to  determine  to  do  what  ia 
right.  The  decree  of  God  to  permit  sin  does  not  in  the  least  excuse  the 
sinner,  or  warrant  him  to  ascribe  it  to  God,  instead  of  himself 

The  same  inspired  writer  who  teaches,  with  respect  to  good,  that  "  it 
Cometh  from  above,"  teaches  also  in  the  same  passage,  with  respect  to  evil, 
that  it  proceedeth  from  ourselves :  "  Let  no  one  say,  when  he  is  tempted,  I 
am  tempted  of  God  :  for  God  cannot  be  tempted  with  evil ;  neither  tempteth 
he  any  one.  But  every  one  is  tempted  when  he  is  drawn  away  of  his  own 
lust,  and  enticed."  And,  as  if  he  considered  the  danger  of  mistaking  on 
(this  profound  subject,  he  adds  by  way  of  caution,  "  Do  not  err,  my  beloved 
brethren." 


ACCOUNTABILITY  OF  MAN. 


'  "1.  Since,  on  the  present  constitution  of  things,  men  never  had  a  disposition  to  love 
md  serve  God,  nor  can  it  be  produced  by  any  circumstances  in  which  they  can  be  placed, 
now  can  they  be  accountable  for  what  they  never  had,  and  without  Divine  influence  never 
can  have  ? 

"  2.  If  it  be  said  that  man  is  accountable  from  his  powers  and  constitution,  aijd  therefore 
that  God  requires  of  him  perfect  obedience  and  love  as  the  result  of  his  possessing  a  moral 
nature  ;  still  how  is  it  consistent  with  the  goodness  of  God  to  produce  accountable  beings 
in  circumstances  wherein  their  rebellion  is  certain,  and  then  punish  them  for  it? 

"  3.  If  the  reply  to  these  difficulties  be  founded  on  the  principle,  that,  from  what  we  see, 
■we  cannot  conceive  of  a  constitution  which  hath  not  either  equal  or  greater  difficulties  in 
it,  is  it  not  a  confession  that  we  cannot  meet  the  objections  and  answer  them  in  the  direct 
way,  but  are  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  the  government  of  God  is  too  imperfectly  under- 
stood by  us  to  know  the  principles  on  which  it  proceeds? 

i  "  The  above  queries  are  not  the  effect  of  any  unbelief  of  the  great  leading  doctrines  of  the 
gospel ;  but  as  every  thinking  man  has  his  own  way  of  settling  such  moral  difficulties,  you 
will  confer  a  favour  on  me  if  you  will  state  how  you  meet  and  answer  them  in  your  own 
mind." 

If  the  querist  imagines  that  we  profess  to  have  embraced  a  system  which 
answers  all  difficulties,  he  should  be  reminded  that  we  profess  no  such 
thing.  If  it  answer  all  sober  and  modest  objections,  that  is  as  much  as 
ought  to  be  expected.  The  querist  would  do  well  to  consider  whether  he 
be  not  off  Christian  ground,  and  whether  he  might  not  as  well  inquire  as 
follows :  How  could  it  consist  with  the  goodness  of  God,  knowing  as  he 
did  the  part  that  men  and  angels  would  act,  to  create  them  ?  Or,  if  he  had 
brought  them  into  being,  yet,  when  they  had  transgressed,  why  did  he  not 
blot  them  out  of  existence?  Or,  if  they  who  had  sinned  must  needs  exist 
and  be  punished,  yet  why  was  it  not  confined  to  them  ?  Why  must  the 
human  race  be  brought  into  being  under  such  circumstances? 

I  remember,  when  a  boy  of  about  ten  years  old,  I  was  bathing  with  a 
number  of  other  boys  near  a  mill-dam,  and,  the  hat  of  one  of  my  com- 
panions falling  into  the  stream,  I  had  the  hardihood,  without  being  able  to 
swim,  to  attempt  to  recover  it.  I  went  so  deep  that  the  waters  began  to 
run  into  my  mouth,  and  to  heave  my  feet  from  the  ground.  At  that  in- 
stant the  millers,  seeing  ray  danger,  set  up  a  loud  cry,  "Get  back!  get 
back!  get  back!"  I  did  so,  and  that  was  all. — What  the  millers  said  to 
me,  modesty,  sobriety,  and  right  reason  say  to  all  such  objectors  as  the 
above,  "  Get  back !  get  back  !  get  back !"  You  are  beyond  your  depth ! 
It  is  enough  for  you  to  know  that  God  hath  created  men  and  angels,  and 


ACCOUNTABILITY    OF    MAN.  767 

this  notwithstanding  he  knew  what  would  be  the  result ;  that  he  hath  not 
blotted  them  out  of  existence ;  and  that  he  hath  not  prevented  the  propa- 
gation of  the  human  race  in  their  fallen  state.  These  being  facts  which 
cannot  be  disputed,  you  ought  to  take  it  for  granted,  whether  you  can  un- 
derstand it  or  not,  that  they  are  consistent  with  righteousjiess;  for  the  con- 
trary is  no  other  than  replying  against  God. 

Whatever  objectioiis  may  be  alleged  against  an  hypothesis,  or  the  mean- 
ing of  a  text  of  Scripture,  on  the  ground  of  its  inconsistency  with  the 
Divine  perfections;  yet,  in  matters  of  acknowledged /rycf,  tliey  are  inad- 
missible. If  God  hath  done  thus  and  thus,  it  is  not  for  us  to  object  that 
it  is  inconsistent  with  his  character ;  but  to  suspect  our  own  understanding, 
and  to  conclude  that,  if  we  knew  the  whole,  we  should  see  it  to  be  right. 
Paul  invariably  takes  it  for  granted  that  whatever  God  doth  is  right ;  nor 
will  he  dispute  with  any  man  on  a  contrary  principle,  but  cuts  him  short  in 
this  manner:  "  Is  there  unrighteousness  with  God?  God  forbid!"  It  was 
enough  for  him  that  God  had  said  to  Moses,  "  I  will  have  mercy  on  whom 
.1  will  have  mercy."  This,  as  if  he  should  say,  is  the  fact  :  "  He  hath 
mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and  whom  he  will  he  hardcneth."  He 
knew  what  would  be  the  heart-risings  of  the  infidel — "  Thou  wilt  say  then 
unto  me.  Why  doth  he  yet  find  fault?  for  who  hath  resisted  his  will?"  But 
does  he  attempt  to  answer  this  objection?  No;  he  repels  it  as  Job  did: 
"  He  that  reproveth  God,  let  him  answer  it. — Nay,  but,  O  man,  who  art 
thou  that  repliest  against  God?  Shall  the  thing  formed  say  to  him  that 
formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus  V 

Let  the  querist  consider  whether  his  objections  be  not  of  the  same  family 
as  those  which  were  made  to  the  apostle,  and  whether  they  do  not  admit 
of  the  same  answer.  Is  it  woifact  that  though  sinners  "never  had  a  dis- 
position to  love  and  serve  God,  and  no  circumstance  in  which  they  can  be 
placed  will  produce  it,"  yet  they  are  accountable  creatures,  and  are  invor 
riably  treated  as  such  in  the  Scriptures?  God  requires  them  to  love  and 
serve  him  just  as  much  as  if  they  were  of  opposite  dispositions,  and  "finds 
fault"  with  the  contrary.  Instead  of  allowing  for  the  want  of  disposition, 
he  constantly  charges  it  as  the  very  thing  that  provokes  his  displeasure. 
Hundreds  of  proofs  might  be  produced;  but  I  will  only  refer  you  to  two 
or  three,  Jer.  vi.  15-19;  Matt.  xii.  34-37;  John  viii.  43-47.  It  is  upon 
these  FACTS  that  we  rest  our  persuasion ;  and  not  upon  a  supposed  perfect 
comprehension  of  the  Divine  government,  nor  yet  upon  the  ground  of  its 
"  having  the  fewest  difficulties."  We  say,  God  actually  treats  the  want  of 
disposition  not  as  an  excuse,  but  as  a  sin ;  and  we  take  it  for  granted  that 
"  what  God  does  is  right,"  whether  we  can  comprehend  it  or  not.  How- 
beit,  in  this  case,  it  happens  that  with  the  testimonies  of  God  accord  those 
of  conscience  and  common  sense.  Every  man's  conscience  "  finds  fault " 
with  him  for  the  evils  which  he  commits  willingly,  or  of  choice;  and  in- 
stead of  making  any  allowance  for  previous  aversion,  nothing  more  is 
necessary  to  rivet  the  charge.  And,  with  respect  to  the  common  sense  of 
mankind  in  their  treatment  one  of  another,  what  judge  or  what  jury  ever 
took  into  consideration  the  previous  aversion  of  a  traitor  or  a  murderer, 
with  a  view  to  the  diminishing  of  his  guilt?  On  the  contrary,  the  tracing 
of  any  thing  to  that  origin  rivets  the  charge,  and  terminates  the  inquiry. 
With  the  united  testimony  therefore  of  God,  conscience,  and  common  sense 
on  our  side,  we  make  light  of  objections  which,  as  to  their  principle,  were 
repelled  by  an  apostle,  and  which  are  retained  only  in  the  school  of  meta- 
physical infidelity. 


768  ANSWERS   TO    QUERIES. 


MORAL  INABILITY. 

First,  You  inquire  "  whether  any  person  by  nature  possesses  that  honest 
heart  which  constitutes  the  ability  to  comply  with  the  invitations  of  the 
gospel?"  I  believe  the  heart  of  man  to  be  by  nature  the  direct  opposite  of 
honest.  I  am  not  aware,  however,  that  I  have  any  where  represented  an 
honest  heart  as  constituting  our  ability  to  comply  with  gospel  invitations, 
unless  as  the  term  is  sometimes  used  in  a  figurative  sense,  for  moral  ability. 
I  have  said,  "There  is  no  ability  wanting  for  this  purpose  in  any  man  who 
possesses  an  honest  heart."  If  a  person  owed  you  one  hundred  pounds, 
and  could  find  plenty  of  money  for  his  own  purposes,  though  none  for  you; 
and  should  he  at  the  same  time  plead  inability,  you  would  answer,  there 
was  no  ability  itmnting,  but  an  honest  heart:  yet  it  would  be  an  unjust  con- 
struction of  your  words,  if  an  advocate  for  this  dishonest  man  were  to  allege 
that  you  had  represented  an  honest  heart  as  that  which  constituted  the  abi- 
lity to  pay  the  debt.  No,  you  would  reply,  his  ability,  strictly  speaking, 
consists  in  its  being  in  the  power  of  his  hand,  and  this  he  has.  That  which 
is  wanting  is  an  honest  principle  ;  and  it  is  the  former,  not  the  latter,  which 
renders  him  accountable.  It  is  similar  with  regard  to  God.  Men  have 
the  same  natural  powers  to  love  Christ  as  to  hate  him,  to  believe  as  to  dis- 
believe; and  this  it  is  which  constitutes  their  accountableness.  Take  away 
reason  and  conscience,  and  man  would  cease  to  be  accountable;  but  if  he 
were  as  wicked  as  Satan  himself,  in  that  case  no  such  effect  would  follow. 

Secondly,  If  no  man  by  nature  possess  an  honest  heart,  you  inquire, 
"  Whether,  if  I  be  not  what  you  call  an  elect  sinner,  there  are  any  means 
provided  of  God,  and  which  I  can  use,  that  shall  issue  in  that  '  honesty  of 
heart'  which  will  enable  me  to  believe  unto  salvation?"  Your  being  an 
elect  or  a  non-elect  sinner  makes  no  difference  as  to  this  question.  The 
idea  of  a  person  destitute  of  honesty  using  means  to  obtain  it  is  in  all  cases 
a  contradiction.  The  use  of  means  supposes  the  existence  of  an  honest 
desire  after  the  end.  The  Scriptures  direct  to  the  sincere  use  of  means 
for  obtaining  eternal  life;  and  these  means  are,  "Repent,  and  believe  the 
gospel;"  but  they  no  where  direct  to  such  a  use  of  means  as  may  be  com- 
plied with  without  any  honesty  of  heart,  and  in  order  to  obtain  it.  Nothing 
appears  to  me  with  greater  evidence  than  that  God  directly  requires  upright- 
ness of  heart,  not  only  in  the  moral  law,  but  in  all  the  exhortations  of  the 
Bible,  and  not  the  dishonest  use  of  means  in  order  to  obtain  it.  Probably 
you  yourself  would  not  plead  for  such  a  use  of  means,  but  would  allow  that 
even  in  using  means  to  obtain  an  honest  heart  we  ought  to  be  sincere ;  but 
if  so,  you  must  maintain  what  I  affirm,  that  nothing  short  of  honesty  of 
heart  itself  is  required  in  any  of  the  exhortations  of  Scripture;  for  a  sin- 
cere use  of  means  is  honesty  of  heart.  If  you  say,  "  No ;  man  is  de- 
praved; it  is  not  his  duty  to  possess  an  honest  heart,  but  merely  to  use 
means  that  he  may  possess  it;"  I  answer,  as  personating  the  sinner,  I  have 
no  desire  after  an  honest  heart.  If  you  reply,  "You  should  pray  for  such 
a  desire,"  yon  must  mean,  if  you  mean  any  thing,  that  I  should  express  my 
desire  to  God  that  I  may  have  a  desire;  and  I  tell  you  that  I  have  none  to 
express.  You  would  then,  sir,  be  driven  to  tell  me  I  was  so  wicked  that  I 
neither  was  of  an  upright  heart,  nor  would  be  persuaded  to  use  any  means 
for  becoming  so;  and  that  I  must  take  the  consequences.  That  is,  I  must 
be  exposed  to  punishment,  because,  though  I  had  "  a  price  in  my  hand  to 
get  wisdom,  I  had  no  heart  to  it."  Thus  all  you  do  is  to  remove  the  ob- 
struction further  out  of  sight :  the  thing  is  the  same. 


EXTENT  OF  THE  LOVE  OP  GOD.  769 

I  apprehend  it  is  owing  to  your  considering  human  depravity  as  the  mis- 
fortune, rather  than  the  fault,  of  human  nature,  that  you  and  others  speak 
of  it  as  you  do.  You  would  not  write  in  this  manner  in  an  affair  that 
affected  yourself  If  the  debtor  above  supposed,  whom  you  knew  to  have 
plenty  of  wealth  about  him,  were  to  allege  his  want  of  an  honest  heart, 
you  might  possibly  think  of  using  means  with  him ;  but  you  would  not  think 
of  directing  him  to  use  means  to  become  what  at  present  he  has  no  desire 
to  be — an  honest  man ! 

Thirdly,  You  inquire,  if  there  be  no  means  provided  of  God  which  I  can 
use  that  shall  issue  in  that  honesty  of  heart  which  will  enable  me  to  believe 
unto  salvation, "  how  can  the  gospel  be  a  blessing  bestowed  upon  me ;  seeing 
it  is  inadequate  to  make  me  happy,  and  contains  no  good  thing  which  I 
can  possibly  obtain  or  enjoy?"  If  I  be  under  no  other  inability  than  that 
which  arises  from  a  dishonesty  of  heart,  it  is  an  abuse  of  language  to  intro- 
duce the  terms  "  possible,  impossible,"  &c.,  for  the  purpose  of  diminishing 
the  goodness  of  God,  or  destroying  the  accountableness  of  man.  1  am 
not  wanting  in  power  provided  I  were  willing;  and  if  1  be  not  willing, 
there  lies  my  fault.  Nor  is  any  thing  in  itself  less  a  blessing  on  account 
of  our  unreasonable  and  wicked  aversion  to  it.  Indeed,  the  same  would 
follow  from  your  own  principles.  If  I  be  so  wicked  as  not  only  to  be 
destitute  of  an  honest  heart,  but  cannot  be  persuaded  to  use  means  in  order 
to  obtain  it,  I  must  perish;  and  then,  according  to  your  way  of  writing, 
the  gospel  was  "  inadequate  to  make  hie  happy,  and  was  no  blessing  to 
me!"  You  will  say,  I  might  have  used  the  means;  that  is,  I  might  if  I 
would,  or  if  I  had  possessed  a  sincere  desire  after  the  end :  but  I  did  not 
possess  it ;  and  therefore  the  same  consequences  follow  your  hypothesis  as 
that  which  you  oppose. 

If  these  things  be  true,  say  you,  we  may  despair.  True,  sir;  and  that  is 
the  point,  in  a  sense,  to  which  I  should  be  glad  to  see  you  and  many  others 
brought.  Till  we  despair  of  all  help  from  ourselves,  we  shall  never  pray 
acceptably ;  nor,  in  my  judgment,  is  there  any  hope  of  our  salvation. 

Let  a  man  feel  that  there  is  no  bar  between  him  and  heaven  except  what 
consists  in  his  own  wickedness,  and  yet  that  such  is  its  influence  over  him 
that  he  certainly  never  will  by  any  efforts  of  his  own  extricate  himself  from 
it,  and  he  will  then  begin  to  pray  for  an  interest  in  salvation  by  mere  grace, 
in  the  name  of  Jesus — a  salvation  that  will  save  him  from  himself;  and, 
so  praying,  he  will  find  it;  and,  when  he  has  found  it,  he  will  feel  and  ac- 
knowledge that  it  was  grace  alone  that  made  him  to  differ ;  and  this  grace 
he  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures  to  ascribe  to  the  purpose  of  God,  given  him 
in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD,  AND  WHETHER  IT  EXTENDS  TO  THE 

NON-ELECT. 

[  An  original  letter  to  a  friend  in  reply  to  the  inquiry.] 

"  Since  God  never  intended  those  that  are  not  his  elect  to  know  the  power  of  his  grace 
in  Christ  Jesus,  how  can  we  extol  the  love  of  God  in  seeking  the  salvation  of  men,  except 
in  relation  to  those  whom  he  designed  to  save  !  And  how  can  we  speak  of  the  love  of  God 
to  men  at  large,  except  on  the  general  ground  that  it  is  among  the  mass  of  mankind  that 
his  chosen  can  be  found,  and  therefore  that  they  will  hear  and  obey  the  gospel  when 
preached  unto  them  ?  In  fewer  words,  What  is  the  love  which  God  hath  for  those  whom 
he  hath  not  chosen  to  eternal  life  ?" 

I  CANNOT  undertake  to  free  this  subject  or  any  other  from  difficulty;  nor 
do  I  pretend  to  answer  it  on  the  principles  of  reason.     If  1  can  ascertain 
Vol.  111—97  3  T 


770  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

certain  principles  to  be  taught  in  the  word  of  God,  I  feel  it  safe  to  reason 
from  them ;  but  if  I  proceed  beyond  this,  I  am  at  sea. 

Respecting  the  first  member  of  this  question,  I  am  not  aware  of  having 
represented  God  as  "  seeking  the  salvation  of  those  who  are  not  saved." 
If  by  the  term  seeking  were  meant  no  more  than  his  furnishing  them  with 
the  means  of  salvation,  and,  as  the  moral  Governor  of  his  creatures,  sin- 
cerely directing  and  inviting  them  to  use  them,  I  should  not  object  to  it. 
In  this  sense  he  said  of  Israel,  "O  that  they  had  hearkened  to  my  voice!" 
In  this  sense  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  is  described  as  seeking  fruit  where 
he  finds  none,  Luke  xiii.  7.  But  if  it  be  understood  to  include  such  a 
desire  for  the  salvation  of  men  as  to  do  all  that  can  be  done  to  accomplish 
it,  I  do  not  approve  of  it.  I  see  no  inconsistency  between  God's  using  all 
proper  means  for  the  good  of  mankind  as  their  Creator  and  Governor,  and 
his  withholding  effectual  grace,  which  is  something  superadded  to  moral 
government,  and  to  which  no  creature  has  any  claim. 

As  to  the  second  member,  God  may  be  said,  for  aught  I  know,  to  exer- 
cise love  to  tnankind,  as  being  the  mass  containing  his  chosen  people ;  but 
I  cannot  think  this  idea  will  answer.  It  appears  to  me  an  incontrovertible 
fact  that  God  is  represented  in  his  word  as  exercising  goodness,  mercy, 
kindness,  long-suffering,  and  even  love  towards  men  as  men.  The  boun- 
ties of  Providence  are  described  as  flowing  from  kindness  and  mercy ;  and 
this  his  kindness  and  mercy  is  held  up  as  an  example  for  us  to  Inve  our 
enemies.  Matt.  v.  44,  45;  Luke  vi.  35,  36.  And  this  the  apostle  extols; 
calling  it,  "The  riches  of  his  goodness,"  &c.,  keenly  censuring  the  wicked 
for  despising  it,  instead  of  being  led  to  repentance  by  it,  Rom.  ii.  4.  And 
what  if  God  never  intended  to  render  this  his  goodness,  forbearance,  and 
long-suffering  effectual  to  the  leading  of  them  to  repentance?  Does  it  fol- 
low that  it  is  not  goodness?  And  while  I  read  such  language  as  this, 
"God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life," — and 
that  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  was  in  this  strain — "  We  are  ambassa- 
dors for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  [men]  by  us;  we  pray  [them] 
ift  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." — I  can  draw  no  conclusion 
short  of  this,  that  eternal  life  through  Jesus  Christ  is  freely  offered  to  sin- 
ners as  sinners,  or  as  Calvin,  on  John  iii.  16,  expresseth  it,  "He  useth  the 
universal  note  both  that  he  may  invite  all  men  in  general  unto  the  partici- 
pation of  life,  and  that  he  may  cut  off  all  excuse  from  unbelievers.  To 
the  same  end  tendeth  the  term  world;  for  although  there  shall  nothing  be 
found  in  the  world  that  is  worthy  of  God's  favour,  yet  he  shovveth  that  he 
is  favourable  unto  the  lohole  world,  when  he  calleth  all  men  without  excep- 
tion to  the  faith  of  Christ.  But  remember  that  life  is  promised  to  all  who 
shall  believe  in  Christ,  so  commonly,  that  yet  faith  is  not  common  to  all 
men ;  yet  God  doth  only  open  the  eyes  of  his  elect,  that  they  may  seek  him 
by  faith." 

If  God  had  sent  his  Son  to  die  for  the  whole  world,  and  had  offered 
pardon  and  eternal  life  to  all  who  should  believe  in  him,  without  making 
effectual  provision  for  the  reception  of  him  in  a  single  instance,  what  would 
have  been  the  consequence?  Not  one  of  the  human  race,  you  may  say, 
would  have  been  saved,  and  so  Christ  would  have  died  in  vain.  Be  it  so. 
Though  this  would  not  have  comported  with  the  tvise  and  gracious  designs 
of  God,  yet  it  does  not  appear  to  me  inconsistent  with  his  justice,  good- 
ness, or  sincerity.  If  he  had  called  sinners  to  repent,  believe,  and  be  saved, 
while  he  withheld  the  tneans  of  salvation,  it  would  have  been  so ;  but  not 
in  his  merely  withholding  the  grace  necessary  to  turn  the  sinner's  heart. 

If  I  mistake  not,  this  second  member  of  the  question  proceeds  on  the 


EXTENT  OF  THE  LOVE  OP  GOD.  771 

principle  that  there  can  be  no  good-will  exercised  towards  a  sinner  in  in- 
viting him  to  repent,  believe,  and  be  saved,  unless  effectual  grace  be  given 
liim  for  the  purpose.  But  this  principle  appears  to  me  unscriptural  <ind 
unfounded.  Supernatural  and  effectual  grace  is  indeed  necessary  to  the 
actual  production  of  good  in  men  ;  but  is  never  represented  as  necessary  to 
justify  the  goodness  of  God  in  expecting  or  requiring  it.  All  that  is  neces- 
sary to  this  end  is,  that  he  furnish  them  with  rational  powers,  objective 
light,  and  outward  means.  In  proof  of  this,  let  all  those  scriptures  be 
considered  in  which  God  complains  of  men  for  not  repenting,  believing, 
obeying,  &c.;  e.  g.  in  the  complaint  against  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  no 
mention  is  made  of  supernatural  grace  given  to  them;  but  merely  of  the 
"  mighty  works"  wrought  before  them.  Matt.  xi. 20-24.  The  complaint  of 
the  want  of  "reverence  for  his  Son"  (which  proves  what  he  had  a  right  to 
expect)  was  not  founded  on  his  having  furnished  them  with  supernatural 
grace,  but  with  objective  light,  means,  and  advantages.  Matt.  xxi.  33-38. 
God  gave  no  effectual  grace  to  those  who  are  accused  of  bringing  forth 
wild  grapes  instead  of  grapes ;  yet  he  looked  for  grapes,  and  asked  what  he 
could  have  done  more  for  his  vineyard  that  he  had  not  done?  Isa.  v.  4.  The 
strivings  of  the  Spirit,  which  sinners  are  described  as  resisting,  (Gen.  vi.  3; 
Acts  vii.  51,)  could  not  for  this  reason  mean  the  effectual  grace  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  nor  indeed  any  thing  wrought  in  them,  but  the  impressive  mo- 
tives presented  to  them  by  the  inspired  messages  of  the  prophets :  see  Neh. 
ix.  30.  And  thus  I  conceive  we  are  to  understand  the  complaint  in  Deut. 
xxix.  4,  "  The  Lord  hath  not  given  you  an  heart  to  perceive,  and  eyes  to 
see,  and  ears  to  hear,  unto  this  day."  It  is  inconceivable  that  Moses  should 
complain  of  them  for  the  Lord's  not  having  given  them  supernatural  grace. 
The  complaint  appears  to  be  founded  on  the  non-success  of  the  most  im- 
pressive outward  means,  which  ought  to  have  produced  in  them  a  heart  to 
perceive,  eyes  to  see,  and  ears  to  hear.  Such  is  the  scope  of  the  passage—^ 
"  Moses  called  to  all  Israel,  and  said,  Ye  have  seen  all  that  the  Lord  did 
before  your  eyes  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  unto  Pharaoh,  and  unto  all  his  ser- 
vants, and  unto  all  his  land.  The  great  temptations  which  thine  eyes  have 
seen,  the  signs,  and  those  great  miracles;  i/et  the  Lord, hy  all  these  impres- 
sive means,  hath  not  given  i/ou  an  heart  to  perceive,"  &c. 

From  the  whole,  I  conclude  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  influence  by 
which  God  works  on  the  minds  of  men:  First,  That  which  is  common,  and 
which  is  effected  by  the  ordinary  use  of  motives  presented  to  the  mind  for 
consideration.  Secondly,  That  which  is  special  and  supernatural.  The 
one  is  exercised  by  him  as  the  moral  Governor  of  the  world;  the  other  as 
the  God  of  grace,  through  Jesus  Christ.  The  one  contains  nothing  mys- 
terious, any  more  than  the  influence  of  our  words  and  actions  on  each 
other ;  the  other  is  such  a  mystery  that  we  know  nothing  of  it  but  by  its 
effects.     The  former  ought  to  be  effectual ;  the  latter  is  so.* 

You  sum  up  the  question  in  fewer  words  by  asking.  What  is  the  love 
which  God  hath  for  those  whom  he  hath  not  chosen  to  eternal  life?  I 
should  answer,  The  good-will  of  the  Creator,  whose  tender  mercies  are  over 
all  his  works.  It  is  that  tender  regard  for  the  work  of  his  hands  which 
nothing  but  sin  could  extinguish,  and  which  in  the  infliction  of  the  most 
tremendous  punishments  is  alleged  in  proof  of  its  malignity,  and  to  show 
how  much  they  were  against  the  grain  of  his  native  goodness,  and  that  he 
would  not  have  punished  the  offenders  after  all  had  not  the  inalienable  in- 
terests of  his  character  and  government  required  it.  Such  are  the  ideas 
conveyed,  I  think,  in  Gen.  vi.,  "  I  will  destroy  man  whom  I  have  created 

*  See  Bellamy's  True  Religion  Delineated. 


772  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

from  the  face  of  the  earth;"  and  in  Isa.  xxvii.  11,  "He  that  made  them 
will  not  have  mercy  upon  them,  and  he  that  formed  them  will  show  them 
no  favour." 


THE  PRAYER  OF  THE  WICKED. 

"  Ought  a  wicked  man  to  pray  ?" 

The  declaimer  who  denied  this  position  seems  to  have  had  an  eye  to 
those  passages  of  Scripture  which  declare  "  the  sacrifice  and  way  of  the 
wicked  to  be  an  abomination  to  the  Lord"  (Prov.  xv.  8,  9;)  and  to  have 
concluded  from  them  that  God  does  not  require  any  sacrifice  or  prayer 
at  their  hands.  But,  if  so,  why  did  Peter  exhort  the  sorcerer  to  pray? 
Acts  viii.  22.  And  wherefore  is  the  fury  of  God  denounced  against  the 
families  that  call  not  upon  his  name?  Jer.  x.  25.  An  hypothesis  which 
flies  in  the  face  of  the  express  language  of  Scripture  is  inadmissible,  and 
the  framer  of  it,  to  be  consistent,  should  avow  himself  an  infidel. 

If  he  meant  only  to  deny  that  God  requires  such  prayers  as  wicked  men 
actually  offer,  the  prayer  of  a  hard,  impenitent,  and  unbelieving  heart,  I 
have  no  controversy  with  him.  God  cannot  possibly  approve  any  thing  of 
this  kind.  But  then  the  same  is  true  of  every  other  duty.  Wicked  men 
do  nothing  that  is  well-pleasing  to  God;  nothing  which  is  aimed  at  his 
glory,  or  done  in  obedience  to  his  authority ;  every  thing  that  is  done  is 
done  for  selfish  ends.  If  they  read  the  Scriptures,  it  is  not  to  know  the 
will  of  God  and  do  it;  or,  if  they  hear  the  word,  it  is  not  with  any  true 
desire  to  profit  by  it.  Even  their  pursuit  of  the  common  good  things  of 
this  life  is  that  they  may  consume  them  upon  their  lusts;  hence  the  very 
"  ploughing  of  the  wicked  is  sin,"  Prov.  xxi.  4.  Yet  the  declaimer  himself 
would  scarcely  infer  from  hence  that  it  is  not  their  duty  to  read  the  word 
of  God,  nor  attend  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  nor  pursue  the  neces- 
sary avocations  of  life ;  neither  would  he  reckon  it  absurd  to  exhort  them 
to  such  exercises  as  these. 

The  truth  is,  wicked  men  are  required  to  do  all  these  things,  not  car- 
nally, but  with  a  right  end  and  a  right  spirit.  In  this  way  Simon  Magus, 
though  "  in  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity,"  was  exhorted 
to  pray;  not  with  a  hard  and  impenitent  heart,  but  with  a  spirit  of  true 
contrition.  "  Repent  therefore  of  this  thy  wickedness,  and  pray  God,  if 
perhaps  the  thought  of  thy  heart  may  be  forgiven  thee."  To  repent  and 
pray  is  the  same  thing  in  effect  as  to  pray  penitently,  or  with  a  contrite 
spirit.  Wicked  men  are  required  to  read  and  hear  the  word,  but  not  with 
a  wicked  spirit;  and  to  plough  the  soil,  but  not  that  they  may  consume  its 
produce  upon  their  lusts. 

There  are  not  two  sorts  of  requirements,  or  two  standards  of  obedience, 
one  for  good  men,  and  the  other  for  wicked  men ;  the  revealed  will  of  God 
is  one  and  the  same,  however  differently  creatures  may  stand  affected 
towards  it.  The  same  things  which  are  required  of  the  righteous,  as  re- 
pentance, faith,  love,  prayer,  and  praise,  are  required  of  the  wicked,  John 
xii.  36;  Acts  iii.  19;  Rev.  xv.  4.  If  it  were  not  so,  and  the  aversion  of 
the  heart  tended  to  set  aside  God's  authority  over  it,  it  must  of  necessity 
follow  that  a  sinner  can  never  be  brought  to  repentance,  except  it  be  for 
the  commission  of  those  sins  which  might  have  been  avoided  consistently 
with  the  most  perfect  enmity  against  God !  And  this  is  to  undermine  all 
true  repentance ;  for  the  essence  of  true  repentance  is  "  godly  sorrow,"  or 


GOSPEL  PROMISES  TO  THE  WICKED.  773 

sorrow  for  having  displeased  and  dishonoured  God.  But  if,  in  a  state  of 
unregeneracy,  a  man  were  under  no  obligation  to  please  God,  he  must  of 
course  have  been  incapable  of  displeasing  him;  for  where  no  law  is,  there 
is  no  transgression.  The  consequence  is,  he  can  never  be  sorry  at  heart 
for  having  displeased  him ;  and  as  there  would  be  but  little  if  any  ground 
for  repentance  towards  God,  so  there  would  be  but  little  if  any  need  of 
faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  If  in  a  state  of  unregeneracy  he 
were  under  no  obligation  to  do  any  thing  pleasing  to  God,  and  were  so  far 
rendered  incapable  of  doing  any  thing  to  displease  him,  so  far  he  must  be 
sinless,  and  therefore  stand  in  no  need  of  a  Saviour.  Where  there  is  no 
obligation,  there  can  be  no  offence ;  and  where  there  is  no  oflfence,  there 
needs  no  forgiveness.  Thus  the  notions  of  this  declaimer,  who,  I  suppose, 
would  be  thought  very  evangelical,  will  be  found  subversive  of  the  first 
principles  of  the  gospel. 


ASPECT  OF  GOSPEL  PROMISES  TO  THE  WICKED. 

[Suggested  by  certain  queries  addressed  to  the  writer  on  his  exposition  of  the  beatitudes.] 

The  queries  put  to  me,  with  so  much  candour  and  kindness,  by  a  Con- 
stant Reader,  are  such  as  I  feel  no  difficulty  in  answering.  And  I  do  it 
with  the  greater  pleasure,  because  it  is  not  the  first  time  of  my  being  mis- 
understood on  this  subject;  and  I  might  add,  in  one  instance,  largely  mis- 
represented. Your  correspondent  then  will  give  me  credit,  when  I  assure 
him  that  I  should  never  think  of  addressing  an  awakened  sinner  in  the  way 
in  which  he  supposes  I  should  not;  but  in  the  way  in  which  he  supposes  I 
should.  If  he  be  still  at  a  loss  how  to  reconcile  this  acknowledgment  with 
the  passage  he  calls  in  question,  I  must  request  him  to  consider  whether 
there  be  not  a  manifest  difference  between  comfort  being  held  out  in  a  way 
of  invitation,  to  induce  a  sinner  to  return  to  God  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  its 
being  given  in  a  way  of  promise,  on  the  supposition  of  his  having  returned. 
The  wicked  is  invited  to  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts,  and  to  return  unto  the  Lord ;  and  all  this  while  he  is  wicked. 
Mercy  also,  and  abundant  pardon,  are  promised  him,  not,  however,  as  tvicked, 
but  as  forsaking  his  way  and  his  thoughts,  and  as  returning  to  the  Lord. 
The  weary  and  heavy  laden,  by  which  I  understand  sinners  considered  as 
miserable,  are  invited  to  come  to  Jesus  with  their  burdens ;  but  it  is  as 
coming  to  him,  and  as  taking  his  yoke,  that  rest  for  their  souls  is  promised 
to  them.  All  the  comfort  contained  in  the  gospel  is  to  be  presented  to  the 
sinner  in  a  way  of  invitation ;  but  no  comfort  is  afforded  him  in  a  way  of 
promise,  but  as  repenting  and  believing  the  gospel.  "  Say  ye  to  the  wicked, 
it  shall  be  ill  with  him." — "There  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  unto  the 
wicked." 

Now  it  requires  to  be  noticed  that  the  beatitudes,  which  I  was  expound- 
ing, are  not  invitations  to  believe,  but  promises  to  believers.  In  saying, 
"  The  gospel  has  no  comfort  for  impenitent,  though  distressed  sinners,  in 
their  present  state,"  I  meant,  it  promises  no  mercy  but  on  supposition  of 
their  coming  off  from  that  state  to  Jesus  Christ.  My  design  was  not  to 
direct  the  attention  of  the  awakened  sinner  to  any  thing  in  himself  for 
comfort ;  but  to  beat  him  off  from  false  comforts,  by  assuring  him  that  mere 
distress  was  no  proof  of  his  being,  as  yet,  in  a  state  of  salvation.  If  such 
a  one  should  ask  me,  JMint  must  I  do  ?  I  should  think  of  nothing  but 
of  pointing  him  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 

3x2 


774  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

world.  But  if  he  tell  me  his  tale  of  woe,  under  an  idea  that  something 
may  be  found  in  it  to  which  the  promises  of  mercy  are  made,  (and  such 
cases  are  not  uncommon,)  I  should  answer,  Think  Jiothing  of  this,  my 
friend  ;  unless  your  distress  lead  you  to  relinquish  every  false  way,  and  to  cast 
yourself  as  a  perishing  sinner  on  Jesus  Christ  for  salvation,  it  is  of  no  ac- 
count. The  gospel  promises  nothing  to  mere  distress.  Your  concern  is 
not  to  look  into  yourself  for  evidences  of  grace,  (the  existence  of  which, 
at  present,  is  extremely  doubtful,  and  the  discernment  of  it  may  be  impos- 
sible,) but  to  the  atonement  of  Christ,  the  hope  set  before  you. 


POWER  AND  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

"What  is  the  true  meaning  of  those  parts  of  the  New  Testament  which  declare  the  gos- 
pel  to  have  a  powerful  operation  in  the  souls  of  men,  especially  in  believers  ?  See  Rom.  i. 
16;  1  Cor.  i.  IS,  24;  1  Thess.  ii.  13.  And  is  the  power  of  the  gospel  in  any  sense  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  or  are  they  always  con- 
nected ;  or  do  both  include  one  and  the  same  Divine  operation  ?" 

That  the  gospel  of  Christ  has  an  influence  on  the  souls  of  men  cannot 
be  denied  :  as  a  means  it  is  naturally  adapted  to  this  end.  Even  wliere  it 
is  not  cordially  believed,  it  is  often  known  to  operate  powerfully  upon  the 
mind  and  conscience.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  it  should  do  so :  the 
human  mind  is  so  formed,  as  that  words,  whether  spoken  or  written,  should 
influence  it.  We  cannot  read  or  hear  a  discourse  of  any  kind,  if  it  be  in- 
teresting, without  being  more  or  less  affected  by  it ;  and  it  would  be  very 
surprising  if  the  gospel,  which  implies  our  being  utterly  undone,  and  relates  to 
our  everlasting  well  being,  should  be  the  only  subject  in  nature  which  should 
have  no  effect  upon  us.  The  gospel  also  being  indited  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  influence  which  it  has  upon  the  minds  of  men  is  ascribed  to  him.  It 
was  in  this  way,  that  is,  by  the  preaching  of  Noah,  that  the  Spirit  of 
Jehovah  "  strove"  with  the  antediluvians.  It  was  in  this  way  that  he  was 
"resisted"  by  the  Israelites;  that  is,  they  resisted  the  messages  which  the 
Holy  Spirit  sent  to  them  by  Moses  and  the  prophets.  Hence  the  expres- 
sive language  in  the  confession  recorded  in  Neh.  ix.  30,  "  Many  years  didst 
thou  testify  against  them  by  thy  Spirit  in  thy  prophets."  Also  the  pointed 
address  of  Stephen,  to  those  who  rejected  the  gospel  of  Christ,  in  Acts  vii. 
51,  "Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost:  as  your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye." 
This,  for  aught  I  can  conceive,  may  with  propriety  be  called  the  common 
operation  of  the  grace  of  God. 

As  the  gospel  has  an  effect  upon  the  minds  and  consciences  even  of 
many  who  do  not  cordially  believe  it,  much  more  does  it  influence  those 
who  do.  In  them  it  works  effectually,  transforming  them  into  its  own  like- 
ness, 1  Thess.  ii.  13.  Their  hearts  are  cast  into  it  as  into  a  mould,  and  all 
its  sacred  principles  become  to  them  principles  of  action.  The  grace,  the 
wisdom,  the  purity,  the  justice,  and  the  glory  of  it,  powerfully  subdues, 
melts,  and  attracts  their  hearts  to  love  and  obedience.  The  power  of  God 
had  often  been  exerted  by  various  means,  and  to  various  ends.  Thunder 
and  smoke,  blackness  and  darkness  and  tempest,  as  displayed  on  Mount 
Sinai,  were  the  power  of  God  unto  conviction.  Overwhelming  floods,  and 
devouring  flames,  in  the  case  of  the  old  world,  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
were  the  power  of  God  unto  destruction.  Nor  were  these  means  better 
adapted  to  their  ends  than  is  the  gospel  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion. It  has  ever  pleased  God  by  this  means,  weak  and  despised  as  it  is  in 
the  account  of  men,  "  to  save  them  that  believe." — "  This  is  the  victory 
that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith." 


POWER  AND  INFLUENCE  OP  THE  GOSPEL.  775 

The  above  is  offered  as  an  answer  to  the  former  part  of  the  question. 
But  it  is  iii([aired,  "  Is  the  power  of  the  gospel  upon  believers  in  any  sense 
to  be  distinguislied  from  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit? 

That  ihe  power  of  the  gospel  in  the  hearts  of  believers  is  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  admitted.  All  that  the  gospel  effects  is  to  be  attributed 
to  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  works  by  it  as  a  means.  It  is  called  "the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,"  Eph.  vi.  17;  its  influence,  therefore,  is  as  much  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Spirit  as  that  of  a  sword  is  of  the  hand  that  wields  it.  That 
obedience  to  the  truth  by  which  our  souls  are  purified  is  "  through  the 
Spirit,"  1  Pet.  i.  22.  Indeed  all  the  means,  whether  ordinances  or  provi- 
dences, or  whatever  is  rendered  subservient  to  the  sanctification  and  salva- 
tion of  the  souls  of  men,  are  under  the  direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The 
influence,  therefore,  which  they  have  to  these  ends  is  reckoned  his  influence. 
But  it  does  not  follow  from  hence  that  "  the  power  of  the  gospel  is  in  no 
sense  to  be  distinguished  from  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  that  the 
.one  is  always  connected  with  the  other,  or  that  they  both  necessarily,  and 
in  all  cases,  include  one  and  the  same  Divine  operation."  The  contrary 
of  each  of  these  positions  appears  to  be  the  truth.  The  passages  already 
adduced  speak  of  the  influence  of  the  word  upon  those,  and  those  only, 
who  believe;  and  then  the  question  is,  How  is  it  that  a  sinner  is  brought 
to  believe? 

The  word  of  God  cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  operate  effectually  till 
it  is  believed ;  and  how  is  this  brought  about?  Here  is  the  difficulty.  Be- 
lief, it  may  be  said,  in  other  cases  is  induced  by  evidence.  This  is  true; 
and  if  the  hearts  of  men  were  not  utterly  averse  from  the  gospel,  its  own 
evidence,  without  any  supernatural  interposition,  would  be  sufficient  to  ren- 
der every  one  who  heard  it  a  believer.  But  they  are  averse;  and  we  all 
know  that  evidence,  be  it  ever  so  clear,  will  make  but  little  impression 
upon  a  mind  infected  with  prejudice,  The  Scriptures  speak  of  "  sanctifi- 
cation of  the  Spirit,  and  the  belief  of  the  truth,"  as  distinct  things;  and 
as  if  the  one  was  antecedent  to  the  other,  2  Thess.  ii.  13.  They  also  tell 
us  that  "the  Lord  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  and  she  attended  to  the 
things  which  were  spoken  by  Paul."  We  are  said  to  "  believe,  according 
to  the  working  of  his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when  he 
raised  him  from  the  dead,"  Eph.  i.  19,  20.  It  would  not  require  more 
power  to  believe  the  gospel  than  any  other  system  of  truth,  if  the  heart 
were  but  in  harmony  with  it;  but  as  it  is  not,  it  becomes  necessary  that  a 
new  bias  of  heart  should  be  given  as  a  preparative  to  knowing  or  embracing 
it.  The  Scriptures  not  only  speak  of  knowledge  as  the  means  of  promot- 
ing a  holy  temper  of  heart,  but  of  a  holy  temper  as  the  foundation  of  true 
knowledge.  "  I  will  give  them  a  heart  to  know  me,  that  I  am  the  Lord," 
Jer.  xxiv.  7. 

If  it  be  objected  that  "  faith  comes  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word 
of  God,"  I  answer  that  faith  must  have  an  object,  or  it  cannot  exist.  The 
word  of  God  is  the  objective  cause  of  faith ;  but  it  does  not  follow  from 
hence  that  it  is  its  sole  or  compulsive  cause.  Eating  cometh  by  food,  and 
food  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the  earth.  Food  may  be  said  to  be  the 
objective  cause  of  a  man's  eating,  seeing  he  could  not  have  eaten  without 
food ;  but  it  does  not  therefore  follow  that  food  was  the  impulsive  or  sole 
cause  of  his  eating;  for  had  he  not  been  blessed  with  an  appetite,  he  would 
not  have  eaten,  though  surrounded  by  food  in  the  greatest  plenty. 

If  it  be  further  objected  that  we  can  form  no  rational  idea  of  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit,  any  otherwise  than  as  through  the  medium  of  the 
word;  I  answer,  we  can  form  no  idea  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
at  all,  either  with  or  without  the  word,  but  merely  of  its  effects.     We  may 


J776  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

indeed  form  an  idea  of  the  influence  of  truth  upon  our  minds,  but  we  can- 
not conceive  how  a  Divine  influence  accompanies  it.  Nor  is  it  necessary 
that  we  should,  any  more  than  that  we  should  comprehend  "  the  way  of  the 
Spirit,"  in  the  ipiickening  and  formation  of  our  animal  nature,  in  order  to 
be  satisfied  that  we  are  the  creatures  of  God.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  that 
we  are  conscious  of  certain  effects,  and  are  taught  in  the  Scriptures  to 
ascribe  them  to  a  Divine  cause. 


THE  NATURE  OF  REGENERATION. 

"  Does  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  regeneration,  produce  a  new  principle  in  the  heart,  or  only 
impart  a  new  light  in  the  understanding  7" 

The  question,  as  stated  by  your  correspondent,  I  consider  as  important, 
and  as  admitting  of  a  satisfactory  answer.  Whether  I  shall  be  able  to  affbrd 
him  satisfaction,  I  cannot  tell ;  but  will  do  the  best  I  can  towards  it.  If 
we  were  called  to  determine  Iwio  or  in  ivhat  manner  the  Holy  Spirit  ope- 
rates upon  the  human  mind,  great  difficulties  might  attend  our  inquiries; 
but  the  purport  of  this  question  seems  to  relate,  not  to  the  modus  of  his 
operations,  but  to  the  nature  of  what  is  produced.  To  this  I  should  answer. 
The  Spirit  of  God  in  regeneration  does  produce  a  new  principle  in  the 
heart,  and  not  merely  impart  a  new  light  in  the  understanding.  The  rea- 
sons for  this  position  are  as  follow : — 

First,  That  which  the  Holy  Spirit  imparts  in  regeneration  corresponds 
with  his  OWN  nature:  it  is  holiness,  or  spirituality.  "That  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  is  spirit."  But  mere  light  in  the  understanding,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  bias  or  temper  of  the  heart,  has  nothing  in  it  spiritual  or 
holy;  it  is  a  mere  exercise  of  intellect,  in  which  there  is  neither  good  nor 
evil.  The  Scriptures,  it  is  true,  make  frequent  mention  of  spiritual  light, 
and  of  such  light  being  imparted  by  the  Spirit  of  God ;  but  the  terms  light 
and  knotdedge,  as  frequently  used  in  Scripture,  are  not  to  be  understood  in 
a  literal,  but  in  a  figurative  sense.  As  spiritual  darkness,  or  blindness,  is 
not  a  mere  defect  of  the  understanding,  so  spiritual  light  is  not  the  mere 
supplying  of  such  a  defect.  Each  of  these  terms  conveys  a  compound  idea; 
the  one  of  ignorance  and  aversion,  the  other  of  knowledge  and  love. 
Hence  the  former  is  described  as  blindness  of  the  heart,  and  the  latter  as 
understanding  with  the  heart.  If  I  understand  any  thing  of  the  theory  of 
the  human  mind,  there  is  a  kind  of  action  and  reaction  of  the  understanding 
and  the  affections  upon  each  other.  We  are  not  only  affected  with  things 
by  our  judgment  concerning  them,  but  we  judge  of  many  things  as  we  are 
affected  towards  them.  Every  one  feels  how  easy  it  is  to  believe  that  to  be 
true  which  corresponds  with  our  inclinations.  Now,  so  far  as  the  deci- 
sions of  the  judgment  are  the  consequence  of  the  temper  of  the  heart,  so 
far  are  they  either  virtuous  or  vicious.  Of  this  kind  is  spiritual  blindness. 
Men  do  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge.  They  desire  not  the 
knowledge  of  his  ways.  Hence  ignorance,  in  this  figurative  or  compound 
sense  of  the  term,  is  threatened  with  the  most  awful  judgments :  "  Pour 
out  thy  wrath  upon  the  heathen  i\vAiknoio  thee  not." — Christ  will  come  "in 
flaming  fire  to  take  vengeance  on  them  that  knov)  not  God."  Of  this  kind 
also  is  spiritual  light.  Hence  the  following  language  :  "  I  will  give  them 
a  heart  to  know  me." — "God,  who  commanded  the  light  to  shine  out  of 
darkness,  hath  shined  m  otir  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowledge 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."     This  is   that  holy 


NATURE  OP  REGENERATION.  777 

or  spiritual  knowledge  which  it  is  life  eternal  to  possess ;  of  which  the 
natural  man  is  destitute ;  which  would  lead  us  to  ask  for  living  wafer; 
and  which,  had  the  Jewish  rulers  possessed,  "  they  would  not  have  crucified 
the  Lord  of  life  and  glory." — "  Ye  neither  know  me  nor  my  father,"  said 
our  Lord  to  the  Jews:  "  if  ye  had  known  me,  ye  should  have  known  my 
Father  also."  The  want  of  this  knowledge  was  the  sin  of  the  Jews;  and, 
as  we  have  seen  already,  stands  threatened  with  Divine  judgments  :  but  the 
mere  want  of  knowledge,  according  to  the  strict  and  literal  meaning  of 
the  term,  and  where  it  arises  not  from  any  evil  bias  of  heart,  which  has 
induced  us  to  slight  or  neglect  the  means,  is  not  criminal ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  excuses  that  which  would  otherwise  be  criminal.  Ahimelech  pleaded 
his  ignorance  of  David's  supposed  rebellion,  before  Saul ;  and  it  ought,  no 
doubt,  to  have  acquitted  him.  If  the  Jews  had  not  enjoyed  such  means  of 
knowledge  as  they  did,  comparatively  speaking,  they  had  not  had  sin. — ■ 
Further,  Spiritual  knowledge,  or  knowledge  according  to  the  figurative  or 
compound  sense  of  the  term,  has  the  promise  of  eternal  life;  but  know- 
ledge, literally  taken,  as  distinguished  from  the  temper  of  the  heart,  may 
exist  in  the  most  wicked  characters,  such  as  Balaam  and  Judas  ;  and  though 
in  itself  it  be  neither  good  nor  evil,  yet  it  may  be,  and  generally  is,  an  oc- 
casion of  greater  aversion  to  God  and  religion.  Thus  our  Lord  told  the 
Jews:  "Ye  have  both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and  my  Father."  Thus 
also  many  among  us  who  have  long  sat  under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
and  long  been  the  subjects  of  keen  conviction,  feel  their  enmity  keep  pace 
■with  their  knowledge;  and  thus,  at  the  last  judgment,  sinners  will  see  and 
know  the  equity  of  their  punishment ;  so  that  "  every  mouth  will  be  stopped, 
and  all  become  guilty  before  God ;"  yet  the  enmity  of  their  hearts,  there  is 
reason  to  think,  will  be  thereby  heightened,  rather  than  diminished.  In 
short,  mere  knowledge  is  in  itself  neither  good  nor  evil,  though  it  is  essen- 
tial to  both  good  and  evil ;  that  is,  it  is  essential  to  moral  agency.  If  know- 
ledge were  obliterated  from  the  mind,  man  would  cease  to  be  an  accountable 
being.  In  every  condition  of  existence,  therefore,  whether  pure  or  de- 
praved, he  retains  this,  in  different  degrees;  and  will  retain  it  for  ever, 
whatever  be  his  final  state. 

From  hence  I  conclude  that  what  is  produced  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  re- 
generation is  something  very  different  from  mere  knowledge. 

Secondly,  That  which  the  Holy  Spirit  produces  in  regeneration  corre- 
sponds with  the  nature  of  Divine  truth  ;  but  the  nature  of  Divine  truth  is 
such  that  mere  light  in  the  understanding  is  not  sufficient  to  receive  it.  In 
proof  of  the  former  of  these  positions,  I  refer  to  the  words  of  the  apostle, 
in  Rom.  vi.  17,  "Ye  have  obeyed  from  the  heart  that  form  of  doctrine 
which  was  delivered  you,"  or  rather,  according  to  the  marginal  reading, 
"  into  which  ye  were  delivered."*  The  gospel,  or  the  "  form  of  doctrine" 
which  it  contains,  is  a  mould,  into  which  the  heart,  softened  like  melted 
wax,  is,  as  it  were, "  delivered,"  or  cast,  and  whence  it  receives  its  impression. 
Every  mark  or  line  of  the  gospel  mould  leaves  a  correspondent  line  in  the 
renewed  heart.  Hence  Christians  are  represented  as  having  the  "  truth 
dwelling  in  them ;"  their  hearts  being  a  kind  of  counterpart  to  the  gospel. 
That  mere  light  in  the  understanding  is  not  sufficient  to  receive  the  gospel 
will  appear  by  considering  the  nature  of  those  truths  which  it  contains. 
If  they  were  merely  objects  of  speculation,  mere  light  in  the  understanding 
would  be  sufficient  to  receive  them ;  but  they  are  of  a  holi/  nature,  and 
therefore  require  a  correspondent  temper  of  heart  to  enter  into  them.  The 
sweetness  of  honey  might  as  well  be  known  by  the  sight  of  the  eye  as  the 

•  Etj  uv  fiapeSodr'ts 

Vol.  III.— 9S 


778  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

real  glory  of  the  gospel  by  the  mere  exercise  of  the  intellectual  faculty. 
Why  is  it  that  the  "  natural  man  receivetli  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of 
God,  neither  can  he  know  them;"  but  "  because  they  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned ?"  A  spiritual  or  holy  temper  of  heart  is  that  in  the  reception  of 
gospel  truth  which  a  relish  for  poetry  is  in  entering  into  the  spirit  of  a 
Milton  or  a  Young.  Mere  intellect  is  not  sufficient  to  understand  those 
writers;  and  why  should  it  be  thought  unreasonable,  or  even  mysterious, 
that  we  must  possess  a  portion  of  the  same  spirit  which  governed  the  sacred 
writers  in  order  properly  to  enter  into  their  sentiments? 

Thirdly,  That  which  the  Holy  Spirit  communicates  in  regeneration  cor- 
responds with  the  nature  of  Divine  requirements.  In  other  words,  the 
same  thing  which  is  required  by  God  as  the  Governor  of  the  world  is  be- 
stowed by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  application  of  redemption ;  both  the  one 
and  the  other  is  not  mere  light  in  the  understanding,  but  a  heart  to  love 
him.  The  language  of  Divine  requirements  is  as  follows: — "  Thou  shall 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and  strength." 
"Circumcise  the  foreskin  of  your  hearts,  and  be  no  more  stiflTnecked." — • 
"Make  you  a  new  heart,  and  a  new  spirit;  for  why  will  ye  die,  O  house 
of  Israel?" — "  Only  fear  the  Lord,  and  serve  him  in  truth,  and  with  all 
your  hearts."  The  language  of  the  promises  is  perfectly  correspondent 
with  all  this,  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  what  is  bestowed: — "And  the 
Lord  thy  God  will  circumcise  thy  heart,  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thine  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul." — "  A  new 
heart  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you;  and  I  will 
take  away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of 
flesh." — "  And  I  will  put  my  fear  in  their  hearts,  and  they  shall  not  depart 
from  me." 

Fourthly,  That  which  the  Holy  Spirit  communicates  in  regeneration, 
being  the  great  remedy  of  human  nature,  must  correspond  with  the  nature 
of  the  MALADY  :  but  the  malady  of  human  nature  does  not  consist  in  sim- 
ple ignorance,  but  in  the  bias  of  the  heart;  therefore  such  must  be  the 
remedy.  That  regeneration  is  the  remedy  of  human  nature,  and  not  the 
implantation  of  principles  which  were  never  possessed  by  man  in  his  purest 
state,  will  appear  from  its  being  expressed  by  the  terms  "  washing"  and 
"  renewing ;"  the  tvashing  of  regeneration,  the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
which  convey  the  ideas  of  restoring  us  to  purity,  and  recovering  us  to  a 
right  mind.  Regeneration  implies  degeneracy.  The  nature  of  that  which 
is  produced  therefore  by  the  one  must  correspond  with  that  which  we  had 
lost,  and  be  the  opposite  of  that  which  we  possessed  in  the  other.  Now 
that  which  we  had  lost  was  the  love  of  God  and  our  neiglibovr.  "  Love  is 
the  fulfilling  of  the  law  ;"  love,  therefore,  comprehends  the  whole  of  duty; 
consequently  the  want,  or  the  opposite  of  love,  comprehends  the  whole  of 
depravity.  If  it  be  said,  No,  the  "understanding  is  darkened" — True, 
but  this  is  owing  to  the  evil  temper  of  the  heart,  Eph.  iv.  18.*  There  is 
no  si7i  in  being  ignorant,  as  observed  before,  any  further  than  that  igno- 
rance is  voluntary,  or  owing  to  some  evil  bias.  That  we  are  sure  is  the 
case  with  wicked  men,  with  respect  to  their  not  understanding  the  gospel. 
"  Why  do  ye  not  understand  my  speech?"  said  our  Lord  to  the  Jews.  The 
answer  is,  "  Because  ye  cannot  hear  my  word."  His  word  did  not  suit  the 
temper  of  their  hearts;  therefore  they  could  not  understand  it.  Prejudice 
blinded  their  eyes.  Here  then  lies  the  malady;  and,  if  the  remedy  corre- 
spond with  it,  it  must  consist  in  being  "  renewed  in  the  spirit,"  or  temper, 
"  of  our  minds ;"  and  not  merely  in  having  the  intellectual  faculty  enlight- 
ened. 

*  A(a  t)ip  irdpijiaiv  rijj  KapStas  avToiv,  Through  the  callousness  of  their  heart. 


FAITH  NOT  MERELY  INTELLECTUAL.  779 

It  may  be  said,  we  Ccinnot  love  that  of  which  we  have  no  idea ;  and  there- 
fore light  in  the  understanding  is  necessary  to  the  exercise  of  love  in  the 
heart.  Be  it  so ;  it  is  no  otherwise  necessary  than  as  it  is  necessary  that  I 
should  be  a  man  in  order  to  be  a  good  man.  There  is  no  virtue  or  holiness 
in  knowledge,  further  than  as  it  arises  from  some  virtuous  propensity  of  the 
heart,  any  more  than  there  is  in  our  being  possessed  of  human  nature. 
This,  therefore,  cannot  be  the  grand  object  communicated  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  regeneration. 

Should  it  be  further  objected.  That  those  who  plead  for  a  new  light  in 
the  understanding  mean  by  it  more  than  mere  speculative  knowledge — 
that  they  mean  spiritual  or  holy  light,  such  as  transforms  the  heart  and  life; 
to  this  I  should  answer.  If  so,  the  light  or  knowledge  of  which  they  speak 
is  something  more  than  knowledge,  literally  and  properly  understood :  it 
must  include  the  temper  of  the  heart,  and  therefore  is  very  improperly  dis- 
tinguished from  it. 

To  represent  men  as  only  wanting  light  is  indeed  acknowledging  their 
weakness,  bui  not  their  depravity.  To  say  of  a  man  who  hates  his  fellow 
man,  "  He  does  not  know  him — if  he  kneto  him,  he  would  love  him ;"  is  to 
acknowledge  that  the  enmity  towards  the  injured  person  is  owing  to  mere 
mistake,  and  not  to  any  contrariety  of  temper  or  conduct.  The  best  of 
characters  might  thus  be  at  variance,  though  it  is  a  great  pity  they  should, 
especially  for  any  long  continuance.  If  this  be  the  case  between  God  and 
man,  the  latter  is  not  so  depraved  a  creature  as  we  have  hitherto  conceived 
him  to  be.  The  carnal  mind  is  not  enmity  against  God,  but  merely  against 
an  evil  being,  which  in  his  ignorance  he  takes  God  to  be.  To  this  may  be 
added,  if  sin  originate  in  simple  ignorance,  (which  is  supposed,  in  that  the 
removal  of  this  ignorance  is  sufficient  to  render  us  holy,)  then  it  is  no 
more  sin;  nor  is  there  any  such  thing  as  moral  evil  in  the  universe.  So 
far  as  we  can  trace  our  actions  to  simple  ignorance,  or  ignorance  in  which 
we  are  altogether  involuntary ;  so  far,  as  we  have  already  seen,  we  may 
reckon  ourselves  ignorant,  even  in  those  cases  wherein,  had  we  not  been 
ignorant,  we  should  have  been  guilty.  These  are  serious  consequences;  but 
such  as  at  present  appear  to  me  to  be  just. 

The  above  is  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  Tardus,  and  the  reader, 
as  the  result  of  the  malurest  reflections  of  the  writer. 


FAITH  NOT  MERELY  INTELLECTUAL. 

The  candour  and  ingenuity  of  your  correspondent  induce  me,  though 
the  subject  seemed  to  be  concluded,  to  offer  a  brief  reply.  And  if  I  under- 
stand his  FIRST  QUESTION,  it  auiouuts  to  this,  "  Whether  faith  includes  any 
thing  innre  than  an  exercise  of  pure  intellect  or  not,  yet  it  will  be  allowed 
to  include  something  intellectual ;  and  is  not  that  a  duty?  Surely  faith  in 
all  its  parts  is  the  duty  of  every  one." 

I  answer.  The  exercise  of  the  intellectual  ficulty  may  be  necessary  to  a 
holy  exercise,  and  yet  make  no  part  of  the  holiness  of  it.  We  cannot  per- 
form any  spiritual  act  without  the  powers  of  humanity  ;  but  it  is  not  as 
human  that  they  are  spiritual  or  contain  obedience  to  God.  If,  as  the 
Scriptures  teach,  "love  be  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,  and  all  the  law  be  ful- 
filled in  one  word,  love ;"  all  the  various  acts,  whether  corporeal  or  mental, 
which  are  the  subject  of  commandment,  can  be  no  other  than  the  diversi- 
fied expressions  of  love.     So  much  of  love  as  there  is  in  them,  so  much 


780  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

of  obedience,  and  no  more.  Take  away  love  from  fear,  whether  of  God 
or  our  parents,  and  you  reduce  it  to  a  mere  dread  of  displeasure  as  a  natu- 
ral evil,  which  has  nothing  holy  in  it,  but  may  exist  in  all  its  force  even  in 
devils.  Take  away  love  from  the  exercise  of  charity,  and  it  ceases  to  be 
obedience  to  God  or  benevolence  to  man. 

Even  those  exercises  which  have  their  more  immediate  seat  in  the  intel- 
lectual faculty,  as  knowing  and  judging,  have  just  so  much  of  holiness  or 
unholiness,  and  are  just  so  much  of  the  nature  of  obedience  or  disobe- 
dience, as  they  contain  in  them  of  love  or  aversion.  Knowledge  is  no  fur- 
ther an  exercise  of  duty,  nor  ignorance  of  sin,  than  as  the  means  of  Divine 
instruction  are  voluntarily  used  or  neglected.  The  same  may  be  said  ot 
judgment.  If  I  decide,  though  it  be  in  favour  of  truth,  yet  if  it  arise  not 
from  a  candour  of  mind  that  is  willing  to  receive  it  as  the  will  of  God, 
whatever  be  its  bearings,  there  is  no  more  obedience  in  it  than  in  the  just 
notions  of  the  discreet  scribe,  Mark  xii.  2S.  If,  on  the  contrary,  I  judge 
erroneously,  it  is  no  further  an  exercise  of  disobedience  than  as  I  am  warped 
by  an  evil  bias  of  heart,  which  inclines  me  to  reject  or  neglect  the  truth. 
Error  which  proceeds  not  from  these  causes  is  mere  mistake,  for  which  none 
is  criminated  either  by  God  or  man.  If  David  had  been  a  conspirator 
against  Saul,  lying  in  wait  for  his  life,  as  the  latter  suggested,  and  Ahime- 
lech  had  erred  in  treating  him  as  he  did,  yet  knowing  nothing  of  all  this, 
less  or  more,  he  ought  to  have  been  acquitted. 

The  same  remarks  apply  to  faith  and  unbelief.  As  to  the  latter,  I  sup- 
pose it  will  be  allowed  to  be  just  so  far  a  sin  and  no  further  than  as  it  arises 
from  aversion  to  the  truth,  which  leads  men  to  reject  or  neglect  it.  Yet  it 
may  be  said  of  this,  as  well  as  of  faith,  "  Does  Mr.  F.  hold  the  dissent  of 
the  understanding  to  be  any  part  of  unbelief?  If  so,  surely  unbelief  in 
all  its  parts  is  a  sin."  But  unbelief  is  not  a  sin,  considered  simply  as  an 
exercise  of  the  intellectual  faculty ;  or  rather  that  which  is  such  is  not 
the  unbelief  of  the  Scriptures,  which  is  attributed  to  a  corrupt  state  of  the 
will,  and  from  whence  alone  arises  its  sinfulness,  1  Pet.  ii.  7,  8.  And  why 
should  not  the  same  be  allowed  of  faith  ?  If  a  mere  dissent  of  the  under- 
standing be  not  the  unbelief  of  the  Scriptures,  a  mere  assent  of  the  under- 
standing cannot  be  the  faith  of  the  Scriptures.  So  far  as  any  thing  is  an 
exercise  of  pure  intellect,  uninfluenced  by  the  disposition  of  the  soul,  it  is 
merely  natural;  and  duty  is  no  more  predicable  of  it  than  of  the  sight  of 
the  eye,  or  any  other  natural  exercise.  Nothing  is  duty  any  further  than  as 
it  is  voluntary,  or  arises  from  the  moral  state  of  the  mind.  No  duty  there- 
fore can  be  performed  by  a  depraved  creature,  but  in  consequence  of 
regenerating  grace. 

This  is  a  truth  so  clearly  taught  in  the  Scriptures  that  I  wonder  your 
correspondent  should  call  it  in  question.  Does  he  not  know  that  "  the 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God,  and  is  not  subject  to  the  law  of  God, 
neither  indeed  can  be  ;"  and  that  therefore  "  they  that  are  in  the  flesh  can- 
not please  God?"  If  this  passage,  as  well  as  many  others,  do  not  teach  us 
that  no  obedience  is  or  can  be  yielded  while  the  sinner  is  "  in  the  flesh," — 
that  is,  in  a  state  of  unregeneracy, — what  does  it  teach  ?  But  if  this  be 
allowed,  and  faith  admitted,  as  it  is,  to  be  an  act  of  obedience  to  God,  it 
must  of  necessity  be  preceded  by  regeneration ;  otherwise  they  that  are  in 
the  flesh  may  please  God. 

If  I  have  not  strangely  mistaken  your  correspondent,  he  admits  of  as 
much  as  this  in  his  last  paper.  He  admits  the  necessity  of  candour  ot 
heart,  or  of  the  mind  being  purged  from  prejudices  by  Divine  influence,  in 
order  to  believing;  and  very  properly  places  the  duty  of  men  in  such  an 
unprejudiced  attention  to  Divine  truth.     "  The  gospel,"  says  he,  "  proves 


FAITH  REQUIRED  BY  THE  MORAL  LAW.  781 

its  author  as  the  sun  its  Creator  ;  and  we  need  only  to  attend,  and  to  have 
the  mind  purged  from  prejudices,  that  we  may  possess  complete  conviction 
concerning  both.  This  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  all,  though  no  man 
will  perform  it  but  through  Divine  influence."  Again,  "Though  the 
natural  man  receives  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  but  accounts 
them  folly  ;  yet  a  person  under  the  nifluence  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  delivered 
from  the  blinding  prejudices  common  to  men,  and  attentive  to  the  Divine 
testimony,  judges  it  to  be  true." 

If  these  be  really  the  fixed  principles  of  your  correspondent,  and  not 
merely  a  slip  of  the  pen,  we  are  agreed  ;  and  there  needs  no  further  discus- 
sion on  the  subject. 

As  to  the  SECOND  question,  T  do  not  know  of  any  thing  worth  disputing 
between  us.  Whether  believing  Christ,  and  believing  in  or  on  Christ,  con- 
vey precisely  the  same  idea  or  not,  we  are  agreed  that  both  are  character- 
istic of  real  Christianity,  and  have  the  promise  of  salvation. 

Whether  I  be  able  to  maintain  what  1  suggested,  that  the  former  of  these 
phrases  ordinarily  respects  Christ  as  a  witness  of  the  truth,  and  the  latter  as 
being  himself  the  sum  and  substance  of  tvuth,  or  not,  I  am  not  aware  of 
any  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  or  any  sentiment  which  either  of  us  embraces, 
being  affected  by  it.  From  a  brief  review  of  the  passages  referred  to,  I 
have  but  very  little  doubt  of  the  phrase,  believing  in  or  on  Christ,  being 
ordinarily  expressive  of  believing  him  to  be  the  Messiah,  and  the  only  loay 
of  salvation,  that  is,  the  sura  and  substance  of  truth,  rather  than  a  witness 
of  the  truth.  It  is  true,  he  sustained  both  these  characters;  and  accepting 
or  rejecting  him  in  either  involved  a  reception  or  rejection  of  him  in  both. 
But  I  wish  to  examine  this  matter  more  closely  than  I  have  hitherto  been 
able  to  do,  for  want  of  leisure ;  not  because  I  apprehend  any  consequence 
to  hang  upon  it,  but  merely  to  come  at  the  true  meaning  of  Scripture 
language. 


FAITH  REQUIRED  BY  THE  MORAL  LAW. 

"  In  what  sense  is  faith  reckoned  (Matt,  sxiii.  23)  by  our  Saviour  amongst  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law  ?" 

I  HAVE  no  doubt  but  that  a  belief  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  even  such  a 
one  as  is  connected  with  salvation,  is  required  by  the  moral  law,  and  is  one 
of  its  most  weighty  matters;  for  the  moral  law  requires  love  to  God  with  all 
the  heart:  and  love  to  God  would  certainly  lead  us  to  embrace  any  revela- 
tion which  he  should  make  of  himself;  such  a  revelation  especially  in 
which  the  glory  of  God  is  provided  for  in  the  highest  degree.  But  the 
term  faith,  in  Matt.  xxii.  23,  I  consider  as  synonymous  with  fidelity  or 
veracity,  being  ranked  with  judgment  and  mercy,  which  are  duties  of  the 
second  table. 


3U 


782  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


CHRISTIAN  LOVE. 

"  As  all  mankind  are  alike  sinners  in  the  eyes  of  God,  exposed  to  his  anger,  under  his 
control,  and  within  the  power  of  his  grace,  are  they  not  alike  entitled  to  our  compassion 
and  regard  ?  And  as  all  the  saints  are  alilie  chosen  of  God,  redeemed  by  Christ,  sanctified 
by  the  Spirit,  &c.,  are  they  not  alike  entitled  to  our  affection  and  esteem?  Seeing  also  that 
much  has  been  said  and  done  to  diffuse  the  gospel,  and  promote  a  spirit  of  brotherly  love 
among  real  Christians  of  all  denominations,  is  it  not  inconsistent  with  this  general  desifrn 
that  the  various  friends  of  missionary  societies  among  Episcopalians,  Independents,  Bap. 
lists,  &c.,  should  appear  to  be  so  intent  on  promoting  the  particular  interests  of  their 
respective  societies  as  not  to  feel  an  equal  concern  for  the  rest  1  One  is  fervently  praying 
for  the  missionaries  in  the  east,  and  makes  their  labours  the  topic  of  his  conversation, 
while  those  in  the  south  are  nearly  overlooked,  or  lightly  regarded  ;  and  rice  versa.  But 
why  not  bestow  a  like  degree  of  love  and  zeal  upon  the  common  cause  ?" 

The  above  statement  overlooks  an  important  truth  ;  namely,  that  though 
all  sinners  are  alike  under  God's  eye,  control,  and  anger,  and  within  the 
power  of  his  grace,  yet  they  are  not  alike  tmthin  our  knowlcflge,  care,  ana 
charge.  And  although  all  saints  are  alike  entitled  to  our  esteem,  as  chosen 
of  God,  as  redeemed  by  Christ,  as  sanctified  by  the  Spirit,  &c.,  yet  they 
are  not  all  knoum  alike  to  its,  nor  alike  under  our  immediate  watch  and  care. 
The  wall  of  Jerusalem,  considered  as  a  whole,  was  an  object  that  interested 
every  godly  Jew  who  had  a  mind  to  work,  yet  every  man  repaired  next  nntn 
his  own  house,  and  consequently  was  more  assiduous  to  raise  that  part  of  it 
than  any  other.  If  any  one,  indeed,  has  been  so  intent  upon  his  piece  of 
the  wall  as  to  be  regardless  of  the  rest,  and  careless  about  the  work  as  a 
whole,  it  had  been  criminal ;  but,  while  these  were  properly  regarded,  he 
might  be  allowed  to  be  particularly  attentive  to  his  own  special  work,  to 
which  he  was  appointed.  It  is  wisely  ordered  that  it  should  be  so  ;  for  if 
the  mind  were  taken  up  entirely  in  generals,  by  aiming  at  every  thing,  we 
should  accomplish  nothing.  The  Turks  and  Chinese  are  alike  sinners,  and 
stand  in  need  of  mercy  as  well  as  the  people  to  whom  a  minister  preaches ; 
but  he  is  not  equally  obliged  to  pray  for,  and  seek  to  promote,  their  salva- 
tion as  he  is  that  of  the  people  "  over  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  hath  made  hira 
an  overseer."  The  children  of  heathen  families  are  alike  objects  of  God's 
knowledge,  anger,  &c.,  as  those  of  our  own ;  but  they  are  not  alike  known 
to  us,  nor  equally  objects  of  our  paternal  care. 

It  is  very  possible  that  Episcopalians,  Independents,  Baptists,  &c.  may  be 
each  too  much  concerned  about  their  own  party,  and  too  inattentive  to  the 
prosperity  of  others,  even  in  those  respects  wherein  they  consider  them  as 
conforming  to  the  mind  of  Christ;  but  perhaps  the  whole  of  this  ought  not 
to  be  attributed  to  a  sinful  partiality.  Let  one  society  speak  of  the  mission 
to  Africa  and  the  East;  another  inform  us  of  what  God  is  doing  by  a  Van- 
derkemp  and  a  Kitcherer ;  and  another  of  what  he  is  accomplishing  by 
Carey  and  his  companions,  &c.  In  all  this  they  only  "  build  against  their 
own  houses,"  and  report  progress  to  their  brethren  for  the  stimulating  of 
the  whole.  Only  let  them  bear  good-will  one  to  another,  and  rejoice  in  all 
the  goodness  vouchsafed  to  either  of  them  ;  and  the  wall  will  rise,  and  in 
due  time  the  work  of  one  will  meet  that  of  another,  so  as  to  form  a  whole. 


CHRISTIAN  CHARITY.  783 

CHRISTIAN  CHARITY. 

[From  the  Biblical  Magazine.] 

The  question  proposed  in  the  first  number  of  your  Magazine,  p.  13,  is, 
I  confess,  attended  with  some  "  difficulty ;"  and,  without  pretending  to 
"pronounce  a  decisive  sentence"  upon  it,  I  beg  leave  to  offer  a  few  remarks 
tending  to  prosecute  the  inquiry. 

Your  correspondent,  Minimus,  "understands  by  Christian  chariti/ the 
second  great  command,  as  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  That  he  did  by  his  doctrine  and  conduct  illustrate  "  the  second 
great  command,"  and  display  all  the  virtues  of  "  Christian  charity,"  is  un- 
doubtedly true ;  but  it  may  admit  of  a  doubt  whether  these  be  exactly  of 
the  same  import ;  because — (I.)  There  seems  to  be  a  difference  between 
the  nature  of  Christian  charity  and  that  love  which  is  required  in  the  second 
commandment.  The  latter  is  love  to  our  neighbour;  the  former  is  love  to 
a  Christian:  the  latter  is  love  for  his  oton  sake;  the  former  is  love  for 
Christ's  sake:  the  latter  is  pure  benevolence;  the  former  \nc\y\Aes  compla- 
cency. The  Scriptures  denominate  Christian  charity  to  be  a  brotherly  love, 
or  a  love  to  Christians  as  brethren  :  "  Be  ye  kindly  affectioned  one  to  an- 
other, with  brotherly  love,  in  honour  preferring  one  another." — "Let  bro- 
therly love  continue,"  Rom.  xii.  10;  Heb.  xiii.  1.  According  to  this,  the 
object  of  Christian  love  must  be  one  who  is  esteemed  a  Christian  brother; 
but  the  object  of  the  second  great  command  extends  to  all  mankind,  irre- 
spective of  their  moral  qualities.  (2.)  Christian  love  is  by  our  Lord  called 
"  A  new  commandment."  Speaking  to  his  disciples,  he  says,  "  A  new  com- 
mandment I  give  unto  you,  That  ye  love  one  another,"  John  xiii.  34. 
Some,  indeed,  have  supposed  that  it  is  so  called  on  account  of  its  being 
revived  by  our  Lord,  after  having  been  neglected  by  the  Jews,  and  discoun- 
tenanced by  their  teachers :  others  have  thought  that  it  is  so  called  by  way 
of  excellence;  but  the  peculiar  phraseology  of  the  passage  is  not  satisfac- 
torily accounted  for  by  either  of  these  suppositions.  It  rather  seems  that 
Christian  charity,  or  love,  is  called  "a  nez^j  commandment"  because  of  its 
being  a  love  to  Christians  as  such,  which,  though  virtually  contained  in  the 
second  great  command,  yet  was  not  specifically  required  by  it.  The  church 
of  God  was  now  no  longer  to  be  national,  but  should  be  formed  of  Chris- 
tians individually,  amongst  whom  there  should  be  no  other  bond  of  union 
than  that  of  pure  Christianity.  Hence  it  is  that  this  "  new  commandment" 
is  suited  to  a  new  dispensation. 

If  the  distinction  here  attempted  be  at  all  just,  then  "  the  duties  of 
Christian  charity"  do  not  so  properly  relate  to  our  dispositions  and  conduct 
toward  our  "fellow  men"  as  toward  our  fellow  Christians;  and,  with 
respect  to  the  latter,  it  appears  to  me  that  these  duties  are  equally  con- 
cerned in  "the  judgment  we  form  of  their  actions  and  characters"  as  in 
"  our  disposition  and  conduct  toward  them." 

With  respect  to  the  question,  "Whether  charity  ought  to  have  any  influ- 
ence on  our  judgment,  or  be  equally  free  from  a  favourable  as  from  an 
unfavourable  bias,"  I  would  answer,  No  further  than  to  induce  us  to  put  a 
good  construction  upon  every  thing  that  will  admit  of  it.  If  an  action  will 
bear  a  favourable  or  an  unfavourable  construction,  uncharitableness  will 
induce  the  judgment  to  suspect  the  worst — charity  to  hope  the  best.  It 
"  hopeth  all  things,  believeth  all  things." 


784  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 


CHARACTER  NOT  DETERMINED  BY  INDIVIDUAL  ACTS. 

"Was  not  David  a  regenerate  man  when  he  slew  Uriah  by  the  sword  of  the  children  of 
Ammon  ;  and,  if  so,  how  can  we  reconcile  his  conduct  with  the  apostle's  assertion — that 
'  no  murderer  hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him,'  1  John  iii.  25  ?" 

The  difficulty  here  suggested  would  vanish,  if  it  were  considered  that, 
while  the  qnaliti/  of  actions  is  determined  by  their  relation  to  the  Divine  law, 
the  estimate  we  form  of  character  must  be  regulated  by  the  habitual  course 
of  the  life  and  conduct.  If  we  were  to  form  our  opinion  of  men  from  parti- 
cular events  in  their  lives,  we  should  pronounce  Noah  a  drunkard,  Aaron  an 
idolater,  Jacob  a  liar,  David  a  murderer,  and  Peter  an  apostate;  and  each 
of  these  characters  is  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  such  a  judg- 
ment would  evidently  be  harsh  and  erroneous,  because  these  things  were  not 
of  a  piece  with  their  general  character,  but  most  entirely  opposed  thereto. 
The  apostle,  in  the  words  referred  to,  is  describing  those  who  "go  in  the 
limy  of  Cain,"  and  whose  character  and  spirit  resemble  his.  Such  a  man, 
he  affirms,  "  hath  not  eternal  life  abiding  in  him." 

But  in  this  sense  David  was  not  a  murderer.  His  sin,  in  the  matter  of 
Uriah,  was  not  the  result  of  those  principles  on  which  his  character  was 
formed,  but  a  melancholy  proof  of  the  force  of  temptation,  even  in  the  case 
of  an  eminently  good  man. 


SATAN'S  TEMPTATIONS. 


"  1.  Ought  we  to  ascribe  any  part  of  our  conduct  which  is  not  absolutely  sinful  to  the 
agency  of  Satan  ?  There  appears  to  have  been  nothing  '  absolutely  sinful'  in  the  conduct 
of  the  Corinthians  towards  the  incestuous. 

"  2.  How  are  we  to  know,  in  all  cases,  whether  our  actions  be  produced  by  the  force  of 
Satan's  temptations,  operating  on  the  depravity  of  our  will  and  affections,  or  whether  those 
actions  be  the  effects  of  our  depravity  merely,  without  Satanic  influence  ?" 

I  FREELY  confess  that  I  am  unable  to  speak  to  the  second  question  in  any 
■ease.  Neither  do  I  know  what  to  ascribe  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  to  holy 
angels,  as  being  conscious  of  the  influence  of  either.  It  is  only  the  effect 
produced  of  which  I  am  conscious.  I  am  taught  in  the  Scriptures  to  ascribe 
whatever  is  good  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  am  also  taught  in  the  Scriptures, 
especially  in  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  that  holy  angels  have  great  influence 
on  the  minds  even  of  princes,  and  consequently  on  the  great  events  of  the 
world.  But  no  one,  I  suppose,  is  conscious  of  any  thing  of  the  kind.  We 
all  know  that  the  minds  of  men  are  influenced  by  thousands  of  causes  with- 
out themselves.  Man  is  a  leaf  shaken  by  every  wind ;  the  least  accident 
may  so  affect  him  as  to  give  a  turn  to  the  most  important  concerns  of  his 
life.  We  also  know  that  no  influence  from  without  us  destroys  our  agency 
or  accountableness.  If  we  were  to  take  away  a  man's  life,  in  order  to  obtain 
his  property,  we  should  not  think  of  excusing  ourselves  by  alleging  that  we 
were  injluenced  to  do  so  by  some  person  having  told  us  that  he  was  very 
rich. 

I  apprehend  we  are  not  so  much  to  consider  Satan  as  working  imme- 
diately as  mediately.  He  is  "the  god  of  this  world;"  the  riches,  pleasures, 
and  honours  of  it,  together  with  the  examples  of  the  wicked,  are  the  means 
by  which  he  ordinarily  works  upon  the  souls  of  men.  The  bird  need  not 
fear  the  fowler,  if  it  avoid  the  snare ;  nor  the  fish  the  fisherman,  if  it  do  but 
shun  the  bait. 


THE  OBEDIENCE  AND  SUFFERING  OF  CHRIST.  7S5 

Respecting  the  occasion  of  the  question,  I  beg  leave  to  say  that  the  extra- 
ordinary exertions  of  the  late  excellent  minister  referred  to  have,  in  my  judg- 
ment, been  noticed  by  some  persons  with  undue  severity.  Had  they  pro- 
perly attended  to  the  account  which  Mr.  Peauce  himself  has  given  of  this 
matter,  every  unfavourable  idea  would  jiave  vanished;  and  pity,  blended 
with  love  and  admiration,  would  have  superseded  every  complaint.  In  the 
Memoirs  of  this  dear  man,  p.  197,  when  writing  to  an  intimate  friend,  he 
thus  expresses  himself: — "  Should  my  life  be  spared,  I  and  my  family,  and 
all  my  connexions,  will  stand  indebted,  under  God,  to  you.  Unsuspecting 
of  danger  myself,  I  believe  I  should  have  gone  on  with  my  exertions  till  the 
grave  had  received  me.  Your  attention  sent  the  apothecary  to  me,  and  then 
first  I  learned,  what  I  have  since  been  increasingly  convinced  of — that  I  was 
rapidly  destroying  the  vital  principle.  And  the  kind  interest  you  have  taken 
in  my  welfare  ever  since  has  often  drawn  the  grateful  tear  from  my  eye.  May 
the  God  of  heaven  and  earth  reward  your  kindness  to  his  unworthy  servant, 
and  save  you  from  all  the  evils  from  which  your  distinguished  friendship 
would  have  saved  me." — To  another  of  his  friends  he  also  declared,  very 
seriously,  that,  "  if  ever  he  incurred  guilt  of  this  kind,  it  was  through  error 
of  judgment  respecting  the  strength  of  his  constitution,  and  that  he  adopted 
a  system  of  precaution  as  soon  as  he  apprehended  danger." 

It  has  also  been  insinuated  by  some  that  his  persuasion  that  he  ought  to 
be  a  missionary  must  have  been  a  delusion,  as  appeared  from  the  result;  for 
he  did  not  go.  But  if  this  be  just  reasoning,  it  was  delusion  also  in  Mr. 
Grant;  for  he  was  taken  away  almost  immediately  after  his  arrival  at  the 
scene  of  action.  The  desire  likewise  of  David  to  build  a  house  for  God 
must  have  been  altogether  delusion;  though  we  are  assured  it  was  taken 
well  of  Him  by  whom  actions  are  weighed.  The  truth  is,  there  are  but  few 
men  who  are  proper  judges  of  such  a  character.  We  are  most  of  us  at  so 
great  a  distance  from  his  spirit  as  to  be  in  danger  of  thinking  such  extraor- 
dinary zeal  to  be  a  species  of  extravagance. 


THE  OBEDIENCE  AND  SUFFERING  OF  CHRIST. 

"  1.  Did  not  the  law  of  God  require  of  Christ,  considered  as  a  man,  a  perfect  obedienee 
on  his  own  account  ?  If  it  did,  how  can  that  obedience  be  imputed  to  sinners  for  their  jus- 
tification  ? 

"2.  How  does  it  appear  to  be  necessary  that  Christ  should  both  obey  the  law  in  his 
people's  stead,  and  yet  suffer  punishment  on  the  account  of  their  transgressions ;  seeing 
obedience  is  all  the  law  requires  ?" 

To  the  former  I  should  answer.  The  objection  proceeds  upon  the  suppo- 
sition that  a  public  head,  or  representative,  whose  obedience  should  be  im- 
putable to  others,  must  possess  it  in  a  degree  over  and  above  what  is  required 
of  him.  But  was  it  thus  with  the  first  public  head  of  mankind?  Had 
Adam  kept  the  covenant  of  his  God,  his  righteousness,  it  is  supposed,  would 
have  been  imputed  to  his  posterity,  in  the  same  sense  as  the  righteousness 
of  Christ  is  imputed  to  believers;  that  is,  God,  to  express  his  approbation  of 
his  conduct,  would  have  rewarded  it,  by  confirming  him  and  his  posterity  in 
the  enjoyment  of  everlasting  life ;  yet  he  would  have  wrought  no  work  of 
supererogation,  nor  have  done  any  more  than  he  was  required  to  do  on  his 
own  account. 

But  though,  for  argument's  sake,  I  have  allowed  that  the  human  nature 
of  Christ  was  under  obligation  to  keep  the  law  on  his  account;  yet  I  ques- 
tion the  propriety  of  that  mode  of  stating  things.  In  the  person  of  Christ 
the  Divinity  and  humanity  were  so  intimately  united,  that  perhaps  we  ought 

Vol.  hi.— 99  3  u  2 


786  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

not  to  conceive  of  the  latter  as  having  any  such  distinct  subsistence  as  to  be 
an  agent  by  itself,  or  as  being  obliged  to  obey  or  do  any  thing  of  itself,  or 
on  its  own  account ;  Christ,  as  man,  possessed  no  being  on  Jiis  own  account. 
He  was  always  in  union  with  the  Son  of  God;  a  public  person,  whose  very 
existence  was  for  the  sake  of  others.  Hence  his  coining  under  the  law  is 
represented,  not  only  as  a  part  of  his  humiliation,  to  which  he  was  naturally 
unobliged,  but  as  a  thing  distinct  from  his  assuming  human  nature  ;  which 
one  should  think  it  could  not  be,  if  it  were  necessarily  included  in  it.  He  was 
"  made  of  a  woman,  made  under  the  law;" — "  made  in  the  likeness  of  men, 
he  took  upon  him  the  form  of  a  servant;"* — "  being  found  in  fashion  as  a 
man,  he  became  obedient  unto  death." 

As  to  the  second  question,  Obedience  is  not  all  that  the  law  requires  of  a 
guilty  creature  (and  in  the  place  of  such  creatures  our  Saviour  stood) :  a 
guilty  creature  is  not  only  obliged  to  be  obedient  for  the  future,  but  to  make 
satisfaction  for  the  past.  The  covenant  made  with  Adam  had  two  branches  : 
"Obey,  and  live;  sin,  and  die."  Now  the  obedience  of  Christ  did  honour 
to  the  preceptive  part  of  the  covenant,  but  not  to  the  penal  part  of  it.  Mere 
obedience  to  the  law  would  have  made  no  atonement,  would  have  afforded 
no  expression  of  the  Divine  displeasure  against  sin;  therefore,  after  a  life 
spent  in  doing  the  will  of  God,  he  must  lay  down  his  life;  nor  was  it  "  pos- 
sible that  this  cup  should  pass  from  him." 

As  obedience  would  have  been  insufficient  without  suffering,  so  it  appears 
that  suffering  would  have  been  insufficient  without  obedience;  the  latter 
was  preparatory  to  the  former.t  "  Such  an  High  Priest  became  us,  who 
is  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners."  And  such  a  meet- 
ness  could  not  have  appeared,  but  by  a  life  of  obedience  to  God.  As  a 
Mediator  between  God  and  man,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  be,  and 
appear  to  be,  an  enemy  to  sin,  ere  he  should  be  admitted  to  plead  for 
sinners.  Such  was  our  Redeemer  to  the  last,  and  this  it  was  that  endeared 
him  to  the  Father.  "  Thou  hast  loved  righteousness,  and  hated  iniquity ; 
therefore  God,  thy  God,  hath  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above 
thy  fellows."  Finally,  the  sufferings  of  Christ  could  go  only  to  the  removal 
of  the  curse;  they  could  afford  no  title  to  eternal  life,  which  being  promised 
on  condition  of  obedience,  that  condition  must  be  fulfilled  in  order  to  insure 
the  blessing.  Hence  it  is  by  "the  righteousness  of  one"  that  we  partake  of 
"justification  of  life." 

The  great  ends  originally  designed  by  the  promise  and  the  threatening 
were  to  express  God's  love  of  righteousness  and  his  abhorrence  of  unrighte- 
ousness; and  these  ends  are  answered  by  the  obedience  and  sufferings  of 
Christ,  and  that  in  a  higher  degree,  owing  to  the  dignity  of  his  character, 
than  if  man  had  either  kept  the  law  or  suffered  the  penalty  for  the  breach  of 
it.  But  if  Christ  had  only  obeyed  the  law,  and  had  not  suffered;  or  had 
only  suffered,  and  not  obeyed ;  one  or  other  of  these  ends  must,  for  aught 
we  can  perceive,  have  failed  of  being  accomplished.  But  his  obedience  unto 
death,  which  includes  both,  gloriously  answered  every  end  of  moral  govern- 
ment, and  opened  a  way  by  which  God  could  honourably,  not  only  pardon 
the  sinner  who  should  believe  in  Jesus,  but  bestow  upon  him  eternal  life. 
Pardon  being  granted  with  a  view  to  Christ's  atonement  would  evince  the 
resolution  of  Jehovah  to  punish  sin ;  and  eternal  life  being  bestowed  as  a 
reward  to  his  obedience  would  equally  evince  him  the  friend  of  righteousness. 

*  See  Doddridge's  Translation  of  Phil.  ii.7. 

t  I  use  the  terms  obedience  and  suffering,  the  one  to  express  Christ's  conformity  to  the 
precept  of  the  law,  the  other  his  sustaining  the  penalty  of  it;  though,  in  strict  propriety  of 
speech,  the  obedience  of  Christ  included  suffering,  and  his  suffering  included  obedience. 
He  laid  down  his  life  in  obedience  to  the  Father. 


JESUS  GROWING  IN  WISDOM  AND  KNOWLEDGE.  787 


JESUS  GROWING  IN  WISDOM  AND  KNOWLEDGE. 

"  How  could  Jesus  grow  in  wisdom  and  knowledge,  if  he  were  the  true  God,  and  conse> 
quently  infinite  in  both  ?'» 

If  there  be  any  difficulty  in  reconciling  these  ideas,  it  must  be  on  the 
supposition  that  a  union  of  the  Divine  and  human  natures  in  the  person  of 
Christ  implies  a  communication  of  properties ;  i.  e.  that  whatever  property 
belongs  to  him  as  a  IJivine  person  it  must,  on  his  assuming  human  nature, 
belong  to  him  as  human.  But  I  know  of  no  such  sentiment  being  held  by 
any  Trinitarian.  It  is  always  maintained,  so  far  as  I  know,  that  as  Christ 
was  very  God,  he  retained  all  the  peculiar  properties  of  Godhead;  and  as  he 
was  made  very  man,  he  assumed  all  the  peculiar  properties  of  manhood. 
The  above  supposition,  so  far  from  belonging  to  the  doctrine  of  what  is 
called  the  hypostatical  union,  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  it;  for  if  the  union 
of  the  human  nature  to  the  Divinity  imply  that  it  must  become  infinite  in 
wisdom  and  knowledge,  it  also  implies  that  it  must  become  omnipresent  and 
almighty.  And  it  might  be  with  equal  propriety  asked.  How  could  Jesus 
grow  in  stature  and  strength,  if  he  were  infinite  in  power?  as.  How  could 
he  grow  in  wisdom  and  knowledge,  if  he  were  infinite  in  both?  But  this 
is  equivalent  to  asking,  How  could  he  be  "  a  child  born,"  and  yet  he  be 
called  "  the  mighty  God?"  that  is,  How  could  he  be  both  God  and  man? 

Further,  If  a  union  between  the  Divine  and  human  natures  of  Christ  imply 
a  communication  of  properties,  why  should  not  that  communication  be 
mutual?  There  is  just  as  much  reason  for  concluding  that  all  the  imper- 
fections of  humanity  should  be  imparted  to  the  Divinity  as  that  all  the  per- 
fections of  Divinity  should  be  imparted  to  the  humanity.  But  this  would 
form  a  contradiction ;  as  it  would  be  supposing  him  to  retain  neither  per- 
fection nor  imperfection,  and  so  to  be  neither  God  nor  man. 

But  if  we  admit  the  Scripture  account  of  things,  no  such  consequences 
will  follow.  If  that  eternal  Life  that  was  with  the  Father  was  so  manifested 
to  us  as  to  be  capable  of  being  heard,  and  seen  with  our  eyes,  and  looked 
upon,  and  handled;  in  other  words,  if  he  were  a  Divine  person,  always 
existing  with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested  to  us  by  the  assumption  of 
human  nature,  and  if  each  nature,  though  mysteriously  united,  yet  retain  its 
peculiar  properties;  all  is  consistent.  Things  may  then  be  attributed  to 
Clirist  which  belong  to  either  his  Divine  or  his  human  nature ;  he  may  be  a 
child  born,  may  grow  up  from  infancy  to  age,  increase  in  knowledge,  in 
wisdom,  and  in  stature,  be  subject  to  hunger,  and  thirst,  and  weariness,  and 
pain  ;  in  a  word,  in  all  things  "  be  made  like  unto  his  brethren  ;"  and  at  the 
same  time  be,  in  another  respect,  "  the  mighty  God," — "  upholding  all  things 
by  the  word  of  his  power." 

"If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,"  said  Satan,  "command  that  these  stones 
be  made  bread."  This  was  insinuating  that  it  was  inconsistent  for  so  Divine 
a  personage,  who  had  the  command  of  the  whole  creation,  to  be  subject  to 
want;  but  the  answer  of  Jesus  intimates  that  he  was  also  the  Son  of  man  ; 
and  that,  as  such,  it  was  fitting  that  he  should  feel  his  dependence  upon 
God. 

The  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  after  asserting  the  dignity  of 
the  great  Author  of  Christianity,  as  not  only  superior  to  angels,  but  acknow- 
ledged by  the  Father  as  God,  "  whose  throne  was  for  ever  and  for  ever," 
obviates  an  objection  that  would  arise  from  his  deep  humiliation  ;  showing 
the  necessity  there  was  for  his  being  made  like  unto  his  brethren,  chap. 
i.,  ii. 

Socinians  may  amuse  themselves  and  their  admirers  by  talking  of  the  ab- 


788  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

surdity  of  God  being  exposed  to  suffering,  and  of  a  man  of  Judea  being  the 
Creator  of  the  world.  They  know  well  enough,  if  they  had  candour  sufficient  to 
own  it,  that  it  is  not  as  God  that  we  ascribe  the  former  to  him,  nor  as  man 
the  latter :  yet,  owing  to  the  intimate  union  of  Divinity  and  humanity  in  his 
person,  there  is  an  important  sense  in  which  it  may  be  said  that  "the Prince," 
or  author,  "  of  life"  was  killed  ;  that  "  God  purchased  his  church  with  his 
own  blood  ;"  that  "  hereby  perceive  we  the  love  of  God,  because  he  laid  down 
his  life  for  us;"  that  "our  great  High  Priest,  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  was 
touched  with  the  feelings  of  our  infirmities;"  and  that  he  who  was  born  in 
Bethlehem  "  was  before  all  things,  and  by  him  all  things  consist." 


READING  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

I  DO  not  wish  the  following  remarks  to  supersede  any  other  answer  which 
may  enter  more  fully  into  the  subject.  All  I  have  to  offer  will  be  a  few  hints 
from  my  own  experience. 

In  the  first  place,  I  have  found  it  good  to  appoint  set  times  for  reading  the 
Scriptures;  and  none  have  been  so  profitable  as  part  of  the  season  appro- 
priated to  private  devotion  on  rising  in  the  morning.  The  mind  at  this  time 
is  reinvigorated  and  unencumbered.  To  read  a  part  of  the  Scriptures,  pre- 
vious to  prayer,  I  have  found  to  be  very  useful.  It  tends  to  collect  the 
thoughts,  to  spiritualize  the  affections,  and  to  furnish  us  with  sentiments 
wherewith  to  plead  at  a  throne  of  grace.  And  as  reading  assists  prayer,  so 
prayer  assists  reading.  At  these  seasons  we  shall  be  less  in  danger  of  falling 
into  idle  speculations,  and  of  perverting  Scripture  in  support  of  hypotheses. 
A  spiritual  frame  of  mind,  as  Mr.  Pearce  somewhere  observes,  is  as  a  good 
light  in  viewing  a  painting;  it  will  not  a  little  facilitate  the  understanding  of 
the  Scriptures.  I  do  not  mean  to  depreciate  the  labours  of  those  who  have 
commented  on  the  sacred  writings;  but  we  may  read  expositors,  and  consult 
critics,  while  the  "  spirit  and  life"  of  the  word  utterly  escape  us.  A  tender, 
humble,  holy  frame  is  perhaps  of  more  importance  to  our  entering  into  the 
mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit  than  all  other  means  united.  It  is  thus  that,  by  "  an 
imction  from  the  Holy  One,  we  know  all  things." 

In  reading  by  myself,  I  have  also  felt  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  pause, 
and  think,  as  well  as  pray;  and  to  inquire  how  far  the  subject  is  any  way 
applicable  to  my  case,  and  conduct  in  life. 

In  the  course  of  a  morning's  exercise  it  may  be  supposed  that  some  things 
will  appear  hard  to  be  understood ;  and  I  may  feel  myself,  after  all  my  appli- 
cation, unable  to  resolve  them.  Here,  then,  let  me  avail  myself  of  commenta- 
tors and  expositors.  If  I  read  them  insfcad  of  reading  the  Scriptures,  I  may 
indeed  derive  some  knowledge;  but  my  mind  will  not  be  stored  with  the 
best  riches;  nor  will  the  word  "  dwell  richly  in  me  in  all  wisdom  and  spi- 
ritual understanding."  If,  on  the  other  hand,  I  read  the  Scriptures,  and 
exercise  my  own  mind  on  their  meaning,  only  using  the  helps  with  which  I 
am  furnished  when  I  particularly  need  them,  such  knowledge  will  avail  me 
more  than  any  other;  for,  having  felt  and  laboured  at  the  difficulty  myself, 
what  I  obtain  from  others  towards  the  solution  of  it  becomes  more  interest- 
ing and  abiding  than  if  I  had  read  it  without  any  such  previous  efforts.  And 
as  to  my  own  thoughts,  though  they  may  not  be  superior  nor  equal  to  those 
of  others,  in  themselves  considered,  yet,  if  they  be  just,  their  having  been 
the  result  of  pleasing  toil  renders  them  of  superior  value  to  me.  A  small 
portion  obtained  by  our  own  labour  is  sweeter  than  a  large  inheritance 


FRAME  OP  MIND  IN  PRAYER.  7bi; 

bequeathed  by  our  predecessors.  Knowledge  thus  obtained  will  not  only  be 
always  accumulating,  but  of  special  use  in  times  of  trial ;  not  like  the  cum- 
brous armour  which  does  not  fit  us,  but  like  the  sling  and  the  stone,  which, 
though  less  brilliant,  will  be  more  efficacious. 

I  may  add,  it  were  well  for  those  who  can  find  leisure  to  commit  to  writing 
the  most  interesting  thoughts  which  occur  at  these  seasons.  It  is  thus  that 
they  will  be  fixed  in  the  memory ;  and  the  revision  of  diem  may  serve  to 
rekindle  some  of  the  best  sensations  in  our  life. 


DIFFERENCE  IN  THE  FRAME  OF  MIND  WHEN   ENGAGED  IN 
SOCIAL  AND  SECRET  PRAYER. 

I  TAKE  it  for  granted  that  Stephanus  means  to  say  that  at  the  same  time 
when  it  was  common  for  him  to  find  great  liberty  and  zeal  in  public  prayer, 
it  was  usual  for  him  to  be  lifeless,  barren,  and  uncomfortable  in  private; 
otherwise  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  the  case.  That  such  a  state  of 
mind  should  excite  a  jealousy  of  himself  is  not  surprising.  Stephanus 
inquires  after  its  cause  and  cure. 

As  to  the  former,  permit  me  to  ask,  Are  you  not  more  influenced  by  the 
presence  of  creatures  than  by  His  presence  who  fills  heaven  and  earth  1  Is 
there  not  a  spice  of  vanity  that  prompts  you  to  wish  to  appear  to  advantage 
when  in  company  with  your  fellow  men  ;  an  emulation  that  stimulates  inven- 
tion, and  which  by  a  kind  of  intellectual  friction,  like  that  of  the  wheels  of 
a  machine,  warms  your  faculties,  and  works  up  your  powers  to  an  earnest- 
ness that  is  in  danger  of  being  mistaken  for  religious  zeal  ?  Such  has  not 
unfrequenUy  been  the  case  among  professors  of  religion. 

Let  me  further  ask.  Have  you  not  indulged  in  some  besetting  sin,  to  which 
God  and  your  conscience  only  have  been  witness?  Private  prayer  is  the 
season  for  such  things  to  come  to  remembrance,  rather  than  in  the  exercise 
of  more  public  duties.  Hence  it  may  be  that  your  face  shall  be  covered  with 
shame,  and  your  soul  be  struck  as  by  the  darts  of  death,  when  in  private ; 
while  in  your  more  public  exercises,  not  considering  yourself  as  called  upon 
to  confess  private  sins,  you  may  think  but  little  about  them.  Let  me  sup- 
pose Stephanus  to  be  a  young  man,  and  to  have  offended  his  father.  Should 
he  be  admitted  into  public  company  with  his  father,  he  will  not  feel  so  great 
a  difficulty  in  addressing  him  there,  as  if  he  was  introduced  into  a  private 
apartment,  and  was  obliged  to  converse  with  him  alone.  In  the  former  case, 
his  private  feelings,  as  being  unknown  to  the  company,  will  not  be  noticed  ; 
in  the  latter,  the  conversation  can  turn  upon  nothing  else.  I  do  not  presume 
to  determine  that  this  is  the  case  with  Stephanus;  but  this  I  say, such  causes 
are  adequate  to  such  effects,  and  it  becomes  Stephanus  to  inquire  if  they  have 
no  influence  in  his  case. 

As  to  the  cure,  that  is  certainly  a  very  important  step  which  he  proposes— 
declining  to  engage  in  public  prayer.  Let  him  rather  betake  himself  to  pri- 
vate prayer,  attended  with  close  examination  and  humiliation  before  God : 
this  will  render  public  prayer  more  easy.  If  Stephanus  had  offended  his 
father,  as  supposed  above,  and  if,  after  a  little  free  conversation  with  him  in 
public  company,  he  should  feel  dejected  and  sullen,  and  should  be  ready  to 
resolve  that  he  would  never  enter  a  company  again  with  his  father,  because, 
though  he  could  speak  freely  to  him  there,  yet  he  was  always  reserved  when 
alone,  would  this  be  lovely  .'  Let  him  rather  reflect,  and  ask.  Is  there  not  a 
cause  ?     Let  him  resolve  on  this  wise,  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father  in 


790  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES.  .^^ 

secret,  and  will  say,  "  Father,  I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight, 
and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son."  Let  him  give  no  rest  to  his 
eyes,  nor  slumber  to  his  eyelids,  till  all  is  reconciled;  otherwise,  whether 
he  pray  in  public  or  desist,  his  soul  will  be  exposed  to  the  most  imminent 
danger. 


NATURE  OF  INDWELLING  SIN. 

"  Is  the  love  of  sin  eradicated  from  the  regenerate  ?  Though  it  lives  in  them,  is  it  not 
their  sorrow  and  detestation  ?" 

If  the  question  had  been  whether  the  love  of  sin  be  the  governing,  pre' 
vailing,  and  habitual  principle  in  the  regenerate,  there  could  be  no  doubt  of 
its  beino-  answerable  in  the  negative.  Holiness  is  represented  as  the  law  of 
the  believer's  mind.  It  is  the  governing  and  habitual  principle  of  his  soul, 
and  that  which  gives  it  its  leading  bias.  It  is  that  which  rules  in  the  ruling 
power  of  the  soul — "  the  mind;"  which  is  equal  to  saying  that  it  reigns.  If 
a  rightful  prince,  after  being  driven  from  his  throne  by  a  rebellion,  should  so 
far  recover  it  as  to  rule  in  the  proper  place  of  rule,  and  compel  his  enemies 
to  quit  the  reins  of  government,  and  seek  refuge  in  their  private  haunts,  he 
is  truly  said  to  reign.  Thus  the  grace  of  God  becoming  "  the  law  of  the 
mind,"  and  the  power  of  carnality  being  driven,  as  it  were,  to  take  its  main 
residence  in  "  the  members,"  working  not  by  open  daylight,  but  by  deeds  of 
darkness,  the  former,  and  not  the  latter,  is  truly  said  to  have  the  dominion 
over  us.  And  as  every  being  is  denominated  by  his  governing  disposition, 
so  holiness  is  that  from  which  believers  are  denominated  in  the  Scriptures; 
it  is  that  which  gives  them  their  character. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  good  men,  as  well  as  others,  are  sinners,  as 
every  good  man  will  acknowledge ;  but  when  the  Scriptures  describe  them, 
it  is  not  as  sinners,  but  as  saints.  The  character  of  sinners  distinguishes 
the  unregenerate.  Though,  strictly  speaking,  "  there  is  no  man  that  doeth 
good,  and  sinneth  not,"  yet  believers  are  described  as  not  doing  evil,  but 
good.  "  He  that  doeth  good  is  of  God :  but  he  that  doeth  evil  is  of  the 
wicked  one." — "  He  that  is  born  of  God  sinneth  not." — "  He  that  loveth  the 
world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him."  All  these  modes  of  speaking 
are  descriptive  not  of  what  is  universal,  but  of  what  is  general  and  habitual. 
Sin  is  the  constant  course  of  the  wicked,  but  righteousness  of  the  righteous. 

But  to  say  that  the  love  of  sin  is  eradicated  from  the  regenerate,  is  saying 
that  sin  has  no  place  in  their  affections,  and  that  their  affections  are  never 
entangled  by  its  influences ;  and  wherein  this  differs  from  saying  that  they 
are  sinless  I  do  not  understand.  If  sin  has  no  place  in  the  affections,  it  has 
no  place  in  the  soul ;  for  the  affections  are  the  proper  seat  of  good  and  evil. 
As  the  whole  of  duty  is  summed  up  in  love,  so  the  whole  of  sin  may  be 
summed  up  in  the  contrary. 

Moreover,  if  sin  has  no  place  in  our  affections,  it  has  none  in  our  choice; 
for  choice  is  an  affection  of  the  mind,  by  which  it  prefers  one  thing  to  an- 
other, or  likes  this  rather  than  that.  When  the  acts  of  the  will  are  distin- 
guished from  those  of  the  affections,  it  is  rather  a  distinction  of  degree  than 
of  nature.  But  if  all  evil  choice  were  eradicated,  all  sin  would  be  eradi- 
cated. Whatever  there  was,  it  must  absolutely  be  involuntary;  and  that 
which  is  such  is  not  sin.     It  is  impossible  for  the  mind  to  feel  any  conscious 


PRESERVATION  AGAINST  BACKSLIDING.  791 

guilt  on  account  of  it,  any  more  than  for  the  contortions  of  a  convulsed  state 
of  the  body. 

Dr.  Owen,  in  his  admirable  treatise  on  "  the  Nature  of  Indwelling  Sin," 
has  proved,  I  think,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  that  the  essence  of  all  sin 
lies  in  aversion  of  heart,  and  that  this  aversion  is  "  universal,  to  all  of  God, 
and  in  all  of  the  soul."  Nor  need  we  have  recourse  to  the  judgment  of  Dr. 
Owen :  experience  will  teach  every  reflecting  mind  that  he  sins  not,  but  as 
his  will  and  affections  are  drawn  away  from  God  after  things  which  are  for- 
bidden. 

I  have  observed  this  opinion  to  be  maintained  on  very  different  grounds. 
Some  worthy  characters,  observing  the  loose  conduct  of  certain  professors, 
and  their  attempts  to  excuse  themselves  by  pleading  that  believers  are  not 
free  from  the  love  of  sin,  and  therefore  they  ought  not  to  be  criminated  or 
suspected  on  that  account,  may  have  been  tempted  to  maintain  the  contrary, 
as  necessary  to  the  honour  of  God  and  religion.  But  God  does  not  require 
us  to  defend  his  cause  by  stretching  any  doctrine  beyond  what  it  will  bear. 
Such  characters  ought  rather  to  be  told  that  every  plea  for  self-indulgence 
taken  from  the  sins  of  God's  people  indicates  a  prevailing  love  of  sin,  which 
is  inconsistent  with  true  religion. 

In  other  instances,  the  same  thing  is  maintained  by  loose  characters  them- 
selves, who,  while  they  are  living  in  sin,  contrive  to  transfer  the  love  of  it 
from  themselves  to  the  "old  man"  that  is  within  them.  Paul,  speaking  of 
himself  as  a  renewed  man,  represents  the  working  of  evil  in  him  as  contrary 
to  the  habitual  bias  of  his  soul ;  as  repugnant  to  the  governing  principle  of 
his  mind ;  and,  therefore,  as  being  not  himself,  but  sin  that  dwelt  in  him. 
Paul,  however,  was  not  a  loose  character;  nor  did  he  speak  in  this  manner 
from  a  desire  to  excuse  himself  in  sin.  That  which  he  said  of  himself  in 
an  improper  or  figurative  sense,  such  people  understand  literally,  and  infer 
that  sin  in  them  is  absolutely  involuntary.  The  opposite  principles  of  good 
and  evil,  denominated  "  the  old  and  new  man,"  they  consider  as  distinct 
agents,  or  as  voluntary  beings,  who  carry  on  a  contest,  of  which  the  man 
himself  is  only  an  involuntary  spectator  But  as  in  all  the  exercises  of  grace 
it  is  loe  that  repent,  believe,  love,  &c.;  so  in  all  the  exercises  of  evil  it  is  we 
that  sin,  and  that  must  be  accountable. 

The  querist  asks,  "  Whether  sin,  though  it  dwells  in  the  regenerate,  be  not 
to  their  sorrow  and  detestation."  Undoubtedly  it  is;  and  herein  the  expe- 
rience of  Paul  is  opposed  to  theirs  who  make  use  of  his  language  to  excuse 
themselves  in  sin.  The  body  of  sin  was  to  him  "a  body  of  death,"  which 
rendered  him  "  wretched,"  and  from  which  he  longed  more  than  any  thing 
to  be  "delivered."  But  a  detestation  of  sin,  unless  it  were  perfect  in  degree, 
does  not  imply  the  eradication  of  love  to  it.  The  same  soul,  as  influenced 
by  opposite  principles,  may  be  the  subject  of  both  hatred  and  love.  In  pro- 
portion however  as  one  operates,  the  other  must  necessarily  subside. 


PRESERVATION  AGAINST  BACKSLIDING. 

"What  are  the  best  means  of  preservation  against  backsliding  ?" 

It  is  usual  with  us  to  confine  the  idea  of  a  backslider  to  a  good  man.  I 
apprehend  the  Scriptures  do  not  use  the  term  always  in  this  sense.  Back- 
sliding always  supposes  a  religious  profession  ;  but  does  not  necessarily  imply 
that  this  profession  is  sincere.   The  ungodly  Israelites,  who  had  not  the  fear 


793  ANSWER  TO  QUERIES. 

of  God  in  them,  are  termed  backsliders  in  Jer.  11.  19.  Saul  and  Judas  would 
be  accounted  backsliders,  in  tbe  Scriptural  sense  of  the  term,  as  well  as 
David  and  Peter.  The  backslidings  of  the  latter  were  partial,  and  of  the 
former  total. 

But  I  shall  suppose  the  querist  to  be  a  good  man,  and  that  he  feels  a 
proneness  to  depart  from  the  living  God  ;  perhaps  some  particular  temptation 
may  entangle  him,  or  easy-besetting  sin  perplex  him;  he  may  have  had 
several  narrow  escapes  from  open  scandal,  and  may  be  apprehensive  that  in 
some  unguarded  moment  he  may  be  drawn  into  that  which  may  ruin  his 
future  peace  and  usefulness. 

Were  I  a  stranger  to  such  exercises,  I  should  be  but  ill  qualified  to  write 
upon  the  subject.  The  case  of  backsliders  has  lately  been  much  impressed 
upon  my  mind.  Great  numbers  I  am  persuaded  among  professing  Christians 
come  under  this  denomination.  At  present  I  shall  only  offer  three  or  four 
directions  to  the  consideration  of  the  querist,  or  any  other  whose  case  they 
may  suit. 

Every  means  should  be  used  that  may  stop  the  avenues  of  temptation,  or 
prevent  its  coming  in  contact  with  the  evil  propensities  of  the  heart. — If  there 
be  nitre  in  our  habitations,  it  becomes  us  to  beware  of  fire.  Such  was  the 
counsel  of  our  Lord  to  his  disciples  in  a  season  of  peculiar  danger;  "Watch 
and  pray,  that  ye  enter  not  into  temptation."  He  had  himself  entered  that 
field,  and  came  out  a  conqueror;  but  he  knew  what  was  in  man,  and  coun- 
selled them  rather  to  avoid  than  court  the  contest.  In  cases  where  the  heart 
begins  to  be  seduced  by  temptation,  it  will  soon  become  restless,  solicitous, 
and  importunate;  it  will  moan  after  it,  and  be  exceedingly  fruitful  in  devices 
to  get  into  the  way  of  it ;  it  will  persuade  conscience,  for  once,  at  least,  to 
be  silent;  it  will  blind  the  mind  to  the  evil,  and  paint  the  desirableness  of 
the  good ;  and,  if  all  this  will  not  do,  it  will  promise  to  be  only  a  looker-on, 
or  that  thus  far  it  will  go,  and  no  further. — But  if  thou  hast  any  regard  to 
God  or  his  cause,  or  to  the  welfare  of  thine  own  soul,  consent  thou  not! 
Temptation  leads  to  sin,  and  sin  to  death.  Whatever  company,  amusement, 
occupation,  or  connexion  has  frequently  caused  thee  to  offend,  that  is  the  eye 
that  requires  to  be  plucked  out,  lest  thy  soul  bleed  in  the  end  beneath  the 
stroke  of  God's  displeasure. 

2.  Beware  of  the_^?'s^  stages  of  departure  from  God.  All  backslidings  begin 
with  the  heart,  Jer.  ii.  19.  From  hence  are  the  issues  of  life.  Private  prayer, 
it  may  be,  at  first  becomes  wearisome;  no  communion  with  God  in  it:  it  is 
then  occasionally  neglected :  hence  public  ordinances  cease  to  afford  their 
wonted  pleasure ;  Christian  society  is  dropped;  the  world  takes  up  your  atten- 
tion, and  you  have  little  or  no  time  to  spare  for  religion ;  some  carnal  ac- 
quaintance, perceiving  you  to  be  coming,  draws  you  on ;  recommends  you 
to  read  some  one  of  the  liberal  productions  of  the  times,  by  which  you  are 
to  learn  that  there  is  no  need  to  be  so  rigid  in  religion,  and  no  harm  in  fre- 
quenting the  theatre,  or  in  devoting  a  part  at  least  of  the  Lord's  day  to  visit- 
ing or  amusement.  These  are  a  few  of  the  seeds  of  death,  from  whence 
have  sprung  many  a  bitter  harvest. 

"  Beware  of  sin,  then,  crush  it  at  the  door 
If  once  'tis  in,  it  may  go  out  no  more  !" 

Bun  TAN. 

3.  If  thou  hast  in  any  degree  been  drawn  aside,  give  no  rest  to  thy  soul 
till  thy  sin  is  crucified,  and  thy  conscience  reconciled  by  the  blood  of  the 
cross.  It  is  too  common  for  sin  to  be  worn  away  from  the  memory  by  time 
and  new  occurrences,  instead  of  being  washed  away  at  the  gospel  fountain; 
but  where  this  is  the  case,  the  stain  is  not  removed,  and  its  effects  will  sooner 


MINISTERIAL  CALL  AND  QUALIFICATIONS.  793 

or  later  appear,  perhaps  in  a  form  that  may  cause  the  ears  of  every  one  that 
heareth  it  to  tingle.  "  He  that  honoureth  me,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  will  I 
honour;  and  he  that  despiseth  me  shall  be  lightly  esteemed."  If  we  care  so 
little  for  the  honour  of  God's  name  as  to  be  unconcerned  for  secret  faults, 
we  may  expect  he  will  care  as  little  for  the  honour  of  ours,  and  will  give  us 
up  to  some  open  vice  that  shall  cover  us  with  infamy. 

4.  If  some  extraordinary  temptation  or  easy-besetting  sin  perplex  thee, 
bend  not  thy  attention  so  much  to  the  subduing  of  that  particular  evil,  as  to 
the  mortification  of  sin  in  general ;  and  this  not  so  much  by  directly  opposing 
it  as  by  cherishing  opposite  principles. — We  may  heal  an  eruption  in  a  par- 
ticular part  of  the  body,  and  yet  the  root  of  the  disease  may  remain,  and  even 
be  gathering  strength.  We  may  also  be  employed  in  thinking  of  our  sins 
without  gaining  any  ascendency  over  them ;  on  the  contrary,  they  may  by 
those  very  means  obtain  an  ascendency  over  us.  If  we  go  about  to  quench 
a  fire  by  directly  contending  with  it,  we  shall  presently  be  consumed  by  its 
flames ;  but,  by  applying  the  opposite  element,  it  is  subdued  before  us.  It  is 
thus  that  the  Scriptures  direct  us  :  "  Walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not  fulfil 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh."  The  heart  cannot  be  reduced  to  a  vacuum;  if  spi- 
ritual things  do  not  occupy  it,  carnal  things  will.  It  is  by  walkinor  with  God 
and  conversing  with  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  that  we  shall  become  dead  to 
other  things;  and  this  will  go  to  the  root  of  the  evil,  while  other  remedies 
only  lop  off  the  branches. 


MINISTERIAL  CALL  AND  QUALIFICATIONS. 

"  How  may  a  man  ascertain  his  election  of  God  to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  ?  And  what 
are  sufficient  qualifications  for  that  important  office  ?" 

I  CONCEIVE  an  answer  to  the  latter  part  of  the  question  will  enable  a  person 
to  decide  upon  the  former;  it  being  a  principle  which  may  be  taken  for 
granted,  that  whoever  possesses  the  essential  qualifications  for  the  Christian 
ministry  is  called  of  God  to  exercise  them.  "  Every  man  that  hath  received 
the  gift"  is  commanded  of  God  "to  minister  the  same  as  a  good  steward  of 
the  manifold  grace  of  God."  Only  let  him  take  heed  that  "  if  he  speak,  it  be 
according  to  the  oracles  of  God." 

Now  the  Scriptures  are  not  silent  on  the  qualifications  of  a  bishop :  see 
1  Tim.  iii.  1-7.  By  a  bishop  I  must  be  allowed  to  understand,  not  a  lord  in 
lawn,  but  a  Christian  pastor.  And  besides  those  requisites  which  belong  to 
his  moral  and  religious  character,  there  are  two  things  which  appear  to  be 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  discharge  of  this  sacred  office;  one  is,  that  he 
have  a  true  desire  after  it,  and  the  other,  an  ability  for  it.  The  former  of 
these  qualifications  is  included  in  the  terms,  "  if  a  man  desire  the  office  of  a 
bishop."  It  is  supposed  that  this  desire  shall  spring  from  a  pure  motive,  and 
not  from  the  love  of  ease,  aflluence,  or  applause ;  but  from  a  concern  to  glo- 
rify God  and  promote  the  salvation  of  men.  It  is  necessary,  in  my  judgment, 
that  there  should  be  a  special  desire  of  this  sort ;  a  kind  of  fire  kindled  in  the 
bosom,  that  it  would  be  painful  to  extinguish.  The  latter  qualification  is 
contained  in  those  expressive  terms,  "  apt  to  teach"  He  must  possess  not 
only  an  inventive  mind,  but  a  kind  of  natural  readiness  in  communicating 
his  ideas. 

Neither  of  these  qualifications  is  sufficient  in  itself.  A  man  may  have  a 
desire  after  the  Christian  ministry,  and  that  desire  may  arise  from  the  purest 
motives ;   and  yet,  having  no  competent  ability  for  the  work,  he  is  certainly 

Vol.  III.— 100  3  X 


794  ANSWERS  TO  QUERIES. 

not  called  of  God  to  be  employed  in  it.  I  doubt  not  but  the  Lord  will  take 
it  well  that  it  was  in  the  heart  of  such  persons  to  build  him  a  house,  though 
their  desire  may  never  be  accomplished.  On  the  other  hand  a  person  may 
not  only  be  a  good  man  and  judicious,  but  possess  a  readiness  in  communi- 
cating his  ideas ;  and  yet,  having  no  special  thirst  after  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  or  of  thus  promoting  the  salvation  of  souls,  he  is  unfit  to  engage 
in  it. 

Of  the  former  qualification,  every  man  must  be  his  own  judge;  for  who 
else  can  be  acquainted  with  his  desires  and  motives?  Of  the  latter,  those 
with  whom  we  stand  connected.  Whether  we  be  "  apt  to  teach"  is  a  ques- 
tion on  which  we  ought  not  to  decide  ourselves :  those  are  the  best  judges 
who  have  heard  us,  and  been  taught  by  us.  When  a  congregation  of  Chris- 
tians invite  a  person  to  serve  them  in  the  gospel,  it  is  sufficient  proof  that 
they  consider  him  as  equal  to  the  undertaking.  If  a  person  so  invited  be  but 
clear  as  to  the  former  qualification,  I  conceive  he  may  leave  the  latter  to  the 
judgment  of  others;  and  conclude  that,  so  long  as  a  door  is  opened  for  him 
to  preach  the  gospel,  he  is  called  of  God  to  do  so. 


FUGITIVE  PIECES. 


THE  NECESSITY  OF  SEEKING  THOSE  THINGS  FIRST  WHICH 
ARE  OF  THE  FIRST  IMPORTANCE. 

A  GREAT  part  of  the  evil  which  prevails  in  the  world  consists  in  an  eniire 
neglect  of  wliat  God  commands, or  in  doing  what  he  has  expressly  forbidden; 
but  not  the  whole  of  it.  There  may  be  an  attachment  to  many  things  which 
in  themselves  are  right,  and  yet  the  whole  may  be  rendered  worse  than  void 
by  the  want  of  order,  or  a  regard  to  things  according  to  their  importance. 
Our  Lord  did  not  censure  the  Pharisees  for  attending  to  the  lesser  matters 
of  the  law,  but  for  attending  to  them  "  to  the  neglect  of  the  greater."  If  we 
pursue  things  as  primary  which  ought  to  occupy  only  a  secondary  or  subor- 
dinate place  in  the  system,  we  subvert  the  whole,  and  employ  ourselves  in 
doing  what  is  worse  than  nothing. 

I  think  I  see  the  operation  of  this  principle  among  us,  and  that  to  a  wide 
extent.  I  see  it  among  the  unconverted,  among  the  converted,  and  among 
different  parties  or  denominations  of  Christians. 

First,  It  is  by  this  that  great  numbers  who  lay  their  accounts  with  obtain- 
ing the  kingdom  of  heaven  will  be  found  to  have  deceived  themselves.  It 
may  be  too  much  to  say  of  them  that  they  do  not  seek  the  kingdom  of  God; 
but  they  seek  it  not  as  a  first  or  primary  object.  The  world  is  their  chief 
good,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  only  occupies  a  secondary  place  in  their 
affections.  They  wish  to  attend  to  their  everlasting  concerns,  but  they  can- 
not spare  time.  Now  we  can  commonly  spare  time  for  that  which  we  love 
best.  The  sensualist  can  find  time  for  his  pleasures,  and  the  man  of  the 
world  for  getting  money.  They  can  think  of  these  things  when  sitting  in 
the  house,  or  walking  in  the  way ;  and  every  thing  else  is  made  to  bend,  or 
give  way  to  them.  The  result  is,  this  preposterous  conduct  mars  the  whole; 
for  God  and  religion  must  be  supreme,  or  nothing.  There  are  certain  rela- 
tions, even  among  us,  in  which  it  is  impossible  to  be  contented  with  a 
secondary  place.  If  a  wife  give  her  heart  to  another  than  her  husband,  and 
aim  only  to  oblige  him  so  far  as  to  keep  him  in  tolerably  good  humour,  it 
is  what  cannot  be  endured :  he  must  be  first,  or  nothing;  and  such  is  the 
claim  of  heaven. 

Secondly,  It  is  owing  to  this,  among  other  causes,  that  many  Christians 
go  from  year  to  year  in  doubt,  with  respect  to  their  interest  in  Christ  and 
spiritual  blessings. — It  is  very  desirable  to  have  clear  and  satisfactory  views 
on  this  subject.  To  live  in  suspense  on  a  matter  of  such  importance  must, 
if  we  be  not  sunk  in  insensibility,  be  miserable.  How  is  it  that  so  much  of 
this  prevails  among  us;  when,  if  we  look  into  the  New  Testament,  we  shall 
scarcely  see  an  instance  of  it  among  the  primitive  Christians?  Shall  we  cast 
oft'  all  such  characters  as  unbelievers?  Some  have  done  so,  alleging  that  it 
is  impossible  for  a  person  to  be  a  believer  without  being  conscious  of  it. 
Surely  this  is  too  much ;  for  if  the  grace  of  God  within  us,  whatever  be  its 
degree,  must  needs  be  self-evident  to  us,  why  are  we  directed  to  keep  his 

795 


796  FUGITIVE  PIECES. 

commandments  as  the  means  of"  knowing  that  we  know  him?"  The  primi- 
tive Christians,  however,  had  but  little  of  this  fear ;  and  the  reason  of  it  was, 
they  had  more  o^  th^t  perfect  love  to  Christ,  to  the  gospel,  and  to  the  success 
of  it,  than  we  have,  which  tended  to  "  cast  out  fear."  If  we  make  our  per- 
sonal comfort  \hejirst  object  of  our  pursuit,  (and  many  attend  the  means  of 
grace  as  if  they  did,)  God  will  make  it  the  last  of  his ;  for  it  is  a  general 
principle  in  the  Divine  administration,  "Him  that  honoureth  me  I  will 
honour;  but  he  that  despiseth  me  shall  be  lightly  esteemed."  If  we  seek 
the  honour  of  God,  we  shall  find  our  own  peace  and  comfort  in  it;  but  if  we 
make  light  of  him  he  will  make  light  of  us,  and  leave  us  to  pass  our  days  in 
darkness  and  suspense. 

Thirdly,  It  is  owing,  if  I  mistake  not,  to  the  same  cause  that  various  de- 
nominations of  Christians,  who  at  some  period  have  been  greatly  blessed  of 
God,  have  declined  as  to  their  spiritual  prosperity.  Several  of  our  religious 
denominations  have  arisen  from  a  conscientious  desire  to  restore  Christianity 
to  its  primitive  purity.  From  this  motive  acted,  I  believe,  the  greater  part 
of  the  Reformers,  the  puritans,  the  nonconformists,  and  the  Baptists.  I  do 
not  know  that  any  one  of  these  denominations  were  censurable  for  the  sepa- 
rations which  they  made  from  other  professing  Christians.  It  may  be  alleged 
that  they  have  torn  the  church  of  Christ  into  parties,  and  so  occasioned  much 
evil;  yet  some  of  them  did  not  separate  from  the  church  of  Christ,  but  from 
a  worldly  community  calling  itself  by  that  name;  and  those  who  did,  pre- 
tended not  to  be  the  only  people  of  God  in  the  world,  but  considered  them- 
selves merely  as  "  withdrawing  from  brethren  who  walked  disorderly."  It  is 
a  melancholy  fact,  however,  that  no  sooner  have  a  people  formed  themselves 
into  a  new  denomination  than  they  are  in  the  utmost  danger  of  concentrating 
almost  all  their  strength,  influence,  zeal,  prayers,  and  endeavours  for  its  sup- 
port; not  as  a  part  of  Christ's  visible  kingdom,  wishing  all  good  to  other 
parts  in  so  far  as  they  follow  Christ,  but  as  though  it  were  the  whole  of  it, 
and  as  though  all  true  religion  were  circumscribed  within  its  hallowed  pale. 
This  is  the  essence  of  a  sectarian  spirit,  and  the  bane  of  Christianity. 

I  am  a  Dissenter,  and  a  Baptist.  If  I  confine  my  remarks  to  the  faults  of 
these  denominations,  it  is  not  because  I  consider  them  as  greater  sinners  in 
this  way  than  all  others,  but  because  I  wish  more  especially  to  correct  the 
evils  of  my  own  connexions. 

If  we  wish  to  promote  the  dissenting  interest,  it  must  not  be  by  expending 
our  principal  zeal  in  endeavouring  to  make  men  Dissenters,  but  in  making 
Dissenters  and  others  Christians.  The  principles  of  dissent,  however  just 
and  important,  are  not  to  be  compared  with  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed 
God ;  and  if  inculcated  at  the  expense  of  it,  it  is  no  better  than  tithing  mint 
and  cummin,  to  the  omitting  of  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law.  Such  en- 
deavours will  be  blasted,  and  made  to  defeat  their  own  end.  Those  Dis- 
senters among  whom  the  doctrines  of  the  puritans  and  nonconformists  have 
fallen  into  disrepute  are  generally  distinguished  by  this  species  of  zeal ;  and 
it  is  principally  from  such  quarters  that  complaints  are  heard  of  "  the  decline 
of  the  dissenting  interest."  Where  they  are  believed  and  taught,  and  their 
progress,  whether  among  Dissenters  or  others,  viewed  with  satisfaction,  we 
hear  of  no  such  complaints.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  while  a  certain  descrip- 
tion of  Dissenters  are  inquiring  into  the  causes  of  the  decline  of  the  dissent- 
ing interest,  a  certain  description  of  the  established  clergy  are  inquiring  into 
the  causes  of  its  increase ! 

If  we  wish  to  see  the  Baptist  denomination  prosper,  we  must  not  expend 
our  zeal  so  much  in  endeavouring  to  make  men  Baptists,  as  in  labouring  to 
make  Baptists  and  other  Christians.  If  we  lay  out  ourselves  in  the  common 
cause  of  Christianity,  the  Lord  will  bless  and  increase  us.     By  rejoicing  in 


EVIL  THINGS  WHICH  PASS  UNDER  SPECIOUS  NAMES.  797 

the  prosperity  of  every  other  denomination,  in  so  far  as  they  accord  with  the 
mind  of  Christ,  we  shall  promote  the  best  interests  of  our  own.  But  if  we 
be  more  concerned  to  make  proselytes  to  a  party  than  converts  to  Christ,  we 
shall  defeat  our  own  end ;  and  however  just  our  sentiments  may  be  with  re- 
spect to  the  subjects  and  mode  of  baptism,  we  shall  be  found  symbolizing 
with  the  Pharisees,  who  were  employed  in  tithing  mint  and  cummin,  to  the 
neglect  of  judgment,  mercy,  and  the  love  of  God. 


PARTY  SPIRIT. 


There  appears  to  be  a  mistaken  idea,  too  commonly  prevailing  in  the 
religious  world  at  present,  respecting  what  is  called  a  party  spirit. 

Many  professors,  while  they  endeavour  to  promote  the  interests  of  religion 
in  general,  too  often  neglect  to  pay  that  attention  which  is  due  to  the  interest 
and  welfare  of  that  class  or  denomination  of  Christians  in  particular  with 
which  they  are  or  have  been  connected.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  one  of 
these  "candid"  Christian  professors  keep  at  a  distance  from  his  own  denomi- 
nation, or  party,  where  that  denomination  stands  most  in  need  of  his  counte- 
nance and  support;  while  he  associates  with  another  party,  which  is  sanctioned 
by  numbers  and  worldly  influence.  And  when  the  inconsistency  of  his  con- 
duct is  hinted  at,  he  will  excuse  himself  by  saying,  in  the  cant  phrase  of  the 
day,  That  it  is  his  wish  to  promote  the  interests  of  religion  in  general,  and 
not  to  serve  a  party.  I  wish  some  of  your  correspondents  would  expose  the 
conduct  of  such  fawning  professors  in  its  true  colours;  and  endeavour  to 
convince  them  that  in  vain  are  all  pretensions  to  Christian  candour  where 
consistency  and  integrity  are  wanting. 


EVIL  THINGS  WHICH  PASS  UNDER  SPECIOUS  NAMES. 

There  is  something  in  the  nature  of  evil,  which,  if  it  appear  in  its  own 
proper  colours,  will  not  admit  of  being  defended  or  recommended  to  others; 
he,  therefore,  who  is  friendly  to  it  is  under  the  necessity  of  disguising  it,  by 
giving  it  some  specious  name,  in  order  to  render  it  current  in  society.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  is  something  in  the  nature  of  good,  which,  if  it  appear 
in  its  own  proper  colours,  cannot  well  be  opposed  :  he  therefore  who  wishes 
to  run  it  down  is  obliged  first  to  give  it  an  ill  name,  or  he  could  not  accom- 
plish his  purpose.  This  species  of  imposition,  it  is  true,  is  calculated  only 
for  superficial  minds,  who  regard  words  rather  than  things ;  but  the  number 
of  them  is  so  great  in  the  world,  and  even  in  the  church,  that  it  has  in  all 
ages  been  found  to  answer  the  end.  In  the  times  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  there 
were  those  who  "  called  evil  good,  and  good  evil,  who  put  bitter  for  sweet, 
and  sweet  for  bitter;"  but  as  the  woe  of  heaven  was  then  denounced  against 
the  practice,  it  becomes  us'to  beware  of  going  into  it,  or  being  imposed  on 
by  it. 

It  is  not  the  design  of  the  writer  to  trace  this  abuse  of  language  through 
any  part  of  his  history  or  politics,  or  any  other  worldly  department;  but 
merely  to  notice  a  few  terms  which  are  very  current  in  our  religious  circles: 
— such  as  moderation,  liberality,  charity,  &c.,  on  the  one  hand ;  and  bigotry, 
narrowness  of  mind,  and  ill-nature,  on  the  other. 

3x3 


798  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 

There  is  a  spirit  gone  forth  in  the  present  age  which  iscalculated  to  do 
more  harm  in  the  church  of  God  than  the  most  erroneous  doctrine  that  has 
been  advanced  since  the  days  of  the  apostles.  It  bears  a  favourable  aspect 
towards  those  systems  of  divinity  which  depreciate  the  evil  of  sin,  the  free- 
ness  of  grace,  the  dignity  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  of  his  righteousness  as  the 
only  ground  of  acceptance  with  God  ;  so  much  so  that  it  is  seldom  known  to 
oppose  them.  Or  if,  for  the  sake  of  preserving  its  reputation,  it  strikes  an 
occasional  blow  at  them,  yet  it  is  with  so  light  a  hand  as  never  to  hurt  them. 
It  takes  no  decided  stand  on  this  side  or  that,  and  thereby  obtains  admission 
among  all  parties.  If  the  friends  of  Christ  meet  together,  it  wishes  to  meet 
with  them,  though  it  be  only  to  oppose  every  measure  which  may  bear  hard 
upon  its  favourite  designs,  and  would  take  it  very  unkind  to  be  treated  as  an 
intruder.  If  his  enemies  be  assembled,  it  will  also  be  there;  and,  if  no  un- 
trusty  brother  be  in  company,  will  commonly  manifest  itself  to  be  then  most 
in  its  element. 

Now,  let  a  spirit  of  this  kind  make  its  appearance  in  any  other  department 
than  religion,  and  observe  how  it  will  be  treated.  In  the  year  1745,  for  in- 
stance, when  the  great  question  in  the  country  was,  Shall  we  support  the 
reigning  family,  and  the  constitution ;  or  shall  we  admit  the  pretender,  with 
popery  and  arbitrary  power  in  his  train?  what  would  have  been  thought  of  a 
man  who  should  have  pretended  to  be  on  neither  this  side  nor  that,  but  talk- 
ing against  war,  and  in  favour  of  moderation,  liberality,  and  charity  towards 
the  unhappy  youth,  (who  by  landing  on  our  shores  had  greatly  endangered 
his  life,)  made  use  of  all  his  influence  to  oppose  every  decided  measure  tend- 
ing to  drive  him  from  the  country?  "  Sir,"  they  would  have  said,  "you  are 
on  the  side  of  the  pretender,  and  deserve  to  be  taken  up  as  a  traitor."  And 
had  he  complained  of  their  bigotry,  narrow-mindedness,  and  ill-nature,  his 
remonstrance  would  have  deserved  no  regard.  But  is  the  cause  of  God  and 
truth  of  less  importance  than  the  temporal  prosperity  of  a  nation?  Surely  not ! 

If,  indeed,  our  differences  consist  merely  in  words ;  or,  though  they  should 
be  things,  yet  if  they  do  not  affect  the  first  principles  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
considering  the  imperfections  which  attach  to  the  best  of  men,  a  spirit  of 
moderation  or  forbearance  is  here  in  character.  When  we  have  frankly 
spoken  our  minds,  we  may  with  a  good  conscience  leave  it,  and  join  with 
our  brethren,  notwithstanding,  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  But  in  differences 
which  respect  the  principles  above  mentioned,  compromise  would  be  treason 
against  the  Majesty  of  heaven.  There  were  cases  in  which  an  apostle  allowed 
that  "  every  one  should  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  ;"  but  there  were 
cases  also  in  which  "  the  doctrine  of  Christ"  was  given  up;  and  if  any  man 
came  as  a  minister  without  this.  Christians  were  directed  "  not  to  receive 
him  into  their  houses,  nor  to  bid  him  God  speed."  Such  conduct  in  the 
present  times  would  raise  a  great  outcry  of  bigotry,  and  illiberality;  a  plain 
proof  this  that  what  passes  among  us  under  the  names  of  moderation  and 
liberality  is  in  a  great  degree  antichristian. 

What  is  moderation?  The  Scriptures  recommend  a  yielding  and  gentle 
disposition  in  things  wherein  our  own  name  or  interest  only  are  concerned.— 
Such  is  the  moderation  enforced  by  Paul ;  but  when  the  continuance  of  the 
truth  of  the  gospel  was  at  issue,  he  refused  "  to  give  place  even  for  an  hour." 
The  Scriptures  also  recommend  forbearance  i-n  Christians  one  towards 
anothef;  but  this  is  far  from  that  spirit  of  indifference  which  would  confound 
truth  and  error,  religion  and  irreligion,  the  friends  of  Christ  and  the  men  of 
the  world. 

What  is  liheralitij .^  The  term  denotes  freedom,  or  enlargedness  of  mind. 
It  is  applied  in  the  Scriptures  merely  to  that  simple,  sincere,  and  bountiful 
spirit,  which  communicates  freely  to  the  needy,  and  stands  opposed  to  a 


EVIL  THINGS  WHICH  PASS  UNDER  SPECIOUS  NAMES.  799 

sinister,  close,  contracted,  and  covetous  disposition.  The  application  of  it 
to  sentiments  may  be  proper,  when  used  to  describe  that  enlargedness  of 
mind  which  arises  from  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures,  and  an 
extensive  knowledge  of  men  and  things.  A  rigid  attachment  to  modes  and 
opinions  merely  of  human  authority  is  often  seen  in  persons  who  have  read 
but  little,  and  thought  less.  Had  they  seen  more  of  the  religious  world,  and 
heard  more  of  what  is  to  be  said  against  the  notions  in  which  they  happen  to 
have  been  educated,  their  tenacity,  we  may  commonly  say,  might  be  abated ; 
in  other  words,  they  might  be  more  liberally  minded,  and  moderate  in  their 
censures  against  those  who  differ  from  them.  But  to  attribute  all  attachment 
to  principles,  and  even  modes  of  worship,  to  illiberality  of  mind,  is  itself 
illiberal.  If  an  attachment,  whether  it  be  to  one  or  the  other,  be  the  effect  of 
impartial  research,  and  a  firm  persuasion  that  they  are  the  mind  of  God  as 
revealed  in  his  word,  it  is  so  far  from  indicating  a  bigoted,  contracted,  or 
illiberal  miad,  that  it  may  arise  from  the  contrary.  The  more  we  understand 
of  Divine  truth,  the  more  our  minds  will  be  enlarged,  and  the  more  decided 
will  be  our  opposition  to  error.  To  call  that  liberality  which  holds  all  doc- 
trines with  a  loose  hand,  and  considers  it  as  of  no  importance  to  salvation 
whether  we  believe  this  or  that,  is  a  gross  perversion  of  language.  Such  a 
spirit  arises  not  from  enlargedness  of  mind,  or  from  having  read  much,  or 
thought  much ;  but  from  the  vanity  of  wisJiiiig  to  have  it  thought  that  they 
have.  This  vanity,  when  flattered  by  weak  or  interested  men,  induces  the 
most  ignorant  characters  to  assume  imperious  airs,  and  to  exercise  a  kind 
of  contemptuous  pity  towards  those  who  cannot  treat  the  gospel  with  the 
same  indifference  as  themselves.  A  minister  who  has  wished  for  the  liberty 
of  playing  fast  and  loose  with  Christian  doctrines,  without  being  disrespected 
by  his  congregation,  has  been  known  to  compliment  them  as  an  enlightened 
people,  and  to  praise  them  for  thinking  for  themselves;  while  in  fact  they 
have  neither  thought,  nor  read,  nor  understood,  unless  it  were  a  few  political 
pamphlets,  and  the  doctrine  of  getting  money. 

It  seems  to  be  a  criterion  of  this  species  of  liberality  that  we  think  well  of 
characters,  whatever  be  their  principles,  and  entertain  the  most  favourable  opi- 
nion of  their  final  state.  The  writer  was  some  time  since  in  a  company  where 
mention  was  made  of  one  who  believed  in  the  final  salvation  of  all  men, 
and  perhaps  of  all  devils  likewise.  "  He  is  a  gentleman,"  said  one,  "  of 
liberal  principles."  Such  principles  may,  doubtless,  be  denominated  liberal, 
that  is,  free  and  enlarged  in  one  sense; — they  are  free  from  the  restraints 
of  Scripture,  and  enlarged  as  a  net  which  contains  a  great  multitude  of  fishes, 
good  and  bad ;  but  whether  this  ought  to  recommend  them  is  another  ques- 
tion. What  would  be  thought  of  one  who  should  visit  the  felons  of  Newgate, 
and  persuade  them  that  such  was  the  goodness  of  the  government  that  not 
one  of  them,  even  though  condemned,  would  be  finally  executed?  If  they 
could  be  induced  to  believe  him,  they  would  doubtless  think  him  a  very 
liberal-minded  man ;  but  it  is  likely  the  government,  and  every  friend  to  the 
public  good,  would  think  him  an  enemy  to  his  country,  and  to  the  very  par- 
ties whom  by  his  glozing  doctrine  he  had  deceived. 

It  is  usual  to  call  that  man  liberal  who  thinks  or  professes  to  think  for 
himself,  and  is  willing  that  every  other  person  should  do  the  same.  This, 
if  applied  to  civil  society,  is  just.  Christianity  will  persecute  no  man  for 
his  religious  principles,  but  meekly  instruct  him,  in  hope  that  God  peradven- 
ture  may  give  him  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth.  But  apply 
the  principle  to  religious  society,  and  it  is  inadmissible.  If  one  member  of 
a  Christian  church  be  not  accountable  to  another  for  what  he  believes,  an 
infidel,  in  demanding  the  Lord's  supper  from  a  Christian  minister  as  a 
qualification  for  office,  demands  no  more  than  the  other  may  conscientiously 


800  FUGITIVE   PIECES. 

and  scripturally  comply  with.  In  refusing  to  unite  with  an  unbeliever,  or  a 
profligate,  or  one  who  in  my  judgment  rejects  what  is  essential  to  the  gospel, 
I  do  not  impose  my  faith  upon  him ;  but  merely  decline  havinsr  fellowship 
with  what  I  consider  as  a  work  of  darkness. 

The  writer  is  acquainted  with  several  dissenting  churches  at  this  time 
W'hich  for  some  years  past  have  acted  upon  what  they  call  a  liberal  ground: 
that  is,  they  have  admitted  men  of  all  sorts  of  principles  into  their  commu- 
nion :  and  if  some  who  once  professed  to  be  friendly  to  the  doctrine  of  sal- 
vation by  grace,  the  Deity  and  atonement  of  Christ,  acceptance  with  God 
through  his  righteousness,  the  necessity  of  the  new  birth,  &c.,  become  their 
avowed  enemies,  they  take  no  notice  of  them ;  but  leave  them,  as  they  say, 
to  judge  for  themselves.  The  consequence,  however,  is,  that  many  of  these 
churches  have,  in  a  ^livt  years,  become  extinct;  and  those  which  remain  have 
become  mere  worldly  communities,  going  into  many  of  the  dissipations  and 
follies  which  are  practised  by  none  but  people  who  make  no  pretence  to 
serious  religion.  I  have  generally  observed  that  those  who  are  thus  liberal 
in  regard  to  principles  are  seldom  for  behind  as  to  their  practices.  Cards, 
balls,  plays,  &c.,  are  with  them  innocent  amusements.  Such  assuredly  was 
not  the  liberality  of  Paul.  He  was,  however,  of  an  enlarged  mind,  and 
wished  much  for  Christians  to  he  also  enlarged.  But  how?  By  opening 
their  doors  to  worldly  men,  and  holding  fellowship  with  all  sorts  of  charac- 
ters? Not  so;  but  by  the  direct  contrary. — Read  2  Cor.  vii.  11,  to  the  end  : 
"  O  ye  Corinthians,  our  mouth  is  open  unto  you ;  our  heart  is  enlarged. — 
Ye  are  not  straitened  in  us,  but  in  your  own  bowels. — Be  ye  also  enlarged. — 
Be  ye  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers."  From  hence  it  would 
seem  that  true  enlargedness  of  mind  is  inconsistent  with  an  indiscriminate 
communion  with  unbelievers  or  worldly  characters.  And  this  accords  with 
universal  experience.  Those  Christian  societies  who  are  careful  to  preclude 
or  exclude  the  enemies  of  the  gospel  are  in  a  good  degree  of  one  heart,  and 
will  feel  themselves  at  liberty  to  engage  in  every  good  work  in  their  social 
capacity.  But  those  communities  which  are  open  to  all  will  never  be  agreed 
in  any  thing  which  requires  self-denial,  diligence,  or  devotedness  to  Christ. 
One  will  make  this  objection  to  the  measure,  and  another  that;  so  that  no- 
thing will  be  effected.  This  is  being  yoked  together  with  unbelievers;  it  is 
like  yoking  the  sprightly  horse  with  the  tardy  ass,  which,  instead  of  helping, 
only  hinders  him,  and  may  in  time  so  break  his  spirit  as  to  render  him  nearly 
as  tardy  as  the  other.  In  vain  do  we  separate  from  national  establishments 
of  religion  to  corrupt  ourselves.  Nonconformity  to  the  ceremonies  of  the 
church  is  of  no  account,  if  it  be  attended  with  conformity  to  the  world.  If 
the  seven  Asiatic  churches  had  been  originally  formed  on  these  liberal  prin- 
ciples, how  came  it  to  pass  that  they  were  censured  for  having  those  "  among 
them"  who  held  doctrines  inconsistent  with  Christianity?  On  such  princi- 
ples, they  might  have  excused  themselves  from  blame,  inasmuch  as  those 
individuals  were  only  permitted  to  think  and  act  for  themselves. 


SCRIPTURAL  TREATMENT  OF  RICH  AND  POOR  CHRISTIANS. 

It  is  a  glory  pertaining  to  the  Christian  religion  that  it  embraces  in  one 
community  all  ranks  and  degrees  of  men.  It  admits  of  civil  distinctions, 
and  honours  every  one  to  whom  honour  is  due ;  but  at  the  house  of  God  all 
this  is  required  to  be  laid  aside.  All  are  brethren,  and  no  account  is  made 
of  worldly  superiority. 


TREATMENT  OF  RICH  AND  POOR  CHRISTIANS.  801 

I  have  been  led  to  these  reflections  by  comparing  the  words  of  the  apostle 
James  (chap.  i.  9, 10)  with  a  passage  which  I  have  lately  met  with  in  an  other- 
wise admired  publication.  "Let  the  brother  of  low  degree,"  says  the  apostle, 
"  rejoice  in  that  he  is  exalted ;  but  the  rich  in  that  he  is  made  low :  because 
as  the  flower  of  the  grass  he  shall  pass  away."  We  see  here  that  joy  is  the 
common  portion  of  all  believers,  whether  rich  or  poor;  and  that  the  highest 
character  which  either  can  attain  is  that  of  a  "  brother."  Th^ere  is,  however, 
some  ditference  in  the  considerations  which  are  presented  for  the  purpose  of 
inducing  joy,  according  to  their  different  situations  in  life.  The  poor  brother 
is  supposed  to  be  most  in  danger  of  inordinate  dejection ;  and  therefore,  as 
a  proper  antidote,  he  must  rejoice  in  being  "  exalted."  The  rich,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  most  in  danger  of  being  lifted  up  with  his  situation  ;  he  must,  there- 
fore, rejoice  in  his  being  "  made  low."  The  adaptedness  of  the  means  to 
the  end,  in  the  former  instance,  is  easily  conceived ;  but  there  seems  to  be 
something  a  little  paradoxical  in  the  latter.     Let  us  examine  them. 

The  poor  brother's  part,  by  which  he  is  taught  to  rejoice  in  adversity,  is 
one  in  which  every  Christian  heart  will  rejoice  with  him.  A  state  of  poverty, 
viewed  by  itself,  is  both  chilling  and  cheerless.  Nature  revolts  at  it.  A 
lowly  habitation,  a  dry  and  scanty  morsel,  mean  attire,  hard  labour,  and  the 
want  of  respect  among  men,  are  things  which  cannot  be  agreeable.  If  all 
were  alike,  it  would  be  somewhat  different;  but  the  poor  man  is  affected  by 
the  disparity  between  his  condition  and  that  of  others.  Plenty  daily  passes 
by  his  door;  but  he  scarcely  tastes  it.  If  the  fig-tree  blossom,  it  is  not  for 
him;  there  is  no  fruit  on  his  vine,  nor  flock  in  his  fold,  nor  herd  in  his  stall. 
But,  "  Let  the  brother  of  low  degree  rejoice  in  that  he  is  exalted,"  Come 
hither,  poor  man,  says  the  gospel ;  art  thou  but  withal  a  Christian  ?  here  is 
a  feast  for  thee.  Although  thy  fig-tree  blossom  not,  and  there  be  no  fruit 
on  thy  vine,  nor  flock  in  thy  fold,  nor  herd  in  thy  stall ;  yet  mayst  thou  re- 
joice in  the  Lord,  and  joy  in  the  God  of  thy  salvation !  Say  not,  I  am  a  dry 
tree ;  God  hath  given  thee  an  everlasting  name,  that  shall  not  be  cut  off".  Art 
thou  a  servant?  care  not  for  it;  thou  art  the  Lord's  free-man.  To  be  an  heir 
of  God,  a  joint  heir  with  Christ,  a  son  or  daughter  of  the  Lord  God  Almighty, 
a  fellow  citizen  with  the  saints,  is  an  honour  which  princes  might  envy! 
Nor  is  it  altogether  in  hope.  As  there  is  a  meanness  in  sin  which  renders 
the  character  of  the  sinner,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  and  pretences,  con- 
temptible even  in  his  own  eyes;  so  there  is  a  dignity  in  uprightness  which 
ennobles  the  mind,  whatever  be  its  outward  circumstances.  This  it  was 
imboldened  the  prisoner,  while  the  want  of  it  caused  the  judge  to  tremble. 
Acts  xxiv.  25. 

That,  on  the  other  hand,  which  is  addressed  to  the  rich  brother  is  no  less 
appropriate.  He  is  directed  to  rejoice,  and  we  should  think  with  good  rea- 
son, inasmuch  as  his  enjoyment  lies  in  both  worlds;  but  this  is  not  the 
ground  of  it.  And  though  he  is,  in  common  with  his  poor  brother,  interested 
in  gospel  privileges,  yet  they  are  not  here  introduced ;  but  something  more 
suited  to  counteract  that  spirit  of  high-mindedness  of  which  the  rich  are  espe- 
cially in  danger.  He  is  directed  to  "  rejoice  in  that  he  is  made  low."  He 
must  not  value  himself  on  any  thing  of  a  worldly  nature,  because  "as  the 
flower  of  the  grass  he  shall,"  in  that  respect,  '  pass  away."  Rather  let  him 
rejoice  that  he  has  been  humbled,  and  taught,  like  Moses,  to  prefer  affliction 
with  the  people  of  God  to  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season.  It  is  true  this  is 
rejoicing  in  what  the  world  accounts  a  disgrace;  but  such  was  the  joy  of  all 
who  gloried  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  Whatever  the  world  may  think,  there  \a 
a  solid  reason  for  the  opulent  Christian  to  rejoicje  in  his  being  made  low ; 
for  it  is  a  being  led  to  think  justly  and  soberly  of  himself  as  he  ought  to 
think,  and  enabled  to  withdraw  his  dependence  from  those  deceitful  enjoy- 

VOL.111.— 101 


802  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 

ments  which  will  quickly  "  fade  like  the  grass  before  the  scorching  sun." 
It  will  tend  also  to  heighten  his  joy,  if  he  compare  his  case  with  that  of  the 
generality  of  rich  men,  who  are  put  off  with  the  present  world  as  their  only 
portion.  "Not  many"  of  this  description  "are  called."  It  is  therefore 
matter  of  thankfulness  to  any  who  are  singled  out  by  Divine  grace  from  their 
companions. 

Christianity  is  far  from  promoting  a  levelling  spirit  in  one  sense  of  the 
term ;  but  it  is  its  professed  object  in  another.  "  Every  valley  shall  be 
exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  made  low."  In  all  that  Christ  and  his 
apostles  have  done  to  propagate  it,  they  have  made  no  account  of  those 
things  which  men  are  apt  to  set  a  value  upon.  Had  human  wisdom  been 
consulted,  the  first  object  would  have  been  to  convert  those  who,  on  account 
of  office,  rank,  fortune,  or  talents,  had  the  greatest  influence  upon  others ; 
and  who,  by  throwing  their  weight  into  the  Christian  scale,  would  have 
easily  caused  it  to  preponderate.  But  though  some  of  this  description  are  to 
be  found  among  the  primitive  Christians,  yet  they  appear  to  have  taken  no 
leading  part  among  them ;  nor  is  the  success  of  the  gospel  ever  ascribed  to 
their  influence.  But,  descending  from  their  former  heights,  they  took  their 
place  among  the  brethren,  rejoicing  that  they  were  made  low. 

You  are  ready  to  ask,  What  of  this  ?  And  what  is  the  passage  you  have 
been  comparing  with  it?  It  is  as  follows: — "Greatly  as  I  wish  the  reform 
of  principles,  and  the  suppression  of  vice,  I  am  not  sanguine  in  my  expecta- 
tions of  either  event,  while  rank,  and  station,  and  wealth  throw  their  mighty 
influence  into  the  opposite  scale.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  Christianity 
obtain  the  dominion  she  deserves,  when  the  makers  of  our  manners  shall 
submit  to  her  authority,  and  the  people  of  fashion  become  the  people  op 
God." 

Christianity,  to  be  sure,  will  never  obtain  the  dominion  she  deserves  while 
any  class  of  society  continues  to  set  her  at  nought;  but  if  its  scale  should 
be  made  at  last  to  preponderate  by  the  mighty  influence  of  rank,  and  station, 
and  wealth  being  thrown  into  it,  things  must  proceed  on  very  different  prin- 
ciples from  what  they  have  done.  If  I  had  no  hope  of  Christianity  obtain- 
ing the  dominion  "  till  then,"  I  should  have  little  or  no  hope  at  all :  for 
though  God  is  able  to  turn  them,  as  well  as  others,  to  himself,  yet  it  is  not 
his  usual  way  of  working  in  order  to  promote  his  own  cause.  Is  it  not  much 
too  great  a  compliment  to  pay  to  men  of  rank  and  fashion,  to  suppose  that 
Christianity  will  never  prevail  till  it  receives  "their  mighty  influence?" 
Ought  they  not  rather  to  be  told  that,  if  they  decline  to  engage  on  her  side, 
the  consequence  will  only  affect  themselves?  "  Deliverance  will  arise"  from 
another  quarter,  and  God  will  cause  his  name  to  triumph  without  them ! 
According  to  all  that  has  hitherto  appeared,  and  all  that  we  are  taught  in 
the  Scriptures  to  expect,  the  people  of  fashion  will  be  the  last  that  shall 
enter  into  Christ's  kingdom  ;  and,  when  they  do  enter,  it  will  not  be  to  take 
the  lead,  but  as  rejoicing  that  they  are  made  low. 


THE  DANGEROUS  TENDENCY  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF 
UNIVERSAL  SALVATION. 

As  the  Scriptures  abound  in  representations  of  Divine  truth,  and  of  its 
influence  in  sanctifying  and  saving  the  souls  of  men,  so  they  are  no  less 
explicit  in  declaring  the  unholy  and  destructive  influence  of  error.  It  is  said 
to  "  increase  unto  more  ungodliness,"  and  to  "  eat  as  doth  a  gangrene."  The 


DANGEROUS  TENDENCT  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

same  Divine  writer  speaks  of  "  strong  delusion ;"  or  the  energy,  mighty 
working,  or  effectual  operation  of  error.  It  is  often  alleged,  in  behalf  of  the 
advocates  of  certain  doctrines,  that,  allowing  them  to  be  in  an  error,  yet  there 
is  no  reason  to  question  their  sincerity ;  and,  if  so,  it  may  be  only  an  inno- 
cent mistake.  If  by  sincerity  be  meant  no  more  than  that  they  really  believe 
what  they  teach,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  their  being  possessed  of  it ;  but 
the  same  was  true  of  the  persons  described  by  Paul.  Their  doctrine  was  a 
lie,  yet  they  believed  it.  Paul,  however,  was  far  from  reckoning  their  error 
on  this  account  an  innocent  mistake.  On  the  contrary,  he  represents  it  as 
leading  to  damnation ;  and  its  abettors  as  righteously  given  up  of  God  on 
account  of  their  not  having  received  "  the  love  of  the  truth,"  even  while  pro- 
fessing to  embrace  it. 

Without  taking  upon  us  to  decide  how  far,  and  for  how  long,  a  real  Chris- 
tian may  be  drawn  aside  from  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  or  what  degree 
of  error  may  be  found  after  all  to  consist  with  being  "  of  the  truth," — it  is 
sufficient  that  the  natural  tendency  of  these  things  is  destructive.  Every 
man  who  sets  a  proper  value  on  his  soul  will  beware  of  coming  within  the 
sweep  of  that  by  which  multitudes,  in  all  ages  of  the  church,  have  been  car- 
ried into  perdition. 

Under  the  fullest  conviction  that  what  has  been  said  of  error  in  general 
is  applicable  to  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation,  or  the  restoration  of  men 
and  devils  from  the  abodes  of  misery  to  final  happiness,  we  wish,  in  the  most 
serious  and  affectionate  manner,  to  caution  our  readers  against  it.  To  this 
end,  we  shall  point  out  a  few  of  its  dangerous  consequences,  which,  if  clearly 
ascertained,  will  be  so  many  presumptive  proofs  of  the  falsehood  of  the 
principle. 

First,  The  violence  which  requires  to  be  done  to  the  plain  language  of 
Scripture,  ere  this  doctrine  can  be  embraced,  goes  to  introduce  a  habit  of 
treating  the  sacred  oracles  with  levity,  and  of  perverting  them  in  support  of 
a  preconceived  system.  If  he  who  offendeth  in  one  point  of  the  law  is  guilty 
of  all,  in  that  he  admits  a  principle  which  sets  aside  the  authority  of  the 
Lawgiver ;  he  who  perverts  a  part  of  the  Scriptures  to  maintain  a  favourite 
doctrine,  in  the  same  way  perverts  the  whole,  and  thus  renders  the  word  of 
God  of  none  effect.  Hence  it  is  that  Universalism  leads  to  Socinianism,  as 
that  does  to  deism.  One  of  the  leading  advocates  of  this  system  was  warned 
of  this  at  his  outset ;  and  by  his  late  publications,  and  those  of  his  party,  they 
appear  to  have  given  full  proof  of  the  propriety  of  the  warning. 

Secondly,  To  explain  away  the  Scripture  threatenings  of  eternal  damna- 
tion is  intimately  connected  with  light  thoughts  of  sin;  and  these  will  lead 
on  to  a  rejection  of  the  gospel.  The  whole  doctrine  of  redemption  by  the 
Son  of  God  rests  upon  "  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,"  and  the  lost  con- 
dition of  sinners ;  for  "  the  whole  need  not  a  physician."  If  these,  therefore, 
be  given  up,  the  other  will  follow;  and  this  is  another  reason  why  Univer- 
salism will  be  almost  certain  to  end  in  Socinianism.  The  benevolence 
which  is  ascribed  to  God  by  the  advocates  of  both  is  in  reality  connivance ; 
it  is  that  which  must  induce  him  to  pardon  the  penitent  without  a  vicarious 
sacrifice,  and  to  punish  the  impenitent  only  for  a  time,  and  that  for  their 
ultimate  advantage.  The  Socinians  openly  renounce  the  atonement;  and 
though  some  of  the  Universalists  may  at  present  retain  the  name,  yet  they 
have  abandoned  the  thing.*  The  corruption  of  Christian  doctrine  among 
the  Galatians  went  to  introduce  "  another  gospel,"  and  to  make  "  Christ  to 

*  See  Letters  on  the  Atonement,  hj  the  Rev.  C.  Jerram  ;  a  piece  in  which  the  real  opinions 
of  the  Universalists,  concerning  this  all-important  doctrine,  are  clearly  developed  and 
answered. 


804  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 

have  died  in  vain."  But  what  would  Paul  have  said  of  this?  Let  those  who 
have  their  senses  exercised  to  discern  both  good  and  evil  judge. 

Thirdly,  If  tlie  Scripture  threatenings  of  eternal  damnation  be  set  aside, 
and  light  thoughts  of  sin  admitted,  sinners  will  be  more  and  more  hardened 
in  their  impenitence.  The  greatest  object  of  desire  to  a  wicked  man  is, 
doubtless,  a  heaven  suited  to  his  inclinations:  but  if  this  cannot  be,  his  next 
object  is  to  be  exempted  from  punishment;  on  which  principle  he  would 
gladly  be  annihilated ;  but  if  this  cannot  be,  he  would  next  prefer  a  punish- 
ment of  short  duration;  and  if  God  be  supposed,  notwithstanding  what  has 
been  said  of  eternal  damnation,  and  of  sinners  being  never  forgiven,  to 
intend  nothing  more  than  this,  he  will  naturally  conclude  that  the  degree  of 
it  will  be  abated,  as  well  as  the  duration  shortened.  The  same  kind  of  rea- 
soning from  the  Divine  benevolence  which  brings  him  to  believe  the  one 
will  bring  him  to  believe  the  other.  It  cannot  be  a  very  fearful  thing,  he 
will  suppose,  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  a  Being  who  will  inflict  nothing  upon 
him  but  for  his  good ;  and  therefore  he  will  indulge  for  the  present,  and 
abide  the  consequence.  This  is  not  an  imaginary  process :  it  is  a  fact  that 
these  are  the  principles  by  which  profligate  characters,  in  great  numbers, 
comfort  themselves  in  their  sins.  When  Rousseau  was  impressed  with  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  punishment,  he  could  scarcely  endure  his  existence;  but 
a  lady,  with  whom  he  says  he  was  very  familiat,  used  to  tranquillize  his  soul 
by  persuading  him  that  "  the  Supreme  Being  would  not  be  strictly  just,  if 
he  were  just  to  us."  If  all  such  characters  were  as  free  in  their  confessions 
as  this  debauchee  has  been  in  his,  there  is  no  doubt  but  the  same  tale,  in 
substance,  would  be  told  by  millions.  It  is  the  hope  that  they  shall  not 
surely  d\e — or,  if  they  die,  that  the  second  death  will  consist  of  annihilation, 
or  at  most  of  only  a  temporary  and  tolerable  punishment,  that  makes  them 
comparatively  easy.  So  Universalists  and  Socinians  preach,  and  so  profli- 
gates believe,  or  at  least  are  very  willing  to  believe  if  their  consciences  would 
suffer  them. 

Fourthly,  It  is  a  principle  that  will  universally  hold  good,  that  there  is  no 
ultimate  risk  in  adhering  to  truth,  but  the  utmost  danger  attends  a  departure 
from  it.  It  is  thus  that  we  reason  with  unbelievers :  It  is  possible  at  least 
that  Christianity  may  be  true;  and,  if  it  be,  we  have  infinitely  the  advantage. 
But,  allowing  that  it  may  be  false,  yet  what  risk  do  we  run  by  embracing  it? 
While  we  are  taught  by  it  to  "  deny  all  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to 
live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  this  present  evil  world,"  neither  your 
principles  nor  your  consciences  will  allow  you  to  deny  that  we  are  safe.  But 
if  that  Saviour  whom  you  have  despised  be  indeed  the  Son  of  God,  if  that 
name  which  you  have  blasphemed  be  the  only  one  under  heaven  given 
among  men  by  which  a  sinner  can  be  saved,  what  a  situation  is  yours! 
Apply  this  reasoning  to  the  subject  in  hand.  If  Universalism  should  prove 
true,  there  are  few  if  any  dangers  that  can  follow  from  disbelieving  it;  but 
if  it  should  prove  false,  the  mistake  of  its  abettors  will  be  inexcusable  and 
fatal.  If  7ce  be  wrong,  we  can  plead  that  we  were  misled  by  interpreting  the 
terms  by  which  the  Scriptures  ordinarily  express  the  duration  of  future  pun- 
ishment in  their  literal  or  proper  sense ;  that  we  found  the  same  word  which 
describes  the  duration  of  future  life  applied  in  the  same  passage  to  the  dura- 
tion of  future  punishment;  and  thence  concluded  it  must  mean  the  same; 
moreover,  that,  if  any  doubt  had  remained  on  this  head,  it  must  have  been 
removed  by  eternal  damnation  being  explained  in  the  Scriptures  by  never 
having  forgiveness,  Mark  iii.  29.  But  if  they  be  wrong  they  can  only  allege, 
that  observing  the  terms  to  be  often  applied  to  limited  duration  they  con- 
cluded they  might  be  so  in  this ;  and,  this  sense  best  comporting  with  their 
ideas  of  Divine  benevolence,  they  adopted  it.    In  the  one  case,  our  fears  will 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  PROVIDENCE.  805 

be  disappointed  ;  in  the  other,  their  hopes  will  be  confounded.  If  the  mis- 
take be  on  our  side,  we  alarm  the  ungodly  more  than  need  be ;  but  if  on 
theirs,  they  will  be  found  to  have  flattered  and  deceived  them  to  their  eter- 
nal ruin,  and  so  to  have  incurred  the  blood  of  souls!  If  we  err,  our  error  is 
much  the  same  as  that  of  Jeremiah,  on  supposition  of  the  Babylonians  having 
been  repulsed,  and  Jerusalem  delivered  from  the  siege;  but  if  they  err,  their 
error  is  that  of  the  false  prophets,  who  belied  the  Lord,  and  said,  "  It  is  not 
he,  neither  shall  evil  come  upon  us."  Which  of  these  paths,  therefore,  is 
wisdom's  way,  we  leave  our  readers  to  judge. 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  PROVIDENCE, 

ESPECIALLY  IN  RESPECT  OF  GOd's    DEALINGS  WITH  DIFFERENT  PARTS  OP  THE 
WORLD  IN  DIFFERENT  AGES. 

It  has  frequently  been  objected,  that  if  the  religion  first  taught  among  the 
posterity  of  Abraham,  and  afterwards  among  the  Gentiles  by  the  preaching 
of  Jesus  Christ,  be  of  God,  how  is  it  that  it  has  been  so  partial  in  its  opera- 
tions? The  promulgation  of  a  religion  adapted  to  man,  it  is  said,  should  be 
as  extensive  as  the  globe.  The  force  of  this  objection  has  been  felt ;  and 
Christian  writers,  in  general,  have  acknowledged  that  there  is  a  depth  in  this 
part  of  Divine  providence  which  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  fathom. 
There  are  hints  to  be  found  in  the  Scriptures,  however,  which  may  throw 
some  glimmering  of  light  upon  the  subject;  and,  when  the  mystery  of  God 
is  finished,  we  shall  perceive  that  he  has  done  all  things  well. 

In  general,  we  are  given  to  understand  that  God  is  an  absolute  Sovereign 
in  the  dispensation  of  his  favours.  He  was  under  no  obligation  to  any;  and 
he  will  bestow  his  blessings  in  such  a  manner  as  shall  cause  this  truth  to  be 
manifest  to  all.  Man  would  fain  put  in  a  claim,  and  accuse  the  ways  of 
Jehovah  with  being  unequal ;  but  this  only  proves  the  perverseness  of  his 
own  way.  The  blessings  of  civilization  are  undoubtedly  adapted  to  man ; 
yet  a  large  proportion  of  the  human  race  are  mere  barbarians :  even  those 
countries  which  have,  in  past  ages,  ranked  high  in  this  respect,  are  now  sunk 
far  below  mediocrity;  while  others,  whom  they  were  in  the  habit  of  treating 
with  the  greatest  contempt,  have  been  raised  above  them.  It  is  thus  that  the 
valley  is  exalted,  the  mountain  made  low,  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah  revealed; 
but  if  God  may  act  as  a  Sovereign  in  dispensing  the  bounties  of  providence, 
who  shall  call  him  to  account  for  doing  the  same  in  the  distribution  of  the 
blessings  of  grace?  He  has,  in  all  ages,  manifested  his  determination,  how- 
ever, to  act  in  this  manner,  let  sinful  creatures  think  of  it  as  they  may.  With 
respect  to  individuals,  the  things  of  God  have  been  hid  from  the  wise  and 
prudent,  and  revealed  unto  babes ;  and  the  same  principle  has  been  carried 
into  effect  with  nations  and  continents.  When  the  adversaries  of  sovereign 
grace  meet  with  this  doctrine  in  the  Scriptures,  they  endeavour  to  get  rid 
of  it  by  applying  it  in  the  latter  sense  only ;  but  God's  dealings  with  nations 
and  continents  are  of  a  piece  with  his  dealings  with  individuals;  they  are 
only  a  different  part  of  the  same  whole. 

It  is  observable,  that,  in  the  dispensations  of  mercy,  God  has  in  a  wonder- 
ful manner,  balanced  the  affairs  of  men,  so  as,  upon  the  whole,  to  answer  the 
most  important  ends  in  the  great  system  of  moral  government.  In  the  early 
ages,  for  instance,  mercy  was  shown  to  the  posterity  of  Abraham,  and  hereby 
the  world  was  provoked  to  jealousy.     On  the  coming  of  Christ,  mercy  was 

3Y 


806  FUGITIVE  PIECES. 

shown  to  the  world ;  and  the  posterity  of  Abraham,  in  their  turn,  were  pro- 
voked to  jealousy :  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  before  the  end  of  time, 
and  perhaps  before  many  years  have  passed  over  us,  God  will  show  mercy  to 
both ;  and  each  will  prove  a  blessing  to  the  other.  The  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles  shall  in  the  end  effectually  provoke  them  to  jealousy ;  and  thus, 
"  through  our  mercy,  they  shall  obtain  mercy."  On  the  other  hand,  their 
return  to  God  will  be  a  kind  of  moral  resurrection  to  the  world.  Probably, 
the  conversion  of  the  great  body  of  pagans  and  Mahometans  may  be  accom- 
plished by  means  of  this  extraordinary  event.  Their  fall  has  already  proved 
our  riches;  how  much  more  their  fulness!  "If  the  casting  away  of  them  be 
the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be  but  life 
from  the  dead?"  God's  mercy  towards  them  is,  at  present,  righteously  sus- 
pended, "  till  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  have  come  in."  The  Gentiles 
were  as  one  behind  in  a  race ;  let  them  first  come  up,  and  then  "  all  Israel 
shall  be  saved,"  and  become  as  life  from  the  dead  to  the  world. 

The  fifty-second  chapter  of  Isaiah  appears  to  contain  a  prophecy  of  the 
restoration  and  conversion  of  the  Jews;  but  in  the  last  three  verses  it  is  in- 
timated that  God's  servant,  the  Messiah,  by  whom  it  should  be  effected,  should 
(Jeal  prudently.  Now  much  of  prudence  consists  in  the  proper  timing  of 
things.  This  glorious  work  was  not  to  take  place  immediately  ;  there  must 
ere  this  be  a  long  and  awful  pause.  "  He  must  first  come  and  suffer  many 
things,  and  be  rejected."  The  wrath  of  God  must  be  poured  on  the  Jews 
on  this  account  to  the  uttermost;  and  the  Gentile  nations  must  besprinkled 
with  the  showers  of  gospel  grace.  Such  is  the  import  of  these  last  three 
verses,  and  the  whole  fifty-third  chapter.  Then  in  the  fifty-fourth  she  that 
had  been  "  a  wife  of  youth,"' but  of  late  "  refused  and  forsaken,"  is  called 
upon  to  sing  for  joy;  and  yet  the  mercy  should  not  be  confined  to  her;  for 
the  Redeemer  should  not  only  be  called  "the  Holy  One  of  Israel,"  but  "  the 
God  of  the  whole  earth." — "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wisdom 
and  knowledge  of  God  1  How  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his 
ways  past  finding  out!" 

If  God  had  called  the  Gentiles  without  having  first  "  concluded,"  or  shut 
them  up  as  it  were,  "  under  sin,"  their  salvation  would  not  have  appeared  to 
be  the  effect  of  free  promise  (Gal.  iii.  22);  and  if  he  had  not  in  like  manner 
shut  up  the  Jews  in  their  unbelief,  his  mercy  towards  them  had  been  far  less 
conspicuous,  Rom.  xi.  32.  As  it  is,  we  behold  the  goodness  and  severity 
of  God,  each  blazing  by  turns  in  the  most  lovely  and  tremendous  colours. 

Something  analogous  to  this  is  observable  in  the  conduct  of  God  towards 
the  eastern  and  western  parts  of  the  earth.  For  more  than  two  thousand 
years  after  i\\e  flood,  learning,  government,  and  the  true  religion  were  in  a 
manner  confined  to  the  east;  and  our  forefathers  in  the  west  were  a  horde 
of  barbarians.  For  the  last  two  thousand  years,  learning,  government,  and 
the  true  religion  have  travelled  westward ;  they  have  been  within  the  last 
few  centuries  extended  even  beyond  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  But  before  the 
end  of  time,  and  perhaps  before  many  years  have  passed  over  us,  both  the 
east  and  the  west  shall  unite  and  become  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  Such  an 
idea,  I  apprehend,  is  conveyed  in  Isa.  Ix.  6-9.  The  geographical  descrip- 
tions of  nations,  as  given  in  prophetic  language,  is  commonly  by  way  of 
synecdoche,  putting  those  parts  which  are  nearest  the  Holy  Land  for  the 
whole,  or  all  beyond  them.  Thus  Europe  is  commonly  called  "  the  isles  of 
the  Gentiles,"  (Gen.  x.  5;  Isa.  xlix.  1,)  because  those  parts  of  it  which  lay 
nearest  to  Judea  were  the  Archipelago,  or  the  Grecian  Islands.  And  those 
nations  which  lay  next  to  Judea,  eastward,  include,  in  the  prophetic  language, 
all  beyond  them,  or  the  whole  of  Asia.  Thus  "  the  dromedaries  of  Midian 
and  Ephah,  all  they  from  Sheba,  the  flocks  of  Kedar,  and  the  rams  of  Ne- 


DOCTRINE  OF  ELECTION.  807 

baioth/'  denote  the  accession  of  the  eastern  world  to  the  church  of  God. 
On  the  other  hand,  "  the  isles  waiting  for  him,  and  the  ships  of  Tarshish 
bringing  the  sons  of  Zion  from  far,"  denote  the  accession  of  the  western 
world.  Thus  all  shall  be  gathered  together  in  Christ,  and  become  one  holy 
family.  "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge 
of  God!  How  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding 
out!" 

One  great  cause  of  the  mercy  bestowed  on  the  western  part  of  the  earth 
was  the  Roman  conquests,  which,  whatever  were  the  motives  of  the  con- 
querors, were  overruled  for  the  introduction  of  the  gospel  among  European 
nations.  And  who  knows  but  the  British  conquests  in  the  east,  whatever  be 
the  motives  of  the  conquerors,  may  be  designed  for  a  similar  purpose?  Even 
that  iniquitous  traffic  which  we  and  other  nations  have  long  been  carrying 
on  in  the  persons  of  men,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  eventually  prove  a  blessing 
to  those  miserable  people,  though  it  may  be  a  curse  to  their  oppressors.  At 
this  day  there  are  many  thousands  of  negroes  in  the  West  India  islands  who 
have  embraced  the  gospel,  while  their  owners,  basking  in  wealth,  and  rolling 
in  debauchery,  will  neither  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  themselves,  nor 
suffer  others  who  would  enter  in.  God  is  gathering  a  people  in  spite  of 
them.  Behold  the  goodness  and  justice  of  God!  Men,  torn  from  their 
native  shores  and  tenderest  connexions,  are  in  a  manner  driven  into  the 
gospel  net ;  the  most  abject  and  cruel  state  of  slavery  is  that  by  means  of 
which  they  become  the  Lord's  free-men.  Their  oppressors,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  lead  them  captive,  are  themselves  led  captive  by  the  devil  at  his 
will,  and,  under  the  name  of  Christians,  are  heaping  up  wrath  against  the 
day  of  wrath.  "  O  the  depth  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge of  God !  How  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past 
finding  out!" 

From  the  whole  we  are  led  to  consider  the  sovereignty  of  God  not  as  a 
capricious,  but  as  a  wise  sovereignty.  While  those  who  are  saved  have  no- 
thing to  boast  of,  those  who  perish,  perish  as  the  just  reward  of  their  own 
iniquity.  Jacob  will  have  to  ascribe  to  distinguishing  grace  all  he  is  more 
than  Esau ;  while  Esau,  having  lost  the  blessing,  has  to  recollect  that  he  first 
despised  it. 


THE  CONNEXIONS  IN  WHICH  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  ELECTION 
IS  INTRODUCED  IN  THE  HOLY  SCRIPTURES. 

It  is  generally  allowed  that  to  understand  the  Scriptures  it  is  necessary  to 
enter  into  the  connexion  of  what  we  read ;  and  let  it  be  considered  whether 
it  be  not  eijually  necessary  to  the  understanding  of  any  particular  doctrine 
that  we  enter  into  the  connexions  in  which  it  is  introduced  in  the  Scriptures. 
We  have  seen,  in  a  former  essay,  that  Divine  truths  are  not  taught  us  in  a 
systematical  form,  and  also  the  wisdom  of  God  in  scattering  them  through- 
out his  word  in  a  variety  of  practical  relations.  What  these  relations  are  it 
becomes  us  to  ascertain  ;  otherwise  we  may  admit  the  leading  truths  of  reve- 
lation as  articles  of  belief,  and  yet,  for  want  of  a  close  attention  to  these, 
may  possess  but  very  little  Scripture  knowledge ;  and  the  doctrine  which  we 
think  we  hold  may  be  of  very  little  use  to  us.  "  When  I  was  a  youth,"  said 
a  minister  lately  in  conversation,  "  I  admitted  many  doctrines,  but  did  not 
feel  their  importance  and  practical  efficacy." 

It  would  be  a  good  work  for  a  serious,  thinking  mind  carefully  to  inquire 


808  FUGITIVE  PIECES. 

into  the  various  connexions  in  which  acknowledged  truths  are  introduced  in 
the  Scriptures,  and  the  practical  purposes  to  which  they  are  there  actually 
applied.  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  offering  a  brief  specimen  with  respect 
to  the  doctrine  of  election.  The  truth  of  the  doctrine  I  may  in  this  place 
take  for  granted  as  a  matter  clearly  revealed  in  the  word  of  God,  observing 
only  a  few  of  its  principal  connexions. 

First,  It  is  introduced  to  declare  the  source  of  salvation  to  he  mere  grace, 
or  undeserved  favour,  and  to  cut  off  all  hopes  of  acceptance  with  God  hy 
works  of  any  kind. — In  this  connexion  we  find  it  in  Rom.  xi.  5,  6,  "  Even 
so  then,  at  this  present  time  also,  there  is  a  remnant  according  to  the  elec- 
tion of  grace  ;  and  if  by  grace,  then  is  it  no  more  of  works ;  otherwise  grace 
is  no  more  grace :  but  if  it  be  of  works,  then  is  it  no  more  grace ;  other- 
wise work  is  no  more  work."  All  compromise  is  here  for  ever  excluded, 
and  the  cause  of  salvation  decidedly  and  fully  ascribed  to  electing  grace. 
With  this  end  the  doctrine  requires  to  be  preached  to  saints  and  sinners. 
To  the  former,  that  they  may  be  at  no  loss  to  what  they  shall  ascribe  their 
conversion  and  salvation,  but  may  know  and  own  with  the  apostle  that  it  is 
by  the  grace  of  God  they  are  what  they  are ;  to  the  latter,  that  they  may  be 
warned  against  relying  upon  their  own  righteousness,  and  taught  that  the 
only  hope  of  life  which  remains  for  them  is  in  repairing  as  lost  and  perish- 
ing sinners  to  the  Saviour,  casting  themselves  at  the  feet  of  sovereign  mercy. 

Secondly,  It  is  introduced  in  order  to  account  for  the  unbelief  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  Jewish  nation,  without  excusing  them  in  it. — This  appears 
to  be  its  connexion  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  To 
show  that  the  wide-spreading  unbelief  of  that  people  was  not  a  matter  of 
surprise,  and  did  not  affect  the  veracity  of  God  in  his  promises,  the  apostle 
distinguishes  between  those  who  were  Israel  and  those  who  were  merely  of 
Israel  (ver.  6);  evincing  that  from  the  beginning  God  had  drawn  a  line  be- 
tween Isaac  and  Ishmael,  Jacob  and  Esau  ;  the  former  being  merely  "  chil- 
dren of  the  flesh,"  and  the  latter  "  children  of  the  promise,"  to  whom  God 
had  an  eye  in  all  he  had  said,  and  who  were  "  counted  for  the  seed."  The 
same  argument  is  pursued  and  confirmed  from  the  declaration  of  God  to 
Moses:  "  I  will  have  mercy  on  whom  I  will  have  mercy,  and  compassion  on 
whom  I  will  have  compassion ;"  intimating  not  only  that  a  sinner  had  no 
natural  claim  of  mercy  on  God,  but  that  even  among  the  Israelites,  who 
were  a  people  in  covenant  with  him,  he  ever  preserved  the  right  of  sove- 
reignty in  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  every  dispensation  of  saving  grace. 
The  result  is,  that  in  God's  leaving  great  numbers  of  Abraham's  posterity  to 
perish  in  unbelief,  and  calling  a  people  for  himself,  partly  of  Jews  and  partly 
of  Gentiles,  (ver.  24,  27,)  he  proceeded  on  the  same  principle  as  that  on 
which  he  had  proceeded  from  the  beginning. 

Paul  saw,  indeed,  that  the  corrupt  mind  of  man  would  allege  that,  if  things 
were  so,  the  agency  and  accountableness  of  man  were  destroyed  ;  and  there- 
fore introduces  the  objection,  ver.  19,  "  Thou  wilt  say  then  unto  me.  Why 
doth  he  yet  find  fault ;  for  who  hath  resisted  his  will  ?"  This  objection  affords 
irrefragable  proof  that  the  doctrine  maintained  by  the  apostle  was  that  of 
the  absolute  sovereignty  of  God,  in  having  mercy  on  whom  he  would, 
and  giving  up  whom  he  would  to  hardness  of  heart ;  for  against  no  other 
doctrine  could  such  an  objection  have  been  made  with  any  appearance  of 
plausibility.  This  objection  is  the  same  for  substance  as  has  been  made  ever 
since,  and  that  by  two  sorts  of  people;  namely,  those  who  disown  the  doc- 
trine, as  being  destructive  of  human  agency;  and  those  who  contend  for 
the  doctrine  for  that  very  purpose.  The  language  of  those  who  disown  the 
doctrine  is  this:  If  it  be  so,  that  the  state  of  every  one  is  determined  by  the 
will  of  God,  why  are  men  blamed  for  not  believing  in  Christ?    God  has  his 


DOCTRINE  OP  ELECTION. 

will,  and  what  would  he  have  more  ?  The  language  of  those  who  contend  for 
the  doctrine,  with  the  intent  of  destroying  human  agency,  is,  It  is  true  that 
the  state  of  every  man  is  determined  by  the  will  of  God ;  but  then  it  is  not 
right  that  he  should  find  fault  with  sinners  for  their  unbelief;  for  his  will  is 
not  resisted.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  both  these  positions  are  at  variance  with 
the  gospel.  With  respect  to  the  former,  if  we  follow  the  example  of  tlie 
apostle,  we  shall  think  it  enough  to  prove  that  God  actually  erercises  an  ab- 
solute sovereignty  in  saving  whom  he  will,  and  yet  Ji7ids  fault  with  unbe- 
lievers as  much  as  if  no  such  sovereignty  were  exercised ;  leaving  him  to 
justify  his  own  conduct,  and  them  who  reply  against  him  to  answer  it  at  his 
tribunal.  With  respect  to  the  latter,  if  we  keep  to  the  principle  laid  down 
by  the  apostle,  we  shall  not  deny  the  truth  because  they  abuse  it ;  but  avow 
it,  and  at  the  same  iime  find  fault  with  unbelievers,  ascribing  their  failure, 
as  he  did  in  the  same  chapter,  to  their  "  seeking  righteousness  as  it  were  by 
the  works  of  the  law,  stumbling  at  the  stumbling-stone."  If  on  this  acconnt 
we  be  accused  of  "  self-contradiction,"  "  saying  and  unsaying,"  "  preaching 
half  grace  and  half  works,"  "  beginning  with  truth  and  ending  with  false- 
hood," &LC.  &c.,  we  have  this  comfort,  that  the  same  things  might  have  been 
objected  with  equal  justice  to  the  writings  of  the  apostle,  as  appears  from  the 
above  remarks,  and  were  in  substance  actually  objected  to  them. 

Thirdly,  It  is  introduced  to  shoiv  the  certain  success  of  Christ's  undertaking, 
as  it  were  in  defiance  of  unbelievers,  who  set  at  nought  his  gracious  invita- 
tions. When  Esther  seemed  to  hesitate  on  going  in  unto  the  king  in  behalf 
of  her  people,  she  was  answered  by  Mordecai's  order,  thus :  "  If  thou  hold 
thy  peace  at  this  time,  then  shall  there  enlargement  and  deliverance  arise 
from  another  place ;  but  thou  and  thy  father's  house  shall  be  destroyed !" 
Such,  in  eftect,  is  the  language  of  the  doctrine  of  election  to  sinners  of 
mankind,  and  that  on  various  occasions.  It  is  not  designed  to  supersede 
universal  invitations;  but  to  provide  against  those  invitations  being  univer- 
sally unsuccessful.  Thus,  our  Lord  having  upbraided  Chorazin  and  Beth- 
saida  for  their  impenitence  under  his  ministry,  it  is  immediately  added  by 
the  evangelist,  "  At  that  time  Jesus  answered  and  said,  I  thank  thee,  O 
Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from 
the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them  unto  babes:  even  so,  Father; 
for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight."  This  was  like  saying,  Though  Chora- 
zin and  Bethsaida  have  not  repented,  yet  shall  I  not  be  wanting  of  subjects; 
deliverance  shall  arise  from  another  place!  Again,  When  addressing  the 
unbelieving  Pharisees,  he  applied  those  words  in  the  cxviiith  Psalm  to  them, 
"The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected,  the  same  has  become  the  head  of 
the  corner,"  his  words  convey  the  same  idea  : — Ye  builders  may  set  me  at 
nought;  but  God  will  exalt  me  in  defiance  of  you.  God  will  have  a  temple, 
and  I  shall  be  the  foundation  of  it,  though  you  should  persist  in  your  unbe- 
lief and  perish!  Matt.  xxi.  42.  Again,  Those  very  remarkable  words  in 
John  vi.  37,  "All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come  to  me,"  &c.,  are 
introduced  in  the  same  manner.  Addressing  himself  to  those  Jews  who 
followed  him  because  they  had  eaten  of  the  loaves  and  were  filled,  he  saith, 
"  I  am  the  bread  of  life ;  he  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he 
that  believeth  on  me  shall  never  thirst.  But  I  said  unto  you.  That  ye  also 
have  seen  me,  and  believe  not.  All  that  the  Father  giveth  me  shall  come 
to  me ;  and  him  that  cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  As  if  he 
should  say.  You  have  no  regard  to  me  in  my  true  character,  but  merely  for 
yourselves,  and  for  the  meat  that  perisheth ;  but  I  shall  not  lose  my  reward, 
however  you  may  stand  affected  towards  me. 
Vol.  III.— 102  3  y  2 


810  FUGITIVE   PIECES. 


THE  ENGLISH  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Allowing  all  due  honour  to  the  English  translation  of  the  Bible,  it  must 
be  granted  to  be  a  human  performance,  and,  as  such,  subject  to  imperfection. 
Where  any  passage  appears  to  be  mistranslated,  it  is  doubtless  proper  for 
those  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  original  languages  to  point  it  out, 
and  to  offer,  according  to  the  best  of  their  judgment,  the  true  meaning  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Criticisms  of  this  kind,  made  with  modesty  and  judg- 
ment, and  not  in  consequence  of  a  preconceived  system,  are  worthy  of  en- 
couragement. 

But,  besides  these,  there  is  a  species  of  criticism  which  offers  itself  from 
a  more  familiar  source,  and  of  the  propriety  of  which  the  mere  English 
reader  is  competent  to  judge;  namely,  the  division  of  chapters,  the  use  of 
supplementary  terms,  &c. 

If  the  following  example  of  the  former  kind  be  thought  worthy  of  a  place 
in  the  Biblical  Magazine,  it  is  probable  I  may  on  a  future  occasion  send  you 
more  of  the  same  nature. 

The  seventh  chapter  of  John  ends  with  these  words:  "And  every  man 
went  unto  his  own  house."  The  eighth  begins  with  these :  "  Jesus  went 
unto  the  Mount  of  Olives."  Here,  I  conceive,  the  former  chapter  ought  to 
have  ended  ;  for  here  ends  the  labour  of  the  day,  and  each  party  is  described 
as  withdrawing  to  his  place  of  retirement. 

The  whole  passage  contains  a  beautiful  representation  of  the  breaking  up 
of  a  fierce  dispute  between  the  chief  priests,  the  Pharisees,  the  officers  whom 
they  sent  to  arrest  our  Saviour,  and  Nicodemus.  In  the  picture  which  is 
here  drawn  of  it,  we  see  at  one  view  the  very  hearts  of  the  different  parties ; 
and  if  the  subject  were  made  to  end  with  the  retirement  of  Jesus  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  it  would  appear  to  still  greater  advantage. 

The  Pharisees  and  chief  priests  having  sent  officers  to  take  Jesus,  they 
return  without  him. 

Pharisees.  Why  have  ye  not  brought  him  ? 

Officers.  Never  man  spake  like  this  man ! 

Pharisees.  Are  ye  also  deceived?  Have  any  of  the  rulers,  or  of  the 
Pharisees,  believed  on  him  ?  But  this  people,  who  know  not  the  law  are 
cursed. 

Nicodemus.  Doth  our  law  judge  any  man  before  it  hear  him? 

Pharisees.  Art  thou  also  of  Galilee?  Search  and  look,  for  out  of  Galilee 
ariseth  no  prophet. 

Historian.  And  every  man  went  unto  his  own  house :  Jesus  went  unto 
the  Mount  of  Olives. 

What  an  exhibition  is  here  given,  in  a  few  simple  words,  of  the  workings 
of  mind  in  the  different  parties!  Follow  them  respectively  to  their  places 
of  retirement,  and  judge  of  their  feelings.  The  officers,  stunned  with  con- 
viction and  stung  with  the  reproaches  of  their  employers,  retire  in  disgust. 
The  Pharisees,  transported  with  rage  and  disappointment,  go  murmuring  to 
their  houses. — Nicodemus  having  ventured,  though  mildly,  to  repel  their 
outrage,  feels  himself  suspected  of  a  secret  adherence  to  the  Galilean,  and  is 
full  of  thought  about  the  issue  of  things.  Jesus,  with  the  most  perfect 
calmness  and  satisfaction,  retires  to  the  place  whither  he  was  wont  to  resort 
for  prayer  and  communion  with  God! 


COMMENDATION.  811 


COMMENDATION. 

It  has  been  observed  that  sinful  propensities  are  commonly,  if  not  always, 
the  original  propensities  of  human  nature,  perverted  or  abused.  Emulation, 
scorn,  anger,  the  desire  of  property,  and  all  the  animal  appetites,  are  not  in 
themselves  evil.  If  directed  to  right  objects,  and  governed  by  the  will  of  God, 
they  are  important  and  useful  principles ;  but,  perverted,  they  degenerate  into 
pride,  haughtiness,  bitterness,  avarice,  and  sensibility. 

By  this  remark  we  may  be  enabled  to  judge  of  the  propriety  and  impro- 
priety of  bestowing  commendation.  There  are  some  who  for  fear  of  making 
others  proud,  as  they  say,  forbear  the  practice  altogether.  But  this  is  con- 
trary to  the  Scriptures.  We  have  only  to  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
seven  churches  in  Asia  to  perceive  the  usefulness  of  commending  the  good 
for  encouragement,  as  well  as  of  censuring  the  evil  for  correction.  Paul,  in 
his  Epistles,  seldom  deals  in  reproof  without  applauding  at  the  same  time 
what  was  praisewortliy.  This,  doubtless,  ought  to  be  a  model  for  us.  Those 
who  withhold  such  commendation  for  fear  of  making  others  proud,  little 
think  of  the  latent  vanity  in  their  own  minds  which  this  conduct  betrays.  If 
they  did  not  attach  a  considerable  degree  of  consequence  to  their  own  opi- 
nion, they  would  not  be  so  ready  to  suspect  the  danger  of  another's  being 
elated  by  it.  A  minister,  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago,  after  delivering  a  sermon 
and  descending  from  the  pulpit,  was  accosted  in  rather  a  singular  manner  by 
another  minister  who  had  been  his  hearer.  Shaking  him  by  the  hand,  and 
looking  him  in  the  face,  with  a  smile,  "  I  could,"  said  he,  "  say  something 

I  could  say  something, but,  perhaps,  it  is  not  safe;  it  might 

make  you  proud  of  yourself" — "  No  danger,  my  friend,"  replied  the  other, 
"  I  do  not  take  you  to  be  a  man  of  judgment." 

Yet  there  is  real  danger  of  our  becoming  tempters  to  one  another,  by  un- 
timely and  improper  commendation.  Man  has  too  much  nitre  about  him  to 
render  it  safe  to  play  with  fire.  Whatever  may  be  said  by  worldly  men,  who 
have  adopted  Lord  Chesterfield's  maxims,  and  whose  only  study  is  to  please, 
it  is  not  only  injurious,  but  by  men  of  sense  considered  as  inconsistent  with 
good  manners  to  load  a  person  with  praises  to  his  face.  Such  characters 
are  flatterers  by  profession,  and  their  conduct  is  as  mean  as  it  is  offensive  to 
a  modest  mind;  but  what  is  flattery,  but  insult  in  disguise?  Its  language, 
if  truly  interpreted,  is  this:  "I  know  you  to  be  so  weak  and  so  vain  a  crea- 
ture that  nothing  but  praise  will  please  you ;  and  as  I  have  an  end  to  answer 
by  obtaining  your  favour,  I  will  take  this  measure  to  accomplish  it." 

The  love  of  praise  has  been  called  "  the  universal  passion,"  and  true  it  is 
that  no  man  is  free  from  it.  There  are  some,  however,  who  are  much  more 
vain  than  others.  It  is  the  study  of  a  flatterer  to  find  out  this  weak  side  of  a 
man,  and  to  avail  himself  of  it ;  but  good  men  are  incapable  of  such  conduct. 
If  they  see  another  covetous  of  praise,  they  will  commonly  withhold  it,  and 
that  for  the  good  of  the  party.  It  is  true,  I  have  seen  the  vanity  of  a  man 
reproved  by  a  compliance  with  his  wishes,  giving  him  what  he  was  desirous 
of,  and  that  in  full  measure,  as  it  were,  pressed  down.  He  did  not  seem  to 
be  aware  that  he  had  thirsted  for  the  delicious  draught  till  the  cup  was 
handed  to  him ;  the  appearance  of  which  covered  him  with  confusion.  But 
this  kind  of  ironical  praise  is  a  delicate  weapon,  and  requires  a  quick  sensi- 
bility in  the  person  who  receives  the  address  as  well  as  in  him  who  gives  it. 
It  is,  however,  hardly  consistent  with  the  modesty,  gentleness,  and  benevo- 
lence of  Christianity. 

When  two  or  more  persons  of  a  vain  mind  become  acquainted,  it  may  be 
expected  they  will  deal  largely  in  compliments :  playing  into  each  other's 


812  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 

hands:  where  this  is  the  case,  there  is  great  danger  of  the  blind  leading  the 
blind  till  both  fall  into  the  ditch. 

To  a  wise  and  humble  man,  just  commendation  is  encouraging;  but  praise 
beyond  desert  is  an  affliction.  His  mind,  sanctified  by  the  grace  of  God, 
serves  as  a  refiner  to  separate  the  one  from  the  other;  justly  appreciating 
what  is  said  to  him,  he  receives  what  is  proper,  and  repels  what  is  improper. 
Thus,  it  may  be,  we  are  to  understand  the  words  of  Solomon  :  "As  the  fining 
pot  for  silver,  and  the  furnace  for  gold,  so  is  a  man  to  his  praise." 

The  Scriptures  never  address  themselves  to  the  corrupt  propensities  of  the 
mind,  but  to  its  original  powers ;  or,  to  use  the  language  of  the  ingenious 
Bunyan,  they  have  "  nothing  to  say  to  the  Diabolians,  but  to  the  ancient  in- 
habitants of  the  toicn  of  3Iansoul."  Men  address  themselves  to  our  vanity; 
God  to  our  emulation.     If  we  follow  this  example  we  are  safe. 

The  occasion  of  all  these  reflections  was  my  finding  the  other  day,  among 
a  number  of  old  loose  papers,  the  following  tale,  which  carries  in  it  the  marks 
of  being  a  true  one ;  and  with  which  I  shall  conclude  this  paper : — "  A  young 
minister  (whom  I  shall  call  Eutychus)  was  possessed  of  talents  somewhat 
above  mediocrity ;  his  delivery  also  was  reckoned  agreeable.  He  was  told 
by  one  of  his  admirers,  in  an  evening's  conversation,  how  much  his  sermons 
excelled  those  of  the  generality  of  preachers.  Alas,  the  same  thought  had 
occurred  to  himself!  Hence  he  easily  assented  to  it,  and  entered  freely  into 
conversation  on  the  subject.  On  retiring  to  rest,  he  endeavoured  first  to 
commit  himself  to  the  Divine  protection.  It  was  there,  while  on  his  knees, 
that  he  first  felt  his  folly.  Overwhelmed  with  shame  and  confusion  before 
God,  he  was  silent;  seeming  to  himself  a  beast  before  him.  At  the  same 
time,  a  passage  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  flashed  like  lightning  in  his 
mind :  And  they  shouted  and  said,  "  It  is  the  voice  of  a  god,  and  not  of  a 

man And  he  was  eaten  of  worms,  because  he  gave  not  God  the 

glory."  There  seemed  to  him  a  considerable  analogy  between  his  case  and 
that  of  Herod.  Herod  was  flattered  and  idolized — his  heart  was  in  unison 
with  the  flattery — he  consented  to  be  an  idol,  and  gave  not  God  the  glory — 
for  this  he  was  smitten  by  an  angel  of  God,  his  glory  blasted,  and  his  life 
terminated  by  a  humiliating  disease.  "I  also  have  been  flattered,"  said 
Eutychus,  "  and  have  inhaled  the  incense.  I  have  consented  to  be  an  idol, 
and  have  not  given  God  the  glory.  God,  I  am  afraid,  will  blast  my  future 
life  and  ministry,  as  he  justly  may,  and  cause  me  to  end  my  days  in  degrada- 
tion and  disgrace!"  About  the  same  time,  those  words  also  occurred  to 
him,  "Woe  to  the  idol  shepherd!  his  arm  shall  be  dried  up,  and  his  right  eye 
shall  be  darkened!"  He  could  not  pray! — Groaning  over  the  words  of 
David,  "O  Lord,  thou  knowest  my  foolishness,  and  my  sin  is  not  hid  from 
thee,"  he  retired  to  rest.  The  next  morning  the  same  subject  awoke  with 
him.  He  confessed,  and  again  bemoaned  his  sin  ;  entreated  forgiveness  for 
Christ's  sake,  and  that  his  future  spirituality  might  not  be  blasted.  "  Cast 
me  not  away  from  thy  presence,"  said  he,  "  take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from 
me !"  But  he  could  not  recover  any  thing  like  freedom  with  God.  The 
thought  occurred  to  him  of  requesting  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends  to 
pray  for  him;  but  this  only  occasioned  a  comparison  of  himself  with  Simon 
the  sorcerer,  who  importuned  Peter,  saying,  "  Pray  to  the  Lord  for  me,  that 
none  of  these  things  come  upon  me." 

In  short,  the  temptation  into  which  he  had  fallen  not  only  polluted  his 
mind,  and  marred  his  peace,  but  rendered  him  for  some  time  wretched  in 
the  exercise  of  his  ministry. 

Let  hearers  take  heed,  while  they  give  due  honour  and  encouragement  to 
ministers,  not  to  idolize  them ;  and  let  ministers  take  heed  that  they  do  not 
receive,  and  still  more  that  they  do  not  court,  applause. 


REV.  ROBERT  HALL,  OP  ARNSBT.  813 


ORA.TION  DELIVERED  AT  THE  GRAVE  OF  THE  REV.  ROBERT 
HALL,  OF  ARNSBY. 

[March,  1791.] 
Dear  Friends, 

You  have  often  assembled  with  pleasure  in  company  with  your  beloved 
friend  and  faithful  pastor ;  but  that  pleasure  is  over,  and  you  are  now  met 
togetlier  with  very  different  feelings,  to  take  your  last  farewell  of  his  re- 
mains! 

What  can  I  say  to  you,  or  wherewith  shall  I  comfort  you?  The  dissolving 
of  the  union  between  near  relations,  and  the  breaking  up  of  long  and  inti- 
mate connexions,  are  matters  that  must  needs  affect  us.  That  providence 
which  at  one  stroke  separates  a  husband  from  his  wife,  a  father  from  his 
children,  a  pastor  from  his  people,  and  a  great  and  greatly  beloved  man  of 
God  from  all  his  connexions,  cannot  do  other  than  make  us  feel.  Indeed 
we  are  allowed  to  feel  on  such  occasions  in  moderation ;  at  the  grave  of  his 
friend,  Lazarus,  "  Jesus  wept." 

But  should  we  exceed  the  bounds  of  moderation,  should  our  mourning 
under  the  hand  of  God  border  upon  murmuring  against  it  or  thinking  hard 
of  it,  there  are  many  considerations  that  might  be  urged  to  alleviate  our 
grief;  so  many,  indeed,  that  under  the  heaviest  afflictions  of  the  present  state 
we  may  well  weep  as  though  we  wept  not. 

In  this  instance,  we  may  not  only  comfort  ourselves  with  the  considera- 
tion that  it  is  the  common  lot  of  men,  the  greatest  and  the  best  as  well  as 
others,  and  therefore  no  more  than  might  be  expected  :  but  with  what  affords 
infinitely  greater  satisfaction — that  this  lot  is  a  real  and  substantial  advantage 
to  our  deceased  brother.  There  is  a  pleasure  even  in  the  very  pain  that  we 
feel  for  those  who  die  in  the  Lord.  Our  Redeemer  has  walked  the  road 
before  us;  and,  by  so  doing,  has  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  im- 
mortality to  light.  Where  the  sting  of  death  is  extracted,  there  is  little  else 
but  the  name,  the  shadow  of  death  to  encounter;  and  the  prospect  of  a  glo- 
rious resurrection  to  eternal  life  more  than  annihilates  even  that.  Your  hus- 
band, your  father,  your  pastor,  is  not  dead,  but  sleepeth,  and  his  Redeemer 
will  come  ere  long  that  he  may  awake  him. 

Nor  is  this  all ;  he  lives  already  among  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect. 
Though  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  is  dissolved,  yet  the  inhabitant 
is  not  turned  out,  as  it  were,  naked  and  destitute ;  but  has  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  It  was  that  which  reduced  the  aposUe 
to  "  a  strait  betwixt  two,"  having  a  desire  on  the  one  hand  to  be  profitable 
to  the  church  of  God,  and  on  the  other  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which, 
so  far  as  concerned  himself,  was  far  better.  Could  we  but  be  governed  by 
faith  instead  of  sense,  we  should  rejoice  even  while  we  mourned.  What  our 
Lord  said  to  his  apostles  might  be  said  by  his  faithful  followers  to  their  sur- 
viving friends,  "If  ye  loved  me,  ye  would  rejoice,  because  I  said,  I  go  to  the 
Father;"  and  the  reason  which  he  alleged,  "for  my  Father  is  greater  than 
I" — that  is,  the  glory  and  happiness  which  my  Father  possesses,  and  which 
I  go  to  possess  with  him,  is  greater  than  any  thing  I  can  here  enjoy — would 
also  apply  to  them.  To  be  with  our  Father  above  is  much  greater  and  better 
than  to  be  here. 

Such  considierations  as  these  may  moderate  our  grief,  and  reconcile  us  to 
the  will  of  God  :  but  this  is  not  all ;  there  are  other  things  that  require  our 
attention.  As  the  aged  and  the  honourable  are  called  off  the  stage,  there  is 
the  more  to  be  done  by  us  who  are  left  behind.     God  has  said  to  this  his 


814  FUGITIVE  PIECES. 

servant,  as  he  said  to  the  prophet  Daniel,  "  Go  thou  thy  way ;"  let  another, 
as  if  he  had  said,  come  and  take  thy  place,  and  acquit  himself  as  well  as  thou 
hast  done!  Our  venerable  deceased  father  had  embarked  for  life,  and  so 
have  we ;  he  has  finished  his  course,  but  we  have  yet  to  finish  ours.  We  are 
apt  to  feel  discouraged  at  the  loss  of  eminent  men,  and  to  think  the  interests 
of  religion,  in  their  particular  connexions,  must  needs  suffer,  and  it  may  be 
so;  but  it  maybe  of  use  to  consider  that  when  Moses  died  the  Israelites  were 
not  to  stand  still,  but  were  commanded  to  go  forward;  and  it  is  no  small 
consolation  that  God's  cause  is  still  in  his  own  hands,  "The  government  is 
upon  his  shoulder." 

One  thing  more  deserves  our  serious  attention. — Though  the  relations 
before-mentioned  are  now  extinct,  yet  what  has  taken  place  in  those  relations 
is  not.  A  great  part  of  the  actions  of  the  present  life  are  either  those  of 
parents  to  their  children  or  children  to  their  parents,  of  husbands  to  their 
wives  or  wives  to  their  husbands,  of  pastors  to  their  people  or  people  to  their 
pastors,  and  these  are  matters  that  must  all  come  over  again.  In  this  point 
of  view,  relationship,  though  of  but  a  few  years'  duration,  is  of  the  utmost 
importance ;  it  sows,  as  I  may  say,  the  seeds  of  eternity,  and  stamps  an  im- 
pression that  will  never  be  effaced ! 

Consider,  dear  friends,  the  events  of  that  relationship  which  is  now  dis- 
solved. The  various  labours  of  your  worthy  pastor  will  not  be  lost,  not  even 
his  more  private  instructions,  prayers,  and  counsels  in  your  families,  or  his 
own ;  they  will  not  return  void,  but  accomplish  the  end  whereunto  they  were 
sent.  The  great  question  with  you  is,  Does  that  end  include  your  salvation? 
Can  you  look  back  and  bless  God  for  the  life  which  is  now  finished,  as 
having  been  a  blessing  to  you?  Can  you  remember  the  sermon,  the  visit, 
the  reproof,  the  warning,  the  counsel,  the  free  conversation,  from  whence 
you  began  to  cry,  "  My  father,  thou  art  the  guide  of  my  youth  ?"  Or  has 
this  valuable  life,  which  thousands  have  acknowledged  as  a  public  blessing, 
been  nothing  to  you?  You  have  heard  him,  and  have  talked  with  him, and 
have  witnessed  the  general  tenor  of  his  life,  how  holily,  how  justly,  and  how 
unblamably  he  behaved  himself  among  you;  and  is  all  of  no  account?  Is 
the  harvest  past,  and  the  summer  ended,  and  are  you  not  saved  ?  Alas !  if 
this  should  be  the  case  with  any  of  you  in  this  congregation,  (and  it  is  well 
if  it  is  not,)  you  may  never  have  such  opportunities  again  ;  and,  if  you  should 
perish  at  last,  the  loss  of  your  souls  will  be  greater,  and  attended  with  more 
aggravating  circumstances,  than  th&t  of  many  others.  Those  of  Bethsaida 
and  Chorazin,  who  rejected  or  neglected  the  gospel,  were  in  a  worse  situa- 
tion than  even  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  When  the  hooks 
come  to  be  opened,  at  the  great  day,  they  will  contain  a  long  dark  list  of 
slighted  opportunities,  abused  mercies,  despised  counsels,  and  forgotten  warn- 
ings 1 

Dear  friends,  call  to  remembrance  the  labours  of  your  minister,  and  pray 
to  the  Lord  that  none  of  these  things  may  come  upon  you.  If  any  of  you 
have  been  deaf  to  the  various  calls  of  God  during  his  life,  yet  hear  this  one 
which  is  addressed  to  you  by  his  death !  If  the  seed  which  this  dear  ser- 
vant of  God  has  been  sowing  for  nearly  forty  years  among  you  should  yet 
spring  up — if  to  a  future  and  happy  pastor  of  this  church  it  should  be  said, 
in  the  language  of  Christ  to  his  apostles,  "Another  has  laboured,  and  you 
have  entered  into  his  labours" — it  would  afford  us  no  small  pleasure,  that 
would  serve  to  counterbalance  the  painful  providence  with  which  at  this 
time  we  are  afflicted. 


KEV.  ROBERT  HALL,  OP  ARNSBT.  81$ 


TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  MY  DEAR  AND  VENERABLE  FRIEND, 
THE  REV.  ROBERT  HALL, 

Who  died  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age,  on  March  13th,  1791. 

And  is  my  much-respected  friend  no  more  1 
How  painful  are  the  tiding-s  to  my  heart ! 
And  is  that  light  extinguished  which  so  long 
Has  burned  with  brightest  lustre,  and  diffused, 
Through  all  his  loved  connexions  round  about, 
Pure  rays  of  evangelic  light  and  joy  1 

Is  all  that  stock  of  true  substantial  worth 
Become  as  water  spilt  upon  the  ground  1 — 
That  universal  knowledge,  which  embraced 
A  compass  wide  and  large,  of  men  and  things  ? — 
That  well-known  solid  wisdom,  which,  improved 
By  long  experience,  made  his  face  to  shine  ] — 
That  uprightness  of  character,  by  which 
He  lived  down  slander,  and  of  foes  made  friends  ] — 
That  ardent  and  affectionate  concern 
For  truth,  for  righteousness,  for  Zion's  good, 
Which,  with  a  social  kiyidness,  long  endeared 
His  name,  and  renders  him  a  public  loss  ] — 
That  grace  that  ruled  and  seasoned  all  his  soul. 
And  as  with  sacred  unction  filled  his  lips, 
In  which  as  life  declined  he  ripened  fast. 
And  shone  still  more  and  more  to  perfect  day  ? — 
That  tender  sympathy  that  often  soothed 
The  sorrowing  heart,  and  wiped  the  mourner's  tear, 
That  sweet  humility,  and  self-afjasemenf, 
With  which  we  heard  him  oft  invoke  his  God  ; 
Which  ne'er  assumed,  though  first  in  counsel  skilled. 
The  lordly  look,  or  proud  dictator's  chair  1 — 
That  guiltless  pleasantry  that  brightened  up 
Each  countenance,  and  cheered  the  social  hour  ? 
(If  he  were  there,  it  seemed  that  all  were  there: 
If  he  were  missing,  none  could  fill  his  place.) 
That  store  of  excellence,  in  short,  to  which 
(As  to  a  ship  well  fraught)  one  might  repair, 
And  be  enriched  with  treasures  new  and  old  ] — 
Is  ALL,  as  by  a  kind  of  fatal  wreck, 
Destroyed,  and  sunk  at  once  to  rise  no  more  ? 

Dear  friend,  (for  still  I  fain  would  talk  to  thee  !) 
Shall  I  discern  thy  cheering  face  no  more  ? 
And  must  thy  gladdening  voice  no  more  be  heard  1 
And,  when  I  visit  thy  much-loved  abode. 
Shall  I  not  find  thee  there  as  heretofore  ! 
Nor  sit,  nor  walk,  as  erst  with  pleasure  wont. 
Nor  mingle  souls  beneath  the  friendly  bower  1 
No  .  .  .  this  is  past  .  .  .  nor  aught  seems  left  for  me. 
Except  to  walk,  and  sigh  upon  thy  stone  ! 

Dear  friend  !  I  saw  thee  burdened  years  ago 
With  heavy  loads  of  complicated  grief; 
And  grief  more  complicate,  though  less  intense, 
I'm  told  thou  didst  in  earlier  days  endure; 
But  tribulation  patience  in  thee  wrought, 
And  such  a  stock  of  rich  experience  this. 
That  few  like  thee  could  reach  the  mourner's  case. 
Or  ease  the  burdens  of  the  labouring  heart. 

We  saw  thee  ripen  in  thy  later  years. 
As  when  rich-laden  autumn  droops  her  head  : 


816  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 

That  theme  on  which  thy  thoughts  of  late  were  penned,* 

None  knew  like  thee,  nor  could  have  touched  so  well ; 

It  seemed  thy  element,  the  native  air 

Thy  holy  soul  had  long-  heen  used  to  breathe. 

Such  things  we  saw  with  sacred  pleasure ;  ye 

'Twas  pleasure  tinged  with  painful  fear,  lest  these 

(As  fruit  when  ripe  is  quickly  gathered  in) 

Should  only  prove  portentous  of  thy  end. 

O  thou  great  Arbiter  of  life  and  death  ! 
Thy  ways  are  just,  and  true,  and  wise,  and  good  ; 
Though  clouds  and  darkness  compass  thee  around, 
Justice  and  judgment  still  support  thy  throne. 
Had  it  been  left  to  us,  he  still  had  lived. 
And  lived  for  years  to  come,  and  blessed  us  still ; 
But  thus  'tis  not;  thy  thoughts  are  not  as  ours. 
Had  poor  short-sighted  mortals  had  their  will, 
The  great  Redeemer  had  not  bled,  or  died. 
Teach  us  to  say,  "  Thy  will,  not  ours,  be  done," 
To  drink  the  cup  thou  givest  us  to  drink. 

Dear  relatives  and  friends,  his  special  charge  ! 
Bereaved  at  once  of  him  whose  life  was  spent 
In  unremitted  labours  for  your  good. 
We  must  not  call  on  you  to  mourn,  but  try 
To  stem  the  tide,  or  wipe  the  o'erflowing  tear. 
'Tis  true  his  course  is  finished,  and  your  ears 
Shall  hear  no  more  the  long-accustomed  sound  ; 
But  'tis  as  he  desired,  when  late  we  heard 
Drop  from  his  lips,  what  seemed  his  last  farewell.f 
The  prize  for  which  he  counted  life  not  dear 
Is  fully  gained  ;  his  course  wilh  joy  he  closed. 

What  did  I  say?  the  ship  was  wrecked  and  lost! 
No,  it  is  not ;  'tis  safe  arrived  in  port. 
And  all  the  precious  cargo  too  is  safe  ; 
His  knowledge,  wisdom,  love,  and  every  grace. 
Are  not  extinct,  but  gloriously  matured, 
Beyond  whate'er  he  grasped  in  this  frail  state. 
A  fit  companion  noiv  for  purer  minds, — 
For  patriarchs,  prophets,  martyrs,  and  for  those 
Whom  once  he  knew,  and  loved,  who  went  before; 
For  Him  whose  name  was  dear  to  him  on  earth. 
And  whose  sweet  presence  now  creates  his  heaven. 

Nor  is  all  lost  to  those  who  yet  survive : 
Though  he  is  gone,  his  mantle's  left  behind. — 
Kind  memory  may  recall  his  words,  and  deeds, 
And  prayers,  and  counsels  ;  and  conviction  aid 
Or  cheer  the  heart,  or  guide  the  doubtful  feet, 
Or  prompt  to  imitate  his  holy  life. 
Nor  memory  alone,  the  faithful  page 
Is  charged  with  some  remains,  in  which  the  man 
And  his  communications  yet  are  seen ; 
In  these,  though  he  be  dead,  he  speaketh  still.:}: 

Yes,  here's  Elijah's  mantle  :  may  there  too 
A  double  portion  of  his  spirit  rest 
Upon  us  all ;  and,  might  I  be  indulged 

*  Communion  unth  God,  the  subject  of  the  Circular  Letter  for  1789,  which  was  Mr.  Hall'i 
last  printed  performance. 

t  It  has  been  observed  that  Mr.  Hall's  last  public  sermon,  in  his  own  connexion,  was 
preached  at  Olney  Association,  June  2,  1790,  from  Acts  xx.  24,  "Neither  count  I  my  life 
dear,  that  I  may  finish  my  course  with  joy,"  &c. 

I  Mr.  Hall  wrote  many  of  the  Circular  Letters  to  the  churches  of  the  Northamptonshire 
and  Leicestershire  Association,  most  of  which  have  been  noticed  already,  as  well  as  his  Help 
to  Zion^s  Travellers.  He  also  printed  A  Charge  to  Mr.  Moreton,  delivered  at  his  ordination 
at  Kettering,  1771.    And  a  Funeral   Sermon  for  Mrs.  Evans,  of  Foxton,  1775. 


NATURE  OF  TRUE  VIRTUE.  817 

In  one  more  special  wish,  that  wish  should  be, 
That  he  who  fills  his  father's  sacred  trust 
Might  share  the  blessings  of  his  father's  God, 
And  tread  his  steps ;  that  all  may  see  and  say, 
"  Elijah's  spirit  on  Elisha  rests." 


NATURE  OF  TRUE  VIRTUE. 


Mr.  Hall,  in  his  justly  admired  Sermon  on  modern  Infidelity,  has  brought 
forward  some  very  plausible  objections  to  President  Edwards's  definition  of 
virtue,  but  which  appear  to  be  founded  in  misapprehension.  The  definition 
itself  is  fairly  stated — that  "  virtue  consists  in  a  passion  for  the  general  good, 
or  love  to  being  in  general."  Mr.  Hall  observes  that  "  the  order  of  nature 
is,  evermore,  from  particulars  to  generals  :  we  advance  from  private  to  public 
affections ;  from  the  love  of  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters,  to  those  more 
expanded  regards  which  embrace  the  immense  society  of  human  kind," — 
p.  51.  And  afterwards,  in  a  note,  pp.  57,  58,  he  maintains  tliat,  on  the  Pre- 
sident's principles,  "  virtue  is  an  utter  impossibility  ;  because  that  the  human 
mind  is  not  capable  of  such  different  degrees  of  attachment  as  are  due  to  the 
infinitely  various  objects  of  the  intelligent  system ;  also  because  that  oiir 
views  of  the  system  being  capable  of  perpetual  enlargement,  our  attachments 
are  liable  to  undue  proportion,  so  that  those  regards  which  appeared  virtuous 
may  afterwards  become  vicious.  And,  lastly,  that  if  virtue  consists  in  the 
love  of  being  in  general,  or  attachment  to  the  general  good,  the  particular 
affections  are  to  every  purpose  of  virtue  useless,  and  even  pernicious ;  for 
their  necessary  tendency  is  to  attract  to  their  objects  a  proportion  of  atten- 
tion which  far  exceeds  their  comparative  value  in  the  general  scale." 

"  The  question  is,"  as  Mr.  Hall  observes,  "  what  is  virtue  ?"  Answer,  love. 
But  love  to  whom,  or  what?  To  being,  says  Edwards;  and  as  the  Supreme 
Being  is  the  first  and  best  of  beings,  it  is  to  love  him  supremely,  and  our 
fellow  creatures  in  subordination  to  him.  It  is  objected  that  we  cannot  com- 
prehend the  Supreme  Being,  and  therefore  cannot  love  him  in  proportion  to 
what  he  is  in  tiie  scale  of  being.  True;  and  we  cannot  fully  comprehend 
ourselves;  yet  we  may  love  ourselves  supremely. 

"  The  order  of  nature,"  says  Mr.  Hall,  "  is  evermore  from  particulars  to 
generals;  we  advance  from  private  to  public  affections;  from  the  love  of 
parents,  brothers,  and  sisters,  to  those  more  expanded  regards  which  embrace 
the  immense  society  of  human  kind."     But  to  this  it  may  be  replied — 

1.  Virtuous  affection  does  not  consist  in  natural  attachment;  if  it  did, 
birds  and  beasts  would  be  virtuous,  as  well  as  men.  Nor  does  genuine  bene- 
volence arise  from  those  instinctive  feelings  as  their  root;  if  it  did,  all  men 
who  are  not  "  without  natural  affection  "  would  be  virtuous,  benevolent  cha- 
racters. It  may  imply  a  high  degree  of  depravity  to  have  obliterated  natural 
affection,  though  the  thing  itself  have  no  moral  good  in  it.  Natural  affection, 
however,  if  exercised  in  subserviency  to  the  Divine  glory,  becomes  virtuous ; 
as  are  eating  and  drinking,  and  all  other  natural  actions  that  are  capable  of 
being  performed  to  a  higher  end. 

2.  The  question  does  not  relate  to  the  order  in  which  the  human  mind 
comes  to  the  knowledge  of  objects,  and  so  to  the  actual  exercise  of  affection 
towards  them ;  but  to  the  order  in  which  love  operates  when  the  objects  are 
known.  If  we  were  free  from  every  taint  of  original  sin,  yet  we  should  not 
love  God  before  we  loved  our  parents;  and  that  because  we  should  not  know 

Vol..  III.— 103  3  Z 


81S  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 

him  first.  We  cannot  love  an  object  before  we  know  it;  but  it  does  not  fol- 
low from  hence  that,  when  we  know  both  God  and  our  parents,  we  must 
continue  to  love  them  first,  and  God  for  their  sake.  That  which  this  writer 
calls  "  the  order  of  nature"  may  indeed  be  so  called,  as  it  is  the  order  estab- 
lished for  our  being  brought  to  the  actual  exercise  of  our  powers;  but,  with 
regard  to  the  argument,  it  is  rather  the  order  of  time  than  of  nature. 

"  The  welfare  of  the  whole  system  of  being  must  be  allowed,"  says  Mr. 
Hall,  "  to  be  in  itself  the  object  of  all  others  the  most  worthy  to  be  pursued; 
so  that,  could  the  mind  distinctly  embrace  it,  and  discern  at  every  step  what 
action  would  infallibly  promote  it,  we  should  be  furnished  with  a  sure  crite- 
rion of  right  and  wrong;  an  unerring  guide,  which  would  supersede  the  use 
and  necessity  of  all  inferior  rules,  laws,  and  principles," — p.  55. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  true  virtue  that  it  should  comprehend  all  being, 
or  "  distinctly  embrace  the  welfare  of  the  whole  system."  It  is  sufficient  that 
it  be  of  an  expansive  tendency  ;  and  this  appears  to  be  Edwards's  view  of 
the  subject.  A  child  may  love  God  by  loving  godliness,  or  godly  people, 
though  it  has  yet  scarcely  any  ideas  of  God  himself  It  may  also  possess  a 
disposition  the  tendency  of  which  is  to  embrace  in  the  arms  of  good-will  "  the 
immense  society  of  human  kind;"  though  at  the  time  it  may  be  acquainted 
with  but  few  people  in  the  world.  Such  a  disposition  will  come  into  actual 
exercise,  "  from  particulars  to  generals,"  as  fast  as  knowledge  extends.  This, 
however,  is  not  "private  aflfection,"  or  self-love,  ripening  into  an  "extended 
benevolence,  as  its  last  and  most  perfect  fruit ;"  but  benevolence  itself, 
expanding  in  proportion  as  the  natural  powers  expand,  and  afford  it  oppor- 
tunity. 


MORALITY  NOT  FOUNDED  IN  UTILITY. 

In  a  late  excellent  sermon*  the  author  combats,  with  great  success,  the 
notion  of  morality  being  founded  in  utility.  On  looking  over  some  loose 
papers  the  other  day,  I  found  a  short  conversation  on  this  subject  which  took 
place  a  kw  years  since  between  two  friends,  and  which  was  taken  down 
immediately  after  they  had  parted.  It  will  occupy  but  a  small  space ;  and, 
if  you  think  it  worthy  of  insertion,  it  is  at  your  service. 

C.  I  have  been  thinking  of  the  reason  why  we  are  required  to  love  God 
and  one  another :  and  why  the  contrary  is  forbidden. 

F.  And  what  do  you  conceive  it  to  be? 

C.  Would  there  be  any  such  thing  as  sin  in  the  universe,  if  it  were  unpro- 
ductive of  evil  consequences? 

F.  You  mean,  would  there  be  moral  evil,  if  there  were  no  natural  evil 
arising  out  of  it? 

a  I  do. 

F.  I  allow  that  all  moral  evil  tends  to  natural  evil,  as  disorder  in  the  ani- 
mal frame  tends  to  pain  and  misery;  but  we  do  not  usually  consider  the 
effect  of  a  thing  as  the  reason  of  its  existence.  Instead  of  saying  it  is  wrong 
because  it  tends  to  misery ;  I  should  say,  it  tends  to  misery  because  it  is 
wrong. 

C.  What  idea  do  you  affix  to  right  and  wrong  distinct  from  that  of  its 
good  or  evil  tendency? 

*  "  Sentiments  proper  to  the  Present  Crisis,"  by  the  Rev.  R.  Hall,  delivered  on  occaeion 
of  the  general  fast  in  1803. 


THE    GREAT    AIM    OF    LIFE.  819 

F.  That  which  is  in  itself  fit  or  unfit,  or  which  agrees  or  disagrees  with 
the  relations  we  sustain  to  other  beings,  whether  Creator  or  creatures.  Thu3 
it  is  commanded :  "  Children,  obey  your  parents  in  the  Lord,  for  this  is 
right," 

C.  Yes,  it  is  "  right ;"  but  its  being  so,  I  conceive,  arises  from  its  tendency 
to  render  the  universe  happy. 

F.  Then  it  has  no  excellency  in  itself,  but  merely  a  relative  one.  Will 
you  say  that,  because  moral  good  tends  to  general  happiness,  therefore  it 
must  needs  be  what  it  is  on  that  account? 

C.  What  if  1  were  to  affirm  this? 

F.  By  the  same  mode  of  reasoning  I  might  affirm  that  truth  would  not  be 
true  if  it  were  not  an  object  of  utility ;  and,  as  the  first  of  all  truths  is  the 
existence  of  God,  that  God  would  not  exist,  if  it  were  not  for  the  advantage 
of  the  creation  that  he  should  exist. 

C.  This  consequence  is  certainly  inadmissible;  but  I  can  hardly  see  how 
you  make  it  out. 

F.  Try  it  again.  If  moral  good  be  moral  good  because  it  tends  to  gene- 
ral happiness,  why  is  not  truth  truth  because  it  is  of  utility? 

But  further.  An  action  may  tend  to  natural  good,  though  it  be  performed 
from  the  worst  of  motives,  as  the  relieving  of  the  needy,  from  ambition ;  yet 
with  such  a  motive  there  is  no  moral  good  in  it.  If  therefore  you  will  main- 
tain your  present  position,  you  must  give  up  all  purity  of  motive  as  essential 
to  morality;  and  maintain,  with  Volney,  that  intention  is  nothing.  You  will 
also  find  your  opinion  largely  defended  by  Hume,  who  has  written  a  treatise 
to  prove  that  all  virtue  arises  from  its  utility ;  and  that,  as  "  broad  shoulders 
and  taper  legs  are  useful,  they  are  to  be  reckoned  among  the  virtues !"  I 
hope  you  will  not  be  elated  with  your  company. 


THE  GREAT  AIM  OF  LIFE. 


True  religion  is  a  narrow  way.  We  are  in  danger  of  missing  it,  not  only 
in  rchat  we  do,  but  in  the  end  for  which,  or  why  we  do  it.  The  apostle  had 
been  dissuading  the  Corinthians,  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  his  first  epistle  to 
them,  from  eating  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  lest  it  should  hurt  the  con- 
sciences of  others,  and  concludes  his  discourse  in  striking  language : 
"  Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God;"  as  though  he  would  lay  down  the  principle.  In  our  most  simple  and 
ordinary  concerns  we  must  never  lose  sight  of  God,  but  do  whatsoever  vje  do  to 
his  glory.     This  important  truth  I  shall  endeavour  to  illustrate  and  enforce. 

The  glory  of  God  is  either  essential  or  declarative ;  either  what  he  is  in 
himself,  or  what  he  is  in  the  account  of  others.  Nothing  we  do  can  have 
any  influence  on  the  former,  but  much  on  the  latter.  "  Our  iniquity  cannot 
injure,  nor  our  righteousness  profit  him."  Job  xxxv.  8.  To  do  what  we 
do  to  his  glory,  therefore,  is  to  act  with  a  view  of  raising  his  character,  and 
promoting  his  cause  in  the  esteem  of  all  around  us.  The  love  of  God  will 
naturally  lead  us  to  promote  his  declarative  glory  in  the  whole  tenor  of  our 
lives.  Love  towards  a  needy  object  will  prompt  us  to  communicate  to  his 
wants;  but  towards  an  object  incapable  of  being  benefited  by  us,  it  will  lead 
us  to  ascribe  to  him  his  native  excellences  and  glory,  and  to  raise  his  repu- 
tation in  the  esteem  of  those  around  us. 

The  most  ordinary  actions  of  our  lives  require  to  be  done' to  the  glory  of 
God.    Every  action  in  a  rational  being  must  have  an  end;  and  this  end^is 


820 


FUGITIVE    PIECES. 


either  good  or  evil.  If  there  were  any  actions  wliich  might  be  considered 
as  absolutely,  indifferent,  and  in  which  it  were  allowed  to  leave  out  God, 
they  must  be  such  as  eating,  drinking,  &,c. ;  but  these  have  an  end,  which 
is  either  God,  or  self  as  his  rival.  Some  may  say,  "  We  eat  and  drink  for 
refreshment,  no  doubt."  True,  this  is,  and  may  be  your  immediate  object ; 
but  wherefore  do  you  wish  to  be  refreshed?  If  for  any  other  ultimate  end 
than  that  you  may  serve  the  Lord  and  do  good  in  your  generation,  you  in 
so  doing  live  to  yourself,  rather  than  to  him  who  died  for  us  and  rose  again. 
If  we  eat  and  drink  for  mere  self-indulgence,  our  table  will  prove  our  snare. 
Labour,  too,  and  all  kinds  of  business,  must  be  pursued  to  the  same  end 
with  eating  and  drinking.  The  acquisition  of  property  is  very  natural,  and 
if  desired  for  the  sake  of  serving  the  Lord,  and  doing  good  in  our  genera- 
tion, it  is  lawful;  but  if  that  we  may  consume  it  upon  our  lusts,  it  is  sinful. 
Jas.  iv.  3;  Deut.  xxxi.  21.  It  is  natural,  too,  for  parents  to  lay  up  for  their 
children,  and  if  it  be  accompanied  with  a  desire  that  our  children  and  all 
they  possess  may  be  devoted  to  the  Lord,  it  appears  to  me  lawful.  I  am 
aware  that  some  do  not  consider  it  so,  but  Paul's  allusion  to  it  in  his  second 
epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  chap.  xii.  14,  seems  sufficient  to  justify  it;  and 
our  Lord's  prohibition  in  his  sermon  on  the  mount.  Matt.  vi.  19,  regards 
selfish  laying  up  only;  and  if  we  do  so  that  our  children  may  be  great  in  the 
world,  it  is  sinful. 

If  the  most  ordinary  actions  require  this  reference  to  the  glory  of  God, 
much  more  do  those  of  a  religious  nature.  Jer.  iv.  1-3.  Prayer,  praise, 
preaching,  hearing  the  gospel,  alms-giving — all,  if  done  to  a  right  end,  are 
acceptable  to  God  ;  but  if  God  be  left  out  of  them,  instead  of  being  pleasing, 
they  must  be  offensive  to  him. 

If  the  foregoing  observations  are  just,  two  things  will  follow :  first,  that 
the  nature  and  boundaries  of  good  and  evil  are  determined  by  the  intention 
or  end,  at  which  we  aim.  It  has  been  said,  that  "the  difference  between 
good  and  evil  consists  in  degree;  or  that  the  same  things  which  in  one  de- 
gree are  lawful,  in  another  degree  are  sinful ;  as  eating  and  drinking  in 
moderation  are  lawful,  but  in  excess  sinful;  the  acquisition  of  property  in 
one  degree  is  commendable  industry,  in  another  covetousness ;  the  love  of 
praise  in  one  degree  is  commendable  emulation,  in  another  pride."  This 
is  plausible,  but  in  my  apprehension  not  just.  It  is  incredible  that  good 
and  evil,  with  which  salvation  and  damnation  stand  connected,  should  be 
alike  in  nature,  and  differ  only  in  degree;  and  that  the  difference  between 
them  should  be  of  such  a  kind,  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  with  certainty 
where  the  one  ends  and  the  other  begins.  It  is  not  the  degree,  but  the  end, 
that  determines  the  good  or  evil  of  the  action.  Neither  emulation,  in  this 
sense,  nor  the  desire  of  property,  if  to  consume  it  upon  our  lusts,  are  lawful 
in  any  degree;  and  if  we  eat  and  drink,  even  in  moderation,  without  regard 
to  the  glory  of  God,  it  becomes  sinful.  Secondbj,  the  end  we  have  habitually 
in  view,  not  only  determines  the  nature  of  our  actions,  but  the  state  and 
character  which  we  sustain  in  the  sight  of  God.  Here  is  often  the  main 
difference  between  good  and  bad  men.  There  may  be  so  many  defects  in 
the  one,  and  so  much  apparent  good  in  the  other,  that  to  human  judgment 
they  may  be  nearly  alike.  Yet  the  one  may  be  serving  God,  the  other  him- 
self. It  is  an  important  thing  that  our  end  or  intentions  be  pure.  "  If  thine 
eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light;  but  if  thine  eye  be 
evil,"  or  diseased,  "  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  darkness." 

The  subject  may  be  enforced  by  weighty  considerations.  Such,  as  to 
pursue  this  end,  is  fit  and  right.  God's  glory  is  worthy  of  being  our  ulti- 
mate end.  Rev.  v.  13,  14.  He  is  worthy  in  himself,  and  for  what  he  has 
done  for  us.     It  is  the  only  return,  too,  that  he  asks  for  all  his  love  and 


CREDULITY    AND    DISINGENUOUSNESS    OF    UNBELIEF. 


821 


mercy.  I  Cor.  vi.  20.  "  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price,  therefore  glorify 
God  •"  and  again,  2  Cor.  v.  15,  "  He  died  for  all,  that  tliey  who  live  should 
not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  for  them."  To 
pursue  this  end  is  to  pursue  the  general  good,  and  to  promote  universal  hap- 
piness. Wherefore  is  the  world  so  full  of  misery?  Because  all  seek  their 
own;  therefore  all  are  at  variance.  If  all  loved  God  supremely,  they  would 
love  each  other  for  his  sake,  and  be  happy.  To  pursue  this  end  is  to  pur- 
sue our  own  good,  which  is  not  only  included  in  the  general  good,  but  hath 
a  special  promise;  "  them  that  honour  me  I  will  honour."  To  pursue  this 
end  is  the  most  effectual  preservative  from  the  abuse  of  mercies.  If  we  eat 
and  drink  that  we  may  be  strengthened  to  serve  the  Lord,  and  to  do  good 
in  our  generation,  such  an  object  in  view  would  be  sure  to  preserve  us  from 
intemperance,  immoderation,  and  excess.  And  if  we  keep  this  end  in  view 
we  shall  not  be  hindered  in  religion,  but  rather  assisted  by  the  necessary 
cares  and  avocations  of  life.  Let  us  but  serve  the  Lord  in  them,  and  we 
shall  never  be  out  of  the  path  of  duty.  Worldly  business,  and  stated  and 
occasional  devotions,  instead  of  clashing  with  each  other,  would  then  form 
one  beautiful  whole.  Why  is  it  that  prayer  and  other  religious  duties  are 
driven  into  a  corner  by  worldly  business?  Because  in  that  business  we  lose 
sight  of  God,  and  serve  ourselves.  It  is  the  service  of  God  and  mammon, 
and  not  the  different  parts  of  God's  service,  which  are  at  variance. 

Some  persons  will  object,  "  How  can  we  be  always  thinking  of  God  in 
our  worldly  pursuits?"  It  is  not  necessary  in  glorifying  God,  that  God 
should  always  be  the  direct  and  immediate  object  of  your  thoughts;  but  if 
you  LOVE  him  supremely,  this  love  will  have  an  influence,  whether  you  per- 
ceive it  or  not,  upon  the  whole  tenor  of  your  life.  A  virtuous  woman  who 
loves  her  husband  may  not  always  be  directly  thinking  of  pleasing  and  ho- 
nouring him;  but  such  love,  like  the  blood  in  the  human  body,  which  runs 
through  every  vein,  will  influence  every  action.  If  she  reflect  on  the  opera- 
tions of  her  mind,  she  will  perceive  that  not  only  in  her  daily  business,  she 
has  his  accommodation  in  view,  but  even  in  all  the  little  ornaments  of  dress, 
and  in  all  the  turns  of  conversation  and  deportment,  her  habitual  study  and 
delight  IS  to  render  herself  agreeable  to  him.  Nothing  but  love,  supreme 
love,  is  necessary,  "  that  whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  we  do,  we 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." 


CREDULITY  AND  DISINGENUOUSNESS  OF  UNBELIEF. 

An  old  man  who  travelled  the  country  as  a  philosophical  lecturer  was  one 
evening  entertaining  his  audience,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  young  people, 
by  attempting  to  account  for  that  famous  pile  of  stones  near  Salisbury,  com- 
monly called  Stonehenge.  He  supposed  it  might  have  been  a  temple;  whether 
Saxon,  Roman,  or  British,  he  did  not  say.  Indeed  his  ideas  seem  to  have 
gone  far  beyond  every  period  of  history  with  which  we  are  acquainted.  The 
principal  thing  on  which  he  insisted  was  its  being  used  for  viewing  the  hea- 
venly bodies ;  and  from  this  part  of  his  hypothesis  he  drew  some  very  singu- 
lar conclusions.  The  structure,  he  supposed,  originally  faced  the  south ; 
but  that  the  points  themselves,  in  a  great  number  of  years,  change  their 
oositions;  and  as  Stonehenge  did  not  now  face  the  south,  he  concluded  it 
was  owing  to  this  cause,  and  that  from  hence  we  might  calculate  how  long 
it  had  been  erected.  By  the  mode  of  calculation  which  he  adopted,  it  was 
easy  to  perceive  that  in  his  account  it  must  have  existed  270,000  years !     It 

3z2 


822  FUGITIVE   PIECES. 

is  true,  he  did  not  proceed  so  far  as  to  draw  the  conclusion,  as  that  might 
have  excited  prejudices  against  what  he  had  further  to  advance;  but  the 
thing  itself  was  plainly  understood  by  the  company. 

In  his  course  of  lectures  he  also  made  mention  of  some  very  ancient 
writings,  found  in  the  Sanscrit  language,  and  brought  to  light  by  Sir  William 
Jones,  in  which  mention  was  made  o{  this  country,  as  a  kind  of  sacred  place, 
to  which  pilgrimages  were  made  in  those  very  early  ages;  and,  if  I  am 
accurate  in  my  recollection,  he  supposed  Stonehenge  might  be  a  place  of 
such  resort. 

Lately,  looking  into  Vol.  III.  of  the  Asiatic  Dissertations,  I  found  some- 
thing which  reminded  me  of  the  old  lecturer's  assertion.  It  was  a  disserta- 
tion of  Lieut.  Wilford's,  "  On  Egypt  and  the  Nile,  from  the  ancient  books 
of  the  Hindoos."  I  here  found  that  the  Puranas,  or  historic  poems  of  the 
Hindoos,  made  mention  of  "  the  sacred  western  islands,"  as  a  place  to  which 
pilgrims  in  those  early  ages  had  been  used  to  resort.  "  Many  brahmins 
indeed  assert,"  adds  Lieut.  Wilford,  "  that  a  great  intercourse  anciently  sub- 
sisted between  India  and  countries  in  the  west;  and,  as  far  as  I  have  exam- 
ined their  sacred  books,  to  which  they  appeal  as  their  evidence,  I  strongly 
incline  to  believe  their  assertion." 

Thus  far  the  supposition  of  our  philosopher  seems  to  be  confirmed.  The 
reader  may  suppose  that  I  now  felt  a  desire  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the  anti- 
quity  of  the  Puranas.  Surely,  thought  I,  they  are  not  270,000  years  old ! 
On  inquiry,  I  soon  perceived  that  they  must  have  been  written  since  the  time 
of  the  flood,  by  the  manifest  reference  which  they  make  to  Noah  and  his 
tliree  sons.  The  following  translation  by  Sir  William  Jones,  and  which  he 
declares  to  be  minutely  exact,  though  in  the  hands  of  the  readers  of  the 
Asiatic  Dissertations,  may  be  new  to  many  others,  and  will  serve  to  show 
that  Indian  literature,  instead  of  weakening  the  authority  of  Scripture,  tends 
rather  to  confirm  it. 

FROM   THE    PADMA    PURAN, 

"To  Satyavarman,  that  sovereign  of  the  wliole  earth,  were  born  three  sons; 
the  eldest  Shcrma,  then  C'harma,  and  thirdly  Jyapcti  by  name.  They  were 
all  men  of  good  morals,  excellent  in  virtue  and  virtuous  deeds;  skilled  in  the 
use  of  weapons  to  strike  with,  or  to  be  thrown ;  brave  men,  eager  for  victory 
in  battle.  But  Satyavarman  being  continually  delighted  with  devout  medi- 
tation, and  seeing  his  sons  fit  for  dominion,  laid  upon  them  the  burden  of 
government.  Whilst  he  remained  honouring  and  satisfying  the  gods,  and 
priests,  and  kine,  one  day,  by  the  act  of  destiny,  the  king  having  drunk  mead 
became  senseless,  and  lay  asleep  naked.     Tlien  was  he  seen  by  C'harma, 

and  by  him  were  his  two  brothers  called To  whom  he  said.  What  has 

now  befallen?  In  what  state  is  this  our  sire?  By  those  two  was  he  hidden 
with  clothes,  and  called  to  his  senses  again  and  again. 

"  Having  recovered  his  intellect,  and  perfectly  knowing  what  had  passed, 
he  cursed  C'harma,  saying,  Thou  shalt  be  the  servant  of  servants.  And 
since  thou  wast  a  laugher  in  their  presence,  from  laughter  shalt  thou  acquire 
a  name.*  Then  he  gave  to  Shcrma  the  wide  domain  on  the  south  of  the 
snowy  mountains.  And  to  Jyapcti  he  gave  all  the  north  of  the  snowy  moun- 
tains; but  he  by  the  power  of  religious  contemplation  attained  supreme  bliss."t 

I  will  only  add  a  part  of  the  eulogium  on  the  life  and  writings  of  Sir 

*  They  say  he  was  nicknamed  Hasyasila,  or  the  Laugher;  and  his  descendants  were 
called,  from  him,  Hacyasilas.  By  the  descendants  of  Oharma,  they  understood,  says  LieuU 
Wilford,  the  African  Negroes. — Asiatic  Diss.  Vol.  III.  pp.  90,  91. 

t  Asiatic  Dissertations,_Vol.  III.  p.  262. 


QUALIFICATIONS  AND  LOCATION  OF  MISSIONARIES.  823 

William  Jones,  by  the  Right  Hon.  Lord  Teignrnouth,  in  his  address  to  the 
Asiatic  Society. 

"  He  professed  his  conviction  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
justly  deemed  it  no  inconsiderable  advantage  that  his  researches  had  corrobo- 
rated and  multiplied  evidences  of  revelation,  by  confirming  the  Mosaic  account 
of  the  primitive  world.  We  all  recollect,  and  can  refer  to  the  following  sen- 
timents in  his  eighth  anniversary  discourse: — 'Theological  inquiries  are  no 
part  of  my  present  subject;  but  I  cannot  refrain  from  adding  that  the  collec- 
tion of  tracts  which  we  call,  from  their  excellence,  the  Scriptures,  contain, 
independently  of  a  Divine  origin,  more  true  sublimity,  more  important  history, 
and  finer  strains  both  of  poetry  and  eloquence,  than  could  be  collected  within 
the  same  compass  from  all  other  books  tliat  were  ever  composed  in  any  age, 
or  in  any  language.  The  two  parts  of  which  the  Scriptures  consist  are  con- 
nected by  a  chain  of  compositions  which  bear  no  resemblance  in  form  or 
style  to  any  that  can  be  produced  from  the  stores  of  Grecian,  Italian,  Persian, 
or  even  Arabic  learning.  The  antiquity  of  those  compositions  no  man 
doubts,  and  the  unrestrained  application  of  them  to  events  long  subsequent 
to  their  publication  is  a  solid  ground  of  belief  that  they  were  genuine  predic* 
tions,  and  consequently  inspired.'" 

The  old  lecturer's  desire  of  introducing  the  Asiatic  Researches,  in  a  way 
unfriendly  to  the  Scriptures,  reminds  us  of  the  wish  of  a  certain  jealous 
king,  and'  of  his  dea/irg  with  "  the  wise  men  of  the  east"  in  order  to  obtain 
it.  The  wise  men  of  the  east,  it  seems,  are  not  to  be  drawn  into  such  mea 
sures.  Their  business  is  to  do  hojnagc  to  the  Messiah,  and  not  to  join  with 
his  murderers. 


THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE  GLASGOW  MISSIONARY 
SOCIETY. 

[A  letter  to  Mr.  H.  Muir,  Glasgow.] 
Dear  Sir, 

I  greatly  rejoice  in  the  establishment  of  your  Society.  If  many  were 
formed,  there  would  be  no  need  of  any  apology  to  those  which  are  formed 
already.  There  is  work  enough  for  us  all.  The  harvest  truly  is  great,  and 
I  heartily  wish  you  success. 

If  the  exertions  of  our  Society  have  contributed  to  excite  the  public  spirit 
which  now  prevails  through  the  kingdom,  it  is  no  small  reward.  We  have 
found  the  undertaking  particularly  useful  in  uniting  and  quickening  us  in 
religion ;  and  I  trust  it  will  produce  similar  effects  among  Christians  in 
general.  Where  no  object  of  magnitude  attracts  our  regard,  we  are  apt  to 
pore  on  our  own  miseries;  and  where  nothing  exists  as  an  object  in  which 
we  may  all  unite,  we  are  apt  to  turn  our  attention  chiefly  to  those  things  in 
which  we  differ.  It  is  well  for  ourselves,  therefore,  to  be  engaged  in  some 
arduous  undertaking  which  shall  interest  our  hearts,  bring  us  into  contact 
with  one  another,  and  cause  us  to  feel  that  we  are  brethren. 

As  to  your  questions,  our  experience  you  know  is  but  small.  It  is  little 
more  than  three  years  since  we  began,  and  only  two  missions  have  yet  been 
undertaken ;  what  I  have  observed,  however,  I  shall  with  the  utmost  freedom 
communicate.     You  ask — 

First,  "  What  are  the  requisite  talents  and  character  of  a  missionary?"  As 
to  talents,  there  is  a  considerable  difference  to  be  made  betwixt  a  principal 
and  an  assistant  in  any  mission.     In  every  mission  I  conceive  there  should 


824  FUGITIVE  PIECES. 

be  one  person  at  least  of  a  clear  head,  calm,  cool,  enterprising,  prudent,  and 
persevering;  and  as  it  will  be  an  object  of  the  first  importance  in  due  time 
to  translate  the  Scriptures,  it  would  be  well  for  him  to  have  some  knowledge 
of  languages.  But  as  to  others  who  may  accompany  him,  no  great  talents 
are  necessary ;  a  warm  heart  for  Christ,  an  ardent  love  to  the  souls  of  poor 
heathens,  an  upright  character,  and  a  decent  share  of  common  sense,  are 
sufficient.  No  man  is  fit  to  be  sent,  in  my  judgment,  either  as  a  principal 
or  an  assistant,  who  does  not  possess  a  peculiar  desire  after  the  work ;  such 
a  desire  as  would  render  him  unhappy  in  any  other  employment.  I  do  not 
mean  to  plead  for  enthusiastical  impressions ;  yet  an  impression  there  must 
be,  and  an  abiding  one  too,  that  all  the  fatigues,  disappointments,  non-suc 
cess,  and  discouragements  of  such  an  undertaking  shall  not  be  able  to  efface. 
When  God  has  had  any  extraordinary  work  to  perform,  it  has  been  his  prac- 
tice to  raise  up  suitable  instruments,  and  to  impress  their  minds  with  suitable 
views  and  desires.  The  wall  of  Jerusalem  needed  rebuilding,  and  God  put 
it  into  the  heart  of  Nehemiah  to  go  and  build  it.  It  was  this  particular 
desire  which  God  put  into  his  heart  which  enabled  him  to  encounter  diffi- 
culties and  surmount  obstructions  at  which  ninety-nine  men  out  of  a  hundred 
would  have  fainted.  When  the  second  temple  was  to  be  built,  God  stirred 
up  the  spirit  of  Zerubbabel  and  of  Joshua.  It  is  not  every  person  however 
who  may  possess  a  desire  to  be  a  missionary  who  ought  to  be  accepted. 
You  will  probably  find  many  during  this  great  stir  who  will  offer  themselves 
to  go,  but  whose  desire  upon  examination  will  be  found  to  have  originated 
in  a  dissatisfaction  with  something  at  home.  They  dislike  the  politics  of 
their  country,  and  therefore  wish  to  leave  it ;  or  they  have  been  chagrined  by 
disappointment  in  civil  and  worldly  affairs ;  or  they  are  vain,  and  conceive  it 
to  be  a  fine  thing  to  attract  the  attention  and  bear  a  commission  from  thou- 
sands; or  they  are  idle,  and  wish  to  ramble  up  and  down  the  world  ;  or  incon- 
siderate, and  have  not  properly  counted  the  cost.  Even  ministers  will  be 
found  who  are  unacceptable  at  home,  and  therefore  desire  to  change  their 
situation.  But  none  of  these  motives  will  bear.  It  is  true,  every  one  who 
was  discontented,  distressed,  or  in  debt,  gathered  themselves  to  David;  and 
they  might  answer  his  purpose,  but  not  ours.  A  pure,  disinterested,  ardent 
desire  to  serve  the  Lord  in  this  work  is  the  one  thing  needful.  When  we 
perceive  such  desire  in  a  candidate,  and  he  voluntarily  offers,  or  in  some  way 
discovers  his  inclination,  we  then  make  inquiry  what  is  his  general  Christian 
character.  Is  he  upright,  modest,  benevolent,  prudent,  patient  ?  if  so,  we 
are  satisfied. — You  ask — 

Secondly,  "  What  is  the  best  mode  of  introducing  him  and  the  subject 
of  his  mission  to  the  heathen?" 

We  at  present  think  it  best  not  to  send  them  in  large  companies,  but  two 
and  tico,  unless  they  have  wives  and  children,  who,  of  course,  would  go  with 
them ;  partly  because  we  wish  to  make  no  parade,  but  to  go  on  in  a  course 
of  silent  activity,  that  in  case  of  disappointments  and  disasters,  which  we 
ought  to  lay  our  account  with,  the  work  may  not  sink  in  the  general  estima- 
tion ;  and  partly  because  we  wish  them  to  be  convinced  at  the  outset  that 
we  have  no  hostile  intentions  towards  them ;  and  this  cannot  be  done  so 
effectually  as  by  going  and  throwing  ourselves  upon  their  generosity.  A 
large  company  might  excite  alarm ;  but  two  or  three  people  going  into  the 
midst  of  them,  putting  their  lives  into  their  hand,  would  ordinarily  have  a 
contrary  effect.  The  extent  of  the  British  trade  is  such  that  we  cannot  fail 
of  a  passage,  by  merchant  ships,  to  almost  any  part  of  the  world.  Carey  and 
Thomas,  and  their  families,  kept  up  worship  in  the  ship,  though  surrounded 
with  infidels  and  profane  people;  and  an  infidel  who  went  with  them,  and 
is  since  returned,  has  said,  "  If  ever  there  was  a  good  man  in  the  world, 


IMPORTANCE  OF  A  LIVELY  FAITH.  825 

Carey  was  one."  As  to  the  mode  of  introducing  the  subject  of  their  mis- 
sion, that  must  be  according  to  circumstances.  In  Hindostan  they  have  an 
advantage  in  Mr.  Thomas  having  been  first.  His  method  was  to  go  into  a 
town  or  village.  The  sight  of  a  European,  walking  up  and  down,  would 
excite  as  much  attention  among  them  as  a  Turk  would  among  us.  He 
would  single  out  some  intelligent  looking  person,  and  begin  to  ask  him 
questions.  This  would  draw  others  round  them;  he  would  then,  having  the 
whole  village  of  400  or  500  people,  talk  to  them,  ask  them  questions,  show 
the  evil  of  idolatry,  convict  them  of  sin,  and  introduce  the  Saviour.  In 
Africa,  all  round  the  Sierra  Leone  colony,  the  natives  want  English  people 
to  teach  their  children  to  read, write,  v^c.  We  therefore  direct  our  mis- 
sionaries to  that  country  to  go  to  the.colony,  and  get  recommended  to  the 
natives,  first  as  schoolmasters;  and  while  they  taught  the  children  to  read, 
write,  &c.,  to  teach  the  parents,  as  well  as  the  children,  Christianity. 

Were  I  to  go  into  a  country  where  no  Europeans  were  to  be  found,  I 
would  go  immediately  among  the  natives,  and,  by  signs,  convince  them  that 
1  wished  to  cast  in  my  lot  with  them.  I  would  watch  the  names  they  gave 
to  things,  and  write  them  down  as  they  occurred.  Thus  a  vocabulary  would 
rapidly  advance :  while  thus  learning  their  language,  I  would  live  as  they 
lived,  and  conform  to  their  manners  in  all  lawful  things  :  when  they  revelled, 
or  sacrificed  to  their  idols,  I  would  stand  aloof,  and,  by  my  nonconformity, 
silently  reprove  them.  When  I  sufficiently  understood  their  language,  I 
would  tell  diem  there  was  a  God  in  heaven — that  I  was  a  worshipper  and 
servant  of  him — that  idolatry,  and  all  iniquity,  was  hateful  in  his  sight — that 
there  was  an  hereafter,  when  these  things  would  be  brought  into  account — 
that,  from  the  love  I  bore  to  him  and  them,  I  had  come  amongst  them  to 
tell  them  of  these  things — that  God,  in  love  to  sinners,  had  sent  his  Son  to 
die,  &c.,  and  now  commanded  all  men,  every  where,  to  repent;  that  he  was 
able  and  willing  to  save  all  that  returned  to  God  by  him ;  and  that  all  others 
would  everlastingly  perish,  &c. 

And  now,  dear  sir,  I  must  conclude.  As  I  am  going  out  to-morrow,  for 
some  days,  I  thought  I  would  answer  your  letter  now,  and  that  of  your  friend 
when  it  arrives.  Whether  my  answer  be  in  point,  so  as  to  meet  your  diffi- 
culties, I  cannot  tell ;  but  I  have  suggested  what  appeared  best  to  me. 

Remember  me  affectionately  to  your  Society.  I  shall  be  happy  at  any 
lime  to  hear  from  you,  and  to  communicate  any  thing  in  my  power.  I  lately 
received  a  letter  and  a  handsome  donation  from  a  Mr.  David  Dale  of  your 
city.  Remember  me  affectionately  to  him.  I  am,  dear  sir,  with  cordial 
esteem,  yours  in  our  common  Lord.  A.  F. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  A  LIVELY  FAITH, 

ESPECIALLY  IN  MISSIONARY  UNDERTAKINGS. 

[Written  in  1799.] 

I  HAVE  been  a  good  deal  impressed  with  a  persuasion  that  in  our  mis- 
sionary undertakings,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  we  shall  not  be  remarkably 
successful,  unless  we  enter  deeply  into  the  spirit  of  the  primitive  Christians; 
particularly  with  respect  to  faith  in  the  Divine  promises.  I  am  apprehen- 
sive that  we  are  all  deficient  in  this  grace,  and  therefore  presume  that  a  few 
hints  on  the  subject  may  not  be  unseasonable. 

Vol.  III.~104 


826  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 

When  Israel  went  out  of  Egypt,  they  greatly  rejoiced  on  the  shores  of  the 
Red  Sea;  but  the  greater  part  of  them  entered  not  into  the  Promised  Land, 
and  that  on  account  of  their  unbelief  The  resemblance  between  their  case 
and  ours  has  struck  my  mind  with  considerable  force.  The  grand  object 
of  their  undertaking  was  to  root  out  idolatry,  and  to  establish  the  knowledge 
and  worship  of  the  one  living  and  true  God ;  and  such  also  is  ours.  The 
authorittj  on  which  they  acted  was  the  sovereign  command  of  Heaven;  and 
ours  is  the  same.  "  Go  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  The  ground 
on  which  they  were  to  rest  their  hope  of  success  was  the  Divine  promise. 
It  was  by  relying  on  this  alone  that  they  were  enabled  to  surmount  difficulties, 
and  to  encounter  their  gigantic  enemies.  Those  among  them  who  believed, 
like  Joshua  and  Caleb,  felt  themselves  well  able  to  go  up;  but  they  that  dis- 
trusted the  promise  turned  their  backs  in  the  hour  of  danger.  Such  also  is 
the  ground  of  our  hope.  He  who  hath  commissioned  us  to  "  teach  all 
nations"  hath  added,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  to  the  end  of  the 
world."  The  heathen  nations  are  given  to  our  Redeemer  for  an  inheritance, 
as  much  as  Canaan  was  given  to  the  seed  of  Abraham ;  and  it  is  our  busi- 
ness, as  it  was  theirs,  to  go  up  and  possess  the  land.  We  should  lay  our 
account  with  difficulties  as  well  as  they;  but,  according  to  our  faith  in  the 
Divine  promises,  we  may  expect  these  mountains  to  become  a  plain.  If  the 
Lord  delight  in  us,  he  will  bring  us  into  the  land ;  but  if,  like  the  unbe- 
lieving Israelites,  we  make  light  of  the  promised  good,  or  magnify  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  obtaining  it,  and  so  relax  our  efforts,  we  may  expect  tt 
die  as  it  were  in  the  wilderness. 

It  is  true,  there  are  some  differences  between  their  case  and  ours ;  but 
they  are  wholly  in  our  favour.  We  are  not,  like  them,  going  to  possess 
countries  for  ourselves,  but  for  Christ.  They  went  armed  with  the  temporal 
sword,  we  with  the  sword  of  the  Spirit;  they  were  commissioned -in  justice 
to  destroy  men's  lives,  we  in  mercy  to  save  their  souls;  they  sought  not  them 
but  theirs,  we  seek  not  theirs  but  them.  Now  by  how  much  our  cause 
exceeds  theirs  in  the  magnitude  and  beneficence  of  its  object,  by  so  much 
the  more  shall  we  incur  the  frowns  of  Heaven,  if  we  fail  of  accomplishing 
it  through  unbelief 

On  a  certain  occasion  "  the  disciples  said  unto  the  Lord,  Increase  our 
faith;"  and  it  is  worth  while  to  consider  what  that  occasion  was,  Luke  xvii. 
3-6.  There  was  a  hard  duty  enjoined,  to  forgive  lamented  injuries,  even 
though  committed  seven  times  a  day.  The  apostles  very  properly  turn  the 
injunction  into  a  petition,  praying  for  great  grace  to  enable  them  to  dis- 
charge so  difficult  a  duty.  They  said  unto  the  Lord,  "  Increase  our  faith." 
But  why  ask  for  an  increase  of  faith?  Possibly  we  might  have  said.  Lord, 
increase  our  love,  our  self-denial,  our  patience.  Asking  for  an  increase  of 
faith  was  asking  for  an  increase  of  every  other  grace;  this  being  a  kind  of 
first  wheel  that  sets  the  rest  in  motion.  Our  Lord's  answer  intimates  that 
they  had  chosen  a  right  petition ;  for  faith,  even  in  a  small  degree,  will 
enable  us  to  surmount  great  difficulties — difficulties  the  surmounting  of 
which  is  as  the  removal  of  mountains.  The  passage,  taken  in  its  connexion, 
teaches  us  the  efficacy  of  faith  in  discharging  duties,  and  surmounting 
difficulties. 

Where  there  is  no  faith  in  the  truths  and  promises  of  the  gospel,  there  is 
no  heart  for  duty ;  and  where  it  is  very  low  and  defective  in  its  exercises, 
there  is  but  little  spiritual  activity.  If  a  good  man  be  entangled  in  sceptical 
doubts  respecting  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  or  any  of  its  leading  doctrines,  he 
will,  during  that  time,  be  not  only  unhappy  in  his  own  mind,  but  of  little  use 
to  others.  He  admits  that  God  used  in  former  ages  to  hear  the  prayers  and 
succeed  the  labours  of  his  servants,  and  that  there  will  be  times  in  which 


IMPORTANCE  OF  A  LIVELY  FAITH.  827 

great  things  will  again  be  wrought  for  the  church.  But  of  late,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  present  age,  he  imagines  we  are  not  to  expect  any  thing  re- 
markable. This  is  no  other  than  a  spice  of  that  atheistical  spirit  which  said, 
"  The  Lord  hath  forsaken  the  earth,  he  regardeth  not  man ;"  the  effect  of 
which  is  an  indifference  to  every  exercise  and  enterprise  of  a  religious  nature. 
Faith  operates  as  a  stimulus,  unbelief  as  a  palsy. 

If  faith  in  Divine  truths  and  promises  be  low,  though  we  should  be  drawn 
in  with  others  to  engage  in  religious  enterprises,  yet  we  shall  not  follow 
them  up  with  ardent  prayer,  or  look  for  the  blessing  of  God  with  that  earnest 
expectation  which  generally  precedes  the  bestovvment  of  it.  Instead  of  for- 
getting the  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those  things 
which  are  before,  we  shall  be  in  danger  of  resting  satisfied  in  present  attain- 
ments, and  so  of  losing  (he  things  which  we  have  wrought,  for  want  of  fol- 
lowing up  the  work  to  which  we  have  set  our  hands. 

All  the  great  things  that  have  been  wrought  in  the  church  of  God  have 
been  accomplished  by  this  principle.  It  was  hy  faith  that  the  worthies  "sub- 
dued kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the 
mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  and  put  to 
flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens."  It  was  by  faith  that  the  apostles  and  primi- 
tive Christians  went  forth  as  sheep  among  wolves,  and,  at  the  expense  of 
all  that  was  dear  to  them  on  earth,  carried  the  gospel  into  all  nations. 
Wherever  they  went  they  were  previously  persuaded  that  they  should  go  in 
the  fulness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ;  and  it  was  so.  God 
always  caused  thenj  to  triumph  in  Christ,  and  made  manifest  the  savour 
of  his  knowledge  by  them  in  every  place.  Could  we  but  imbibe  this  spirit, 
surely  we  should  be  able,  in  some  good  degree,  to  say  so  too.  "  Believe  in 
the  Lord  our  God,  so  shall  ye  be  established;  believe  his  prophets,  so  shall 
ye  prosper." 

But  why  is  it  that  God  should  thus  honour  the  exercise  of  faith?  Is  it 
not  because  faith  is  a  grace  ihat  peculiarly  honours  him?  We  cannot  do 
greater  dishonour  to  a  person  of  kind  and  generous  intentions  than  by  think- 
ing very  ill  of  him,  and  acting  towards  him  on  the  ground  of  such  evil 
thoughts.  It  was  thus'  that  the  slothful  servant  thought  and  acted  towards 
his  lord.  On  the  other  hand,  we  cannot  do  greater  honour  to  a  character 
of  the  above  description  than  by  thinking  well  of  him,  and  placing  the  most 
unreserved  confidence  in  all  he  says.  Any  man  who  had  a  just  regard  to 
honour  would  in  such  a  case  feel  a  strong  inducement  to  answer  the  expecta- 
tions which  were  entertained  of  him.  And  God  himself  hath  condescended 
to  intimate  something  like  the  same  thing.  "  The  Lord  taketh  pleasure  in 
them  that  fear  him,  in  those  that  hope  in  his  mercy."  In  believing  his  word 
we  think  well  of  him,  and  he  takes  pleasure  in  answering  such  expectations; 
proving  thereby  that  we  have  thought  justly  concerning  him.  It  was  on  this 
principle  that  our  Lord  usually  conferred  the  blessings  of  miraculous  heal- 
ing, in  answer  to  the  faith  of  the  patient,  or  of  those  that  accompanied  him. 
"  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth.  Accord- 
ing to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you." 


828  FUGITIVE    PIECES. 


INFINITE  EVIL  OF  SIN. 

1.  I3  not  the  whole  that  is  meant  by  the  infinite  evil  of  sin,  that,  on  ao 
count  of  the  Object  against  whom  it  is  committed,  it  is  so  great  an  evil  as 
to  involve  consequences  without  end? — 2.  Is  not  the  whole  that  is  meant 
by  the  infinite  value  of  Christ's  sufferings,  that,  on  account  of  the  dignity  of 
the  sufferer,  they  also  involve  in  them  consequences  without  end? — 3.  Is  not 
the  former  of  these  questions  consistent  with  different  degrees  of  guilt,  and 
consequently  of  punishment  in  the  sinner;  and  the  latter  with  a  finite  degree 
of  suffering  in  the  Saviour? — 4.  Does  not  the  merit  of  obedience  sink,  and 
the  demerit  of  disobedience  rise,  according  to  the  excellency  of  the  Object? 


THE  LEPER. 

[A  Memorandum,  June  30,  1798.] 

We  sinners  in  this  world  are  as  lepers  in  a  "  several  house."  The  great 
High  Priest  from  above  has  deigned,  and  still  deigns,  to  visit  us.  Happy 
will  it  be  for  us  if,  during  his  visitations,  we  are  purified  from  our  unclean- 
ness.  If  so,  we  shall  be  reunited  to  the  society  of  the  blessed  ;  but  if  other- 
wise, if  we  die  in  impenitence  and  unbelief,  what  is  s^id  of  the  confirmed 
leper  will  be  true  of  us, — without  the  camp  must  our  habitation  be ! 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SABBATH. 


[An  original  letter.] 
My  dear  Friend,  Kettering,  Jug.  25,  1805. 

I  RECEIVED  yours  yesterday,  and,  though  my  hands  are  full,  I  must  write 
you  a  few  thoughts  on  the  Lord's  day.  Your  views  on  that  subject,  I  am 
persuaded,  are  injurious  to  your  soul,  and  to  the  souls  of  many  more  in 
■  It  is  one  of  those  consequences  which  arise  from  an  extreme  atten- 

tion to  instituted  worship,  to  the  neglect  of  what  is  moral.  If  the  keeping 
of  a  sabbath  to  God  were  not  in  all  ages  binding,  why  is  it  introduced  in  the 
moral  law,  and  founded  upon  God's  resting  from  his  works.  If  it  were  merely  a 
Jewish  ceremonial,  why  do  we  read  Q.f  time  being  divided  by  zoccks  before 
the  law?  There  was  a  day  in  the  time  of  John  the  apostle  which  the  Lord 
called  his  own ;  and  as  you  do  not  suppose  this  to  be  the  seventh,  (for,  if  it  were, 
we  ought  still  to  keep  it,)  you  must  allow  it  to  be  the  first.  The  first  day 
then  ought  to  be  kept  as  the  Lord's  oivn  day,  and  we  ought  not  to  think  our 
own  thoughts,  converse  on  our  own  affairs,  nor  follow  our  own  business  on 
it.  To  say,  as  you  do,  that  we  must  not  eat  our  own  supper  on  that  day  is 
requiring  what  never  was  required  on  the  Jewish  sabbath.  Necessary  things 
were  always  allowed.  Nor  did  my  argument  from  1  Cor.  xi.  suppose  this. 
The  argument  was — the  ordinance  of  breaking  bread  being  called  XheLord^s 
supper  proved  that  they  ought  not  to  eat  their  own  supper  while  eating  that 
supper;  therefore  the  first  day  being  called  the  Lord's  day  proves  we  ought 
not  to  follow  our  own  unnecessary  concerns  while  that  continues,  but  to 


PICTURE  OF  AN  ANTINOMIAN.  829 

devote  it  to  the  Lord,  and  this  is  a  moral  duty — that,  whatever  day  we  keep, 
we  keep  it  to  the  Lord. 

Your  notions  of  instituted  worship,  to  the  overlooking  of  what  is  moral,  I 
am  persuaded  have  injured  you  as  to  family  worship  and  family  government. 
It  is  not  said  of  Abraham  that  God  gave  him  a  special  precept  about  com- 
manding "  his  household  after  him,"  but  knew  him  that  he  would  do  it.  It 
was  one  of  those  things,  and  so  is  the  other,  of  which  it  might  be  said,  "Ye 
need  not  that  I  write  this  unto  you  ;  for  ye  yourselves  are  taught  of  God  to 
do  these." 

But  allowmg  your  argument,  that  there  is  no  sin  in  attending  to  worldly 
things  on  the  Lord's  day,  yet,  according  to  Paul's  reasoning  in  1  Cor.  viii., 
you  ought  to  refrain.  You  cause  others  to  offend  God  by  breaking  what 
they  consider  a  divine  commandment.  And  the  reasoning  of  Paul  in  chap, 
viii.  8,  applies  to  you :  If  you  do  these  things  you  are  not  the  better,  and  if 
you  abstained  you  would  not  be  the  worse.  Do  you  not  hereby  sin  against 
Christ,  and  wound  those  whom  you  account  your  weaker  brethren?  You 
must  also  have  done  harm  to  your  son,  and  to  the  waiters  at  the  inn.  Reckon 
me  if  you  please  a  weak  brother.  But  so  fully  convinced  am  I  of  the  inva- 
riable obligation  of  keeping  a  day  to  the  Lord,  that  if  I  had  seen  what  1  did 
on  the  Lord's  day  morning,  it  would  have  marred  all  my  comfort  at  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  I  know  not  that  I  could  have  there  united  with  you.  I 
write  not  because  I  love  you  not,  but  the  reverse  ....  but  alas!  the  taint 
of  your  old  principles  I  fear  will  remain  ....  Oh  that  they  did  not! 

My  dear  friend,  I  see  in  you  so  much  to  love  that  1  cannot  but  long  to  see 
more  ;  and  particularly  to  see  that  old  leaven  purged  out.  "  The  knowledge 
of  the  holy  is  understanding."     It  is  this  sort  of  leaven  that  makes  those  few 

Baptists  at afraid  to  unite  with  many  of  your  Baptists;  and  I  cannot 

but  approve  of  their  conduct.  They  would  unite  with  any  individual  who 
comes  to  them  and  gives  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  Christianity,  and  of  his 
Christian  walk ;  but  if  they  unite  with  Baptists  by  whole  companies,  they  are 

ruined.    I  was  told  at that  the  way  in  which  the  Baptists  in  Mr. 's 

connexion  take  in  members  was  by  merely  requiring  an  account  of  their 
faith,  that  is,  a  creed,  and  not  of  the  influence  of  truth  upon  their  own  mind. 
The  consequence  is,  as  might  be  expected,  great  numbers  of  them  are  men 
of  no  personal  godliness,  but  mere  speculatists.     Churches  formed  on  such 

principles  must  (like  what  I  have  heard  of  many societies)  sink  into 

nothing,  or  worse  than  nothing,  mere  worldly  communities,  a  sort  of  free- 
masons' lodges.     My  dear  friend,  flee  from  the  remains  of  such  religion !     I 

mean  no  reflection  upon  individuals.     I  trust  Mr. is  a  good  man ;  and 

I  have  been  told  his  church  is  in  the  main  one  of  the  best:  but,  on  such  a 
principle,  it  cannot  stand.     Affectionately  yours,  A.  F. 


PICTURE  OF  AN  ANTINOMIAN. 

Understanding  that  a  certain  preacher,  who  was  reported  to  be  more 
than  ordinarily  evangelical,  was  to  deliver  a  sermon  in  the  town  where  I  re- 
side, and  hearing  some  of  my  neighbours  talk  of  going  to  hear  "  the  gospel," 
I  resolved  to  go  too.  I  thought  that  I  loved  the  gospel,  and  felt  a  concern 
for  my  neighbours'  welfare:  I  wished  therefore  to  observe,  and  form  the  best 
judgment  I  could  of  what  it  was  to  which  they  applied  with  such  an  env 
phasis  that  revered  name. 

I  arrived,  I  believe  unobserved,  just  after  the  naming  of  the  text;  and 

4  A 


830  FUGITIVE  PIECES. 

Staid,  though  with  some  difficulty,  till  the  discourse  was  ended.  I  pass  over 
what  relates  to  manner,  and  also  much  whimsical  interpretation  of  Scripture; 
and  shall  now  confine  my  remarks  to  the  substance  and  drift  of  the  discourse. 

There  were  a  few  good  things  delivered,  which,  as  they  are  stated  in  the 
Bible,  are  the  support  and  joy  of  pious  minds.  I  thought  I  could  see  how 
these  things  might  please  the  real  Christian,  though,  on  account  of  the  con- 
fused manner  of  their  being  introduced,  not  the  judicious  Christian.  Pious 
people  enjoy  the  good  things  they  hear,  and,  being  thus  employed,  they 
attend  not  to  what  is  erroneous;  or,  if  they  hear  the  words,  let  them  go  as 
points  which  they  do  not  understand,  but  which  they  think  the  wiser  preacher 
and  hearers  do. 

I  cannot  give  you  the  plan  of  the  sermon,  for  the  preacher  appeared  not  to 
have  had  one.  I  recollect  however,  in  the  course  of  his  harangue,  the  follow- 
ing things. — "  Some  men  will  tell  you,"  said  he,  "  that  it  is  the  duty  of  men 
to  believe  in  Christ.  These  men  say  that  you  must  get  Christ,  get  grace, 
and  that  of  yourselves;  convert  yourselves,  make  yourselves  new  creatures, 
get  the  Holy  Spirit  yourselves,"  &c.  Here  he  went  on  with  an  abundance 
of  misrepresentation  and  slander,  too  foul  to  be  repeated. 

He  asserted  with  the  highest  tone  of  confidence  I  ever  heard  in  any  place, 
much  less  in  a  pulpit,  his  own  saintship;  loudly  and  repeatedly  declaiming 
to  this  effect — "  I  must  go  to  glory — I  cannot  be  lost — I  am  as  safe  as  Christ 
■ — all  devils,  all  sins  cannot  hurt  me!"  In  short,  he  preached  himself,  not 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.  He  was  his  own  theme,  I  believe,  throughout  one 
half  at  least  of  his  sermon.  He  went  over  what  he  called  his  experience,  but 
seemed  to  shun  the  dark  part  of  it ;  and  the  whole  tended  to  proclaim  what 
a  wonderful  man  he  was.  Little  of  Christ  could  be  seen :  he  himself  stood 
before  him :  and  when  his  name  did  occur,  I  was  shocked  at  the  dishonour 
which  appeared  to  be  cast  upon  him. 

All  accurate  distinction  of  character,  such  as  is  constantly  maintained  in 
the  Scriptures,  vanished  before  his  vociferation.  The  audience  was  harangued 
in  a  way  which  left  each  one  to  suppose  himself  included  among  the  blessed. 
This  confusion  of  character  was  the  ground  on  which  he  stood  exclaiming, 
"  I  am  saved — I  am  in  Christ — I  cannot  be  lost — sins  and  devils  may  sur- 
round me,  but,  though  I  fall  and  sin,  I  am  safe — Christ  cannot  let  me  go — 
lusts  and  corruptions  may  overwhelm  me  in  filth  and  pollution,  as  a  sea  rolling 
over  my  head ;  but  all  this  does  not,  cannot  affect  the  new  man — the  new 
nature  is  not  touched  or  sullied  by  this :  it  cannot  sin,  because  it  is  born  of 
God — I  stand  amidst  this  overwhelming  sea  unhurt."  All  this  the  hearers 
were  told  in  substance,  and  persuaded  to  adopt;  and  it  was  sin  and  unbelief 
not  to  do  so ! 

The  whole  was  interspersed  with  levity,  low  wit,  and  great  irreverence. 
On  the  most  solemn  subjects  of"  hell,  devils,  and  damnation,"  he  raved  like 
a  Billingsgate  or  blasphemer.  On  the  adorable  and  amazing  names  of  the 
ever-blessed  God,  he  rallied  and  sported  with  such  lightness  and  rant  as  was 
truly  shocking.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  his  repeating  the  words  of 
the  prophet  Isaiah :  "Who  is  among  you  that  feareth  the  Lord,  that  obeyeth 
the  voice  of  his  servant,  that  walketh  in  darkness,  and  hath  no  light;  let  him 
trust  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  stay  upon  his  God."  The  manner  in 
which  the  sacred  name  was  here  used  was  highly  profane  and  impious. 

On  returning  from  the  place,  I  was  affected  with  the  delusion  by  which 
some  of  my  neighbours  were  borne  away,  crying  up  the  preacher  as  an  oracle, 
"  a  bold  defender  of  the  gospel."  To  me  his  words  appear  to  answer  with 
great  exactness  to  what  is  called,  by  the  apostle  to  Timothy,  "  profane  and 
vain  babbling;"  and  which,  from  an  accurate  observation,  Paul  declared 


PICTURE  OP  AN  ANTINOMIAN.  831 

"would  increase  unto  more  ungodliness;  and  would  ea,t  as  doth  a  canker," 
or  gangrene. 

Need  I  ask,  Can  this  be  true  religion?  The  effects  which  it  produces, 
both  on  individuals  and  on  societies,  sufficiently  ascertain  its  nature.  It  was 
and  is  affecting  to  me  to  think  what  a  state  the  world  is  in;  so  few  making 
any  profession  of  serious  religion,  and  so  few  of  those  that  do  who  have  their 
senses  exercised  to  discern  between  good  and  evil.  To  think  of  Christian 
congregations  who  have  heard  the  word  of  truth  for  a  number  of  years  being 
carried  away  with  such  preaching  as  this,  is  humiliating  and  distressing  to  a 
reflecting  mind.  Alas,  how  easily  men  are  imposed  upon  in  their  eternal 
concerns !  It  is  not  so  with  them  in  other  things ;  but  here  the  grossest  im- 
posture will  go  down  with  applause.  Yet  why  do  I  thus  speak  ?  "  There 
must  needs  be  heresies,  that  they  who  are  approved  may  be  made  manifest." 


SEHMONS." 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

[Preached  at  the  Tabernacle,  Norwich,  June  28,  1810.] 
"But  the  word  of  God  grew  and  multiplied." — Acts  xii.  24. 

We,  who  live  in  times  in  which  we  are  protected  by  wholesome  laws, 
cannot  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the  church  in  times  of  persecution.  From 
the  earliest  period  when  the  Gospel  began  to  be  published,  the  wrath  of  man 
was  kindled  against  it.  Peter  had  not  commenced  his  attack  on  Satan's 
kingdom  many  days,  before  the  members  of  that  kingdom  began  to  be 
stirred  up  to  oppose  him.  You  presently  find  Peter  and  John  cast  into 
prison  ;  James  is  killed  with  the  sword ;  and  Saul  of  Tarsus  receives  a 
commission  from  the  chief  priests  to  go  hither  and  thither,  persecuting  that 
way  unto  the  death.  Yet  amidst  all  this  opposition  we  see  the  word  of  God 
prospering.  We  find  the  wall  of  Zion  is  built  in  troublous  times.  The 
Lord  prospers  his  word,  and  that  by  the  very  means  that  the  enemies  make 
use  of  in  order  to  impede  the  work.  For  we  read  that  those  who  were 
scattered  abroad  by  the  persecution  of  Stephen,  went  everywhere  preaching 
the  gospel.  Satan  therefore  seems  to  have  overrated  the  business.  He 
resembled  one  who  should  have  put  out  a  fire,  but  who  in  doing  it,  scattered 
it  over  the  city,  and  thereby  set  the  city  itself  on  fire.  The  very  method 
he  took  to  crush  the  Saviour's  cause,  only  tended  to  spread  it  the  wider, 
both  in  the  Jewish  and  the  heathen  world. 

Herod,  because  he  saw  that  his  opposition  pleased  the  Jews,  stretched 
forth  his  hand,  and  thought  to  have  slain  Peter.  But  God  overruled  all  his 
opposition  for  good.  The  next  news  you  hear  is,  that  Herod,  in  the  height 
of  blasphemy,  is  smitten  by  the  anger  of  God,  and  dies.  But — mark  the 
connexion  of  the  passage  I  have  read — "but  the  word  of  God  grew  and 
multiplied."     This  connexion  suggests  to  us  at  least  these  two  ideas  : — 

jP/?-s/,  that  the  word  of  God  livus,  and  will  outlive  all  its  enemies.  Herod 
is  dead,  and  is  eaten  of  worms ;  but  the  word  of  the  Lord  will  grow  and 
multiply.  Were  we  to  take  a  view  of  the  various  enemies  who  have  set 
themselves  against  the  Lord  and  against  his  Christ,  what  has  become  of  them 
— the  great  body  of  them?  They  have  been  eaten  of  worms,  and  have 
died.  Where  are  the  ancient  persecutors?  Dioclesian,  and  others,  who 
murdered  the  saints  and  servants  of  God  by  myriads?  Where  are  they? 
dead,  and  eaten  of  worms.  But  that  word  of  God  which  they  opposed, 
grows  and  multiplies.  And  where  are  the  Bonners  and  men  of  kindred 
spirit  of  later  ages?  Where  are  those  who  have  set  themselves  against  the 
Gospel?  The  Bolingbrokes,  the  Humes,  and  the  Voltaires, — where  are 
they?     Dead,  and  eaten  of  worms.     But  the  word  of  God,  against  which 

*  The  two  Sermons  here  introduced,  neither  of  which  have  yet  been  included  in  Mr. 
Fuller's  Works,  have  come  from  England  into  my  possession,  since  the  first  volume  was 
printed  off.  I  am  sure  that  the  reader  will  pardon  the  slight  irregularity  of  their  appearing 
in  this  volume,  rather  than  that  they  should  be  .iltogether  omitted. — B. 

832 


THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  833 

they  set  themselves,  yet  grows  and  multiplies.  Each  in  his  day  thought  he 
had  done  a  great  deal  against  the  cause  of  Christ.  But  that  cause  goes  on, 
while  its  enemies  have  perished.  There  may  be  no  enemies  rise  up  per- 
haps so  full  of  venom  as  those  that  have  gone  before :  but  all  shall  come  to 
the  same  end.  Each,  in  his  turn  shall  die  and  rot,  and  his  memory  shall 
perish.     But  the  word  of  the  Lord  shall  grow  and  multiply. 

The  second  remark  which  is  afforded  by  the  connexion  of  the  passage, 
respects  the  means  which  God  takes  to  carry  on  his  cause  and  kingdom  in 
the  world.  We  see  in  this  example,  and  in  the  history  of  these  chapters, 
the  various  methods  God  takes  in  order  to  accomplish  his  designs.  Here 
is  one  man,  whose  heart  is  like  a  boiling  caldron,  breathing  out  ihreaten- 
ings  and  slaughter  against  the  Lord  and  his  people.  God  visits  him,  touches 
and  turns  his  heart  to  himself,  and  instead  of  being  an  enemy,  he  becomes 
a  friend,  and  preaches  the  very  gospel  he  had  persecuted.  See  how  easy  it 
is  for  God  to  turn  the  tide  of  events,  and  thus  disconcert  the  enemy.  Well  ; 
here  is  another — Herod.  He  is  busily  employed  in  destroying  the  cause  of 
God,  and  he  is  cut  off.  The  Lord  knows  how,  either  by  cutting  men  off, 
or  by  turning  them  to  himself,  to  accomplish  his  designs,  and  to  cause  his 
word  to  grow  and  multiply. 

But  passing  these  remarks,  I  shall  inquire  first,  what  is  denoted  by  the 
word  of  God,  and  why  it  is  so  called  ;  and  secondly  observe  the  description 
that  is  given  of  its  progress — that  it  grows  and  multiplies. 

L  What  is  denoted  bv  the  word  of  God,  and  why  it  is  so  called. 
The  holy  Scriptures  are  frequently  denominated  the  word  of  God,  particu- 
larly in  the  Psalms  of  David.  But  I  apprehend  the  term  is  here  used  in  a 
more  specific  sense ;  and  that  it  is  expressive  strictly  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  ;  that  gospel  which  the  apostles  were  commissioned 
to  go  and  preach  to  every  creature ;  that  word  which  had  begun  to  be  pub- 
lished at  Jerusalem,  and  was  making  its  progress  through  the  earth,  and 
which  Paul  and  Herod  and  the  chief  priests  set  themselves  against.  That 
is  the  word  which  is  here  said  to  grow  and  multiply. 

But  why  is  the  gospel  called  the  word?  It  is  sometimes  denominated 
the  word  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel;  sometimes  the  word  of  reconciliation; 
sometimes  the  word  of  life.  It  is  here  emphatically  called  the  word  of 
God.  Why,  I  ask,  is  the  gospel  called  the  word  of  God?  Here  we  can  be 
at  no  loss  in  giving  an  answer.  It  is  because  it  is  expressive  of  the  mind 
or  heart  of  God.  Words  are,  or  should  be,  expressive  of  the  heart.  This 
Avord  is  expressive  of  God's  heart.  There  is  not  any  expression  of  his  heart 
equal  to  it.  There  are  many  things  pertaining  to  the  works  of  God  which 
manifest  his  perfections.  The  heavens  declare  his  power  and  goodness; 
and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handy  works.  The  providence  of  God,  and 
the  judgments  of  God,  which  have  been  abroad  in  all  ages,  have  been  ex- 
pressive of  his  faithfulness  and  righteousness.  In  fact,  there  are  many 
things  which  show  a  part  of  the  Divine  character.  Here  all  the  rays  of 
Divinity  meet  together,  and  concentrate  in  a  focus.  Here  they  form  one 
general  blaze.  There  is  not  an  attribute  in  the  Divine  nature,  or  a  feature 
in  his  character,  but  what  is  expressed  in  the  gospel  of  salvation,  in  the 
gospel  of  the  Son  of  God.  This  is,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  called  his  word, 
because  it  is  expressive  of  his  whole  heart.  And  I  might  say  it  is  expres- 
sive of  his  Jinnl. decision.  It  is  God's  last  mind.  There  are  many  things 
expressive  of  the  mind  of  God,  but  not  of  his  final  decision.  For  instance, 
the  holy  law  of  God  is  expressive  of  his  holiness,  and  of  his  mind  in  part; 
and  the  curses  of  that  law  are  expressive  of  his  displeasure  against  sin,  and 
so  far  they  are  expressive  of  the  mind  or  heart  of  God.  But  they  do  not 
express  his  final  decision  ;  because  a  sinner  may  be  under  the  curse  of  the 

Vol.  HI.— 105  4  A  2 


834 


SERMONS. 


law,  and  yet  that  curse,  by  liis  fleeing  to  the  Hope  set  before  him  in  the 
gospel,  may  be  removed,  and  turned  into  a  blessing.  The  curse  of  God's 
law  is  not  irrevocable.  But  the  curse  of  the  Saviour  on  him  that  persists 
in  unbelief  is,  seeing  he  rejects  the  only  name  given  under  heaven  among 
men  whereby  he  can  be  saved.  The  gospel,  therefore,  runs  in  this  lan- 
guage,— "  Go  ye  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature  ;  he  that  believeth 
and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 
There  is  no  more  hope,  no  other  way,  no  other  name.  It  is  God's  last  de- 
cision. It  is  the  final  resolve  of  the  eternal  Jehovah.  So  that  he  who 
rejects  it,  rejects  the  only  way  of  salvation,  and  shall  inevitably  perish. 
Considering  these  things,  you  feel,  I  trust,  the  peculiar  propriety  of  denomi- 
nating it  the  word  of  God.     We  proceed 

II.    To    NOTICE    WHAT    IS    SAID    RESPECTING    ITS    PROGRESS. It    is  Said    tO 

grow  and  multiply.  These  terms  may  be  said  to  be  near  akin,  and  indeed 
they  are  so;  yet  they  do  not  convey  precisely  the  same  ideas.  They  both 
denote  increase;  but  the Jirst  is  increase  in  size;  the  last  in  number.  For 
instance — a  corn  of  wheat,  or  of  any  other  grain,  cast  into  the  earth,  springs 
up  and  grows.  You  perceive  first  the  blade,  then  the  stem,  then  the  ear, 
and  at  last  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  This  is  growth.  But  when  it  is  ar- 
rived at  maturity,  it  scatters  its  seeds  around  ;  and  instead  o^  one,  a  hundred 
spring  up.  This  is  multiplying.  In  short,  growth  is  expressive  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel  in  the  tninds  of  believers,  multiplying  of  an  increase  of 
the  number  of  believers.  The  first  is  expressive  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
the  mind  of  an  individual,  the  last  of  its  spreading  in  the  world.  In  both 
senses  it  might  be  truly  said,  the  word  of  the  Lord  grew  and  multiplied.  It 
grew  in  the  minds  of  those  who  had  imbibed  it,  and  was  received  by  thou- 
sands who  had  lived  before  in  unbelief 

When  may  it  be  said  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  grows  in  us  ?  That  is  a 
serious  question,  and  a  question  which  deeply  concerns  you  and  me,  and 
all  that  have  professedly  embraced  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  Well;  I 
may  say  then,  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  be  said  to  grow  in  us,  when 
there  is  an  increasing  evidence  in  the  mind  of  its  truth — increasing  at- 
tachment to  its  excellence — and  increasing  conformity  to  its  spirit.  The 
word  of  the  Lord  in  itself  is  immutable ;  it  is  the  same  as  it  always  was, 
and  cannot  be  said  to  grow.  The  gospel  is,  like  its  divine  Author,  the 
same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever.  But  viewed  as  taking  root  in  the 
mind  of  a  believer,  it  is  capable  of  growth,  and  must  continue  to  grow. 
The  word  that  Jesus  Christ  imparts  must  be  in  us  as  a  well  of  living  water, 
springing  up  to  everlasting  life. 

There  is  such  a  thing  as  increasing  evidence  of  the  truth  of  it.  I  need 
only  appeal  to  the  experience  of  every  advanced  Christian  ;  of  every  one 
that  has  walked  in  the  ways  of  God  for  a  series  of  years.  Perhaps  you  be- 
lieve the  same  truths  you  did  thirty  years  ago;  but  you  believe  them  on 
very  different  grounds.  You  feel  the  ground  on  which  you  stand  much 
more  solid.  You  little  more  than  said  you  believed  at  the  outset;  but  now 
you  feel  a  variety  of  different  evidences ;  so  that  you  can  truly  say  the  more 
you  read,  and  the  more  you  think,  the  more  you  feel  the  ground  on  which 
you  stand,  and  are  enabled  to  say,  O  my  God,  my  heart  is  fixed!  The 
Christian  gets  more  acquainted  with  the  depravity  of  human  nature,  as  he 
advances  in  the  divine  life.  He  might  years  ago  believe  jn  the  depravity 
of  human  nature;  but  though  he  may  now  utter  the  same  words  he  did 
then,  he  will  mean  very  differently.  It  may  mean  seven  times  more  than 
it  did.     This  is  the  growth  of  the  word  in  the  mind. 

It  may,  moreover,  be  said  to  grow,  when  there  is  a  growing  attachment 
to  its  excellence.     There  is  an  excellency  in  the  gospel  that  is  to  be  found 


\  THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  835 

m  nothing  ehe ;  and  the  more  a  Christian  drinks  into  it,  the  more  will  he 
be  of  the  apostle's  mind,  who  says,  "  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  ex- 
cellency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord."  Paul  was  a  man  of 
extensive  knowledge.  The  words  would  have  had  but  little  meaning  from 
a  man  who  knew  but  little  else;  but  Paul  knew  much  in  every  department, 
and  yet  says,  "  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  know- 
ledge of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord."  Now  this  is  for  the  word  of  the  Lord  to 
grow.  Is  it  not  thus,  Christians,  that  the  more  you  know  of  Christ,  the 
better  you  love  him  ?  that  the  more  you  know  of  the  gospel,  the  better  you 
love  it,  and  the  more  it  appears  to  excel  all  other  knowledge?  He  that 
believeth  it  not,  the  more  he  knows  of  it,  the  more  he  hates  it.  It  was  so 
among  tlie  Jews:  "  But  now  have  they  both  seen  and  hated  both  me  and 
my  Father."  An  unbeliever,  who  by  Providence  is  called  under  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel,  the  more  he  knows  of  it,  the  more  he  feels  his  heart 
rising  against  it :  the  more  he  is  obliged  to  have  to  do  with  it,  the  more  he 
feels  his  enmity  excited.  But  he  that  believes  the  gospel,  the  more  he 
knows  of  it,  the  more  he  loves  it,  and  counts  all  things  but  loss  for  the  ex- 
cellency of  that  knowledge. 

Finally,  the  word  of  the  Lord  may  be  said  to  grow  in  us,  when  we  are 
gradually  conformed  to  the  spirit  of  it.  What  is  true  religion?  It  is  to  be 
of  God's  mind.  It  is  for  our  thoughts  to  be  as  God's  thoughts;  our  mind 
to  be  as  God's  mind;  our  heart  to  be  as  God's  heart,  if  God's  heart  is 
manifested  by  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  it  is  for  us  to  embrace  that  gospel, 
and  to  be  of  that  mind  ;  and  in  proportion  as  our  minds  are  assimilated 
into  the  mind  of  God,  to  love  what  he  loves,  to  hate  what  he  hates,  to  pur- 
sue what  he  pursues,  and  the  more  we  become  of  this  spirit,  the  more  the 
word  of  the  Lord  may  be  said  to  grow  in  us.  Judge  ye  whether  the  word 
of  the  Lord  has  grown  in  you. 

And  this  is  the  way  God  generally  causes  it  to  nmltiply.  We  do  not  ex- 
pect wheat,  or  any  other  grain,  to  multiply,  till  it  is  grown  to  individual 
maturity.  We  do  not  expect  the  word  of  God  to  multiply,  till  Christians 
are  brought  in  a  great  degree  into  a  likeness  with  God.  There  is  an  im- 
portant connexion,  I  apprehend,  between  the  growth  and  the  multiplying 
of  the  word  of  God.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  every  minister  is  success- 
ful in  proportion  to  his  own  spirituality.  No;  there  is  sovereignty  enough 
in  the  success,  to  keep  any  of  us  from  boasting,  and  from  saying,  I  am 
holier  than  he  who  is  less  successful.  And  yet  there  is  such  a  connexion 
between  the  progress  of  true  religion  in  the  soul  and  in  the  world,  as  to 
furnish  abundant  encouragement  for  us  to  promote  religion  in  the  heart,  as 
the  means  of  promoting  public  religion.  Whenever  God  has  been  deter- 
mined to  bless  any  part  of  mankind,  and  to  succeed  the  gospel  in  any  re- 
markable way,  it  has  always  been  by  raising  up  men  of  distinguished  per- 
sonal godliness.  When  he  was  pleased  to  accomplish  a  great  work  in  the 
Jewish  church,  it  was  by  raising  up  Nehemiah,  a  man  that  laboured  for  the 
public  good  without  receiving  any  reward  for  it.  When  God  had  a  mind 
to  extend  his  gospel  among  the  heathen,  it  was  by  raising  up  a  Paul ;  a  man 
so  disinterested,  that  though  he  was  qualified  to  fill  one  of  the  first  stations 
in  his  day,  and  might  have  raised  himself  to  the  highest  pitch  of  worldly 
honour  and  eminence,  as  we  may  conclude  from  the  zeal  and  ability  which 
he  displayed,  and  his  feeling  so  much  at  home  when  pleading  before  Agrippa, 
yet  he  said,  "  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord;"  and  so  far  from  repenting,  "  I  do  count  them 
but  dung,  that  I  may  win  Christ  and  be  found  in  him."  Would  you  see  a 
man  that  God  had  raised  up  in  order  to  spread  the  gospel  in  the  earth,  you 
would  see  a  man  that  had  his  heart  full  of  spirituality.     The  word  grows 


836  SERMONS. 

in  the  mind,  before  it  can  be  expected  to  grow  much  in  the  world.  Simi- 
lar remarks  might  be  made  of  all  the  great  revivals  that  have  taken  place 
in  the  world.  Witness  Luther,  and  a  number  of  the  reformers,  to  say  no- 
thing of  characters  that  are  now  living.  The  greatest  works  of  God  are 
carried  on  by  men  in  whom  the  word  of  God  first  grows :  nor  is  it  confined 
to  ministers;  but  when  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  spread  the  gospel  in  the 
Jewish  and  heathen  world,  it  was  by  men  among  whom  the  grace  of  God 
grew.  There  is,  my  brethren,  but  little  expectation  of  the  gospel's  spread- 
ing, unless  there  be  a  spirit  of  prayer,  of  holy  zeal,  of  disinterestedness;  a 
willingness  in  us  to  lay  ourselves  out  to  the  uttermost.  Whenever  we  see 
this,  we  may  hope  that  the  word  of  the  Lord  will  grow  and  multiply. 

It  is  remarkable  that  David  viewed  things  in  this  order.  Personating  the 
church,  he  says,  "  God  be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  us ;  and  cause  his 
face  to  shine  upon  us;  that  thy  way  may  be  known  upon  the  earth."  So 
that  God's  ordinary  way  of  blessing  the  word,  of  diffusing  the  gospel,  is, 
by  beginning  to  bless  the  church  that  now  is;  by  beginning,  as  it  were,  at 
home  :  and  we  have  no  reason  to  expect  the  progress  of  the  gospel  among  us, 
or  in  foreign  nations,  but  as  it  grows  in  our  own  minds.  Considering  things 
in  this  connexion,  what  encouragement  is  there  to  be  conversant  with  the 
Scriptures;  to  make  religion  a  business;  to  be  convinced  that  the  word  of 
God  may  not  only  \m\e  place  in  us,  but  grow  in  us,  that  there  may  be  grow- 
ing attachment  to  its  excellence,  and  increasing  conformity  to  its  spirit!  It 
was  thus  that  the  word  of  God  grew  and  multiplied  in  that  day  ;  and  it  will 
be  thus  that  it  will  grow  through  the  earth  in  our  days,  or  in  the  days  of 
our  posterity. 

I  will  close  with  only  one  word.  It  must  be  planted  there,  before  it  can 
either  grow  or  multiply.  Brethren,  this  is  the  origin;  this  is  the  root! — 
The  word  of  God  must  have  place  in  our  hearts,  else  it  can  neither  grow 
nor  multiply.  Be  it  your  concern,  then,  if  you  have  hitherto  treated  it  with 
levity,  to  repent,  and  believe  the  gospel. 


A  RIGHT  SPIRIT. 

[Preached  at  Ipswich,  Sept.  14,  1798.] 
"Renew  a  right  spirit  within  me." — Psalm  li.  10. 

There  was  no  period  in  David's  life,  in  which  he  manifested  more  of  the 
sinner,  than  in  the  case  of  Uriah ;  nor  any  in  which  he  manifested  more  of 
the  saint,  than  when  he  penned  this  psalm. 

This  was  confirmed  by  the  ardent  desire  he  had  to  be  cleansed  from  his 
sin.  He  strongly  expresses  this  desire  in  the  second  and  seventh  verses  of 
this  psalm,  where  he  says — "  Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity,  and 
cleanse  me  from  my  sin  : — purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I  shall  be  clean :  wash 
me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow." 

Though  David  here  first  alludes  to  the  Jewish  rites,  no  doubt  he  looked 
also  to  the  antitype  of  these,  from  whom  alone  such  virtues  could   flow. 

There  are  two  other  evidences  of  David's  genuine  piety.  The  first  is,  he 
was  not  more  desirous  of  pardon  than  to  be  purified  and  made  holy,  for  he 
again  prays  in  the  tenth  verse,  "Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God;  and 
renew  a  right  spirit  within  me."  ^ 

Another  evidence  of  his  genuine  contrition  was,  that  while  he  was  so 
anxious  to  feel  this  disposition  of  mind  for  his  sin,  he  lost  sight  of  this  grace 


^ 


A  BIGHT  SPIRIT.  837 

in  liimself,  though  he  possessed  it ;  hence  he  continues  his  request  to  God 
in  the  following  part  of  this  psalm,  for  the  enjoyment  of  this  right  spirit. 
This  we  may  consider  as  one  of  the  greatest  evidences  of  this  grace,  that 
while  others  can  see  it,  we  are  insensible  to  it  ourselves.  Having  made  these 
general  observations  on  the  case  of  David,  let  us  attend  to  the  text.  And, 

I.  It  contains  a  description  of  genuine  religion; 

II.  It  teaches  us  that  we  are  in  danger  of  losing  it;  and, 

III.  It  implies  the  necessity  for  its  being  renewed. 

I.  The  text  contains  a  descuiptioxV  of  genuine  religion. — "A  right 
spirit."  A  right  spirit  is  a  spirit  of  love  to  God,  and  love  to  our  neighbour, 
and  a  right  disposition  to  onrselves.  A  right  spirit  towards  God  is  a  spirit 
of  love  to  him,  a  spirit  of  faith  in  God,  a  spirit  of  gratitude  to  God,  a  spirit 
of  submission  to  God,  a  spirit  of  obedience  to  God,  and  so  of  every  grace 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  A  right  spirit  is  not  that  of  him  who  has  experienced 
right  feelings  at  a  distant  period  only,  but  of  one  who  habitually  lives  in  the 
exercise  of  them :  a  constant  spirit,  as  expressed  in  the  margin.  The  terra 
right  has  respect  to  some  rule ;  this  rule  is  the  law  of  God,  which  is  a  right 
rule — the  rule  by  which  the  Spirit  of  God  works  in  the  conversion  of  a  sin- 
ner: hence  he  has  said,  "I  will  write  the  law  in  their  hearts;"  and  as  this 
is  the  rule  by  which  God  works,  so  it  is  the  rule  by  which  Christians  ought 
to  walk. 

It  may  be  called  a  right  spirit,  for  it  leads  directly  or  straight  to  God;  it 
directs  us  to  exercise  the  same  disposition  in  every  dispensation  of  his  pro- 
vidence through  which  we  pass.  The  same  in  adversity  as  in  prosperity,  in 
sickness  as  in  health;  to  bear  all  the  changes  in  life  with  submission  to  the 
will  of  God,  without  murmuring.  There  are  affections  in  some  men  which 
have  the  appearance  of  this  spirit,  and  which  seem  to  be  exercised  by  them 
in  prosperity,  but  are  lost  in  adversity.  This  was  evidently  the  case  with 
Saul.  When  God  prospered  him,  and  he  was  successful  in  all  his  under- 
takings, he  seemed  to  go  on  joyfully  in  the  w-ays  of  God ;  but  as  soon  as  it 
was  made  known  to  him,  that  for  his  sin  in  disobeying  God,  he  would  lose 
his  kingdom,  he  manifested  a  spirit  of  sullen  rebellion  against  the  Most  High, 
and  instead  of  seeking  the  forgiveness  of  his  sin  from  him,  he  went  to  the 
witch  of  Endor  to  inquire  of  his  situation,  and  what  would  be  his  end. 

The  conduct  of  David  was  happily  the  reverse  of  all  this.  He  had  also 
sinned  against  God,  who  declared  the  sword  should  not  depart  from  his 
house;  he  was  also  in  danger  of  losing  his  crown.  An  unnatural  rebellion 
drove  him  from  his  house  and  kingdom,  and  to  escape  he  was  obliged  to 
pass  over  Jordan.  As  he  passed  along  he  beheld  one  carrying  the  Ark,  and 
said  to  him,  "  Carry  back  the  ark  of  God  into  the  city  :  if  I  shall  find  favour 
in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  he  will  bring  me  again  and  show  me  it,  and  his 
habitation;  but  if  he  thus  say,  I  have  no  delight  in  thee,  behold  here  am  I, 
let  him  do  to  me  as  seemeth  good  unto  him." 

This  was  the  right  spirit  that  was  in  blessed  Job,  who  could  bless  God  in 
taking  away,  as  well  as  when  he  had  given. 

Here  we  may  distinguish  between  legal  and  evangelical  repentance;  while 
the  first  leads  to  rebellious  despair,  the  latter  leads  to  a  holy  submission  to 
God.  The  reverse  of  prosperity  will  sometimes  occasion  the  like  affections. 
Men  who  live  in  daily  violation  of  God's  commands,  while  in  health  and 
strength,  will,  when  he  afflicts  them,  pretend  to  love  and  fear  him.  They 
will  then  send  for  his  ministers  and  people,  and  lament  to  them  the  evil  of 
their  former  conduct;  will  shed  tears  over  their  sins,  and  promise  to  amend 
their  lives  if  God  will  but  spare  them,  and  raise  them  up  again.  Thus  they 
excite  a  hope  respecting  them  in  the  minds  of  the  pious,  who  begin  to  con- 
clude favourably  concerning  them.   But  as  soon  as  they  are  raised,  and  their 


838  SERMONS. 

health  is  renewed,  with  fresh  vigour  they  return  again  to  their  former  prac- 
tices. By  affliction  God  lays  his  hand  upon  them  as  a  spring,  which  obstructs 
their  course  for  a  time;  but  as  soon  as  he  takes  his  afflictive  hand  from  them, 
their  sins  spring  up  afresh,  and  they  run  in  their  former  course.  This  is  not  a 
right  spirit;  where  that  is  found,  there  is  perseverance  in  the  ways  of  God. 

II.  There  is  danger  of  losing  this  right  spirit  mentioned  in  the 
TEXT. — David  once  enjoyed  it,  but  he  had  lost  it;  hence  he  prayed  to  have 
it  renewed.  The  dangers  of  losing  it  may  be  distinguished  into  common 
and  extraordinary.  Common  danger  is  that  which  arises  from  the  depravity 
of  our  hearts.  There  is  nothing  in  them  that  is  suitable  for  the  growth  of 
such  a  plant;  both  the  soil  and  climate  are  unfavourable  to  it.  God  is  not 
in  all  the  thoughts  of  an  unregenerate  man.  He  thinks  not  of  his  Maker 
as  he  ought.  There  is  no  love  to  God,  no  delight  in  Ilim,  his  people,  his 
ways,  or  his  word.  Nor  has  he  any  confidence  in  God  in  any  changes  of 
circumstances,  or  threatening  appearances  in  the  world.  His  heart  is  like  a 
barren  soil  to  all  that  is  good.  There  is  nothing  in  it  that  tends  to  nourish 
and  support  this  principle  of  spirituality.  It  consists  of  lusts,  carnality, 
aversion  from  God  and  all  that  is  good ;  so  that  without  fresh  grace  from 
God,  in  such  a  soil  religion,  even  in  good  men,  withers  and  dies.  The  hu- 
man heart  is  not  only  an  unfavourable  soil  for  the  growth  of  religion,  there 
being  nothing  here  to  support  it,  but  it  has  almost  every  thing  of  a  contrary 
nature  to  oppose  it.  An  unsanctified  mind  has  in  it  all  the  seeds  of  wicked 
works,  which  spring  up  and  impede  the  growth  of  piety;  yea,  entirely  destroy 
it.  The  love  of  the  world,  of  pleasure,  of  honour,  and  of  riches,  occupy 
the  attention  and  thoughts,  and  exclude  piety  from  the  mind.  Through  their 
influence  the  mind  is  led  to  neglect  the  duties  of  religion;  to  be  remiss  in 
the  discharge  of  the  duties  it  owes  to  God,  to  mankind  at  large,  and  parti- 
cularly to  its  brethren  in  Christ.  Hence  social,  public,  and  private  duties 
become  a  burden,  and  by  degrees,  in  the  end,  are  almost  entirely  given  up. 
From  the  omission  of  duties  (having  lost  the  savour  of  religion),  he  is  led 
by  the  same  influence  to  the  commission  of  small  sins,  which  bring  guilt  on 
his  mind,  and  separate  him  from  God.  In  this  state  he  is  quite  unfit  for  the 
service  of  God,  and  in  danger  of  losing  the  spirit  of  true  devotion.  The 
climate  we  dwell  in  is  also  unfavourable  to  a  right  spirit.  The  air  of  con- 
versation and  commerce  as  breathed  by  the  men  of  this  world,  in  connexion 
with  their  scorching  rays  of  scorn,  contempt,  and  persecution,  are  pernicious 
to  the  plant  of  grace.  Their  noxious  influence,  wherever  it  prevails,  destroys 
in  a  great  measure  the  vital  principle  of  spirituality,  and  brings  it  into  a  de- 
clining state.  Thus  it  frequently  happens;  the  genuineness  of  our  religion 
is  severely  tried,  and  were  we  left  to  ourselves,  without  constant  supplies  of 
grace,  in  the  use  of  divinely  appointed  means,  it  would  soon  wither  and  fail. 
The  danger  of  losing  a  right  spirit  under  these  circumstances  is  very  great, 
for  nature  chooses  an  easy  condition. 

There  is  also  an  extraordinary  danger.  Such  is  the  time  of  great  temp- 
tation, when  a  man  in  a  day,  an  hour,  yea,  even  in  a  minute,  does  that  which 
spoils  his  usefulness  through  life,  and  renders  him  afterwards  more  the  object 
of  pity  than  esteem.  But  this  commonly  begins  in  the  mind.  There  is  some 
mental  wilhdrawment  from  God.  Sin  is  first  conceived  in  the  mind ;  it  is 
there  planned  and  afterwards  put  in  practice.  This  was  the  case  with  David; 
he  first  lusted  in  the  mind,  then  planned,  and  after  that  executed  the  plan 
which  led  him  on  from  step  to  step,  till  he  fully  executed  that  diabolical  de- 
sign. In  this  way  sin  has  always  wrought,  and  still  works,  beginning  in  the 
mind,  and  ending  in  external  acts  of  disgrace.  We  first  cast  oftj  as  it  were, 
the  fear  of  God ;  then  withdraw  our  affections  from  him,  and  place  them  on 
something  below ;  make  that  the  source  of  our  joy,  pursue  it  without  con- 


A  RIGHT  SPIRIT.  839 

sidering  the  nature  of  if,  and  the  end  to  which  it  tends,  till  it  is  too  late,  and 
we  are  made  to  know  its  dreadful  nature  by  its  effects.  Thus  there  is  great 
danger  of  imperceptibly  losing  a  right  spirit. 

III.  The  text  implies  that  there  is  a  great  necessity  for  this 
RIGHT  SPIRIT  TO  BE  RENEWED. — This  appears  from  the  directions  given  in 
Scripture  to  that  end :  hence  we  read  of  being  daily  renewed  in  our  inner 
man  ;  and  our  Lord  has  taught  us,  that  when  we  ask  our  daily  bread,  we 
should  also  ask  for  keeping  grace.  Hence  also  are  the  ordinances  and  appoint- 
ments of  God's  house  and  word ;  that  by  attendance  on  these,  we  may  be 
renewed.  It  is  an  unspeakable  mercy  that  these  means  are  provided  to 
renew  us;  that  as  we  leave  God,  he  does  not  leave  us.  It  is  a  cheering 
and  comfortable  truth,  that  where  he  has  begun  a  good  work,  he  will  carry  it 
on,'  that  he  will  perfect  his  own  work.  But  it  is  much  to  be  lamented  that 
this  is  so  much  abused ;  though,  thanks  be  to  God,  it  is  not  the  less  true. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  some  have  attained  tolerably  consistent  ideas  of  this 
truth,  who  never  experienced  a  true  conversion  to  God.  From  some  severe 
stings  of  conscience  they  felt  in  times  past,  they  conclude  he  has  begun  the 
good  work  in  them  ;  and  adding  to  this,  that  it  is  God's  work  to  carry  it  on, 
they  live  contentedly  without  the  use  of  the  means  of  grace,  and  in  the  com- 
mission of  many  secret,  and  some  small  external  sins,  and  yet  think  they 
are  in  a  safe  way  to  heaven.  And  though  now  they  have  no  disposition  for 
the  enjoyment  of  God  in  his  ordinances,  yet  they  think  they  shall  enjoy  him 
hereafter  in  heaven.  This  is  an  awful  delusion !  Some  reasons  may  be 
offered  to  prove  the  necessity  for  the  renewal  of  a  right  spirit  within  us. 
Without  it  we  can, 

1.  Do  no  good  wherever  we  go.  We  can  do  no  good  in  our  families. 
When  a  person  has  lost  his  right  spirit,  he  commonly  lives  in  the  neglect  of 
his  duties,  and  too  often  in  the  commission  of  some  small  sins,  neither  of 
which  seem  to  affect  his  conscience,  so  that  religion  appears  of  little  conse- 
quence in  the  eyes  of  those  around  him.  Ashe  has  not  a  savour  of  religion 
in  his  own  mind,  he  cannot  communicate  it  to  others.  As  he  has  no  love 
to  God,  no  zeal  for  God,  he  cannot  enkindle  the  flame  of  them  in  others. 
And  it  is  mostly  found  when  a  person  is  in  such  a  state,  when  he  attempts 
to  perform  duties,  he  does  it  in  such  a  manner,  that,  instead  of  exciting 
lively  emotions  in  the  lives  of  others,  makes  them  burdensome,  and  so 
become  disgustful.  Sin  unrepented  of  will  spoil  our  usefulness.  Guilt  will 
chain  our  minds,  and  keep  us  from  the  discharge  of  what  we  know  to  be  our 
duty.  In  this  state  we  cannot  with  freedom  or  pleasure  engage  in  it,  and  so 
give  it  up.  Thus  it  appears  we  can  do  no  good  during  this  state  of  mind 
in  our  families. 

As  in  our  families  we  can  do  no  good,  for  the  same  reasons  we  can  do 
none  in  the  church.  We  may  take  our  place  among  the  saints  in  public 
worship,  and  occasionally  in  their  social  services,  but  are  perfect  novices 
with  respect  to  the  good  we  do;  there  being  nothing  in  ourselves,  it  is  im- 
possible we  can  impart  it  to  others.  Admit  that  our  moral  character  stands 
fair  in  the  world,  without  this  right  spirit  in  the  church,  we  are  as  salt  that 
has  lost  its  savour,  and  good  for  nothing.  Too  often,  where  the  want  of  this 
spirit  is  experienced,  there  is  something  unpleasant  in  the  moral  character 
which  causes  an  indifference  between  them  and  their  brethren,  and  prevents 
their  mutual  benefits.  And  when  it  is  not  so,  the  apparent  jealousy  on  one 
side,  and  conscious  deficiency  on  the  other,  prevent  an  union  of  souls 
which  is  necessary  to  profit  each  other.  Thus  no  good  can  be  done  in  the 
church,  any  more  than  in  our  families,  without  a  right  spirit.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  our  conduct  in  the  world.  When  we  have  lost  this  right  spirit, 
we  cannot  infuse  a  savoury  idea  of  piety  into  men.    Whatever  opportunities 


840  SERMONS. 

may  offer,  conscious  that  we  do  not  possess  it  ourselves,  we  must  leave  the 
world  as  we  found  it,  without  diffusing  into  it  a  savour  of  that  which  is 
good. 

2.  In  this  state  we  can  no  more  get  good  than  do  good,  which  proves  the 
necessity  of  being  renewed.  It  is  essentially  necessary  that  we  should  pos- 
sess this  right  spirit,  rightly  to  enjoy  what  is  good  in  this  life.  There  is  no 
good  to  be  enjoyed  in  our  families,  nor  good  done,  without  it.  The  domestic 
comforts  of  life  are  no  comforts  without  it;  nor  are  our  relatives  a  support 
to  us.  We  may  rove  among  our  connexions  from  object  to  object,  seeking 
relief,  but  all  will  be  in  vain.  The  great  defect  is  in  ourselves;  wanting  the 
right  spirit  which  gives  a  relish  to  our  comforts,  we  want  the  great  essential 
of  all. 

As  the  consequence  of  this,  instead  of  the  cheerfulness  which  infuses  a 
savour  into  the  comforts  of  social  life,  and  which  ought  to  be  seen  on  our 
countenances  by  our  domestics,  there  is  nothing  but  gloom  and  sullen  des- 
pair. Nor  can  any  good  be  obtained  in  the  church  while  this  spirit  is  want- 
ing. Without  this  we  shall  soon  become  remiss  in  some  of  our  duties,  and 
an  omission  of  duty  is  a  commission  of  sin.  Hence  guilt  attaches  to  our 
minds  when  we  live  in  the  non-observance  of  God's  commands,  and  sin 
unrepented  of  will  spoil  both  our  usefulness  and  comfort  in  every  department 
here.  We  may  go  to  the  house  of  God,  may  take  our  seat  there,  may  exter- 
nally join  in  the  worship,  and  repeat  it  again  and  again,  and  if  no  appear- 
ance of  disquietude  appear  in  our  countenances,  guilt  will  single  us  out  from 
all  around  us ;  and  when  any  thing  awful  is  declared  against  the  sinner,  a 
consciousness  of  unrepented  sin  will  say  to  each  in  this  state,  "Thou  art  the 
man."  Such  a  conviction  will  oblige  us  to  withdraw  with  shame  and  con- 
fusion, and  tell  us  that  we  have  no  right  there.  And  were  it  not  to  tell  us 
so,  we  could  not  join  with  the  saints  in  a  manner  that  would  do  us  good. 
We  want  the  very  spirit  which  would  enable  us  to  mingle  our  souls  with 
them  in  their  devotions,  so  as  to  enjoy  true  fellowship  in  the  household  of 
God.  Our  passions  may  in  some  degree  be  affected  when  something  of  a 
striking  nature  is  delivered  from  the  pulpit;  yet  the  want  of  spirituality  of 
mind,  and  an  unction  of  spirit  in  the  service  of  God  will  leave  a  vacuity  in 
the  soul,  which  nothing  beside  can  fill,  or  compensate  the  loss  of  Our  souls 
have  thus  lost  the  very  tone  of  devotion  which  is  necessary  to  join  in  unison 
with  them  in  their  devotional  exercises  on  earth.  During  this  state  of  mind, 
we  may  take  the  Bible,  and  turn  it  here  and  there,  but  nothing  can  be  found 
in  it  that  can  do  us  good.  Unrepented  sin  will  banish  all  comfort  from  our 
minds.  We  cannot  draw  near  to  a  throne  of  grace,  while  we  are  thus,  with 
any  pleasure;  for  sin  still  separates  between  us  and  God  in  every  duty. 

3.  In  this  state  loe  are  in  great  danger  of  falling  into  great  sins.  Indif- 
ference enervates  the  mind,  and  leads  us  to  lay  down  our  guard.  Carnality 
makes  us  incautious  how  we  mingle  with  the  men  of  the  world,  and  of  the 
manner  in  which  we  engage  in  the  things  of  life,  till  we  become  regardless 
of  ourselves.  Then  we  are  like  the  inhabitants  of  a  besieged  city,  who, 
through  weakness,  fttigue,  and  sickness,  are  almost  worn  out;  and  are  not 
only  unable  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the  enemy,  but  are  ready  to  invite  them 
in,  and  to  embrace  them.  We  are  directed  to  resist  the  devil,  and  he  will 
flee  from  us ;  but  thus  we  invite  him  to  come.  This  state  is  awful  in  the 
extreme.  For  if  we  are  the  children  of  God,  and  are  thus  regardless  of  his 
honour,  he  will  not  care  for  our  honour.  If  we  have  no  care  for  ourselves, 
nor  for  the  honour  of  his  cause,  he  will  not  care  for  us.  If  we  slight  his 
glory,  he  will  roll  us  in  the  mire  of  reproach,  confusion,  and  disgrace. 

4.  There  can  be  no  comfortable  evidence  of  our  being  in  a  safe  state.  The 
work  is  God's ;  but  the  evidence  must  be  in  ourselves.     God  will  carry  on 


A  RIGHT  SPIRIT.  841 

his  work,  but  he  has  appointed  means  to  this  end,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  use 
them ;  yet  some  will  sit  down  easy  in  neglecting  them,  and  yet  think  they 
are  safe.  They  are  in  a  dull  state,  and  say  they  cannot  help  it, — that  they 
can  do  nothing  of  themselves — and  that  it  is  the  work  of  God  to  revive  them. 
From  some  conviction  they  felt,  some  ten  or  twenty  years  since,  or  more, 
they  conclude  they  were  then  converted  to  God,  and  as  they  were  once  con- 
verted, he  will  not  leave,  but  will  yet  renew  them. 

Fully  persuaded  of  this,  they  set  themselves  contentedly  down,  and  defer 
attention  to  it  from  time  to  time,  till  at  last  we  fear  they  die  without  it ;  they 
go  down  to  the  pit  in  an  awful  state,  and  their  iniquity  will  be  found  on 
their  heads  at  the  last  great  day.  Is  true  religion  an  abiding  work?  Is  it 
like  a  well  of  water  springing  up  to  everlasting  life?  Then  it  must  flow 
somewhere.  Its  effects  must  be  seen.  Causes  and  effects  must  be  united. 
Where  true  religion  is  begun,  there  will  be  a  suitable  disposition  and  con- 
duct. Without  these  we  can  have  no  scriptural  evidence  of  being  in  a  safe 
state,  which  is  necessary  for  our  comfort  here,  and  a  good  ground  on  which 
to  hope  for  heaven  hereafter. 


Vol.  III.— 106  4  B 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


PART   I SUBJECTS   DISCUSSED. 


Abelard,  his  character,  ii.  150. 

Abel,  offering  of,  iii.  18. 

Ability,  see  Inability. 

Abraham,  call  of,  iii.  50;  promise  to,  52; 
dwelling  in  Canaan,  53  ;  removal  to  Egypt, 
.54;  equivocation,  54;  separation  from  Lot, 
55;  his  riches,  56  ;  slaughter  of  the  kings, 
57;  met  by  Melchisedek,  59  ;  justified  by 
faith,  61;  renewal  of  the  promises,  64; 
misled  by  his  wife  Sarai,  66;  prophecy 
about  Ishmael,  68;  covenant  of  God  with 
him  and  his  seed,  69  ;  no  argument  for 
pajdobaptism,  70,  note;  his  prayer  for  Ish- 
mael, 72  ;  entertains  angels,  73  ;  intercedes 
for  Sodom,  75  ;  difficulty  with  Abimelech, 
81  ;  Isaac  promised,  83  ;  expels  Hagar,  84  ; 
is  commanded  to  offer  up  Isaac,  87  ;  death 
of  Sarah,  90;  buries  her,  91;  sends  his 
servant  to  obtain  a  wife  for  Isaac,  92  ;  mar-' 
ried  to  Keturah,  100  ;  his  death  and  bu- 
rial, 101. 

Accountability  of  man,  ii.  382,  472,  iii.  768. 

Acts  of  Apostles,  a  book  of  principles  as 
well  as  of  history,  ii.  259;  the  doctrines 
taught  not  Socinian,  260. 

Adam,  creation  of,  iii.  6  ;  fall  of,  10,  765; 
generation  of,  23  ;  query  on  the  fall  of  an- 
swered, 765;  federal  head,  ii.  368,  472, 
iii.  766  ;  his  alleged  spiritual  inability  in 
innocence  a  favorite  argument  of  Mr.  But- 
ton, ii.  443  :  derogatory  to  the  glory  of 
creation,  449  ;  was  the  fall  of  Adam  fore- 
ordained ?  iii.  765. 

Adams,  Rev.  Mr.,  minister  at  Soham,  i.  2. 

Address  to  Deists,  ii.  97  ;  to  Jews,  102  ;  to 
Christians,  105  ;  to  the  afflicted,  iii.  722. 

Adoption,  spirit  of,  peculiar  to  the  gospel 
dispensation,  i.  578,  267;  fruits  of,  272; 
in  glory,  33S. 

Afflicted,  consolation  to  the,  i.  446;  ad- 
dress to,  iii.  722  ;  difficulties  in  conversing 
with,  724. 

Afflictions,  not  to  be  compared  with  future 
glory,  i.  334. 

Age,  present,  peculiar  turn  of,  ii.  646. 

"  Age  of  Reason,"  policy  of  the  title,  ii.  3  ; 
character  of  the  book,  5. 

Agency,  free,  defined,  ii.  519,  656  ;  sinners 
accountable,  657  ;  consistent  with  Divine 
purposes,  367,  450,  454. 

Agnostos,  letters  of,  their  origin,  ii.  512. 

Agur,  his  prayer  illustrated,  iii.  182. 


Ahab,  deceived  by  the  lying  spirit,  i.  619. 

Aion,  aionios,  meaning  of  the  terms,  ii.  309, 
iii.  683. 

Alienation  of  heart  from  God,  i.  296. 

Allegory,  abuse  of,  in  preaching,  i.  726. 

Allen,  Mr.,  on  the  sonship  of  Christ,  i.  13. 

Alms-giving,  duty  and  dangers  of,  i.  575. 

Amartia,  (sin)  meaning  of,  ii.  704. 

Amen  in  prayer,  review  of  Mr.  Booth's  ser- 
mon  on,  iii.  755. 

Ames,  Dr.,  his  views  of  Justification,  i.  17. 

"Analytical  Review,"  remarks  on,  ii.  286. 

Anderson,  Mr.,  on  the  nature  of  appropria- 
tion in  faith  examined,  ii.  335. 

Angel,  flying  with  the  everlasting  gospel,  iii. 
269  ;  conflict  with  the  kings  of  Persia,  i. 
638. 

Angels,  appearance  of  to  the  patriarchs,  iii. 
74,  131  ;  desire  to  look  into  the  mysteries 
of  redemption,  i.  663  ;  rejoicing  in  the  pro. 
gress  of  Christ's  kingdom,  iii.  733  ;  their 
ministrations,  i.  638;  of  the  churches,  pas- 
tors in  their  representative  character,  (see 
Rev.  ii.)  iii.  210. 

Annihilation,  thedoctrine  of  opposed,  ii.  301. 

Antediluvians,  their  longevity,  iii.  24;  wick- 
edness of,  26,  30,  34. 

Antichrist,  character  of,  iii.  241. 

Antinomian,  picture  of,  iii.  829. 

Antinomianism,  definition  of,  ii.  660,  744  ; 
contrasted  with  Scripture,  737;  its  distin- 
guishing features  shown  to  be  selfishness, 
738  ;  origin  of,  739  ;  its  misinterpretation 
of  providences,  742;  spirit  of,  744;  ex- 
plains  away  the  government  of  God,  745; 
rests  on  unscriptural  ground,  747;  is  op- 
posed  to  practical  godliness,  749  ;  perverts 
the  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  751  ;  furnishes 
excuses  for  sinners,  744. 

Apocalypse,  origin  of  the  expository  dis- 
courses on  the,  iii.  201  ;  scheme  of,  203 ; 
introduction  and  preparatory  vision,  207. 

Apostolic  office,  the,  iii.  498. 

Apostles,  their  business  in  ordinations,  ii. 
633. 

Ark,  building  of,  iii.  28;  dimensions  of,  31 
and  note. 

Arminians,  their  notions  of  free  will,  ii.  656  ; 
their  scheme  does  not  remove  the  difficulty 
it  professes  to  meet,  487. 

Arms,  their  use  not  forbidden  as  military 
weapons  by  Christianity,  i.  205. 

Articles  of  faith  in  a  church,  no  criterion  of 
its  character,  iii.  466. 

843 


844 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


Artillery  and  fire  arms  predicted,  iii.  339. 

Aspect  of  the  present  age,  ii.  646. 

Assurance,  doctrine  of,  abused,  ii.  333. 

Atonement  of  Christ,  ii.  181  ;  naUre  of,  69, 
696  ;  design  and  application  of,  693  ;  con- 
sistent with  reason,  74;  three  kinds  of 
benefits  conferred  on  account  of  it,  83, 
note;  consistent  with  grace,  82;  the  ob- 
ject of  Abel's  faith,  iii.  19;  nature  and 
tendency  in  general,  ii.  754;  consistent 
with  the  magnitude  of  creation,  84. 

Awakened  sinner,  the,  addressed,  iii.  549; 
views  of,  650. 

Ayre,  Rev.  J.,  i.  66. 

B. 

Babel,  tower  of,  its  date  and  design,  iii.  46, 
47. 

Babylon,  mystical,  iii.  270  ;  destruction  of,  i. 
635,  iii.  283—285. 

Backsliding,  its  own  punishment,  i.  653  ; 
occasion  of  writing  the  treatise  so  called, 
iii.  635,  note ;  its  nature,  636;  its  symp- 
toms, 642  ;  danger  of,  647  ;  means  of  re- 
covery from,  652 ;  preservation  against, 
791.     See  Declension. 

Badcock,  Mr.,  treatment  of  by  Dr.  Priestley, 
ii.  169. 

Balaam,  said  to  be  descended  from  Laban, 
iii.  128,  129;  doctrine  of,  213. 

Baptism,  practical  uses  of,  iii.  339;  nature 
of,  339  ;  design  of,  339 ;  reflections  on, 
343;  importance  of,  344;  a  prerequisite 
to  the  Lord's  Supper,  510. 

Baptist  Missionary  Society,  origin  of,  i.  62  ; 
difficulties  of,  63. 

Baptists,  English  and  Scottish,  discipline  of, 
iii.  478 ;  state  of,  in  Northamptonshire, 
481 ;  Scottish,  Mr.  Fuller's  interview  with, 
i.  77. 

Baptizo,  improper  interpretation  of,  iii.  679, 
681  ;  rules  for  judging  of  its  meaning,  681. 

Barbauld,  Mrs.,  on  the  plan  of  salvation,  i. 
284  ;  her  views  of  serious  religion,  ii.  152. 

Barlow,  Sir  George,  testimony  to  the  Baptist 
Missionaries,  ii.  781. 

Barnabas,  character  of,  i.  135. 

Baxterianism,  Mr.  Fuller's  views  of,  ii.  714. 

Beast,  the  apocalyptic,  wounded  by  Constan- 
tine,  iii.  263. 

Beatitudes,  illustration  of  the,  i.  561. 

Being  of  God,  not  to  be  proved  but  assumed 
in  Scripture  history,  iii.  2. 

Bedford  Union,  sermon  before  the,  i.  183. 

Believers,  review  of  their  state,  i.  296. 

Believing  with  the  heart,  defined,  ii.  393. 

Belsham,  Mr.,  on  the  plan  of  salvation,  i. 
284,  note;  his  view  of  sin,  117;  of  the 
Scriptures,  ii.  203  ;  reflections  on  his  re- 
view of  Wilbcrforce,  279. 

Benevolence  defined,  ii.  161,  162;  promoted 
by  the  Calvinistic  system,  161,  162. 

Bengal  officer,  reply  to  an  attack  of  on  Chris- 
tian missions,  ii.  792. 

Bernier,  M.,  a  French  author,  on  the  state  of 
the  Hindoos,  ii.  766. 

Bethel,  a  place  of  divine  communication,  iii 
117,  123. 

Bevan,  Mr.  J.  his  defence  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Society  of  Friends  reviewed,  iii.  757. 

Bible,  English  translation  of,  iii.  810.  See 
Scriptures. 


Bible  Society,  its  origin,  i.  35;  minute  of  on 
Mr.  Fuller's  death,  109;  departure  from 
its  original  principles,  110,  note. 

Biblical  criticism,  its  principles,  ii,  290. 

Bigotry,  not  cherished  by  the  Calvinistic  sys- 
tem,  ii.  175;  defined,  186. 

Birmingham  riots  deprecated,  ii.  111. 

Birle}',  Rev.  G.,  character  of,  i.  40,  note. 

Birt,  Rev.  Isaiah,  account  of,  i.  370  and  note. 

Bishop,  a  pastor  of  a  single  congregation, 
iii.  456. 

Blood,  forbidden  as  food,  iii.  38. 

Blossett,  Sir  R.,  eulogium  on  Mr.  Fuller's 
life  of  Pearce,  i.  69. 

Bogue  and  Bennett's  "  History  of  Dissent- 
ors,"  remarks  on,  iii.  474. 

Bolingbroke,  Lord,  his  denial  of  the  Divine 
Attributes,  ii.  9. 

Book  of  life,  a  register  of  professing  Chris- 
tians, iii.  216. 

Book  with  seven  seals,  iii.  220. 

Booth,  Rev.  A.,  opposed  to  Fuller's  views, 
i.  40  ;  his  erroneous  views  of  faith,  ii.  340  ; 
his  controversy  with  Mr.  Fuller,  699  ;  his 
"Glad  Tidings"  reviewed,  iii.  752;  his 
"Amen  to  social  prayer"  reviewed,  755. 

Bow  in  the  heavens,  iii.  39. 

Boyle,  Mr.,  on  Love  to  God,  ii.  727. 

Braybrook  church,  preaching  of  Mr.  Fuller 
in,  i.  66. 

Brine,  Rev.  Mr.,  his  views  of  faith  erroneous, 
ii.  366. 

Bristol  College,  address  to  students  of,  i.515. 

Broad  and  narrow  way,  i.  453. 

Brotherhood,  Rev.  Mr.,  i.  93. 

Buchanan,  Rev.  C,  improper  treatment  of 
by  a  Bengal  officer,  ii.  792. 

Bunyan,  John,  maintained  the  doctrine  of 
election  as  consistent  with  general  and  free 
invitations  to  sinners,  i.  15. 

Butler,  Bishop,  his  imperfect  views  of  the 
gospel  method  of  salvation,  i.  284,  note, 
iii.  577  note. 

Button,  Rev.  W.,  opposed  to  Mr.  Fuller's 
views,  i.  40;  reply  to  his  remarks  on  "  The 
Gospel  worthy  of  all  acceptation,"  ii.  417  ; 
his  definition  of  faith  obscure,  424  ;  his 
notions  of  Adam's  inability  to  perform 
spiritual  acts  while  innocent,  443. 


Cain  and  Abel,  offerings  of  iii.  18;  curse  oh 
Cain,  21. 

Calvin,  his  persecution  of  Servetus,  ii.  165; 
on  imputation,  684;  maintained  the  duty 
of  sinners  to  believe  the  gospel,  367. 

Calvinism,  improperly  charged  with  immo- 
rality, ii.  141  ;  professed  by  the  Church  of 
England,  151  ;  Mr.  Fuller's  views  of,  711. 

Calvinistic  and  Socinian  systems  compared, 
ii.  108. 

Campbell,  Dr.  G.,  his  note  on  John  iii.  3,  ii. 
610;  his  note  on  John  xvii.  24,  756. 

Canaan,  prayer  of  the  woman  of,  i.  236. 

Candor,  definition  of,  ii.  163  ;  promoted  by 
the  Calvinistic  system,  161. 

Carey,  Dr.,  originated  the  Baptist  Mission,  i. 
62  ;  Sermon  at  ordination  of,  521  ;  his  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  India,  ii.  764,  767  ; 
his  literary  emoluments,  773. 

Carter,  Rev.  J.,  reply  to  on  baptism  and  com- 
munion, iii.  501. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


845 


Cave,  Rev.  B.,  account  of,  iii.  405,  note. 

Catholics,  principles  and  effects  of  their  mis- 
sions in  China,  ii.  126. 

Causes  of  damnation,  ii.  359.  360. 

Changes  of  time,  i.  462. 

Character  not  determined  by  individuals,  iii. 
784. 

Chant)'  considered,  ii.  175,  iii.  7S3. 

Charnock,  his  discourse  on  the  sin  of  unbe- 
lief, ii.  35S,  note  ;  his  views  of  faith,  477. 

Cheerfulness,  promoted  by  the  Calvinistic 
system,  ii.  206. 

Chesterfield,  Lord,  melancholy  reflections  at 
the  close  of  life,  ii.  51. 

Children,  concern  for  their  spiritual  welfare, 

i.  236,  472  ;    in  what  sense  saved  by  the 

ith  of  parents,    iii.  500,   501  ;    Baptists 

charged  with    separating    them    from    the 

church,  500,  501. 

Choice  of  the  gospel,  what  it  is,  ii.  349. 

Christ,  pre-existence  of,  i.  13  ;  Sonship  of,  i. 
13,  iii.  704  ;  reception  of,  the  turning  point 
of  salvation,  i.  266;  conformity  to  the 
death  of,  310;  life  and  security  of  the 
church,  316;  equity  of  the  punishment  of 
his  enemies,  438  ;  substitute  of  his  people 
in  death  and  judgment,  475;  subject  of 
gospel  preaching,  501  ;  washing  the  disci- 
ples' feet,  656  ;  kingdom  of  delivered  up 
to  the  Father,  678  ;  witness  borne  by  him- 
self, 679  ;  bearing  of  Scripture  on  person 
and  work  of,  702  ;  nature  of  the  satisfac- 
tion of,  ii.  82  and  note,  iii.  819;  love  to, 
promoted  by  the  Calvinistic  system,  ii. 
188;  design  of  the  death  of,  755;  cause 
of  to  be  promoted,  iii.  345  ;  immaculate 
life  of,  686  ;  importance  of  it,  690  ;  Deity 
of,  essential  to  atonement,  693 ;  and  to 
prayer  and  trust  in  him,  695 ;  defence  of 
such  a  view,  697  ;  sufferings  and  obedience 
of,  785  ;  growth  of  in  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge, 787  ;  prophetic  character,  iii.  207  ; 
his  knowledge  in  this  office  limited,  207  ; 
arguments  against  his  personal  appearance 
in  the  millennium,  292. 

Christianity,  its  slow  progress  and  partial  re- 
ception by  mankind  no  argument  against 
its  Divine  origin,  ii.  6  ;  an  antidote  to  pre- 
sumption and  despair,  i.  331  ;  its  holy  na- 
ture, ii.  7  ;  its  acknowledgment  of  God, 
11;  its  high  standard  of  morality,  15  ;  fur- 
nishes motives  to  a  virtuous  life,  21  ;  pro- 
duces holiness  of  life,  27  ;  gives  a  high 
tone  to  the  morals  of  society,  39 ;  the 
cause  of  happiness,  49  ;  harmonizes  with 
reason  as  to  a  mediator,  74  ;  favors  uni- 
versal benevolence,  ii.  33  ;  opposed  to 
persecution,  29;  harmony  of  its  predic- 
tions with  history,  58  ;  its  essential  doc- 
trines, 181  ;  its  early  progress,  iii.  224;  its 
early  corruptions,  ii.  65. 

Christian,  the,  reviewing  his  state,  i.  296  ; 
his  preparation  for  heaven,  391  ;  fellow- 
ship of  in  evil  times,  442  ;  character  of, 
565. 

Christian  Patriotism,  nature  and  duty  of,  i. 
202. 

Christians,  address  to,  ii.  105;  scriptural 
treatment  of  rich  and  poor,  iii.  800  ;  salt 
of  the  earth,  i.  565,  iii.  30  ;  great  numbers 
of,  in  the  apostolic  age,  224 ;  mutual  obli- 
gations to  each  other,  i.  473. 


Christians,  the  joy  and  crown  of  faithful  min- 
isters, i.  542. 

Church  of  Christ,  future  perfection  of,  i.  243; 
life  of  Christ  the  security  of,  316;  not  iu 
danger  from  attacks  of  infidelity,  ii.  4 ;  its 
universal  extent,  ii.  90;  present  imperfec- 
tion and  future  glory,  i.  243  ;  Christ's  love 
to  the,  249 ;  bride  of  Christ,  252 ;  of 
Rome  not  a  church  of  Christ,  iii.  245, 
246 ;  of  England  not  a  true  apostolic 
church,  iii.  464  ;  remarks  on  her  doctrines, 
464;  and  her  orders  of  priesthood,  465; 
subordination  of  the  people  to  her  clergy, 
466  ;  her  character  rests  on  the  possible 
piety  of  individual  members,  468 ;  her 
communion  corrupt,  472. 

Churches,  Christian,  helpers  with  their  pas- 
tors, i.  524;  walking  in  the  truth,  529; 
should  exhibit  the  light  of  the  gospel,  531  ; 
are  God's  building,  538  ;  exhorted  to  serve 
in  love,  544;  epistles  to  those  in  Asia,  iii. 
210  ;  discipline  of  the  primitive,  illustrated, 

331  ;  discipline  defined,  331  ;   motives  of, 

332  ;  manner  of,  333  ;  cases  in  which  it 
should  be  exercised,  335  ;  importance  of, 
338;  principles  of  those  formed  by  the 
Apostles,  451  ;  discii)line  of  the  English 
and  Scottish  Baptist,  considered,  478 ; 
state  of  the  Baptist  churches  in  Northamp- 
tonshire, 481. 

Circular  letters  for  the  Northamptonshire 
association,  iii.  308,  318,  325,  339,  345, 
352,  359,  362. 

Circumcision, institution  of,  iii.  70  ;  perverted 
when  applied  to  baptism  of  infants,  70, 
note. 

Civil  polity  discussed,  iii.  670  :  the  honor 
and  obedience  due  to  government,  672. 

Clergymen,  Episcopal,  Mr.  Fuller's  interview 
with  several,  i.  76. 

Coles,  Mrs.,  marriage  of  to  Mr.  Fuller,  i.  66. 

Commendation,  iii.  811. 

Communion  with  God  by  faith,  i.  118,  119; 
terms  of  sacramental,  iii.  499,  501  ;  open 
or  mixed  do.,  503  ;  baptism  a  prerequisite 
to,  501  ;  strict,  in  church  at  Serampore, 
507  ;  advocated,  508  ;  female,  635. 

Compassion  of  Christ  to  sinners,  i.  242. 

Conditions  of  salvation,  ii.  336,  433. 

Conflagration  of  the  earth  designed  to  purify 
it,  iii.  297. 

Conscience,  nature  of,  ii.  671  ;  testimony  of, 
i.  222. 

Consummation  of  all  things,  the  final  iii. 
743. 

Controversy,  not  desirable  for  its  own  sake, 
i.  511. 

Conversation,  its  character  important,  i. 
140. 

Conversations  on  doctrinal  subjects  between 
Peter,  James  and  John,  personifying  Mr. 
Booth,  Mr.  Fuller,  and  Dr.  Ryland,  ii.  680, 
687,  692. 

Conversion  of  Mr.  Fuller,  i.  4 — S  ;  of  sin- 
ners a  leading  topic  of  apostolic  preach- 
ing, ii.  1 15,  1 16  ;  nature  and  extent  of  true, 
i.  549  ;  means  employed  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
in,  550  ;  a  turning  to  the  Lord,  551  ;  ex- 
tent  of,  under  the  reign  of  Messiah,  550  ; 
of  the  Jews  predicted,  592,  608. 

Cornelias,  solution  of  a  difficulty  respecting, 
iii.  63,  note. 

4b2 


846 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


Country,  influence  of  Christians  on  a,  iii.  675. 

Covenant,  relation  to  Adam,  ii.  3C8,  369;  of 
God  with  Noah,  principles  of,  iii.  31  ;  with 
Abraham  by  sacrifice,  61 ;  with  Abraham 
and  his  seed,  by  circumcision,  68. 

Covetousness,  its  character,  sin,  and  danger, 
i.  448,  iii.  638  ;  the  prosperous,  the  aged, 
and  professors  of  religion  peculiarly  liable 
to  it,  i.  450. 

Cranmer,  Archbishop,  his  prayer  while  suf- 
fering  martyrdom,  iii.  657. 

Creation,  magnitude  of,  ii.  84 ;  work  of,  iii. 
2:  animal,  5;  reviewed,  6  ;  delivered  from 
bondage,  335  ;  made  new,  iii.  298. 

Credulity  of  unbelief,  iii.  821. 

Creeds,  popular  objections  to,  considered, 
iii.  449. 

Crispus  and  Gains,  dialogues  and  letters  of, 
ii.  647. 

Cross,  doctrine  of,  the  centre  of  all  proper 
preaching,  i.  716;  uniform  bearings  of 
Scripture  on  the,  702  ;  exemplified  in  the 
preaching  and  life  of  Pearce,  iii.  430. 

Cunningham  W.,  Esq.,  testimony  of,  to  the 
Baptist  Missionaries,  ii.  830. 

Curse,  in  what  sense  Christ  was  made  a,  ii. 
684. 

D. 

Damnation,  causes  of  it,  ii.  359,  360. 

Daniel,  conflict  of,  with  the  Persian  court,  i. 
637;  remarkable  fulfilment  of  his  prophe- 
cies, ii.  59  ;  identity  of  his  prophecies  with 
those  of  John  in  the  Apocalypse,  iii.  235, 
244,  250,  2G2,  281,  292,  295,  302. 

Danish  Government,  favor  shown  by  to  the 
Serampore  Missionaries,  ii.  816. 

David,  conduct  of  in  trouble,  i.  379;  prayer 
in  old  age,  420. 

Days,  observance  of,  i.  680. 

Death,  of  Abel,  iii.  IS;  power  of,  20;  pun- 
ishment of,  for  murder,  38 ;  the  prospect 
of,  salutary  to  a  believer,  i.  218  ;  of  Christ, 
its  bearing  on  the  salvation  of  man,  ii.  S2 ; 
blessedness  of  to  a  Christian,  i.  152;  of 
Christ,  conformity  to,  310  ;  and  judgment, 
Christ  our  substitute  in,  475. 

Debt,  used  as  a  simile  of  redemption  liable 
to  misapplication,  ii.  688. 

Declension  in  religion,  causes  and  cure,  iii. 
318;  means  to  promote  a  revival,  323, 
616;  spiritual,  615;  danger  of,  625;  re- 
marks on  the  church  at  Ephesus,  632;  and 
of  Laodicea,  632.  See  Backsliding,  Re- 
vival. 

Decrees  of  God.  See  Election,  Predestina- 
tion. 

Deism,  immorality  of,  ii.  8;  refuses  to  wor- 
ship God,  11  ;  its  low,  imperfect  and  con- 
tradictory standard  of  morals,  15 — 19  ; 
leaves  men  without  hope,  49  ;  frequent 
offspring  of  Socinianism,  232. 

Deists,  address  to,  ii.  97. 

Deity  of  Christ,  a  fundamental  truth  of  Chris- 
tianity, ii.  180;  rejection  of,  leads  to  infi- 
delity, 220;  essential  to  atonement,  iii. 
693 ;  essential  to  calling  on  his  name,  696  ; 
defence  of,  697  ;  precedes  his  office  as  me- 
diator, 706  ;  belongs  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  707  ;  the  indwelling  scheme  of, 
examined,  699. 

Dejected,  advice  to,  i.  228. 


Dejection,  mental,  remedy  for,  i.  368. 

Delay  in  religion,  danger  of,  i.  145. 

Deluge,  cause  of,  iii.  26;  traditions  of,  37; 
proofs  from  geology,  37. 

Depravity  of  man  and  its  results,  i.  667  ;  its 
character,  ii.  662;  total,  664  ;  consequences 
resulting  from  the  doctrine  of,  674  ;  evi- 
dences  of,  663,  666;  objections  to  it  an- 
swered, 668. 

Despair,  of  Cain,  iii.  22  ;  Christianity  an  an. 
tidote  to,  i.  321. 

Detraction,  evils  of,  ii.  65,  note. 

Dialogues  and  Letters,  ii.  647,  666. 

Dinah,  ill  treatment  of,  ii.  136. 

Disciples  of  Christ,  honor  conferred  on 
weaker,  i.  660 ;  their  ignorance  of  the 
atonement  considered,  ii.  184. 

Discipline  of  the  primitive  churches  consi- 
dered, iii.  331  ;  of  the  dissenting  churches, 
459  ;  of  the  English  and  Scottish  Baptists, 
478. 

Disposition,  a  peaceful,  i.  534. 

Dissent,  principles  stated,  iii.  459  ;  vindica- 
tion  of,  463 ;  remarks  of  Quarterly  Re- 
view on,  474. 

Dissenters,  character  of  English,  ii.  109  ;  his- 
tory of,  noticed,  iii.  474  ;  state  of  their 
discipline,  iii.  477;  decline  of,  483. 

Distress  of  mind,  no  evidence  of  a  gracious 
state,  iii.  547,  553,  558,  563. 

Diver,  Mr.  J.,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Fuller,  i.  8. 

Divine  influence.     See  Holy  Spirit. 

Divinity,  systematic,  importance  of,  i.  684  ; 
letters  on,  684;  a  true  system  important, 
685  ;  plan  of  such  a  system,  690  ;  connee- 
tion  between  doctrinal,  experimental,  and 
practical,  ii.  652. 

Doctrines,  test  of  true,  i.  654;  effects  of 
false,  245 ;  manner  in  which  communi- 
cated in  the  Scriptures,  iii.  637. 

Dort,  Synod  of,  ii.  712. 

Drunkenness,  leads  to  many  other  sins,  iii. 
40. 

Dry  bones,  vision  of,  alluded  to,  i.  592. 

Dumah,  the  burden  of,  i.  632. 

Duty  of  sinners  to  believe  in  Christ,  ii.  338, 
343  ;  maintained  by  Calvin,  Owen,  Char- 
nock,  Bunyan,  &c.,  422,  note. 

Dwight,  Dr.,  his  correspondence  with  Mr. 
Fuller,  i.  84, 


E. 


Early  piety,  advantages  of,  i.  421. 
Earthquake,  symbol  of  revolution,  iii.  227. 
Ecclesiastical  polity,  letters  and  tracts  on,  iii. 

447. 
Edwards,  President,  his  work  on  the  will,  i. 

15  ;   his  view  of  the  Waldenses,  iii.  251 ; 

his  views  on  justification,  ii.  715. 
Efficiency,  Divine,  reply  to  Mr.  Martin,  ii. 

730. 
Eleazar,  sent  to  obtain  a  wife  for  Isaac,  iii. 

92. 
Election,  its    true  character,  ii.  644;    how 

proved  to  be  true,  675;  holy  and  humbling 

in  its  influence,  752  ;  connection  of  in  the 

Scriptures,  iii.  807;  abuse  of,  ii.  146,  147, 

371,544,545,  751,753. 
Elijah,  the  appearance  to,  i.  617. 
Elliott,  Rev.  J.,  labors  of,  i.   23 ;    success 

of,  ii.  127. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


847 


Endeavors,  human,  reply  to  Mr.  Martin  on, 
ii.  733. 

Enemies,  love  to,  i.  573. 

Ephesians,  Paul's  prayer  for  the,  i.  429. 

Ephesus,  situation  of,  iii.  11  ;  epistle  to,  11. 

Equity,  importance  of,  i.  588. 

Error,  causes  of,  iii.  532;  reasons  why  per- 
mitted, 535;  criminality  of  mental,  692. 

Erskine,  Rev.  R.,  gospel  sonnets  of,  i.  3. 

Esau,  birth  of,  iii.  100;  sells  his  birthright, 
103;  loses  the  blessing,  109;  obtains  an- 
other, 113  ;  interviev/  of  with  Jacob,  133  ; 
temporal  prosperity  of,  144. 

Eternity,  nature  of,  ii.  323. 

Eusebius,  his  account  of  the  successors  of 
the  apostles,  iii.  256. 

Evangelical,  misapplication  of  the  term,  iii. 
677. 

Eve,  Rev.  Mr.,  Mr.  Fuller's  pastor,  i.  2. 

Evil,  resistance  of,  i.  571. 

Evils,  irremediable,  i.  466. 

Example  the  end  of  punishment,  ii.  95. 

Ezekiel,  visions  of,  i.  636. 


Face  of  God,  how  seen,  i.  674. 

Faith,  origin  of  sermon  on  walking  by,  i. 
117,  note;  importance  of  the  duty,  117; 
founded  on  truth,  120,  note ;  not  opposed 
to  reason,  124,  note ;  prayer  of,  exempli- 
fied, 236  ;  in  the  gospel  a  prerequisite  to. 
preaching,  515;  nature  of,  ii.  118;  defini- 
tion of,  329,  338  ;  precise  object  of  the 
discussion  on,  330  ;  erroneous  view  of, 
333  ;  the  duty  of  all  who  hear  the  gospel, 
343  ;  the  sinner's  inability  of,  376  ;  a  holy 
disposition  essential  to,  393;  required  by 
the  moral  law,  4S3,  iii.  781  ;  Abraham  jus- 
tified by,  iii.  61  ;  not  merely  intellectual, 
779  ;  importance  of  lively,  in  missionary 
operations,  825. 

Fall  of  man,  iii.  10;  effects  of,  15. 

Fasting,  Christian  duty  of,  i.  583. 

Fawkner,  Rev.  Mr.,  sermon  at  ordination  of, 
i.  135. 

Fire,  symbol  of  wars,  iii.  230. 

Folly,  when  to  be  reproved,  i.  672. 

Forgiveness,  Christian,  i.  644. 

Forbearance,  Christian,  described,  iii.  524. 

Foster,  Rev.  John,  animadversions  on  his 
view  of  Mr.  Fuller,  ii.  96,  note. 

Free  agency,  ii.  519,  656,  657,  367,  450,  454. 

Frames,  good,  not  to  be  relied  on,  i..  119. 

Francis,  Rev.  B.,  letter  to,  i.  53,  note. 

Friends,  review  of  Mr.  Bevan's  work  on  the 
doctrines  of,  iii.  757. 

Fuller,  Rev.  A.,  memoirs  of,  i.  1  ;  first  ser. 
mon  of,  11;  ordained  at  Soham,  14;  his 
lamentations  of  want  of  success,  18  ;  pub- 
lishes his  first  work,  37  ;  loss  of  his  eldest 
child,  51  ;  account  of  her,  52  and  note ; 
publishes  Calvinistic  and  Socinian  systems 
compared,  64;  second  marriage  of,  66; 
his  manner  of  collecting  money,  67  and 
note  ;  first  visit  to  Scotland,  68  ;  publishes 
memoirs  of  Pearce",  69  ;  domestic  trial  of, 
70;  publishes  the  Backslider,  70  ;  revisits 
Scotland,  75  ;  visit  to  Ireland,  82;  di[)lo- 
mas  conferred  on,  84  ;  third  visit  to  Scot- 
land, 85;  correspondence  of,  87;  publishes 
fais  Dialogues  and  Essr.ys,  90;  publishes 


his  Great  Question  answered,  91;  dis- 
courses on  Genesis,  91  ;  fourth  visit  to 
Scotland,  92;  loses  his  nephew,  93;  visit 
to  Wales,  94  ;  publishes  Sermons  and  E.k- 
position  of  Apocalypse,  99;  death  of,  102  ; 
character  of,  103;  anecdotes  of,  110. 

Fuller,  Joseph,  account  of,  i.  93. 

Fuller,  Miss  Sarah,  character  and  death  of, 
i.  113. 

G. 

Gardiner,  Miss  S.,  married  to  Mr.  Fuller,  i. 
18  ;  death  of,  59. 

Garie,  memoir  of  Rev.  J.,  reviewed,  iii. 
756. 

Genesis,  book  of,  expounded,  iii.  1. 

Gill,  Dr.,  his  view  of  moral  power,  i.  10  ;  of 
justification,  17;  on  faith,  ii.  356;  of  the 
symbol  of  an  earthquake,  iii.  253. 

Glasgow,  establishment  of  missionary  society 
at,  iii.  823. 

God,  nature  and  importance  of  love  to,  i. 
304 ;  the  peace  of,  362 ;  success  of  his 
cause  desired,  i.  413;  the  being  of,  692; 
perfections  of,  705  ;  Trinity  in,  707  ;  moral 
character  of,  ii.  654 ;  e.\tent  of  the  lovo 
of,  iii.  769. 

Good,  all  things  working  for  to  the  Christian, 
i.  385. 

Goodwin,  Dr.  T.,  his  view  of  the  tenth  part 
of  the  city,  iii.  252. 

Gospel,  the  means  of  universal  peace,  i.  253  ; 
nature  of  and  manner  of  preaching  it,  494  ; 
faith  in,  a  prerequisite  to  preaching,  515; 
holding  fast  the,  547  ;  its  own  witness,  ii. 
1  ;  belief  of,  essential  to  salvation,  178  ; 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  328;  reasons 
for  publication  of,  i.  37,  ii.  328  ;  import- 
ance of  the  subject,  332';  influence  and 
power  of,  iii.  774;  progress  of,  832. 

Goths  and  Vandals,  their  invasion  of  Rome, 
iii.  232—235. 

Government,  attachment  to,  iii.  670 ;  na- 
tional better  than  universal,  48;  no  form 
of  a  security  against  war,  i.  258. 

Grace  efficacious,  humbling  tendency  of,  ii. 
671. 

Grace  and  nature,  state  of,  i.  296. 

Gratitude,  cherished  by  the  Calvinistic  sys- 
tem, ii.  214. 

Greatheed,  Rev.  S.,  reply  to  on  use  of  terras, 
iii.  679. 

"  Great  Question  Answered,"  iii.  540. 

Guilt  not  transferable,  ii.  686. 

H. 

Hagar,  conduct  and  portion  of,  iii.  67  ;  is 
expelled  from  Abraham's  house,  84  ;  dis- 
tress of,  85.  ■* 

Hall,  Rev.  J.  K.,  colleague  of  Mr.  Fuller,  i. 
102;  succeeds  him,  112. 

Hall,  Rev.  R.,  Sr.,  becomes  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Fuller,  i.  14;  oration  at  the  grave  of, 
iii.  813;  elegy  on,  815. 

Hall,  Rev.  R.,  Jr.,  first  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Fuller,  i.  35  ;  his  character  of  Mr. 
Toller,  108;  his  views  of  virtue  examined, 
iii.  817. 

Hallbeck,  Rev.  Mr.,  on  the  state  of  Prussia, 
i.  610. 

Hands,  laying  on  of,  in  ordination,  iii.  492. 


843 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


Happiness,  its  true  nature,  ii.  49  ;  promoted 
by  the  Calvinistic  system,  206. 

Heaven,  magnitude  of  its  inlieritance,  i.  327; 
Christian's  preparation  for,  391  ;  kingdom 
of,  taken  by  force,  643  ;  view  of,  iii.  219, 
229;  nature  and  progressiveness  of  its 
glory,  725;  degrees  in,  741. 

Heavenly  bodies,  use  of,  iii.  5. 

Heavenly. mindedness,  cherished  by  the  Cal- 
Tinistic  system,  ii.  214,  218. 

Heresy,  exclusion  for,  in  Christian  churches, 
iii.  335. 

Herod,  death  of,  iii.  832. 

Hindoos,  account  of  their  religion,  ii.  765; 
moral  character  of,  801. 

<'  History  of  Dissenters,"  Bogue  and  Ben- 
nett's, notice  of,  iii.  474. 

Holcroft  and  Oddy,  founders  of  the  churches 
in  Cambridgeshire,  i.  1. 

Holwell,  Governor,  his  testimony  respecting 
the  Hindoos,  ii.  43 ;  on  the  state  of  India, 
ii.  767. 

Holiness,  man's  original,  ii.  368;  progress- 
iveness of,  iii.  660. 

Holy  Spirit.     See  Spirit  Holy. 

Hope,  existing  in  the  last  extremity,  i.  455  ; 
excellency  and  utility  of,  iii.  308;  defini- 
tion of,  308,  note;  foundation  of,  309; 
objects  of,  312  ;  usefulness  of,  313;  means 
of  obtaining,  317. 

Home,  W.  W.,  remarks  on  two  sermons  of, 
iii.  678. 

Horsley,  Bishop,  his  opposition  to  village 
preaching,  i.  189,  note. 

Human  laws  no  standard  of  morality,  ii.  17. 

Hume,  Mr.,  view  of  the  Divine  character,  ii. 
14;  and  of  Christian  ministers,  34. 

Humility,  promoted  by  the  Calvinistic  sys- 
tem, ii.  170. 

Huntington,  review  of  "Voice  of  Years" 
concerning,  iii.  762. 

Hussey,  Mr.,  his  view  of  Faith,  ii.  356. 

I. 

Idolatry,  supposed  origin  of,  ii.  13  ;  perni- 
cious influence  of,  on  people  of  God,  iii. 
128,  129,  141. 

Immaculate  life  of  Christ,  evidences  and  im- 
portance of,  iii.  686,  690. 

Importance,  things  of  the  greatest  to  be  first 
sought,  iii.  795. 

Imposture,  religious  foretold,  iii.  277. 

Imputation,  doctrine  of,  ii.  680;  definition 
of,  681,  702  ;  not  of  the  nature  of  punish- 
ment, 6S3  ;  nature  of,  iii.  719,  720. 

Inability,  natural  and  moral,  ii.  472  ;  nature 
of  the  sinner's,  519,  iii.  769. 

Indifference,  prevalence  of,  ii.  648. 

Indwelling  scheme,  remarks  on,  iii.  699. 

Indwelling  sin,  nature  of,  iii.  790. 

Infant  baptism,  covenant  with  Abraham  not 
an  argument  for,  iii.  70,  note. 

Instrumental  music  in  public  worship,  iii. 
515. 

Interests,  public  and  private,  in  the  service 
of  God,  i.  469. 

Isaac,  birth  of,  iii.  83  ;  sacrifice  of,  87  ;  mar- 
ried, 99 ;  his  conduct  with  Abimelech, 
105;  deceived  by  Jacob,  112;  death  of, 
144. 

Ishmael,  birth  of,  iii.  68 ;  posterity  and  death, 
101. 


Jacob,  birth  of,  iii.  100 ;  obtains  Esau's 
birthright,  103;  and  the  blessing,  109; 
his  departure  from  Beersheba,  114;  vision 
at  Bethel,  116;  arrives  at  Haran,  118;  is 
married  to  Leah,  119  ;  and  to  Rachel,  120  ; 
his  departure  from  Haran,  124  ;  is  pursued 
by  Laban,  125;  his  fear  of  Esau,  129; 
wrestles  with  an  angel,  132  ;  has  an  inter- 
view with  Esau,  133  ;  arrives  in  Canaan, 
135;  removes  to  Bethel,  140;  loses  Ra- 
chel, 143;  is  deceived  by  his  son.s,  149; 
called  to  give  up  Benjamin,  167;  learns 
that  Joseph  is  yet  alive,  178;  goes  down 
to  Egypt,  179;  meets  with  Joseph,  181; 
has  an  interview  with  Pharaoh,  183; 
blesses  his  sons,  186;  his  farther  blessings 
on,  193;  death  and  burial  of,  195. 

Jenkins,  Dr.,  Mr.  Fuller's  reply  to  on  justifi- 
cation, iii.  714. 

Jerram,  Rev.  E.,  Letters  on  Atonement  re. 
viewed,  iii.  760. 

Jerusalem,  the  new,  iii.  297. 

Jesus,  the  true  Messiah,  i.  210;  John's  tes. 
timony  to,  652.     See  Christ. 

Jew,  Mr.  Fuller's  interview  with  a,  i.  88. 

Jews,  sermon  to,  i.  210  ;  conversion  of  the, 
592  ;  address  to,  ii.  102. 

Johnson,  Mr.  J.,  works  of,  i.  14. 

Jonah,  hope  of  in  extremity,  i.  455. 

Jones,  Rev.  Mr.,  of  Creaton,  i.  50  and  note. 

Jones,  Sir  W.,  testimony  of  to  the  Bible,  ii. 
69;  extract  from,  iii.  822;  Lord  Teign- 
mouth's  eulogium  on,  823. 

Joseph,  early  character  of,  iii.  146;  sold  for 
a  slave,  148  ;  prosperity  of,  151  ;  his  temp- 
tation and  imprisonment,  152  ;  his  consist, 
ency  and  benevolence,  155;  his  advance- 
ment, 157 ;  his  marriage,  160 ;  his  first 
interview  with  his  brethren,  161  ;  his  im- 
proper oath,  163;  his  second  interview 
with  his  brethren,  166  ;  a  type  of  the  Mes. 
siah,  172;  makes  himself  known,  176; 
meets  with  his  father,  181  ;  settles  his  fa- 
mily, 182  ;  visits  his  dying  father,  185  ; 
forgives  his  brethren,  196  ;  his  death,  197. 

Joy,  holy,  why  modern  Christians  have  so 
little,  iii.  325  ;  to  what  extent  felt  by  first 
Christians,  325  ;  causes  of  decline  of,  326. 

Judah,  conduct  of,  to  Joseph,  iii.  150  ;  inter, 
cession  for  Benjamin,  173  ;  Jacob's  bless- 
ing on,  190. 

Judas,  not  present  at  the  Lord's  supper,  iii. 
473. 

Jude,  remarks  on  the  epistle  of,  iii.  674. 

Judging  others,  i.  585,  586. 

Judgment,  Christ  our  substitute  in,  i.  475  ; 
the  last,  591  ;  description  of,  iii.  296. 

Judgment  on  false  doctrines,  ii.  238 — 240 
256. 

Justification,  Mr.  Fuller's  original  views  ot 
i.  17;  Drs.  Gill  and  Ames  on,  17;  doc 
trine  of,  276  ;  consistency  of  with  free  re 
demption,  289 ;  humbling  tendency  of,  757. 

K. 
Kentish,  Mr.,  replied  to  on  his  moral  ten- 
dency of  the  true  Christian  doctrine,  ii. 
243;  his  disadvantageous  ground,  263; 
his  preliminary  remarks  animadverted  on, 
265  ;    remarks   on    his  view  of  Unitarian 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


849 


doctrine  as  leading  to  virtue,  267  ;  its  in- 
fluence in  deatli,  281  ;  its  ineflicacy  in  con- 
version, 2S2  ;  its  inadaptation  to  promote 
veneration  of  the  Scriptures,  283. 

Kettering,  Mr.  Fuller  invited  there,  i.-  27  ; 
letters  to,  28  ;  removal  to,  32  ;  ordination 
at,  33. 

Kingdom  of  God,  distinguished  from  that  of 
Christ,  ii.  94  ;  of  Christ,  638  ;  not  of  forms 
and  ceremonies,  638  ;  encouragement  to 
promote,  i.  341,  iii.  359;  given  up  to  the 
Father,  i.  678. 

Knowledge,  sorrow  attending,  i.  327;  in- 
crease of,  417;  and  love  essential  to  the 
ministry,  478  ;  distinction  between  it  and 
disposition,  ii.  597. 

KoihofT,  Mr.,  his  account  of  heathenism,  ii. 
823. 


Laban,  his  sordid  disposition,  iii.  95  ;  his 
pursuit  of  Jacob,  125  ;  supposed  ancestor 
of  Balaam,  128. 

Lacedemonians,  immoralities  of  the,  ii.  39. 

Language,  division  of,  iii.  46  ;  consequences, 
47. 

Laodicea,  epistle  to,  iii.  217. 

Latter  days,  the,    i.  640. 

Law,  moral,  perpetuity  and  spirituality  of 
the,  i.  567  ;  goodness  of,  ii.  658  ;  a  rule 
of  conduct  to  Christians,  747,  iii.  585 ; 
how  a  covenant  of  works,  ii.  375. 

Laying  on  of  hands  in  ordination,  iii.  492. 

Leper,  the,  iii.  828. 

Letters,  on  Socinianism,  ii.  112;  toMr.Vid- 
ler,  on  universal  salvation,  292:  of  Ag- 
nostos,  513;  on  Sandemanianism,  561; 
between  Crispus  and  Gains,  666  ;  to  Dr. 
Ryland,  on  the  controversy  with  Mr. 
Booth,  699  ;  on  Mr.  Martin's  publication, 
716  ;  on  systematic  divinity,  i.  684  ;  on 
preaching,  712;  to  Rev.  Wm.  Ward,  on 
sacramental  communion,  iii  503  ;  to  Dr. 
Newman,  on  the  same,  508. 

Lewellyn,  his  abuse  of  Calvinism,  ii.  141. 

Liberty,  remarks  on  Mr.  Robinson's  views 
of,  iii.  597. 

Licentiousness,  often  ends  in  murder,  iii.  23, 
SO,  136. 

Light  of  nature,  meaning  of  the  phrase,  ii.  18. 

Light,  production  of,  iii.  3. 

Lindsey,  Mr.,  his  views  of  Trinitarian  reli- 
gion, ii.  150;  his  mistake  on  mental  error, 
166. 

Locke,  Mr.,  his  view  of  traditional  revela- 
tion, ii.  6. 

Locusts,  symbol  of  the  Saracens,  iii.  236. 

Longevity  of  the  antediluvians,  iii.  24. 

Lord's  prayer,  illustration  of  the,  i.  577. 

Lord's  Supper,  administration  of  without 
ordination,  iii.  495,  496;  weekly  celebra- 
tion of,  not  binding,  ii.  634. 

Lot,  separation  of,  from  Abraham,  iii.  54 ; 
escape  of,  from  Sodom,  77. 

Love,  Christian,  nature  and  importance  of,  i. 
522  ;  identical  with  charity,  iii.  783. 

Love  to  God,  nature  and  importance  of,  i. 
3'^>4  ;  union  of  with  knowledge,  essential 
to  the  ministry,  478  ;  promoted  by  the  Cal- 
vinistic  system,  ii.  153  ;  claimed  by  his  own 
excellency,  726  ;  extract  from  Mr.  Boyle 
on,  727. 

Vol.  Ill— 107 


Love  to  enemies,  i.  573. 

Lukewarmness  in  churches  censured,  iii.  216. 

M. 

M'Gill,  Dr.,  his  erroneous  views  of  God,  ii. 
139. 

M'Lean,  Rev.  A.,  opposed  to  Mr.  Fuller's" 
views,  i.  40;  erroneous  views  of,  ii.  561  ; 
apology  to,  582,  note;  his  system  not  al- 
ways that  of  Sandeinan,  614,  note. 

Mack,  Rev.  J.,  ordination  of,  i.  100. 

Mahomedanism  predicted,  iii.  236. 

Man,  mysterious  nature  of,  i.  451  ;  original 
holiness  of,  ii.  368;  free  agency  of,  656; 
trial  of  the  first,  iii.  8  ;  fall  of,  10 ;  trial 
of,  12  ;  query  on  his  accountability  an- 
swered, 766. 

Marriage,  importance  in  religion,  iii.  26,  93, 
115,  1.  670  ;  violation  of,  a  great  evil,  iii. 
23,  66,  81,  115,  144,  150,  1S9. 

Marshman,  Dr.,  testimony  of  in  reference  to 
Christianity  in  India,  ii.  769. 

Martin,  Rev.  John,  on  the  Righteousness  of 
God,  i.  15;  character  of,  15,  note;  re- 
marks on  his  publications,  ii.  716;  reply 
to  his  accusations,  716  ;  general  observa- 
tions  on,  720. 

Martyrdoms,  number  (if  primitive,  iii.  226. 

Means  of  Grace  for  the  unconverted  consid- 
ered, i.  275,  445,  ii.  345,  382,  385,  451, 
iii.  349,  350,  549—564,  577,  578,  766— 
769. 

Meats  offered  to  idols,  inexpediency  of  eat- 
ing, i.  683. 

Mediation  of  Christ,  prominence  of,  in  the 
Calvinistic  system,  ii.  191 ;  doctrine  abused 
by  Antinomians,  757, 

Menu,  Institutes  of,  extracts  from,  ii.  797. 

Melchisedek,  his  meeting  with  Abraham,  iii. 
59. 

Members  of  Christ's  body,  dependent  on 
each  other,  i.  660. 

Memory,  an  instrument  of  future  misery,  i. 
176. 

Mercy,  consistent  with  justice  but  not  re- 
quired  by  it,  ii.  756. 

Messiah,  Jesus  the  true,  i.  210. 

Metaphor,  abuse  of,  iii.  612. 

Methodists,  their  success  in  preaching  ex- 
plained, ii.  123. 

Millennium,  times  of  the,  i.  60S  ;  calamities 
preceding,  610;  commencement  of,  iii. 
279;  nature  and  duration  of,  291;  not  a 
personal  reign  of  Christ,  292. 

Milton,  his  lines  on  Creation,  iii.  3,  4 ;  on 
the  Waldenses,  247. 

Mind,  vanity  of  the,  i.  434;  effect  of  things 
modified  by  the  state  of  the,  553. 

Ministers,  qualifications  of,  i.  135,  iii.  793; 
success  of,  i.  142  ;  nature  of  obedience  to, 
explained  and  enforced,  196  ;  should  not 
be  despised,  489  ;  laborers  with  God,  491  ; 
work  and  encouragements  of,  496  ;  habit- 
ual devotedness  to  their  work,  506  ;  con- 
cern of  for  their  people,  508;  young,  ex- 
horted to  make  full  proof  of  their  ministry, 
518;  importance  of  as  the  gift  of  Christ, 
521  ;  reward  of  faithful,  542  ;  exhorted  to 
serve  in  love,  544  ;  ministerial  and  Chris- 
tian communion  of,  545;  character  of, 
565 ;    how  they  are  to  please  men,  671 ; 


850 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


importance  of  their  urging  the  duty  of 
faith,  ii.  387 ;  claims  of  the  v/idows  and 
orphans  of,  ill.  363  ;  counsels  to  young, 
497  ;  call  and  qualitications  of,  793  ;  un- 
converted  a  gieat  source  of  error,  iii.  533. 

Ministry,  knowledge  and  love  essential  to 
the,  i.  478  ;  Christ  the  subject  of  the,  501  ; 
a  great  work,  513;  importance  of  full 
proof  of  the,  518. 

Miraculous  conception  of  Christ,  iii.  704. 

Missionary,  qualifications  of  a,  iii.  823. 

Missionary  work,  nature  and  encouragements 
of,  i.  510. 

Missions,  Christian,  apology  for,  ii.  763  ;  at- 
tack on,  by  Mr.  Twining,  763  ;  his  misre- 
presentations of  Hindooism,  765;  repre- 
sentations of,  by  Major  Scoit  Waring,  772; 
why  they  should  not  be  discouraged,  775  ; 
letter  to  J.  Weyland,  Esq.,  on,  831 ;  letter 
of  an  observer  on,  835,  note ;  reply  to  it. 

Monthly  concert  of  prayer,  origin  of,  i.  35. 

Monarchy,  universal,  designed  in  the  erec- 
tion of  ]3abel,  iii.  47  ;  its  evils,  48. 

'■'Monthly  Review,"  (English.)  its  superficial 
and  Socinian  character,  ii.'l32,  133,  168, 
notes;  profane  witticisms  on  future  pun- 
ishment, 155 ;  degrades  the  Scriptures, 
285  ;  reviewed,  2S6. 

Monthly  Reviewers,  animadversions  on,  ii. 
286,  527,  537. 

Morality,  standard  of,  ii.  137  ;  promotion  of, 
141;  not  founded  in  utility,  iii.  SIS;  re- 
solved   by  deists    into   self-love,    human 
aws,  personal  feelings,  and  law  and  light 
of  nature,  ii.  15 — 17;  modified  by  Unita- 
rians, 137;  the  foundation  of  their  hopes  i 
of  heaven,   173;    of  the  ancient  heathen,! 
39,  40  ;    of  modern   healhen,   43  ;   o*"  the  j 
French  revolution,  45.  | 

Moral  law,  goodness  of,  ii.  658. 

Moravians,  usefulness  of  their  missions,  ii. 
128. 

Morgan,  Rev.  T.,  sermon  at  ordination  of,  i. 
196. 

Moses,  the  choice  of,  i.  426. 

Mosheim,  opinion  of  his  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, i.  27,  2S. 

Mount,  sermon  on  the,  exposition  of,  i.  561. 

Murder,  to  be  punished  with  death,  iii.  38  ; 
in  heart,  i.  568. 

Music,  instrumental,  in  public  worship,  iii. 
515. 

Mystery  of  providence,  iii.  149,  157,  166, 
172,  200,  805;  in  case  of  Job,  i.  620. 

N. 
Nation,  (British,)  its  moral  condition,  i.  185, 

194,  208  ;    influence  of  Christians  on  its 

prosperity,  iii.  675. 
Nations,  origin  of,  iii.  43. 
Natural  affection,  in  itself  not  holiness,   ii. 

396,  671,  iii.  817. 
Nature  and  grace,  the  state  of,  i.  296. 
Necessity,  the  doctrine  of,  discussed,  ii.  144. 
New,  the  term  as  applied  to  the  regenerate 

as  contrasted  with  corrupt,  ii.  444 ;    new 

heavens, — earth, — Jerusalem,   denote  the 

condition  of  this  earth,  after  it  has  been 

burnt,  iii.  297. 
New  year,  sermon  on  the,  i.  463. 
Newman,  Rev.  Dr.,  his  opinion  of  Mr.  Ful- 

>r,  i.  109. 


Newton,  Rev.  John,  reply  to  on  the  final 
consummation  of  all  things,  iii.  743, 

Nicolaitanes,  doctrine  of,  iii.  212. 

Nimrod,  his  character  and  pursuits,  iii.  48. 

Nineveh,  repentance  of,  ii.  364. 

Noah,  character  of,  iii.  29  ;  covenant  made 
with  him,  31,  38  ;  commanded  to  build  the 
ark,  31,  38;  its  size,  31,  38,  note;  com- 
manded to  enter  the  ark,  32  ;  prophecy  of, 
41  ;  generations  of,  43. 

Northamptonshire,  Association  of,  i.  34  ;  Mr. 
Fuller's  sermons  at,  117,  160;  establish 
the  monthly  concert  of  prayer,  35 ;  state 
of  the  Baotist  churches  in.  iii.  431. 

0. 

Oaths,  to  what  extent  forbidden,  i.  570  :  pro- 
fane, phrases  used,  i.  571. 

Obedience,  to  pastors,  explained  and  en- 
forced, i.  196;  holy,  cherished  by  the  Cal- 
vinistic  system,  ii.  214  ;  moral  and  positive, 
how  distinguished,  iii.  352;  uses  of  the 
distinction,  353  ;  evils  of  confounding,  355. 

Obligation  and  duty,  measured  by  natural 
ability,  ii.  538. 

Office,  the  apostolic,  iii.  498. 

Old  age,  value  of  religion  in,  i.  420. 

Ordination,  and  laying  on  of  hands,  iii.  492  ; 
validity  of  lay,  493  ;  administration  of  the 
Lord's  supper  witliout,  495,  496  ;  counsels 
to  a  young  minister  in  prospect  of,  497. 

Orme,  Mr.,  on  the  Hindoo  system,  ii.  803. 

Others,  the  judging  of,  i.  585. 

Overton,  Rev.  Mr.,  Mr.  Fuller's  interview 
with,  i.  75. 

Owen,  Dr.,  Mr.  Fuller's  high  opinion  of,  i. 
42;  reply  of,  to  Socinus,  ii.  81;  on  the 
duly  of  obedience,  353  ;  on  mortification 
of  sin,  iii.  645. 

P. 

Paine,  Mr.,  his  presumption,  ii.  5;  his  mis- 
representation of  Christianity,  7 ;  his  ob- 
jection to  the  worship  of  God,  12;  his 
objections  against  prophecy,  59 ;  life  and 
death  of,  100  and  note. 

Pardon  of  sin,  to  be  prayed  for  daily,  i.  581. 

Particular  redemption  considered,  ii.  692, 
707  ;  consistent  with  the  fulness  and  ex- 
tent  of  gospel  invitations,  ii.  374,  452,  709. 

Party  spirit,  nature  of,  iii.  797. 

Passions,  distinguished  f>om  propensities,  i. 
572,  note. 

Pastor,  obedience  to  a,  explained  and  en- 
forced,  i.  196  ;  required  to  feed  the  flock 
of  Christ,  477  ;  how  to  be  aided  in  advanc- 
ing the  cause  of  Christ,  iii.  345  ;  origin  and 
nature  of  the  office,  ii.  631 — 633;  to  be 
supported,  631 — 533,  note;  more  than  one 
required  in  large  churches,  631 — 633  ; 
visits  of,  i.  19S,  481,  iii.  724;  address  of, 
to  Christian  hearers,  345. 

Patience,  the  work  of,  i.  374. 

Patriotism,  Christian,  i.  202. 

Paul,  prayer  of,  for  the  Philippians,  i.  356; 
for  the  Ephesians,  429 ;  vindication  of, 
662  ;  journey  to  Damascus,  6S1  ;  supposed 
reply  to  his  speech  at  Athens,  ii.  178. 

Payne,  Rev.  W.,  ordination  and  character  of, 
i.  47,  and  7iote. 

Peace,  gospel  the  means  of  univer.'ial,  i.  253. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


851 


Peace  of  God,  the,  i.  362. 

Peaceful  disposition,  a,  i.  534. 

Pearce,  Rev.  S.,  memoirs  of,  iii.  367;  con- 
version and  baptism  of,  369 ;  enters  the 
college  at  Bristol,  370  ;  settles  at  Birming- 
ham, 370;  marriage  of,  371;  friendship 
of,  372;  afflicted  by  Antinomianism,  374; 
friendship  with  Mr.  Summers,  375  ;  perni- 
cious influence  of  visiting,  376  ;  offers 
himself  as  a  missionary,  378  ;  friendship 
with  Dr.  Sleadman,  378  ;  communication 
to  the  missionary  committee,  3S0  ;  disap- 
pointment on  not  being  received,  383; 
extracts  from  his  diary,  385 ;  pernicious 
effects  of  night  studies,  387,  note ;  visit  to 
Kettering,  393;  to  Dublin,  395;  corres- 
pondence vs'ith  Mr.  Carey,  399;  Dr.  Mat- 
thias, 403  ;  with  several  other  friends,  404  ; 
his  last  illness,  409;  last  sermon,  411; 
death,  428  ;  character,  429. 

Perfection  of  the  church,  the  future,  i.  243 ; 
sinless,  delusion  of,  i.  581. 

Percramos,  situation  of,  iii.  213;  epistle  to, 
213. 

Persecution,  not  originated  by  Christianity, 
ii.  65  ;  of  Servetus,  by  Calvin,  ii.  165  ;  of 
the  Baptists,  byCranmer,  166;  of  the  first 
Christians,  iii.  226. 

Perseverance,  Christian,  humbling  tendency 
of,  ii.  761  ;  abuse  of  the  doctrine  of,  761. 

Persian  court,  Daniel's  conflict  with,  i.  637. 

Personal  reign  of  Christ  at  the  millennium 
refuted,  iii.  292. 

Philadelphia,  epistle  to  church  at,  iii.  216. 

Philanthropes,  reply  to,  on  Faith,  ii.  459. 

Philippians,  prayer  of  Paul  for,  i.  356. 

Pleasing  men,  in  what  sense  commendable, 
i.  671. 

Pliny,  letter  of  to  Trajan,  iii.  224. 

Plurality  of  persons  in  the  Godhead,  ii.  236. 

Political  disputes,  dangers  of,  iii.  640. 

Polity,  ecclesiastical,  iii.  447. 

Polycarp,  his  testimony  in  death,  iii.  212. 

Popery,  its  origin  and  character  predicted, 
iii.  243,  262;  its  persecutions,  245 — 249; 
cruelties  of,  260 ;  its  character,  265  ;  its 
destruction,  273 — 283. 

Populous  ciiies,  their  influence  on  morals,  ii. 
48. 

Porter,  Mr.,  Mr.  Fuller's  interview  with,  i. 
45. 

Practical  religion,  its  connection  with  doc- 
trinal and  experimental,  ii.  652. 

Prayer,  directions  for,  i.  576  ;  the  Lord's, 
577  ;  encouragements  to,  587  ;  union  in 
for  the  revival  of  religion,  iii.  666;  ef  the 
wicked,  query  on  answered,  772;  differ- 
ence of  frame  in  social  and  secret,  789. 

Preaching,  manner  of,  i.  494;  Christ  the  sub- 
ject of,  501  ;  letters  on,  712;  expounding 
the  Scriptures  in,  712;  subject  matter  of, 
714;  composition  of  a  sermon,  717  ;  abuse 
of  allegory  in,  726;  character  and  success 
of,  by  the  Moravians,  ii.  128  ;  of  Elliot, 
Brainard  and  others,  to  the  American  In- 
dians, 128  ;  of  Edwards,  Whitetield  and 
others,  123;  of  the  Methodists,  123;  to 
the  unconverted,  385,  464;  universal,  of 
the  gospel,  predicted,  iii.  269. 

Predestination,  not  arbitrary  or  capricious, 
ii.  113;  not  a  rule  for  our  conduct,  371, 
450,  451  ;  its  abuse  exposed  by  Mr.  Brine 


and  Dr.  Owen,  373;  of  moral  evil,  not 
efficient,  but  only  permissive,  503  ;  to 
wrath,  considered,  320,  326,  502. 

Present  age,  peculiar  turn  of,  ii.  647. 

Presumption,  Christianity  an  antidote  to,  i. 
321. 

Pride,  spiritual,  occasions  and  objects  of,  iii. 
565  ;  causes  of,  574. 

Priestley,  Dr.,  on  the  plan  of  salvation,  i. 
284  ;  his  character  as  a  controversialist,  ii. 
113;  his  view  of  sin,  117;  of  justice,  140; 
error  as  to  the  love  of  God,  153;  impro- 
perly charges  pride  on  Calvinists,  171  ; 
discourages  thinking  too  much  on  death, 
207,  218. 

Principles,  first,  of  the  gospel,!.  161;  pro. 
per  test  of,  ii.  113  ;  general,  applied  to  the 
organization  of  churches,  630. 

Private  retaliation,  unlawful,  i.  672. 

Private  judgment,  the  right  of,  iii.  447. 

Profession,  public,  of  Christ,  imnortant,  i. 
148. 

Progress  in  apostacy  and  corruption,  iii.  129, 
139,  660. 

Promises,  application  of  absolute,  i.  634 ; 
aspect  of  those  of  the  gospel  to  the  wicked, 
iii.  773  ;  pleading  them  in  prayer,  i.  587. 

Prophecy,  fulfilment  of,  i.  629  ;  illustration 
of  the  harmony  of  Scripture,  ii.  58;  its 
agreement  with  history,  59  ;  impoitance 
of  its  study,  iii.  201  ;  its  successful  study 
dependent  not  on  great  literary  attainments, 
208  ;  not  intended  to  be  fully  understood 
until  fulfilled,  273. 

Proportion  due,  of  doctrinal,  experimental, 
and  practical  religion,  not  regarded,  i. 
485,  ii.  649,  652. 

Prosperity  of  soul,  evidences  of,  i.  404. 

"  Protestant  Dissenters'  Magazine,"  remarks 
on,  ii.  287. 

Providence,  adverse,  causes  dejection  of 
spirit,  i.  230;  mystery  of,  i.  620,  640,  iii. 
805;  abuse  of,  by  Antinomiaiis,  i.  742; 
leadings  of,  iii.  93,  155,  158,  186,  200. 

Prussia,  Mr.  Fuller's  interview  with  a  gentle- 
man from,  i.  SO. 

Psalmody,  defects  of,  iii.  522. 

Public,  spirit,  essential  to  the  work  of  God, 
i.  469;  worship,  nature  of,  443. 

Punishment,  Divine,  principle  of,  ii.  155 ; 
supposes  personal  criminality,  683  ;  sin,  its 
own,  i.  554  ;  evidences  of  endless,  ii.  306; 
objections  to,  answered,  312-  capital,  for 
murder,  iii.  38. 

Puritans,  their  morals,  ii.  240. 

Purity  of  mind,  its  influence  on  objects,  pre- 
sented to  it,  i.  553  ;  promoted  by  hope,  iii. 
317. 


Queries,  answers  to,  on  the  fall  of  Adam, 
iii.  765  ;  accountability  of  man,  766;  mo- 
ral  inability,  768  ;  love  of  God,  769  ; 
prayer  of  the  wicked,  772  ;  aspect  of  gos- 
pel promises  to  the  wicked,  773  ;  power 
and  influence  of  the  gospel,  774  ;  nature 
of  regeneration,  776  ;  faith  not  merely  in- 
tellectual, 779  ;  failh  required  by  the  mo- 
ral law,  781  ;  Christian  love,  782  ;  Chris- 
tian charity,  783  ;  character  not  determined 
by  individual  acts,  784;  Satan's  tempta- 
tions,  784;    obedience   and    sufferings    of 


852 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


Christ,  785  ;  Jesus  growing  in  wisdom  and 
knowledge,  7b7  ;  reading  the  Scriptures, 
788 ;  difl'erences  of  frame  of  mind  in 
prayer,  7S9 ;  nature  of  indwelling  sin, 
790;  preservation  against  backsliding, 
791  ;  ministerial  call  and  qualification,  793. 
Question,  the  great,  answered,  iii.  540. 

R. 

Racovian  Catechism,  extract  from  the,  ii.  231. 

Rainerius,  a  Catholic  historian,  his  testimony 
of  the  Waldcnses,  iii.  258. 

Rational  Christians,  an  inconsistent  title 
assumed  by  Unitarians,  ii.  127,  note. 

Reason,  how  distinguished  from  faith,  i.  124, 
note ;  in  harmony  with  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  ii.  74;  the  proper  ground  of  con- 
troversy  with  deists,  ii.  5  ;  mediation  of 
Christ  consistent  with,  74. 

Reconciliation,  meaning  of  the  term,  ii.  694. 

Redemption,  illustrated,  ii.  76;  magnitude 
of  creation  in  harmony  with,  84;  pecu- 
liarity of  particular,  373,  692 ;  how  lim- 
ited, 541. 

Reflection,  solitary,  recommended,  i.  221. 

Reformation,  spirit  of  the,  iii.  630. 

Reformers,  their  view  of  the  papal  church, 
iii.  224  and  note. 

Regeneration,  means  of,  i.  666;  prior  to 
faith,  ii.  461  ;  nature  of,  iii.  776;  agency 
of  the  spirit  in,  ii.  463,  411,  515,  518. 

Religion,  evil  of  delay  in,  i.  145;  character- 
istics of  pure,  398;  individual  and  social, 
432;  connection  between  its  different 
parts,  ii.  652;  declension  of,  iii.  318; 
causes  of,  318;  means  of  removing,  323; 
description  of  genuine,  837. 

Repentance,  nature  of,  ii.  116;  distinction 
between  natural  and  spiritual,  595;  of  uni- 
versal obligation,  ii.  364. 

Restitution,  final,  import  of,  i.  658. 

Revelation,  necessity  of  a,  i.  695;  its  testi- 
mony universally  binding,  ii.  349. 

Reviews,  various  works,  iii.  745 ;  abuse  of, 
745. 

Revivals  of  religion,  how  promoted,  ii.  121. 

Rewards,  Christian  doctrine  of,  i.  174  ;  how 
depend'ent  on  Christian  works,  179. 

Richmond,  Rev.  L.,  afflictions  of,  i.  70;  let- 
ter from  to  Mr.  Fuller,  95. 

Ridgley,  Dr.,  theological  views  of,  i.  39. 

Righteousness,  progress  of,  iii.  663 ;  im- 
puted, doctrine  of,  709  ;  defence  of,  712. 

Right  of  private  judgment  examined,  ii.  258, 
iii.  336,  447. 

Robinson,  Rev.  R,,  consulted  by  Mr.  Fuller, 
i.  29  ;  his  opinions  of  evangelical  preach- 
ing, ii.  120;  his  uncandid  spirit  in  later 
life,  168;  his  character  considered,  223, 
note  ;  letters  on  the  sentiments  of,  iii.  588  ; 
his  views  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  602. 

Robinson,  Rev.  T.,  reply  to  on  dissent,  iii. 
463. 

Robinson,  Professor,  opposition  of  to  Mis. 
sions,  i.  ISS,  note. 

Roman  empire,  how  viewed  by  John,  iii.  231  ; 
state  of  in  the  fifth  century,  232. 

Romans,  immoralities  of,  ii.  40. 

Rousseau,  confession  of,  ii.  37  ;  eulogium  on 
Christianity,  51  ;  and  on  Jesus  Christ,  69. 

Russell,  Lady  R.,  her  forgiving  disposition, 
ii.  743. 


Rush,  Judge,  his  testimony  on  Infidelity,  ii. 

45. 
Ryland,  Dr.,  his  opinion  of  Mr.  Fuller,  i. 

119  ;  letters  of  Mr.  Fuller  to,  ii.  699. 


Sabbath,  institution  of,  iii.  7 ;  the  Christian, 
828. 

Sacrifice,  superseded  by  Christ,  i.  210  ;  con- 
nection with  our  sanctification,  251 ;  and 
our  justification,  291. 

Salvation,  receptioi)  of  Christ  the  turning 
point  of,  i.  266;  the  com.mon,  409;  dan- 
gerous tendency  of  the  doctrine  of  uni- 
versal, iii.  802. 

Salt,  Christians  compared  to,  i.  565. 

Sanctification ,  progressive,  iii.  663  ;  by  means 
of  the  word  of  God,  i.  169,  251. 

Sandemanianism,  strictures  on,  ii.  561  ;  oc- 
casion of  writing,  i.  41  ;  misrepresentations 
of  Mr.  M'Lean,  ii.  561  ;  its  distinguishing 
peculiarities,  566  ;  its  litigious  character, 
568;  its  erroneous  views  of  faith,  572  ;  of 
justification,  577;  withholds  the  invitations 
of  the  gospel,  583;  identifies  the  faith  of 
Christians  and  of  devils,  582  ;  sets  aside 
the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  588  ;  mak^ 
repentance  an  effect  of  faith  and  of  for- 
giveness, 590  ;  makes  spiritual  acts  to  re- 
suit  from  carnal  hearts,  606  ;  monopolizea 
the  doctrine  of  justification  by  grace,  614  ; 
confounds  moral  obligations  and  positive 
institutions,  624;  leads  to  the  neglect  of 
family  worship,  625  ;  discourages  the  sanc- 
tification of  the  Lord's  day,  626  ;  its  re- 
fusal to  lay  up  treasures,  627;  its  practice 
of  washing  the  feet,  627  ;  the  kiss  of  cha- 
rity, 628  ;  its  peculiarities  in  reference  to 
church  intercourse,  629  ;  plurality  of  pas- 
tors, 631  ;  weekly  coini#union,  634;  una. 
nimous  legislation,  636  ;  erroneous  views 
of  Christ's  kingdom,  637  ;  anti-missionary 
character  of,  639  ;  spirit  of  the  system 
opposed  to  Christianity,  640. 

Sandys,  Lieut.  Col.,  his  testimony  in  favor  of 
the  Baptist  missionaries,  ii.  829. 

Sarai,  crooked  policy  of,  iii.  66 ;  death  and 
burial  of,  90. 

Sardis,  epistle  to  the  church  at,  iii.  215. 

Satan,  temptations  of,  iii.  10,  784  ;  curse  of, 
15  ;  influence  of,  on  the  mind,  610. 

Saviour,  need  of  a  great  one,  ii.  675. 

Scepticism,  prevalence  of,  ii.  648. 

Scotland,  Mr.  Fuller's  visits  to,  i.  68,  75,  85. 

Scottj  J.,  Esq.,  poem  by,  i.  36. 

Scott,  Major  Waring,  his  opposition  to  mis- 
sions replied  to,  ii.  772.  See  Missions, 
Christian. 

Scott,  Rev.  T.,  his  Warrant  and  Nature  of 
Faith  reviewed,  iii.  749. 

Scriptures,  the  inspiration  of,  i.  699  ;  bearing 
of^  on  the  person  and  work  of  Christ,  702  ; 
exposition  of,  712;  harmony  of,  with  his- 
torical facts,  ii.  58  ;  with  enlightened  con 
science,  63  ;  excellence  of  their  spirit  and 
style,  68  ;  Rousseau's  admiration  of,  69  ;  in 
harmony  with  creation,  84;  veneration  for, 
cherished  by  the  Calvinistic  system,  195; 
reading  of  the,  iii.  7S8  ;  connection  of  the 
doctrine  of  election  in  the,  807;  English 
translation  of  the,  810. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


853 


Seals,  the  book  with  seven,  iii.  219;  opened, 
222. 

Sealed,  servants  of  God,  iii.  227. 

Secret  and  social  prayer,  iii.  789. 

Seeking  God,  meaning  of  the  phrase,  i.  675. 

Self-love,  the  morality  of  deists,  ii.  16;  de- 
fined, 24  ;  its  operation  in  an  anxious  sin- 
ner, 589. 

Self-righteousness,  its  deceitfulness,  ii.  232; 
295,  299,  437  ;  Political,  iii.  675. 

Sentiments,  alleged,  change  of  Mr.  Fuller's, 
ii.  709;  how  far  correct,  710;  agreement 
in  the  bond  of  union,  iii.  489. 

Serampore,  fire  at,  i.  95  ;  strict  communion 
in  church  at,  o07. 

Sermons.  See  Ministers,  Ministry,  and 
Preaching. 

Serpent,  temptations  presented  by,  iii.  10. 

Servant  of  Christ,  principles  and  prospects 
of,  i.  342 ;  Abraham's,  an  example  of 
fidelity  and  discretion,  iii.  93. 

Servetus,  persecution  of,  by  Calvin,  ii.  165. 

Service  of  God,  union  of  interests  in,  i.  469. 

Shaftesbury,  lord,  his  representation  of  the 
Divine  character,  ii.  10. 

Shalem,  remark  on,  iii.  135. 

Shechemites,  murder  of  the,  iii.  136. 

Sliem,  generations  of,  iii.  50. 

Shore,  Sir  John,  his  testimony  as  to  Hindoo- 
ism,  ii.  43. 

Simon  Magus,  Peter's  reply  to,  ii.  347,  430. 

Simplicity,  godly,  satisfaction  derived  from, 
i.  540. 

Sin,  its  own  punishment,  i.  554;  the  unpar- 
donable, 612 ;  existence  of  original,  ii. 
522  ;  progressiveness  of,  iii.  660  ;  nature 
of  indwelling,  790  ;  infinite  evil  of,  828. 

Singing,  thoughts  on,  iii.  521. 

Sinners,  great,  encouraged  to  return  to  God, 
i.  444  ;  the  awakened  addressed,  iii.  549. 

Smyrna,  situation  of,  iii.  212  ;  epistle  to,  212. 

Socinians,  arrogance  of,  ii.  109,  171  ;  their 
distinguishing  characteristics,  110;  import- 
ance of  the  controversy  with,  112  ;  do  not 
labour  for  the  conversion  of  profligates, 
115;  character  of  their  converts,  130; 
discourage  religious  feeling,  211;  renounce 
mystery  in  religion,  211 ;  resemblance  of 
it  to  infidels,  220. 

Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  Abraham  intercedes 
for,  iii.  75  ;  are  destroyed,  77. 

Solomon's  song,  canonicalness  of,  iii.  605. 

Sorrow;  how  attendant  on  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge, i.  327. 

Soul,  prosperity  of,  i.  404;  value  of,  470; 
state  of,  afterdeath,  346,  lost  by  delay,  146. 

Spira,  Francis,  awful  end  of,  i.  592. 

Spirit,  a  right,  iii.  836. 

Spirit,  Holy,  witness  of,  i.  624  ;  striving  with 
raan,__6X0;  work  of,  ii.  379;  how  mlsre- 
presented  by  Mr.  Taylor,  515  ;  how  resist- 
ible, 518  :  promise  of,  the  grand  encourage- 
ment in  promoting  the  gospel,  iii.  359  ;  ne- 
cessity of,to  understand  the  Scriptures,  601. 

Spirits,  trial  of  the,  i.  653. 

Spiritual  pride,  ii.  170,  171  ;  found  in  both 
the  anxious  sinner  and  the  profligate,  172  ; 
essay  on,  iii.  564;  found  in  the  ministry, 
567;  in  the  churches,  568;  in  apparel, 
568 ;  manifests  itself  in  self-confidence 
and  self-complacency,  570;  in  conformity 
to  the  world,  571  ;  in  professors  towards 

Vol.  III. 


the  irreligious,  573  ;  causes  of,  574 ;  wene- 
rates  the  notion  of  sinless  perfection  in 
this  life,  576  ;  often  arises  from  false  views 
of  the  gospel,  578. 

Spiritualizing  Scripture,  mistaken  for  spirit- 
uality in  the  preacher,  i.  727. 

Spiritual  declension  and  means  of  revival, 
iii.  615. 

Spots  of  the  church  of  God,  i.  244. 

Star,  fallen,  symbol  of  the  Pope,  iii.  237. 

Steadfastness,  Christian,  i.  527. 

Steadman,  Dr.,  account  of,  iii.  378,  note. 

Stennett,  Rev.  S.,  i.  S3  and  note. 

Stepney  College,  address  to  students  of,  i.  518. 

Stevenson,  Mr.  J.  J.,  interview  of  with  Mr. 
Fuller,  i.  45,  note. 

Steward,  parable  of  the  unjust,  i.  645. 

Stockell,  Pvev.  Jlr.,  on  Christ's  pre-exist- 
ence,  i.  13. 

Strict  Communion  defended,  iii.  499,  501, 
503,  507,  508. 

Students  in  the  ministry,  address  to,  at  Bris- 
tol, i.  515  ;  at  Stepney,  518. 

Substitution,  doctrine  of,  ii.  687;  denial  of 
it,  Socinianism,  6S7  ;  mistakes  relative  to, 
688;  scriptural  account  of,  690;  contro- 
versy with  Abr.  Booth  on,  706. 

Succes's,  Christian,  God's  approbation  essen- 
tial to,  i.  183. 

Superficial  knowledge  of  truth,  danger  of,  i. 
163,  163,  iii.  318,  321. 

Superintendent,  general,  over  the  Christian 
churches,  unlawful  and  unnecessary,  iii. 
456,  465. 

Superstition,  of  the  Romish  hierarchy,  iii. 
257  ;  the  parent  of  idolatry,  30. 

Sutcliff,  Rev.  J.,  becomes  acquainted  with 
Mr.  Fuller,  i.  16  ;  death  of,  97  ;  anecdote 
of,  112,  note;  funeral  sermon  for,  342; 
sketch  of  his  life,  349. 

Swine,  pearls  cast  before,  i.  585. 

Syroplienician  woman,  her  faith  and  success, 
i.  237. 

System,  its  necessity  in  the  discovery  and 
practical  use  of  truth,  i.  161, 166  ;  import- 
ance of  a  true,  6S4. 

Systematic  Divinity,  letters  on,  i.  684. 

T. 

Tablet  to  Mr.  Fuller's  memory,  i.  105. 

Taylor,  Dr.  A.,  on  the  Modern  Question,  i.  15. 

Taylor,  Rev.  Dan,  opposed  to  Mr.  Fuller's 
views,  i.  40  ;  reply  to,  ii.  512. 

Teachers,  how  to  judge  of,  i.  588. 

Temporal  mercies,  a  subject  of  prayer,  i.  243. 

Temptation  to  sin,  not  of  God,  i.  674  ;  suita- 
ble  conduct  under,  iii.  153. 

Tennent,  Dr.,  extract  from,  ii.  800. 

Terms,  proper  and  improper  use  of,  iii.  677. 

Thief,  the  converted,  i.  646. 

Thomas,  Rev.  John,  letter  on  the  calumnie? 
on  the  memory  of,  ii.  789,  7iote. 

Thyatira,  situation  ot",  iii.  214  ;  epistleto,  214. 

Time,  changes  of,  i.  462 ;  "  shall  be  no 
longer,"  meaning  of,  iii.  242,  7iote. 

Toller,  Rev.  T.  N.,  his  character  of  Mr.  Ful- 
ler, i.  109. 

Tongues,  confusion  of,  iii.  46. 

Toulmin,  Rev.  Dr.,  replies  to  Mr.  Fuller  on 
Calvinistic  and  Socinian  systems,  ii.  234  ; 
plan  of  his  work,  234  ;  charges  Calvin  with 
the  neglect  of  morals,  240  ;  defects  in  his 

4C 


854 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


reasoning,  246 ;  his  account  of  the  want 
of  devotion  among  Socinians,  250 ;  his 
erroneous  views  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, 259. 

Trials,  past,  a  plea  for  future  mercies,  i.  459. 

Tribe,  the  royal,  i.  640. 

Tribes,  prophetic  blessings  on,  iii.  1S8. 

Trinity,  doctrine  of  the,  i.  707,  iii.  707. 

Trumpets,  their  connection  with  the  vials, 
iii.  274. 

Truth,  importance  of  an  intimate  knowledge 
of,  i.  160;  object  of  anfjelical  research, 
663;  importance  of,  ii.  649;  nature  and 
importance  of,  iii.  524,  588;  manner  of 
communication  of  in  Scripture,  537  ;  im- 
pnrtance  of  a  right  belief  of,  5SS. 

Turks,  triumphs  of  the,  iii.  238. 

Twining,  Mr.     See  Missions,  Christian. 

U. 

Unbelief,  nature  of,  ii.  399  ;  credulity  and 
disingenuousness  of,  iii.  821. 

Unbeliever,  how  converted,  ii.  125. 

Unconverted,  in  great  danger,  ii.  672  ;  ex- 
horted to  repent,  673  ;  what  they  must  do 
to  be  saved,  i.  275,  ii.  381,  382,  390,  5S7 
— 5S9,  595,  590,  697,  iii.  349,  540—549  ; 
mode  and  grounds  of  ministerial  address 
to,  ii.  361,  364,  379,  382,  386,  387,  389, 
390,  iii.  248—251,  553—558. 

Ungodly,  how  justified,  i.  276 — 294,  ii.  402 
—407,  567,  611,  582,  iii.  709,  712. 

Union,  in  a  bad  cause,  temporary,  ii.  67; 
of  the  whole  creation  with  the  church  of 
Christ,  91  ;  to  Christ,  of  great  importance, 
i.  272;  of  public  and  private  interests  in 
the  service  of  God,  i.  469  ;  in  prayer  for  a 
revival  of  religion,  iii.  623. 

Universalism,  questions  on,  ii.  293;  its  in- 
consistency with  Scripture,  298;  danger- 
ous tendency  of  the  doctrine  of,  iii.  802; 
allied  to  Socinianism,  ii.  303;  affords  en- 
couragement to  sinners  going  on  in  sin,  305. 

Unpardonable  sin,  the,  i.  612  ;  its  character- 
istics, 613:  its  circum.stances,  614;  why 
unpardonable,  615. 

Unjust  steward,  parable  of,  i.  645. 

V. 

Vanity  of  the  human  mind,  i.  434. 

Vials  poured  out,  iii.  271 — 279. 

Vidler,  Mr.,  account  of,  292,  note;  affection- 
ate remonstrance  with,  292  ;  questions  on 
Universalism  proposed  to,  293  ;  reasons 
assigned  for  discontinuance  of  controversy 
with,  294 ;  his  objections  to  eternal  pun- 
ishment replied  to,  312  ;  his  system  exam- 
ined, 318. 

Vindictive  character  of  God  explained,  ii 
155,  268. 

Virtue,  nature  of  true,  iii.  817  ;  does  not  ex- 
ist in  the  unrogenerate,  ii.  665 ;  medi- 
ocrity of,  satirized,  i.  628. 

Vision,  of  Jacob  at  Beersheba,  iii.  116;  of 
Elijah,  at  Horeb,  617  ;  of  the  living  crea- 
tures, by  Ezekiel,  i.  636  ;  of  the  valley  of 
dry  bones,  592  ;  of  Daniel,  relative  to  the 
Persian  court,  637;  of  John,  at  Patmos, 
iii.  209. 

Visiting  the  sick,  iii.  435. 

Vitringa,  his  view  of  the  tenth  part  of  the 
city,  iii.  253. 


"  Voice  of  Years,"  of  W.  Huntington,  re- 
viewed, iii.  762. 

Volney,  denies  the  criminality  of  intention, 
ii.  34. 

Voltaire,  overlooks  the  moral  character  of 
God,  ii.  10;  his  testimony  to  the  influence 
of  religion,  34  ;  his  threat  to  destroy  Chris- 
tianity, 100,  note;  his  death,  100. 

W. 

Waldenses,  their  piety,  ii.  149;  their  testi- 
mony  against  antichrist,  iii.  246  ;  the  wit- 
nesses of  the  Apocalypse  slain,  251  ;  Mil- 
ton's sonnet  on,  247,  note. 

Waldo,  Peter,  some  account  of,  iii.  246. 

Walker,  Dr.,  of  Dublin,  interview  with  Mr. 
Fuller,  i.  83. 

Walking  by  faith,  i.  117. 

Wallis,  Mr.,  correspondence  with,  i.  30,  &c.; 
death  of,  51  and  note ;  funeral  sermon  for, 
152. 

Waring,  Major  Scott,  his  representation  of 
missions  in  India,  ii.  772  ;  his  ignorance 
of  the  Baptist  missionaries,  780 ;  remarks 
on  his  letters  to  Mr.  Owen,  787  ;  strictures 
on  his  third  pamphlet,  809. 

Wars,  Christianity  not  the  cause  of,  ii.  67  ; 
between  Jews  and  Romans,  dreadful,  iii. 
225  ;  when  lawful,  i.  207. 

Washing  feet,  religious  obligation  of,  con- 
sidered, ii.  627,  iii.  355,  480. 

Washington's  testimony  to  religion,  ii.  49. 

Watts,  Dr.,  his  views  of  the  person  of  Christ, 
examined,  iii.  702. 

Way,  the  broad  and  the  narrow,  i.  453,  588. 

Wayman,  Rev.  Mr.,  views  of,  i.  39;  object 
of  his  "  Further  Enquiry,"  333. 

Wesley,  Rev.  J.,  extract  from  his  letter,  ii. 
542. 

Weyland,  J.  Esq.  letter  to  on  missions,  ii.831. 

White,  Professor,  extract  from  his  Bampton 
lectures,  ii.  796. 

Whilefield,  a  remark  of,  iii.  598. 

Wicked,  prayer  of  the,  query  on  answered, 
iii.  772  ;  aspect  of  gospel  promises  to,  773. 

Widows  and  orphans  of  ministers,  plea  for, 
iii.  363. 

Wilberforce,  W.,  Esq.,  letter  from,  i.  96  ; 
extract  from  his  Practical  View,  ii.  72  ;  re- 
flection on  Mr.  Belsham's  review  of,  279. 

Wilderness,  apocalyptic,  the  refuge  of  the 
symbolical  woman, — Piedmont,  &c.,  iii. 
258  and  note  ;  the  second  flight  into  North 
America,  261. 

Wilks,  Rev.  Mark,  anecdote  of,  i.  82,  note. 

Will,  the,  influences  belief,  ii.  579. 

Wisdom  of  God  in  creation,  iii.  3  ;  in  provi- 
dence,  i.  620,  273  ;  in  the  gospel,  i.  273; 
of  Christ,  how  increased,  iii.  787  ;  proper 
to  man,  i.  622;  and  knowledge,  sorrow 
attendant  thereon,  i.  327;  character  of 
true,  464;  mediocrity  satirized,  628. 

Withers,  Dr.,  opposed  to  Mr.  Fuller's  views, 
i.  47,  50  ;  reply  to,  418,  note. 

Witherspnon,  Dr.,  effect  of  his  "  Ecclesias- 
tical  Characteristics,"  on  the  Socinian 
cause,  ii.  248. 

^Vitness,  inward,  of  the  Spirit  to  the  minds 
of  believers,  i.  624. 

Woman,  creation  and  character  of,  iii.  9; 
her  degraded  condition  without  the  gospel, 
9;  her  proper  station  in  society,  10,  16. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


855 


Word  of  God,  its  place  in  regeneration,  i. 
66i;,  ii.  409—414,  462,  609  ;  practical  ac- 
quaintance with,  i.  483. 

Words,  how  to  judge  of  their  meaning,  ii. 
309,  312—315,  683,  684,  iii.  677. 

Works,  how  opposed  to  faith,  ii.  569,  .571  ; 
of  deceased  believers  follow  them,  i.  157  ; 
justification  by,  considered,  i.  673,  ii.  2S5, 
2S8,  312  J  sinners  under  the  covenant  of, 
ii.  375. 

World,  creation  of.  See  Creation;  its  con- 
flagration designed  to  pur  ly  it,  ii.  94  ;  iii. 
298  ;  in  what  sense  Christ  died  for  the,  ii. 
496—500,  641,  542  and  note,  549,  555. 


Worship,  public,  i.  443. 

Y. 

Yates,  Rev.  Dr.,  ordination  of,  i.  98, 

Years,  the  Voice  of,  Mr.  Huntington's,  re- 
viewed, iii.  762. 

Young,  sermon  addressed  to,  i.  421. 

Young,  Dr.,  his  lines  on  the  Atonement,  ii. 
212. 

Z. 

Zaleucus,  his  method  of  propitiation  for  his 

son,  iii.  694. 
Zeal,  Divine,  display  of,  i.  629. 


PART  II.— SCRIPTURES   ILLUSTRATED. 


Genesis. 
i.  4  ;  iii.  2. 
ii.  17;  i.  301,  note. 
vi.  6;  i.  699. 
viii.  22  ;  i.  672. 
xii.  17;  i.  673. 
xxiii.  17,  18;  i.  673. 
xxxii.  30;  i.  674. 
slv.  6;  i.  672. 
xlix.  10;  i.  213. 

Exodus. 
XX.  5;  i.  673. 
x.\-xiii.  20  ;  i.  674. 

Numbers. 
xiv.  8;  i.  183. 

Deuteronomy. 
iv.  29  ;  i.  444. 

Joshua. 
xxiii.  12  ;  i.  304. 

1  Samuel. 
XV.  29  ;  i.  669. 

2  Samuel. 
xxiv.  1  ;  i.  674. 

1  Kings. 
xiii.  30;  i.  103. 
xix. ;  i.  617. 
xxii.  21—23;  i.  619. 

1  Chronicles. 
xxi.  1  ;  i.  674. 
xxix.  29,  30  ;  i.  462. 

Ezra. 
vii.  10;  i.  483. 

Nehejiiah. 
iii.  28-30  ;  i.  469. 
vi.  3;  i.  513. 

Job. 
xii.  6 — 25  ;  i.  620. 
xxviii. ;  i.  622. 

Psalms. 
ii.  11,  12;  ii.  428. 
iv.  4;  i.  221. 
xiii.  2;  i.  228. 
xiv.  1  ;  ii.  176. 
xxii.  27  ;  i.  549. 
XXXV.  3  ;  i.  624. 
xxxvi.  9  ;  i.  724. 
xl.  1—3;  i.  379. 


xl.  6—8;  i.  210. 
xl.  8  ;  ii.  446. 
xiii.  6  ;  i.  368. 
Ii.  10;  iii.  836. 
Ixviii.  IS  ;  i.  521. 
Ixviii.  26—28  ;  i.  443. 
Ixxi.  9  ;  i.  420. 
Ixxxv.  8 ;  624. 
xc.  14;  i.  421. 
xc.  15  ;  i.  459. 
xc.  16,  17;  i.  413. 
xciv.  11 ;  i.  434. 
cxv.  16  ;  ii.  557. 
cxxxix.  14  ;  i.  451. 
cxlv.  19  ;  i.  30. 

Proverbs. 
viii.  25—31  ;  ii.  90. 
xii.  1,  3,  5 ;  i.  626. 
xiii.  11,  14,  19;  i.  626. 
xiv.  2.  6,  7,  23  ;  i.  627. 
xiv.  8;  i.  464. 
xvi.  7  ;  i.  683. 
xxii.  17,  18;  i.  43. 
xxiii.  23  ;  iii.  589. 
xxvi.  4,5;  i.  672. 
xxvii.  2  ;  i.  676. 
XXX.  24—28  ;  i.  627. 

Ecclesiastes. 
i.  15  ;  i.  466. 
i.  17,  18;  i.  327. 
vii.  15— i9;  i.  628. 
Isaiah. 
ix.  7  ;  i.  629. 
xi.  xiii. ;  i.  602. 
xxi.  11,  12;  i.  632. 
XXV.  6—9  ;  i.  608. 
xxvi. ;  i.  60S,  iii.  304. 
xxvi.  9;  i.  610. 
xxvii.  1—3  ;  i.  610. 
xliii.  25  ;  i.  634. 
liv.  5  ;  ii.  552. 
Iv.  1—7  ;  ii.  344. 
Ivii.  16;  ii.  298. 
Ixiii.  6  ;  i.  635. 

Jeremiah. 
i.  10;  i.  486. 
ii.  19  ;  i.  554. 
iii.  19;  i.  707. 
vi.  16;  ii.  344,429. 


xiii.  15—21  ;  i.  600. 
xxix.  7;  i.  202. 
xxxi.  33  ;  ii.  447. 
xxxiii.  16  ;  iii.  709. 

Ezekiel. 
i. ;  i.  636. 
.X. ;  i.  636. 
xvi.  44—63  ;  ii.  326. 
xviii.  20;  i.  673. 
xxxvii. ;  i.  .595. 
xxxvii.  1 — 14  ;  i.  592. 

Daniel. 
vii.  5  ;  ii.  60. 
viii.  3,  24;  ii.  60. 
ix.  24  ;  ii.  299. 
X.  13;  i.  637. 
xi. ;  ii.  61. 
xii.  4;  417. 

HOSEA. 

i.,  ii.,  iii  ;  i.  598. 
xi. ;  i.  600. 
xi.  8  ;  i.  707. 
xiii.,  xiv.  ;  i.  600. 
Jonah. 
ii.  4  ;  i.  455. 

Haggai. 
i.  2;  i.  145. 

Zechariah. 
X.  4  ;  i.  640. 
xi.,  xii.,  xiii.  1  ;  i.  605. 

Malachi. 
iii.  16,  17;  i.  442. 
iii.  18  ;  i.  640. 
iv.  5,  6  ;  i.  253. 

Matthew. 
iv.  1—11;  i.  35. 
V.  1—12  ;  i.  561. 
V.  13—16;  i.  565. 
V.  16;  i.  676. 
V.  17—32  ;  i.  567. 
V.  33—37  ;  i.  670. 
V.  38-42;  i.  571. 
V.  43-48;  i.  573. 
vi.  1  ;  i.  676. 
vi.  1 — 8;  i.  575. 
vi.  9— 16;  i.  677. 
vi.  16—34;  i.  583. 
vii.  1—6;  i.  585. 
vii.  7,  8;  i.  675. 


856 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


vii.  7—12  ;  i.  587. 
vii.  13,  14;  i.  433. 
vii.  13—20;  i.  6SS. 
vii.  21—29;  i.  591, 
is.  30;  i.  676. 
si.  12,  13;  i.  643. 
ii.  14;  i.  677. 
iiii.  33  ;  ii.  499. 
XV.  21-28  ;  i.  235. 
xviii.  23,  &c.;  i.  644. 
xxi.  38  ;  i.  677. 
xxiii.  23;  iii.  781. 
.\xv.  21;  i.  496. 

Mark. 
V.  19;  i.  676. 
xi.  24;  i.  56. 

Luke. 

i.  33;  i.  678. 

ii.  52;  iii.  787. 

X.  23 ;  i.  67S. 

xiii.  24;  i.  675. 

svi.  1—12;  i.  645. 

xvii.  10  ;  ii.  455. 

xix.  27  ;  ii.  360. 

xxiii.  39—43  ;  i.  647. 
John. 

i.  10—12;  i.  266. 

i.  11.  12;  ii.  348. 

i.  11—13  ;  ii.  610. 

i.  22;  i.  677. 

iii.  3;  ii.  610. 

iii.  18;  ii.  359. 

iii.  22—36;  i.  652. 

iii.  2S— 31  ;  ii.  190,  note. 

iii.  36;  ii.  426. 

V.  23  ;  ii.  346. 

V.  31;  1.  679. 

V.  35  ;  i.  478. 

V.  40 ;  i.  677,  ii.  356. 

vi.  29  ;  ii.  345,  429. 

vi.  44,  45,  64,  65 ;  i.  667. 

viii.  14;  i.  679. 

xii.  36  ;  ii.  345. 

xii.  43  ;  ii.  355. 

xiii.  1—17;  i.  658. 

xiii.  34,  35  ;  i.  522. 

xiv.  2—4;  i.  446. 

xiv.  28;  ii.  285. 

xvi.  9  ;  ii.  543. 

xvii.  24  ;  ii.  756  and  note. 

XX.  17  ;  i.  679. 

XX.  21  ;  i.  510. 

XX.  27  ;  i.  679. 

XX.  29  ;  i.  67S. 

xxi.  16;  i.  477. 

Acts. 
ii.  42;  iii.  630. 
iii.  21  ;  i.  658. 
vii.  5  ;  i.  673. 
viii.  22;  ii.  430,  iii.  772. 
ix.  7;  i.  681. 
X.  2—4  ;  iii.  63,  note. 
xi.  14;  iii.  63,  note. 
xi.  24;  i.  135. 
xii.  24  ;  iii.  832. 
.xvi.  30,  31  ;  iii.  540. 
xvii.;  ii.  177. 
xxii.  9  ;  i.  681. 

ROMAKS. 

i.  5  ;  ii.  353. 


1932YG 

LBC 


1.  12;  1.545. 

i.  16;  iii.  774. 

ii.  14;  i.  6S0. 

iii.  24;  i.  276. 

iii.  25 ;  ii.  498. 

iv.  4,  5 ;  ii.  400,  703 

iv.  5;  iii.  713,  714. 

vi.  17;  iii.  528,  777. 

vii.  6;  ii.  444. 

vii.  13  ;  ii.  194  and  note. 

viii.  18—23;  i.  333. 

viii.  28  ;  i.  3S5. 

viii.  33  ;  i.  28. 

ix.  ;  iii.  808. 

ix.  31,  32;  ii.'431. 

X.  3;  ii.  719. 

xi.  5,  6  ;  iii.  808. 

xiv.  5;  i.  680. 

xiv.  19;  i.  634. 

1  Corinthians. 
i.  18,24;  iii.  774. 
i.  26-29;  ii.  544. 
ii.  8;  i.  677. 
ii.  14;  ii.  610. 
iii.  9;  i.  491,  538. 
V.  11;  iii.  334. 
viii.  8-13;  i.  683. 
X.  13;  i.  681. 
X.  20,  21 ;  i.  683. 
X.  33:  i.  671. 
xii.  24;  i.  660. 
XV.  10;  i.  676. 
sv.  24  ;  i.  678. 
xvi.  22  ;  i.  138. 

2  Corinthians. 
i.  8;  i.  681. 
i.  12  ;  i.  540. 
i.  17  ;  iii.  390. 
iv.  5;  i.  501. 
iv.  13;  i.  515. 
V.  7;  i.  117. 
v.  15  ;  ii.  500,  553. 
V.  IS  ;  ii.  695. 
V.  19,  20;  ii.  354. 
xii.  11  ;  i.  676. 
xii.  16;  i.  662. 

Galatians. 
i.  10;  i.  671. 
ii.  16  ;  i.  673. 
iv.  10,  11  ;  i.  680. 
V.  13  ;  i.  544. 
vi.  7,  8  ;  i.  174. 

Ephesians. 
i.  10;  ii.  91. 
ii.  3  ;  i.  680. 
ii.  13;  i.  296. 
ii.  21 ;  iii.  452. 
iii.  12  ;  i.  303. 
iii.  14—16;  i.  429. 
iii.  14—19;  iii.  729. 
V.  25,  26 ;  ii.  547 
V.  25—27  ;  i.  243. 

Philippians. 
i.  9—11  ;  i.  356. 
iii.  10;  i.  310. 
iv.  5  ;  i.  682. 
iv.  7;  i.  362. 

COLOSSIANS. 

i.  19,  20;  ii.  91. 
iv.  3,  4  ;  i.  494. 

THE  END. 


1  THESSALOyiAKS. 

ii.  7,  8;  i.  508. 
ii.  13;  iii.  774. 
ii.  19  ;  i.  542. 
iii.  8  ;  i.  527. 

2  Thessalonians. 
ii.  2  ;  i.  682. 

ii.  2—8  ;  iii.  236. 

ii.  10—12  ;  ii.  360,  440 

1  Timothy. 
ii.  6;  ii.  497. 

iv.  15,  16;  i.  506. 
V.  20  ;  iii.  337. 

2  Timotht. 
i.  13;  i.  547. 

iii.  12  ;  i.  683. 
iv.  5,  6;  i.  518. 

Titus. 
i.  15  ;  i.  553. 
ii.  15  ;  i.  489. 

,  .         Hebrews. 
V.  12—14;  i.  160. 
is.  27,  28;  i.  475. 
X.  33  ;  iii.  589. 
xi.  24—26  ;  i.  426. 
xi.  33,  39  ;  i.  679. 
xiii.  5  ;  ii.  721,  note. 
xiii.  17  ;  i.  196. 

,     James. 
i.  4;  i.  374. 
i.  9,  10;  iii.  800. 
i.  18;  ii.  412,  609. 
i.  27 ;  i.  398.       * 
ii.  14—20  ;  ii.  584. 
ii.  21 ;  i.  673. 

1  Peter. 
i.  12;  i.  663. 
i.  13;  i.  391. 
i.  23  ;  i.  666. 
ii.  4,  5  ;  i.  432. 

1  John. 
i.  8  ;  i.  682. 

ii.  1  ;  i.  321. 
ii.  2  ;  ii.  498. 
iii.  9;  i.  682. 
iii.  25;  iii.  784. 
iv.  1  ;  i.  653. 
V.  20  ;  ii.  426. 

2  John. 
V.  2 ;  iii.  530. 

3  John. 

1  ;  iii.  530. 

2  ;  i.  404. 
4;  i.529. 
8  ;  i.  524. 

Jude. 
3 ;  i.  409. 
11  ;  iii.  674. 
20,  21  ;  i.  342. 

Revelation. 
i — xxii ;  iii.  201. 
i.  18;  i.  316. 
ii.  1  ;  i.  531. 
ii.  5  ;  iii.  629. 
iii.  17—19  ;  iii.  632. 
xiv.  11;  ii.  297. 
xiv.  13  ;  i.  152. 


Princeton  Theoloqical  i.f.fSi^^fj^iim^ 

1    1012  01254  3668 


